Johanna Seelemann (b. 1990) is a German designer, laureate of 2021 Design Parade Hyères Eyes on Talents x Frame Special Mention Prize as well as she was recently forwarded by Formafantasma as one of the creative leaders of the future ‘expanding the ways design is practiced today’ as part of Wallpaper
*s ‘5x5’ anniversary project. In 2020 she received the Talent Development Grant from the Creative Industries Fund NL. In 2019, Johanna and her part-time collaborator Björn Steinar got selected amongst the ‘Icon Design 100 Talents to watch’. In 2017 Johanna was selected as one of ‘20 young designers to shape the future of design’ by Design Indaba, World Design Events and Dutch Design Week.
In her practice Johanna Seelemann explores the mundane objects and materials of our everyday surroundings and learns more about their contexts, journeys and origins. The designer, known for a broad spectrum of projects, has delved deep into everything from cars and aluminium cans to bananas. Her investigations morph into designs developed using the tools of substitution, adaptation, and resiliency. Even if she explores nuanced topics, her results are always formulated as optimistic suggestions and proposals that help us imagine alternative future scenarios.
Seelemann’s works were previously exhibited at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, Villa Noailles in Hyères, MAKK Museum Cologne, Design Museum Helsinki, Vandalorum Sweden, Kunsthalle Zürich, Tønder Art Museum Denmark, Reykjavík Art Museum, TextielMuseum in Tilburg among other.
Johanna developed her fascinations during the Contextual Design master program (2019) at the Design Academy in Eindhoven as well as the bachelor course in Product Design at the Iceland Academy of the Arts in Reykjavík (2016). She previously assisted Studio Formafantasma in their ‘Ore Streams’ and ‘Cambio’ projects.