This was the group’s subject for Friday evening at Holstebrogruppens latest course at Langvad.
The instructor was Knut Dahl from Norway. A knife maker, who in my opinion, is at his best when it comes to design and lines.
We all had quite high expectations to this part of the agenda. And we had some very exciting hours together with Knut Dahl.

I have accepted the task of trying to give a resume of these hours. I think it is difficult to do, and if I ramble too much, please blame it on me. Not Knut - he didn’t ramble, but made us all "see the light" several times.

My first note says: design is a matter of awareness. Awareness of what it is, that suddenly catches the eye and make you say "yes - now it’s right". Or make your hand or fingers feel, that now it feels the way it’s supposed to feel.
In Knut’s consciousness this is a lifelong process, that will never end. During your work, you will all the time become aware of new details, that will change your opinion on what good design and good lines really are.

Throughout our talk, Knut constantly distinguished between the whole and the details. Amongst other things, he said that details like fitting the blade to the handle, or making the front part fit perfectly to the wood, is all a matter of technique.

To design a knife could be compared to drawing a portrait, in which proportions are extremely important.
Drawing is communication with a higher/deeper layer inside yourself. This comment I would like to elaborate a bit, but I don’t really know how ?

Harmony is an expression of security - or need for security.

In our group we have often discussed how you can develop your own style. Or if any of us can be said to have his own style ?
Knut gave the following contribution to this:
When you are working on a knife, cutting, sanding or pauting, you tend to focus 100% on the "work", and during this you will make a lot of choices, both conscious and unconscious, and this will put your intellect in the background. When such things happen, the knife maker creates his or her own style.

At this point, Knut mentioned that many people through the ages have tried to decide or make rules for good or pleasant design. One example, that most people know more or less, is the golden section. On the flip over Knut showed us some examples of how theses rules have been applied within different disciplines. His background as a graphic artist showed very clearly.

From here he moved on to the concept of "peace versus unrest". His claim is that the one calls for the other, as we all have a sense of balance to some extent.
In all aspects of life we seek balance and harmony, but from time to time we challenge balance and harmony in order to create tension or excitement in life.

We all have a creative inner-self. Immerse yourself, spend a lot of time and concentrate - often you’ll find the answer to your problem as a result of your effort. But all from an unconscious origin.

This was the last of my notes. I feel there are some very strong statements among them - and some very good observations. This goes for design and lines - but indeed also for a lot of other aspects of the life we lead.

During his presentation Knut asked us to take one of our knives out of it’s sheath. Sketch the outline of the knife, and around this draw a new sheath for the knife. Then he walked around and took a look at our work, commented it and gave us all some good advice. During this Knut’s big talent in this field really showed very clearly. And every one of us had some really good hints to guide us in our further efforts.