Umeå family business wins major design award
Västerbottenskuriren 2019-02-15
A family business with strong Umea roots has won one of the world’s most recognized design awards. Other winners this year include global giants Apple, Samsung and Ikea.
by Anna Sundelin, [email protected]
The family business Fascia Innovation, with many Umeå connections, has now been awarded the international Good Design Award for the new M1 and M2 products, which are based on the latest anatomical research in fascia and connective tissue treatment.
Fascia Innovation’s CEO Hans Bohlin is now based in Sollentuna, where the company is headquartered, but comes from Umeå. Charlotta Bohlin of the company grew up in Skravelsjö and board member Lena Bohlin is from Röbäck. The course teacher at Fascia Innovation is Åke Renman, the first osteopath in Västerbotten, active in Umeå since 2001.
Fascia Innovation has developed a wellness concept that has gone from treating people to developing an innovative treatment machine that now also treats horses with good results.
– For us, design has always been incredibly important. A physical product represents a company’s vision, the values, what you want to say as a company. For us, that means making it as easy as possible for professional therapists to help people and animals,” says Hans Bohlin, CEO of Fascia Innovation.
Today, hundreds of therapists around the world use the now award-winning M1 and M2 products to increase the mobility of people and animals, in many cases providing relief for back and neck pain, tennis elbow, frozen shoulder and muscle tension.
Nikolaus Frank, the industrial designer behind the award-winning products and winner of some 50 design awards over the years, says Fascia Innovation is unique as a company.
– They have an understanding of the importance of design, which is usually only found in larger companies and international brands.” says Nikolaus Frank.
This is the second and third Good Design Award for Fascia Innovation, which received the first in 2013.
