Design Finland

Design Christmas Markets

During the Chrismas shopping season there are several opportunities to buy presents for Christmas. Instead of going for cheap imported millionware, I strongly recommend visiting your local design christmas market.

This coming  weekend (from Dec 5th to 7th) Ornamo's legendary Christmas market will collect some serious crowds to find bargains in Finnish Design and handicrafts. The venue will be Design Forum Finland in Helsinki.

Ornamo Christmas market also in:

• Rovaniemi, Mainoa-Design, Dec. 13-14

• Joensuu, Taito-kortteli, Dec. 6-7/12-14/19-21

The following weekend anyone in or near Turku will have a great opportunity to check out the whole growing Turku design scene, marketed under name Turku Design Nyt!

Nine design companies, including the famous Tonfisk Design and Klo Design, will bring you the sprit of Christmas from Dec 12th to 14th at Tonfisk Design's factory shop, Ketarantie 31.

If you want to check beforehand what to expect, visit some of these great Turku brands

www.tonfisk-desin.fi

 www.klodesign.fi

www.kipikude.fi

www.woodoodesign.fi

www.kotonadesign.fi

www.innollinen.fi

www.vitidesign.com

www.woodloop.fi

www.kuidesign.com

Better View - Elina Aalto for iukbox

 

Better View

is a series of perforated black out roller blinds designed by Elina Aalto for IUKBOX.

Light seeps in through the small cut out holes creating an image of a city by night. The cut-outs represent the

light in the windows of apartment buildings and office complexes in the city.

The series includes views from Paris, Tokyo, Helsinki and Stockholm in a limited edition of 1000 each.

I must say this is one of the coolest things I've seen in a while.

 

 

Elina lives and works in Helsinki. Her designs often combine practicality with decidedly

artistic qualities. She gets her inspiration from both fine arts and everyday observations and experiences. In

design, she aspires to strike a balance between an innovative approach and the longevity of the end product.

Finnish Design Yearbook 08-09 is available

”A regard for the traditions of design is another recurring theme. Heritage, tradition, regard for the natural world and a clever application of craft – Finland can certainly boast all of these attributes in its design DNA.”
Laura Houseley, design editor

Pointing the way for the field, Finnish Design Yearbook 08–09 is now appearing as the second publication in its series. Design today is facing new challenges. What exactly is design? Who defines it and what are its new areas? Finnish Design Yearbook 08–09 addresses topical issues and presents over 150 new products, current phenomena, designers and companies.

Finnish Design Yearbook 08–09 is an up-to-date overview of Finnish design, with its four themes reflecting the main phenomena of the field. Borderlands investigates interfaces of design, Responsibilities addresses the new ethics of design, Resources charts the role of design in companies, and Playgrounds tells of design as a means of communication and play.

Finnish Design Yearbook 08–09 The theme articles are by design editor Laura Houseley of England, media researcher and author Sam Inkinen, industrial designer Anna Valtonen who is Senior Design Manager at Nokia, Hannu Seristö, professor of international business at the Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration, CEO Marco Mäkinen of SEK&GREY, and the researcher and non-fiction writer Jari Koskinen.

Finnish Design Yearbook 08–09 is an excellent corporate gift and reference work for design professionals and everyone interested in the subject. The editor-in-chief is design editor Anne Veinola, the graphic design is by dog design and the publisher is Design Forum Finland. The yearbook will be on sale via main domestic and international distribution channels. The previous Finnish Design Yearbook went to over 30 countries, and now the international distribution will expand even further.


Finnish Design Yearbook 08–09. In English, bound, 132 pages, four-colour illustrations,
33 € (incl. VAT) in Design Forum Shop, ISSN 1796-5829

The Milkbar by Marimekko and Artek

Marimekko and Artek

proudly present

THE MILKBAR

16–21 April 2008

Welcome to the opening

Wednesday, 16 April, 2–5 pm

SPAZIOCRISPITRE

(internal courtyard)

Viale Francesco Crispi, 3

20121 Milan, Italy

                                       

Colmio - Triangular design from Finland

Colmio is a design company that brings the world products that are cosy and comfortable. Colmio products have three main attributes: movement, simplicity and use of space.

The name Colmio ressembles a Finnish language word "Kolmio", which stands for triangle. Triangural shapes can be seen in most of Colmio products.

