Lina Ekstrand – "Natural Inspiration"

Lina Ekstrand's illustrations can be found in art exhibitions, magazines and even in collaborations with different artists. Not only does she work in her home country of Sweden, the past years she has also lived and worked in Berlin, London, Mexico and New York. Her latest projects is the Lina Ekstrand Collection, a colorful new collaboration with Oriflame consisting of a printed scarf, an umbrella and poncho featuring a beautiful specially designed print by the red hot illustrator.

"We asked Lina to bring out a print reminiscent of autumn but still wearable all year around," Johanna Tosi, Product Developer at Oriflame explains. Working closest with Lina during the collaboration, she says the artist's unique talent and aesthetic was a key driver in the decision to bring Lina in to work with the brand: "Lina is a new and interesting Swedish graphic designer with lively playful and enticing illustrations which we find suitable for our brand. It has been so inspiring to work with a professional illustrator and having her creativity in the team."

Lina Ekstrand herself describes her pattern as a taste of a walk in a Scandinavian forest. "I wanted that umbrella to be like standing under a large forest carpet or like walking in the woods in the autumn, picking mushrooms in a sea of leaves, only to then lower your gaze and be urban chic again." "I have been looking in old bird books and also done trips to the woods where I have picked branches of trees and different plants and studied the sea of leaves. The nature is my biggest source of inspiration. Lately I have also taken up meditation and it gives me so much to be able to go into my own world to collect ideas and images," she says.

What was it that attracted her to do this collaboration? "For me it's been fun working with the three-dimensional." Lina explains. "I have wanted to work with prints in this type of way for a long time. It is such an entertaining work process and a contrast to the one-dimensional drawings and illustrations I do for commercial assignments and magazines. I also find a colorful umbrella with beautiful details are a nice contrast and complement to the classic colors for this autumn."

"Another thing that attracts me to Oriflame is that just because it's a beauty brand many people think it's all about surface, but for me it is inspiring to know that the company actually also provides women in developing countries a chance to create their own income by selling their products. I think it is a shame that not more people know about that!"