Interview: Lovisa Lund
What position did you initially take up?
My manager, Marc Binder, contacted me directly while I was studying at the Umea Institute of Design in Sweden. I started with a one-year internship, which ended with a job offer. I currently work full-time as a junior product designer.
What makes Rotho an attractive place to work?
Rotho is a great company for designers who would like to follow the entire product development process! It is a smaller company where you can be close to the whole product creation process. As a designer, I rarely have the opportunity to participate in every part of the process. At Rotho - one day you sketch a new product at your desk, and the next you are down in the production department, where you make direct samples on the machine.
What personal experiences/traits are important for your work?
I am an industrial engineer by education and currently a designer. I believe that understanding the broader picture of the production process, while focusing on design, is an advantage. In addition to the fact that the final product is desirable and useful for our customers, there is a whole world of production, assembly, and logistics that must be taken into account before it reaches the homes of many people!
What is your favorite Rotho product and why?
Pagamalu.
I take into account the entire product cycle. As a user, you have the opportunity to organize your kitchen with lids of various functions, and at the end of their life cycle, you are able to disassemble each part into components and subject it to full recycling (design allowing for disassembly).
Rotho is not necessarily perceived as a very attractive company. Do you agree with this statement?
I think it depends on what you are looking for! Rotho is an attractive company for me for many reasons - one of them is its size and the ability to have a significant impact. I like the spirit of entrepreneurship and the opportunity to work on many different projects: product forms, illustrations, storefronts, and social media. We are also a diverse team coming from many parts of the world, which makes us quite a progressive, modern, and multicultural workplace.