Colmio also has an art gallery/café in Oulu, so if you happen to be there, pay them a visit.

In the pictures you can see some examples of their Grasshopper selection.

Young Designer of the Year 2007 prize to Julia Lundsten and Janne Kyttänen

Shoe designer Julia Lundsten (b. 1975) and designer Janne Kyttänen (b. 1974) have been awarded Design Forum Finland's Young Designer of the Year 2007 prize.

The awarded designers have both received their design training abroad – Julia Lundsten in London and Janne Kyttänen in Barcelona and Amsterdam. Lundsten established her shoe-design company FINSK in London, and Kyttänen the Freedom of Creation company in Amsterdam. Based on the designers' strong personal conception of design and intelligent insight into design and methods of manufacturing, these companies display international promise in both content and business skills.

The award jury noted that Julia Lundsten and Janne Kyttänen represent the best of Finland's internationally oriented young designers. Through their bold decisions and uncompromising work they are deepening the diversity of design and expanding its international character. At the same time, they express in their works the traditions of Finnish design – clarity and pure lines without ignoring a playful light touch.

The members of the jury were CEO Mikko Kalhama, Design Forum Finland, and curator Jukka Savolainen, Design Museum Helsinki.

Previous recipients of the prize are designers Harri Koskinen and Ilkka Suppanen (2000), interior architect Karola Sahi and architect Eeva Lithovius (2001), designer and cabinetmaker Tuuli Autio and designer and silversmith Pyry Tamminen (2002), graphic designers Antti Hinkula and Teemu Suviala (2005) and industrial designer Jukka Korpihete and furniture designer Mikko Paakkanen (2006).

Wooden heal shoes from Stratum collection (2007) by Julia Lundsten and Rollercoaster coaster by Janne Kyttänen (2006)

Diamond, Stripes and Revolver - Ivana Helsinki Spring-Summer 2008

"Many years ago, one deadcalm beautiful day, at noon. I met the love of my life. He arrived none too soon. He was called Jack Diamond and he looked like Jack White, from White Stripes."

This is the beginning of the story behind this new collection.

Ivana Helsinki showed their Spring-Summer 2008 in Ritz Hotel at Paris Fashion Week yesterday evening.

This spectacular collection with bright colours and unique details was also shown in Helsinki's Suomenlinna sea fortress couple of weeks ago.

Ivana Helsinki SS2008 collection is called Diamond, Stripes and Revolver.

Below you can see some of the dresses, for all 35 pictures follow the link to Flickr.

To read and feel the rest of the story, and to understand where the revolver comes from - visit IvanaHelsinki website, www.ivanahelsinki.com

www.flickr.com

Interview: Paola Suhonen on Spring Summer 2008 and Paris Fashion Week

A popular Finnish fashion brand Ivana Helsinki will be presenting it's Spring-Summer 2008 collection in Paris Fashion Week. They will be the only Scandinavian company and the first Finnish company ever doing a big catwalk show. This historical event that has risen lot of interest, will take place at Grand Salon of Ritz Hotel on October 2nd and 8.30pm.

In the embedded video Paola Suhonen, the designer of Ivana Helsinki will talk about the company and its values, present fennofolk style, introduce the idea behind "Diamond, Stripes and Revolver" collection. Finally, she shares some thoughts on the coming catwalk show in Paris.

Interview: Kigge Hvid on Design and Innovation

In this interview Kigge Hvid, the CEO of Index: Design to Improve Life, talks about the essence of design and innovation. How design can go further than just form and function, how it can improve people's lives around the world.

Kigge Hvid is highly respected influencer worldwide. She recently gave a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

To read more about Index: Award 2007, follow this link.

Interview with a winner of Fennia Prize 2007 Honorary Mention

Shunjiro Eguchi is a Senior Designer with Nokia Design Group. He is the designer of Nokia N93 multimedia mobile phone and a winner of honorary mention in Fennia Prize 2007, an international design competition.

In this interview Shunjiro Eguchi explains the design principles of Nokia N93 and his view on the future of mobiles devices and mobility from a designer's point of view.

This interview was made in Design Forum Finland in Helsinki during Fennia Prize 2007 award ceremonies.

