In her design language Anki Gneib is perhaps the most international of Swedish designers. Born in London and trained as an architect in Stockholm, she moves freely between the traditional Scandinavian style and Farsi characters, between materials like wood, Plexiglas, metal and Corian, between inspiration from Afro hairstyles and computer games figures to Nordic folklore. And between her own production and part-ownership of the architectural firm DAPstockholm.

Always with an unpredictable, individual and different result, with enthusiastic reactions from the media and prizes in everything from wood competitions to awards for Furniture and Lamp of the Year. Her creations are not infrequently sculpturally graphic and provoke questions about what lies beneath the actual surface, the form itself. Why did it turn out to be the way it did? Anki Gneib has no interest in creating something that looks like something else. Her conviction requires both courage and her own production set-up. She fears neither the banal nor other people’s opinions. In many of her products she begins with the simplest and perhaps most obvious starting point, like a bookshelf made of assembled squares. But in Anki Gneib’s world it doesn’t stop there – she places the squares at an angle, which creates a totally different and surprising look. And those metal shavings in the rubbish bin outside the workshop she often goes by – could they be made into something? Of course – and the Jimi lamp and cord (yes, named after Jimi Hendrix) were born. In her Reef floor lamp, which received such great international attention, Anki Gnieb explored the world under the ocean surface in combination with Corian, whose boundaries she stretched greatly. Reef is now a member of her family of “happy products” – long-lived creations in which her heart has found a home.

Susanne Helgeson - writer