Meeting, Waiting, Communicating

The story of OFFECCT

Bearers of Culture

This describes the way we reason at OFFECCT. Sometimes we

solemnly call ourselves Bearers of Culture. Many of our competitors,

perhaps even the majority of them, choose to relate to chairs, tables

and sofas simply as objects. We don’t. To us, furniture and people

must co-exist. When we relate to Bearers of Culture it also gives

away that we are proud of what we create and that we consider

ourselves part of history as it is being written.

Sweden and Scandinavia has quite a reputation to live up to when

it comes to furniture production and design. Our ambition is to

maintain and manage this heritage as well as being open-minded

towards new possibilities. Without our roots in the Scandinavian

soil we would never have had the strength to grow the way we

have done.

When a piece of furniture from OFFECCT is in its limelight, it is just

as much a Swedish cultural piece as a film by Ingmar Bergman or a

drama by August Strindberg. If a chair were made only to rest your

behind on, well, any block of wood would do.

Quite a few years have passed since we started this company.

A lot have changed during this time. However, a great part of the

ambitions we started out with are still with us.

We have never compromised on accuracy. Trends may come and go,

but we have always kept quality as a constant. Our clients should

return to us with a smile on their face, not with a wrecked chair.

The same goes for curiosity, which has driven us throughout the

years in our mission to find new collaborations and interesting

challenges. Curiosity demands guts, and the brave definitely have

more fun than the cowardly. Deep down, a furniture producer is

merely a man, and the courage to live is the condition to succeed.

Maybe it’s not so odd that Eero Koivisto has designed both the

Orbit sofa system and the Amazonas nesting tables. Amazonas

pretty much by itself reflects OFFECCT’s wholehearted belief in

design being a determining aspect of social foundations. Eero

Koivisto explains;

- As a designer you can strive to create an ecological and sustainable

quality product that the buyer does not wish to throw to waste.

Amazonas is therefore of monomaterial, in this case steel, that is

completely recyclable. To further contribute, parts of the proceeds

from Amazonas are given to a project aiming to save the rainforest.

money to spend on development of environmentally friendly products

and work methods, surely the darkest of future visions would soon

be a reality. In Tibro, as well as in the rest of the world. And that’s

not the way we want it. The care for the environment is therefore an

obvious part of our quality management.

The fact that the world is a unity and that knowledge and passion

nowadays travels back and forth over the borders is apparent in our

collaboration with talented designers from other parts of the world.

Today, it is just as natural that cosmopolitans like Karim Rashid,

Jean-Marie Massaud and Norway Says is part of our squad, as

Swedish designers Monica Förster, Thomas Sandell and the trio

Claesson Koivisto Rune.

Other topics that occupy our day to day thinking are environmental

care and the will to work globally.

OFFECCT’s headquarters, production and showroom are located in

the small town of Tibro, Sweden. Someone read Tibro backwards and

it spelled Orbit. A fact we could not help to laugh about. Orbit is the

scientific vocable for the circulation of a planet. Earth, for instance.

In the winter of 1962, American astronaut John Glenn was the first

person to “make an Orbit” when he circulated around the globe in

his space shuttle Friendship 7.

We aim just as high. The natural state of our planet is simply a result

of how we treat it. If we as furniture producers don’t have the time or Tibro makes Orbit

Meeting

Every piece of furniture is a possible meeting place. Since we

spend lots of time working with public spaces we have gained a

great amount of experience on how different furniture interact with

different kinds of people. We therefore do not hesitate when we

state that every piece of furniture is a possible meeting place. And

where people meet, things happen.

We want to create possibilities for people to meet under good

conditions. Therefore we put high demands on our designers and

their ability to communicate. It doesn’t matter whether you are a

greek olive cultivator or a wine producer in Italy; the fact remains

that only good circumstances give good crops.

Why should we think any different?

Bond & Bond Lightby Jean-Marie Massaud

Splineby Norway Says

Bondby Jean-Marie Massaud

With a strong environmental commitment, OFFECCT implements

ecological values in all aspects of the product development cycle.

We always strive towards creating high quality sustainable prod-

ucts made from recyclable materials.

As an example of this, parts of the proceeds from the Amazonas

nesting tables support The Children’s Rainforest, a Swedish non-

profit environmental organisation that has turned rainforests into

nature reserves since 1987.

For more information, please visit www.barnens-regnskog.net

Amazonasby Eero Koivisto

Cornflakeby Claesson Koivisto Rune

Sportby Eero Koivisto

Birdby Broberg & Ridderstråle

Cloudby Monica Förster

Mono Lightby Ola Rune

Propellerby Eero Koivisto

Q Collectionby Olle Anderson

Waiting

Our perception of time depends on how we find the surroundings

and ourselves therein. If the location is beautiful or exciting in some

way, we find that time is an asset. If the sofa at the airport gives us

a sore backside it can break down our patience in no time.

Our designers put great importance into integrating time aspects

when creating an object. Waiting should be worth the wait.

Are not all public spaces just different kinds of waiting areas?