Fennia Prize 2007 Grand Prix to Rocla

The winners of the renewed Fennia Prize 2007 competition have been chosen. The main prize, the Fennia Prize 2007 Grand Prix (€ 15,000) goes to Rocla Plc for the design of the Humanic reach truck. Fennia Prizes of € 5,000 each were awarded to four companies: Huonekalutehdas Korhonen Oy, Halti Oy, PlusArkkitehdit and PaloDEx Group Oy (Instrumentarium Dental). In addition, 16 companies received the Fennia Prize Honorary Mentions. 

The Humanic reach truck which was awarded the Fennia Prize 2007 Grand Prix involved product development and design taking users as their starting point. Four years ago, Rocla Plc gave design an important strategic role in the company and employed an in-house designer. According to Design Manager Petteri Masalin, the prime considerations of design are usability, dependability, simplicity and functionality. The prize jury maintained that all these properties are realized with insight in the design of the prize-winning, user-friendly Humanic reach truck.

The Fennia Prize 2007 was awarded to four companies. Intended for adult students, the Flip chair and desk, which are stackable and can be joined in rows are made by the Huonekalutehdas Korhonen furniture company. Halti Oy’s prize-winning products were the ergonomic Gompa and Fiber jackets and the Green backpack, representing new production technology. PaloDEx Group Oy’s Ortopantomograph®OP200D- and Ortoceph®OC200D dental x-ray equipment received the Fennia Prize 2007 for their design and technical properties. The PlusArkkitehdit firm of architects received the Fennia Prize in the Open Series for its service concept for the single-family house and leisure home market. All four prizes entail a sum of € 5,000.

The selection of the prize-winners was carried out by a jury of distinguished representatives of design, media and the business community, including M.Sc.Pol. Hannu Ketola as chairman, designer Kristiina Lassus of Alessi as the jury’s Guest Member, and Design Forum Finland CEO

Mikko Kalhama

, chairman Jorma Pitkonen of the TKO association of industrial designers, creative director Ilmo Valtonen of Dynamo Identity, director for industrial design and content management Janne Viemerö of Tekes - The Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation, Senior Adviser Janica Ylikarjula of the Confederation of Finnish Industries EK, and Pekka Ritvos, editor-in-chief of the Kauppalehti newspaper. Along with high-standard design, the criteria of selection were usability, responsibility with regard to society and the environment and impact on business.

The high level of the use of design by companies participating in the competition is shown by the fact that honorary mentions were awarded to 16 companies: Design House Idoli Oy, Finnzymes Oy, GE Healthcare Finland Oy, Hanna Korvela Design Oy, Lundia Oy, Marimekko Plc, Nokia Corporation, Nokia Corporation Networks, original habitek works, Rocla Plc, Suunto Oy, TAG Heuer S.A., Tulikivi Plc, Ursuk Oy/Suunto, Vivero Oy and YTV – the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council. The award-winning companies and their products and concepts represent a wide range of design in various sectors of industry and the fields of furniture, interior design, textiles, medicine, high technology, precision mechanics, tourism and public transport.

Fennia Prize – Good design grows global is a design competition for firms and companies. It is open to enterprises making designed products or using design in other ways in their business. There are two series in the competition, the Product Design Series and the Open Series. The latter includes, for example, business and service concepts and environments. The Fennia Prize Grand Prix, individual Fennia Prizes and Fennia Prize honorary mentions are awarded in the competition. Awards include participation in the Fennia Prize exhibition, its tour of different venues and inclusion in the exhibition catalogue. The competition is arranged by Design Forum Finland. The prize sums are donated by the Fennia Group. The Kauppalehti newspaper is the competition’s media partner in 2007.

THE FENNIA PRIZE 2007 exhibition 16 February – 1 April 2007

Design Forum Finland, Erottajankatu 7, Helsinki

Life on a Leaf

Life on a Leaf is a house project by Jan-Erik Andersson, a multi-disciplinary artist from Turku.

He has started to build a house for himself with a thought of "not all houses must be all square". Thus the house reminds us from a leave.

Jan-Erik Andersson has been doing a multitude of art projects in the past, but this is the first house project for him.

Lots of interesting material on the house including 3D pics and VRML model from the Life on a Leaf website.

Interesting thing here is that this house is located just 1 km from St. Henry's Ecumenical Art Chapel.

