Notes from 3daysofdesign & our new magazine open call!
let's play this summer
Playground readers,
Back at our desks after a busy week in Copenhagen for 3daysofdesign, we’re slowly stepping into a summer rhythm.
☀️ This is the first summer we’re testing “summertime hours” at studio playground. ☀️
Starting Monday, and for the next six weeks, we’ll work shorter hours Monday to Thursday and be offline on Fridays, reading books and magazines, eating ice cream, exploring exhibitions, and simply recharging.
While most clients go on vacation, we do too, just not all at once. We use this season for deep focus work: research, strategies, concepts, and planning for the year ahead. Living in the Nordics, work seasons feel very clear.
That said, we also love taking on new client projects during the summer, giving ideas a head start before autumn arrives. So if something is brewing, do reach out.
🪑 Yet before we fully enter a summer rhythm, reflections from one of Europe’s hottest design events, 3daysofdesign, are still very much on our minds. 🪑
This year, the event hosted more exhibitions than ever, welcomed more visitors than ever, attracting over 60,000 people, and the city map seemed to expand once again, with exhibitions now taking place almost everywhere. The promised “three days” are no longer just three either. Some shows open days before, while others stay open longer, giving local Danish brands a certain privilege when it comes to capturing the press.
And yet, despite all this expansion, before it turns into the new Milan, Copenhagen’s design week still feels different. It is less prestigious, more open, and highly aesthetics-driven. It is where fashion and design don’t fight for space, but somehow blend together. It is where design gets centre stage.
A wish: please stay that way.
Our most ambitious exhibition yet for Savo
This year also marked the third year in a row that we created an exhibition for our long-term client Savo at 3daysofdesign, as part of Framing at The Odd Fellow Palace.
It has been many months in the making, with a lot of work behind it.
We commissioned a white paper, which found that office chairs receive much less attention in the press and during design weeks. And when they do, they are usually presented through the lens of functionality.
Download the white paper here
This led us to create the exhibition The office chair reimagined, where we curated and invited nine creatives to reimagine an office chair for their own space.
From Swedish DJ Axel Boman, journalists Shawn Adams and Alice Morby, architects CAN, designer Sarah Gottlieb & Christoph Kuemmecke, photographer Morten Nordstrøm and perfumer Maya Njie, to ourselves, studio playground, together with Antti Kalevi.
The exhibition also featured a JOI room, inviting people to have some fun with Savo’s Joi chairs through a tic-tac-toe game setup, complete with games on the table and carefully created merch.
The chairs reimagined by the invited creatives were the true stars. Here are a few close-ups.
And, of course, our very own chair: a creative twist that turned the latest issue of Playground magazine into a chair. Isn’t this gorgeous?!
A big thank you to the brilliant Savo team, and of course the studio playground team, as well as all the contributors, freelancers and partners who helped make it happen.
The exhibition work continues.
If you’re planning one, or dreaming up one, don’t hesitate to reach out. We work from concept all the way through to production.
Big news, our bi-yearly Open Call for magazine Issue 6 just opened!
We’re officially opening up submissions for Playground Magazine Issue 6!
This is our fourth time announcing an Open Call for submissions. The first three went extremely well - bringing fresh takes, new friends and collaborators. We expect nothing less this time.
Playground champions honesty, collaboration, longevity & play. We are looking for people who resonate with these notions, and share the vision of a more open and supportive creative industry. We highly encourage and support brave ideas, opinions, unexpected insights, and humour from and around creative industries. If that’s you - make yourself heard!
🗓️ The deadline to apply is July 14, 17:00 CET.
Find all the details & submission criteria in the application form:
Housekeeping
If you like how we think and you’re a brand, consider working with us. We’ve just added fresh cases at studioplayground.cc!
If you like what we do, the biggest support is picking up our print magazine or merch – it keeps the Playground alive.
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Thanks for reading,
Auste & Playground team