Shortlisted for the International Design & Architecture Awards 2013, Founder and Creative Director of  Sylt Trampoli www.stylt.se takes five minutes to discuss life and his design direction in 2013.

Tell us a little about your background in design (education, experience, etc)

Erik Nissen Johansen is the founder and creative director of Stylt Trampoli AB in Goteborg Sweden, an award winning concept development, interior architecture, design and marketing company specialised in the hospitality industry.Born in Oslo 1965, I graduated in Florence 1985 at the L’Istituto per l’Arte e il Restauro, with a diploma in art, art history, marketing and design.

How would you describe your personal design style?

Me and my team work under the conviction that the hospitality industry is a part of the experience economy and therefore believe that “you need to create the script before you make the film”. This approach to Storytelling and script writing as a base for the concept development has been proven to deliver very profitable and startling hotels and restaurant brands.

Where does your design inspiration come from?

Mostly from Myths Narratives and good stories, However the mechanisms behind a well working Hotel or Restaurant is also an inspiration.

In what direction do you feel that design is moving towards in a general sense?

Definitely towards more personal experiences with a human twist an unlikeness. Relevant inspiration from the destination becomes more important as well as, the history of the building. The large Hotel chains struggles to achieve this

Name five key themes to consider when approaching design in 2013 and beyond.

Design with relevance, Narratives, History, Brave, Dare to follow relevance rather then trends.

If you could offer one piece of advice when it comes to design, what would it be?

Look into the past to find the future.

How important are The International Hotel and Property Awards as recognition of talent and achievement?

The Design community is a rather closed group of individuals that need all the help they can get to get their message across, so its of grate value with the third eye opinion like this!

What projects are you currently working on?

Two fantastic individual hotel projects in the Swedish town of Umeå, they will open 2014 when Umeå is the cultural capital of Europe.

And a number of new restaurants in Scandinavia and around the world.

What are your aims and goals for the next twelve months?

To laugh a lot with my staff (it enable us to do grate stuff).

Final thoughts; tell us a little more about yourself

Your most treasured possession?

Definitely my four children!

Your favourite holiday destination?

My log cabin in the deep Norwegian woods.

Your favourite hotel / restaurant / bar?

Dennis’ Hideaway Mayreau St Vincent and the Grenadins on all 3.

Your favourite book / film / song?

Down by law

Your favourite food and drink?

Tequila and tuna

Your favourite way to spend an afternoon? (in no more than 25 words)

Definitely with my four children!

If you weren’t a designer, what would you be?

A Fisherman

Anything else interesting?

My parallel career as an artist granted me several group exhibitions and one man shows through Europe and the US.