The designer Jonas Sandström originally comes from Umeå, and
studied here at UID. He started the BA programme
in 1999 and graduated the MA programme in Transportation
Design in 2004. Since then Jonas has worked at Toyota in Japan for three
years, and at
Volvo in Gothenburg, where he currently works.
What are you doing at Umeå Institute of
Design?
I am tutoring the BA3 students in sketching this week.
Is there anything you find particularly positive about
UID?
It is extraordinary stimulating and your own creativity just
starts to flow when you are here. Ideas and inspiration is all
around you, in another way than when you are outside this
environment. Also it is fun to be back in a setting you are
acquainted with. I have many good memories from the time I studied
here. Some things are the same, and some are different from then.
The kinship, and the way you interact with each other seems to be
almost the same as when I was here, but the facilities have changed
a great deal. It is bigger, but the river view is gone, and the
classrooms seem smaller.
Is there anything you would like to improve at Umeå
Institute of Design?
I do not know what that would be. The school is investing a lot
in new creative tools and the facilities keep developing, but when
I recall the stress you feel when you are a student and work in
this environment, I wish that there would be someone there to pick
you up when you need it. The ones tutoring do not always have the
insight of how stressful it can be, and they might not see the
signs of the students' stress and fatigue. It is important that you
have someone to talk to, and understand that you have a goal and
when you reach it, your life will not continue like this forever.
You need to learn extremely much in a short time, there is no way
around that. Everything you learn during the education will help
you work more effectively in your working life.
What do you think are the reasons for the good
reputation of UID?
Previous students become ambassadors for UID. This (far up north
in Sweden) is not the obvious place to end up in, if you are from a
country far away. I guess the former students are highly competent,
and we are all over the world demonstrating that fact.
What will you be doing in ten years?
In ten years maybe I am back in Norrland (northern Sweden). You
never know what will happen...
September 2011
