Before Excellent Swedish Design, an S Trophy of Swedish Paper Folded as Origami

In 1983, Svensk Form created Excellent Swedish Design, Sweden’s national design award. This non-profit association, founded in 1845, presents it as its most prestigious distinction. Between 2006 and 2023 the award was called Design S, and in 2025 Svensk Form brought back the original name.

In 2014, when the award was called Design S, the studio BVD designed its trophy together with paper artist Egil Jansson. BVD came up with an object that would celebrate Swedish design as time goes by.

This article looks at how that concept took shape in the 2014 trophy and what it means to win the award. It also draws lessons for brands that want to design their own trophies.

Contents

• Design and Materials of the Excellent Swedish Design Trophy: Folded Paper
• Excellent Swedish Design Trophy: What the Winner Receives
• The Design S Trophy in the Design Press
• A Material of Its Own and a Recognisable Technique: Lessons for Brands
• Excellent Swedish Design 2026: Key Dates
• Frequently Asked Questions

Design and Materials of the Excellent Swedish Design Trophy: Folded Paper

To achieve this, BVD conceived the S as a renewable format: each stage can be made with a different Swedish material and technique. In 2014, the stage was paper. BVD and artist Egil Jansson turned Swedish paper, sourced from Swedish trees, into an S folded in origami, the Japanese art of paper folding.

The S is made up of two curves: the upper one opens to the right and the lower one to the left. A diagonal joins them. Triangular panels fan out along each curve and give it volume, with a continuous outer edge and a serrated inner one. The ends finish in flat cuts.

The paper is white. Each fold casts a shadow on the adjacent panel, and these light and dark planes draw the curve.

The trophy has changed material over the award’s stages, and the table lists five of them:

In 2014, the fanned panels, the continuous outer edge and the serrated inner edge make the S read as a letter and show how it was folded.

Excellent Swedish Design Trophy: What the Winner Receives

Excellent Swedish Design does not accept entries. The jury selects works of Swedish design from the last three years, after observing the sector and receiving suggestions from the public. Each recipient is therefore the jury’s choice and not the result of an application. Its notable features include:

• Explicit criteria: Svensk Form values the quality of the idea and the work, sustainability, social relevance and craftsmanship. This lets the winner explain why they were singled out.
• Travelling exhibition: the works are shown each year in a different city, which extends their visibility beyond the ceremony.
• Presentation with institutional backing: Prince Carl Philip, patron of Svensk Form, presented the awards in 2025. His presence places the recognition within the institutional sphere of Swedish design.

Because there are no categories, the award recognises works from very different disciplines. Three of its 12 recipients in 2025 show this:

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The Design S Trophy in the Design Press

Two days after the 2014 ceremony, It's Nice That, a publication devoted to design and creativity, presented the trophy as an origami letter folded from Swedish paper. The outlet noted that the S is always made from traditional Swedish materials. For a design award, having a sector publication cover the trophy puts the winner in front of professionals who might hire them.

This exposure, which an independent outlet generates without the winner paying for it, is known as earned media.

The same mechanism reaches the recipients. In 2025, the local outlet eFolket reported that “Måste bolla!”, an artwork by Linda Ottosson for the municipality of Eskilstuna, had received the award. For its readers, the news links a work in their public space with national recognition.

For the recipient, the news item stays on record with the name of the award and that of the work. They can cite it to clients and institutions as an independent reference.

A Material of Its Own and a Recognisable Technique: Lessons for Brands

When a brand makes its trophy from a material from its own surroundings, the object communicates that link at first glance. In 2014, Swedish paper tied the trophy to the country whose design it celebrated. The recipient can explain in one sentence where their trophy comes from, and the brand has a clear criterion for renewing it with another material of its own.

Also, when the technique is recognisable, the trophy invites an explanation. In 2014, the publication that presented the S wondered how it had been folded. A technique that raises questions gives media and winners a reason to write about the object.

In turn, when the design plans for the material to be renewed, each stage brings a new story without changing the format. BVD’s S was conceived this way, with a different Swedish material for each stage. The brand keeps a recognisable trophy and gains something new to communicate with each change. Swedish paper, fanned folds and a letter that accepts new materials: three decisions that tell where the trophy comes from and how it was made.

Excellent Swedish Design 2026: Key Dates

The 2026 edition brought together 13 works with no categories, and eligible entries were those presented to the public in 2024 or later. Svensk Form publishes the requirements and the schedule for the award. These were the main dates of that edition:

• 16 March 2026: deadline for nominations to the jury.
• 27 August 2026: awards ceremony at Sara kulturhus in Skellefteå, and publication of the 13 recipients.

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A Paper S to Present Swedish Design

In its Design S stage, the Excellent Swedish Design trophy turned Swedish design into a material from the country and a technique recognisable at a glance: paper folded in a fan until it forms a letter. The award thus handed over the S that represents it, turned into an object anyone identifies as origami.

At Sustain Awards, we design and make custom trophies in which the material and technique tell the story of your brand’s origins; the result can be a trophy that explains itself in one sentence.

Frequently Asked Questions