JUNO TALKS with Isa Glink
For more than two decades, we have been following Isa Glink, Creative Director at Kvadrat Residential. A conversation about brand management as well as freedom and inspiration in the design process that evolve through long-term collaboration.
Isa Glink is Creative Director at the Danish design brand Kvadrat in the Residential segment.
As Creative Director for Kvadrat Residential, previously known as Kinnasand, you have been creating curtain and carpet collections since 2012, which have won numerous international design awards. How do you keep coming up with new ideas?
The more thoroughly we experiment and engage deeply in the design process, the more worlds open up. Take materiality, for example— the more intensively we work with textile raw materials and fibers, the more room for new ideas emerges. Often, it’s a complex combination of textile manufacturing techniques and materials. Consequently, the deeper I dive, the more nuances I uncover.
How do you approach this process?
I always work in a process-oriented way. At the beginning, there’s an idea or a starting point. Then follows a lot of trial and error—trying things out, sampling, discarding, and filtering intuitively. By engaging with new materials like pineapple fibers or Japanese paper yarns, as well as special techniques, collaborations, and close exchange with our producers, I gradually find a path—until I reach the core of a new collection. This is unique to Kvadrat Residential: Every collection tells a story, following a thematic focus.
Your collections bear names like Quotes, Frequencies, Storylines. Do you think the stories behind your collections are seen and understood by your high-end residential customers?
In the sophisticated high-end residential segment, relevant content and stories are perceived and appreciated. Even if it’s not always obvious—the inner logic shaping the direction of a collection is nevertheless noticeable, because fundamentally it’s about establishing a distinctive, unmistakable position and values that go beyond mere aesthetics. This focus is something I’ve developed over the years, a language that connects all these elements. Not strategically or as a checklist, but shaped in an open process that allows intuition and is guided by a clear underlying idea.
Are your collections self-contained stories? Or is there a meta-story tying them together?
Continuity is important to me—the idea that collections build on one another or deliberately set counterpoints. If one collection is more graphically Nordic, the next might head in the opposite direction. There are some constants in my work: tactile qualities and texture, color, material selection and handling, sustainability, storytelling, collaboration, and catering to different markets and customer groups—from retail to interior architects.
Why has your collaboration with JUNO lasted for more than 20 years?
It continues to be exciting to develop new stories together on a high level. We know each other so well and have a solid foundation, so we don’t need to explain every process anymore. This allows for direct and immediate idea exchanges, and with them, great freedom in creativity—both to build logically but also to take creative turns. The visual languages we create develop in a natural flow, and we complement each other's perspectives. This ease in communication is incredibly valuable. It’s really a matter of chemistry—when discussions feel light, ideas flow, and we continue to surprise one another.
And something new comes out of it every time.
Yes, and that’s the remarkable thing about our collaboration. To place our textiles and carpets in a meaningful context, we develop visual concepts together that give Kvadrat Residential's collections additional presence. While developing a multi-layered collection is one thing, placing it within a context that communicates the ideas, thoughts, and stories behind it is something else entirely. Especially in a competitive environment, it's even more important to communicate one’s unique voice and identity beyond the product itself so it stays memorable. With JUNO's commitment, we can create and narrate these concepts and imagery with great enthusiasm and detail.
Let’s walk through this. How does a collaboration for a new collection usually unfold? How does it start? When does JUNO join the process? Who does what?
There’s no classic approach—every collection is unique. But timing remains consistently challenging in every phase. That’s why it’s important to me that we move at a certain pace and start developing the initial ideas promptly after the design freeze—when pure product development has completed and the testing and production phases have begun. At the moment, for example, we’re working on visual concepts and the tactile-physical installation for the 2026 collection, which will be showcased at "3daysofdesign" in the Kvadrat showroom in Copenhagen.
Do you feel comfortable sharing your ideas during such an early phase?
With interest in and trust in open processes, it works pretty well—some of the best ideas emerge during the very first brainstorming session when you share ideas early and discuss them. I also find that this has a way of pushing both sides to greater height. You already have something in mind but develop it further together and arrive at results you wouldn’t have envisioned solo or believed possible. These outcomes only come to light and gain impact through dialogue and mutual exchange. It’s fascinating and endlessly enriching.
For an agency, it’s a tremendous honor to be part of such an early creative phase.
I value it a lot as well. This shared engagement and probing questions reveal areas where we need greater clarity. You move forward together, and every conversation brings greater precision and satisfaction. We start with the collection, sharing structural ideas, color concepts, materials, and moodboards. One idea leads to another, and eventually, we can envision the collection within the visual context of its storyline.
You mentioned the storytelling aspect of your collections. How do you translate the tactile textile experience of your collections into digital content? Has the approach to showcasing them changed over time?
Yes, I believe it has. Today, we focus more on visual communication and presentation from the very beginning. However, material and color development always come from within—from the textile itself—and we don’t design with the “Instagram factor” of superficial photogenic appeal in mind. That said, visuals and films still need to function in a digital realm. It’s about sensitive execution—capturing materiality and light in a way that makes the textiles sensorially engaging.
So, a balance of digital visibility and physical experience?
Exactly. Events like “3daysofdesign” in Copenhagen or “Salone del Mobile” in Milan are major platforms. Then you have social media, showrooms, and the presentation by the sales team in direct client conversations. Together, all these elements contribute to the successful launch of a collection.
Has the “game” changed significantly?
Change and evolution keep us alive, but the challenges and conditions are becoming increasingly complex, often requiring a balancing act. On the one hand, Kvadrat collections follow not only a strong design aesthetic but also a sustainability strategy with specific, measurable goals and focus areas. For example, concerning materiality in the Residential collection, we prioritize mono-materials and have not mixed synthetic fibers with natural materials for the past five years. When we do use synthetic fibers, they are increasingly recycled, preferably from post-production sources—for instance, textile-to-textile recycling. We also focus on colors that remain relevant for years and are continuously reducing the number of items in the collection.
How do you maintain a fresh approach to design given the increasing complexity of tasks?
When it comes to product development, this works well through exchanges with specialists from production, art, and design. This dialogue ensures we don’t repeat ourselves or fall into routines, and helps us respond to the market and its evolving demands. Even as parameters change and market pressures grow, it remains exciting to craft appropriate, creative, and smart solutions. The task continues to be novel and multidimensional in its depth—that’s what fascinates me.