Warp Vases by Tonfisk Design

Tonfisk Design is announcing a new vase collection called Warp. The first public showing of the vases will be at the Ambiente Frankfurt in Franfurt am Main, Germany from 9th til 13th of February.

The shape of the Warp vases are made individually by hand, thus each vase will be unique in form. This is possible by a process where the vase is being treated manually right after removing it from the mold. In order to be able to maintain the high quality, a person with special skills is required.

This delicately organic form of the vase will fuction well with many type of flowers. Empty vase gives the interior a feel of  a very sculpture-like element.

The Warp vase is available in two heights, 21.5 and 31.5 cm.

Design with Quality

The Finnish design industry is constantly making effort to enhance the quality of design products. The latest advancement in the area is the announcement of Finnish quality label system, Laatumerkki.

Laatumerkki is a sign of quality in all areas of business, including marketing, manufacturing, design and economic issues. For the consumer this means a proof that the product with solid background.

To support the development, Laatumerkki board consists of experienced people that are committed to support the companies and their development.

The first set of Laatumerkki-certified products is now out. In Helsinki, they are for sale at Design Forum Shop.

• Sami Rinne Design, www.samirinne.fi
• Kuitukuu, www.kuitukuu.fi
• Kiuluverstas Jorma Pelkonen
• Pauliina Rundgren Handicrafts, www.prhandicrafts.fi
• Vislasi, www.vislasi.fi
• Design Any Pylsy
• Tättälän Tila, www.kolumbus.fi/tattalan.tila

For more information about Laatumerkki, please check out their website.

Finnish Fashion in Japan

The Finnish Institute in Japan will be introducing some of the top fashion names and brands in Finland. An exhibition called "Finland Collection - Fashion Design from the North"  (フィンランド新進ファッションデザイナー展) will take place in Tokyo between 13th and 19th of November at Spiral Omotesando Tokyo.

The show will feature the following Finnish fashion design brands.

IVANA Helsinki, the people behind fennofolk movement, with designer Paola Suhonen and Pirjo Suhonen

Lustwear, a two sisters' design company known for their ecological design principles.

Hanna Sarén,  a well-known artist with clothing and bags for men and women.

Naoto Niidome, a Finnish-Japanese designer introdusing his Koivikko cosmetics line, made out of Finnish birch sap.

Tiia Vanhatapio, an awarded young designer for women's and baby fashion.

St. Vacant, a shoe brand with unique sneakers and made-to-fit shoes.

Besides the exhibition, these designers have other activities. Naoto Niidome and IVANA Helsinki will have a VIP-show at the Finnish Embassy. Paola and Pirjo Suhonen will be lecturing at Bunka Fashion College and at Finland Café  2006 event.

For all those interested in Finland and Finnish design and close to Tokio - don't miss this great opportunity!

Vepsäläinen to Resell Ivana Helsinki

Vepsäläinen is the largest design furniture store chain in Finland with over 20 stores in larger cities of Finland. They carry large selection of well-known Finnish and international brands.

Ivana Helsinki, number one in fennofolk, and Vepsäläinen have agreed on reselling Ivana's home and office ranges. The selection will have bed linnen, binders, notebooks, photo albums, CD case, pen cases etc. with recognizable prints such as Tiira, HEMMA, Ponitarha (Ponygarden), Tent and Butterfly.

In the beginning, Ivana Helsinki product can be purchased from Helsinki (Ring III), Oulu, Turku, Tampe, Vaasa and Jyväskylä stores.

As a novelty, HEMMA notebook is the first product that will have Butterfly print in it. Butterfly will be seen more widely in Ivana's 2007 Dead Butterfliest collection.

Art Supermarket Pikasso

In September a very interesting and innovative project took place in Helsinki - a supermarket selling modern art.

The project called Taidesupermarket Pikasso was really a supermarket. It was set up in a former supermarket with the original shelves and counters, shopping baskets and trolleys - they even had sale during the last days!

Pikasso started with a huge media campaign. They promised to give out 100 pieces of art to first visitors. And they were surprised - a line of over 100 meters for the opening day! There were not enough for all who came to get theirs.

Pikasso featured almost 100 different artists from Finland and abroad. The most expensive work was Andy Warhol's Campbell Soup graphic for 35,000€ whereas the cheapest items for sale was just couple of euros.  The number of visitors is said to have almost reached those of Kiasma, Helsinki Museum of Contemporary Art. As for sales, they reached par for monthly sales of top galleries in Finland.