Someone on a way to a meeting gets stuck in traffic and someone

else has to wait. A decision is held up. Time is ticking.

When we discuss these waiting areas, we like to talk about our

responsibility as a furniture producer. Part of this responsibility is

creating a space that people feel comfortable in, where consum-

ing time isn’t a torment. A space where the air can vibrate of the

positive anticipations that waiting may enhance.

Nemoby Eero Koivisto and Ola Rune

Tempoby Andrea Ruggiero

Spoon & Spoon Lowby Monica Förster

Flower & Flower Miniby Eero Koivisto

Floatby Eero Koivistoby Eero Koivisto

Float High

Floatby Eero Koivisto

Vertigoby Eero Koivisto

Easy Blockby Jean-Marie Massaud

Ghostby Eero Koivisto

Tinto Centerby Claesson Koivisto Rune

Orgyby Karim Rashid

K-Lineby Khodi Feiz

Trayby Monica Förster

Woobby Eero Koivisto

Communicating

At OFFECCT every vessel communicate with each other. Every

object we produce should be both fully visible and completely

invisible.

In our view, furniture is part of the human signal system. Signs that

should be clear enough to be understood by anyone anywhere. At

that point, we have achieved our goal.

At the end of the day, everything is really about communication.

We should be able to understand each other, spend time and

communicate in a way that feels genuine and reliable. A creative

meeting place enables communication between people. Not only

should you be able to trust the person you are talking to, you should

also feel safe to rely on the tools you are using. Our products are

our communication tools.

Tables, chairs, sofas, lighting – no piece of the puzzle is less im-

portant than the other. Together, these components can either en-

hance or disrupt communication. The experienced craftsman often

says that good technique is never noticed – it just works. And we

are all aware of the opposite.

Gripby Satyendra Pakhalé

Palmaby Khodi Feiz

Kingby Thomas Sandell

Toffeeby Eero Koivisto

Orbitby Eero Koivisto

Solitaire & Solichairby Alfredo Häberli

Windowby Eero Koivisto

Playbackby Eero Koivisto

Spinnakerby Beat Karrer

Pick Upby Alfredo Häberli

Smalltownby Eero Koivisto

Zeroby Marre Moerel

Playhouseby Anders Breitholtz

SOUNDWAVE® Floby Karim Rashid

SOUNDWAVE® Skylineby Marre Moerel

SOUNDWAVE® Lunaby Teppo Asikainen

SOUNDWAVE® Meshby Teppo Asikainen

SOUNDWAVE® Scrunchby Teppo Asikainen

SOUNDWAVE® Swellby Teppo Asikainen

We have been working with environmental issues for a long time,

and we’re environmentally certified according to ISO and the Swan

eco-label. Today, large parts of our collection bear the Swan eco-

label, and we work continuous towards improving all of our products

from a recyclable and sustainable point of view.

Environment & QualityISO and eco-labels

Meeting, Waiting, CommunicatingCreative Meeting Places

We believe in combining genuine Swedish craftsmanship with qual-

itative, innovative and sustainable design. We execute our beliefs

in close collaboration with some of the world’s most renowned de-

signers, who all share our company’s passion for creative meeting

places. Together we strive to create elegant and intelligent products,

incorporating Scandinavian design tradition and ecological values in

the process.

Alfredo Häberli

Beat Karrer

Jean-Marie Massaud

Anders Breitholtz

Broberg & Ridderstråle

Karim Rashid

Andrea Ruggiero

Mårten Claesson, Eero Koivisto, Ola Rune

Katrin Greiling

Khodi Feiz

Norway Says

Teppo Asikainen

www.offecct.se

Our designers

Marre Moerel

Olle Anderson

Thomas Sandell

Monica Förster

Satyendra Pakhalé

Bond Float Float High Ghost Mono Light

Nemo Orbit Palma Queen Slide

Smalltown Solichair Solitaire Spoon Spoon Low

Sport Sport Tempo Tinto Center Woob

Zero Zero Easy Block Float

www.offecct.se

King

Orbit

Smalltown

Bond Bond Bond Light Bond Light Cornflake

Cornflake Cornflake King Mono Light Mono Light

Float High Ghost

Nemo Orgy

Playback Bond

Our collection

Q Chair Qool Quick Quick Quilt

Spline Spline Toffee Amazonas Basic

Bird Bond Bond Cornflake Cornflake

Cornflake Dual Fold Grip Propeller

Propeller Spline Sport Tray Vertigo

www.offecct.se

Window Flower Mini Flower K-Line K-Line

K-Line K-Line Pick Up Playhouse SOUNDWAVE® Flo

SOUNDWAVE® Skyline SOUNDWAVE® Luna SOUNDWAVE® Scrunch SOUNDWAVE® Swell SOUNDWAVE® Mesh

Cloud

Our collection

Forest Spinnaker

© OFFECCT 2008 | Photography: Åke E:son Lindman, Johan Fowelin, Peter Fotograf amongst others

Skövdevägen, Box 100, SE-543 21 Tibro, Sweden | +46 (0)504-415 00 | www.offecct.se