Ikea just launched a new collection of speakers that double as actual pieces of art.
The collection, which includes three round bluetooth speakers, two lamp speakers (called the Kuglass), and one new version of Ikea’s beloved Fado lamp, was made in collaboration with the Swedish designer Tekla Evelina Severin (also known as Teklan). Severin, who is known for her work as a colorist, photographer, and designer, brings a keen eye for color and pattern to the designs, turning a product that might otherwise be an eyesore into one worthy of display. In fact, it would be difficult to even recognize the products as speakers upon first glance.
This collection is an evolution of Ikea’s broader mission to make in-home tech products not only functional, but also aesthetically pleasing. Teklan’s colorful touch bumps that goal up a notch by turning the new line of speakers into true design objects.
How Ikea is making home tech aesthetic
Ikea introduced its first line of speakers, called Eneby, in 2018. They were ultra-simple, square, and wall-mountable, available in a dark and light gray colorway. The company’s new collection with Teklan shows just how much our relationship with home electronics has expanded since then. As tech becomes more integrated throughout the average American home, customers are increasingly looking for products that blend seamlessly with their decor—and don’t draw too much attention to their actual functions.
In recent years, Ikea has built out its speaker portfolio with more creative additions like the Symfonsik picture frame speaker and Vappeby outdoor speaker lamp . While the brand is known for its minimalist style, in recent months, it’s started to inject more color and surprising forms into its home electronics offerings. Just earlier this month, Ikea introduced a wide range of updated smart home products, designed to simplify the connected smart home experience, that look like analog devices on the outside and come in hues like rust orange and mint green.
“Tech is everywhere and growing, but I think few see it as part of the home’s identity,” says Sara Ottosson, product developer at IKEA of Sweden. “Most of the time you end up adjusting your home to the tech, rather than the other way around, simply because these products aren’t designed to harmonize with anything, and we don’t think it should be like that.”
With this new collection, Ottosson says, the whole point was “to make speakers feel like they belong among furniture and textiles.”
Inside the the design of the new collection
To do that, Ottosson’s team started by approaching the design of the new collection similarly to how they would approach a new chair or lamp.
“The speaker archetype is often this sharp box, where the design is something added onto the technology,” Ottosson says. “That’s just how the category has looked for a long time. We come from home-furnishing design, so we naturally approach things from a different side. We were curious about what happens when you work with softer shapes, colors, and patterns—things that make a product feel more like part of the home, that harmonizes with the rest.”
For the three circular speakers (called the Solskydd family), the team tapped longtime Ikea designer Ola Wihlborg. He reimagined the tech as round, soft objects that can either rest on decorative stands or mount directly to the wall. And for the two speaker lamps (called Kuglass), Ottoson says the product team pushed the concept of an embedded speaker further than they ever have before. The lamps are designed to read instantly as a table lamp, with the soft shade and friendly silhouette almost entirely disguising the tech component.
What truly elevates the collection to design object status is Severin’s selection of colors and patterns. The speakers come in a teal striped design, a subtly 3D red pattern, and a soft orange; while the lamps are available in dual-tone red and green.
The result, Ottoson says, is something “we simply haven’t had before at Ikea”: a combination of shapes, colors, patterns, and light that feels like a sensory experience.
“Teklan pushed us toward her ways and unconventional combinations, going for colors from nature, and tones that feel nostalgic and emotional,” Ottoson says. “The idea was to make the products truly feel like home furnishing design with technology inside, rather than technology wrapped in a design.”