THE STORY
IKEA headhunted me due to my distinctive macro photography work, as showcased on my website. My work caught their eye and they reached out. They believed my photographic talent would be the perfect fit for a textile collection they were developing.
FLYNN BEATA
The collection was produced in two sets of 600,000 pieces each and sold in all IKEA stores worldwide.
THE PROCESS
Invited to IKEA’s home base in Älmhult, I was handed a design brief that was enriched with mood boards and seasonal color themes. Inspired by this, I embarked on a quest back in Stockholm to find unique plants that mirrored the color palettes of the brief. My objective was to create captivating macro photographs to be transformed into textile prints.
The process of capturing these images required both meticulous precision and a deep understanding of photography techniques. I utilized a unique 5X macro lens, a tool known for creating an incredibly narrow field of view, even when used with large apertures.
To fully harness the lens’s capabilities, I stationed my camera on a stable tripod, and employed a special plate to shift the lens’s focus plane to the ideal location and angle of the subject. Given the sensitivity of this equipment and the use of natural light, even the slightest movement could blur the image, making steadiness essential.
The process required a near-surgical level of stillness: I found myself holding my breath for the approximately 30-second long exposure time needed to produce each image. The result was a series of striking, high-definition macro photographs.
One of my designs was produced as a panel curtain, the entire fabric of which is a photographic print, as shown in the adjacent images.
Being recognized as a Designer for IKEA is an honor, and participating in this project was truly engaging.
THE SATURATED FOUR
Here are the additional images that IKEA selected for their textile collection. Regrettably, the factory assigned to print these on duvets and other products encountered technical issues with the deeply saturated colors, causing them to miss the production deadline
MY DESIGNER PORTRAIT AT IKEA
Accompanying the products in IKEA stores and catalogs