The tho gentlemen behind this innovation are artist Jani Leinonen and marketing executive Jukka Kurttila. Jani Leinonen is one of the hot young artists in Finland with multiple very successful projects, and Jukka Kurttila is a successful marketer from Bob Helsinki, one of the most innovative marketing agencies in Finland.

I talked with Jani Leinonen and Jukka Kurttila about the birth of the project. They said it all started from a dilemma, that ordinary people feel it's very unconvenient to visit art galleries. Galleries have an image of being targeted towards the small group of art connoiseurs. Thus, the wanted to bring art closer to environment that is familiar to everyone. So they thought supermarket.

In Pikasso there were also much larger selection and variety of work available than in galleries. You needn't know whose work you want - just go browsing in and get pick the ones you like.

Pikasso premises were rented from a supermarket chain, so they still had all the furniture left. All they needed to do was to hang the art and produce some supermarket type signs.

The reactions from people have been very positive. There were more artists offering their works for sale than they could carry. The customers and the media have really loved Pikasso.

It's not yet known what will come out of Pikasso project. Will art be sold at supermarkets in the future? Is the role of art galleries going to change? Who knows.

Anyway , buying art was certainly much more accessible than before.

Kalevala Koru Goes Movies

Kalevala Koru just announced their first ever collaboration project with film industry. A limited edition pendant "Jadesoturi" l inks to the story of a new Finnish movie called Jade Warrior.

Jade Warrior's story links the Finnish epic story Kalevala with Chinese mythologies, creating a love story with combination of Kung Fu and fantasy.

Jadesoturi bronze pendant consists of flames from Kalevala in a shape of a wheel, a Chinese symbol of eternity. The text "Jadesoture (Jade warrior)" is included in Mandarin (Chinese) writing.

Jadesoture pendant is designed by Mari Saari, and will be available only for a limited period of time.

I personally believe this will be a collector's item, since the movie has been sold for commercial distribution in over 30 countries so far.

The Last Knit - a New Way to See Modern Finnish Design

In my view, design can be seen very widely. That's why I decided to include a great piece of modern design from Finland - 3D animation.

The Last Knit is one of the most viewed submissions in YouTube.com. Laura Neuvonen is behind this great 6:45 long animation, which has been shortlisted for Cartoon D'Or award, ie. the best animation in Europe.

The film is produced by Anima Vitae, which is known for it's great animation productions for TV and commercials. Their works are actually very well known in Finland.

I believe Anima Vitae and Laura Neuvonen will be the next 3D animation superstars. Just watch and see...

Since Typepad is not allowing me to embed YouTube content, here's the link to The Last Knit

Ivana Helsinki Private Shopping in Helsinki

All you Ivana Helsinki lovers - here's another reason to come and visit Helsinki!

Ivana Helsinki, the evangelist of fennofolk style, is opening a private shopping premises near downtown Helsinki, in Kallio. Kallio is a rough neighbourhood favoured by students and creative people as  well as alcoholics and drug addicts . And it all takes place in the apartment where designer Paola Suhonen used to live. This is a first time in Finnish clothing scene, where a specific property is dedicated for private shopping.  Here's the details:

IVANAhelsinki has a marginal but loyal following worldwide, including people like Helena Christensen, Nina Persson (Cardigans), Eva Röse and Mew. Now the label is taking intimacy to a new level. Founder, designer Paola Suhonen will open her soon-to-be-ex-home to IVANAhelsinki clients.

What makes this concept unique, is the level of trust. Ten (10) keys will be available for anyone for two weeks at a time. During this time, the keeper of a key may go shopping to IVANAhelsinki Kallio store whenever (s)he wants – 24/7. Alone.

The idea is that future luxury shopping is not about presence but about giving people the time and space to do their shopping without surveillance and free of formal opening hours. IVANAhelsinki believes in the atmosphere of a home as a shopping stimulation. You may take along friends or maybe just visit alone and make some tea while peacefully checking out and trying the collection.

Should a customer of the store want to purchase items, all (s)he has to do is write down the specifics in a notebook and take the shopping with her. Invoice will be sent afterwards.

Though the new store will mainly be marketed to loyal customers, basically anyone can have a key. There’s a sales person present part of the week: Wed-Fri 12 -6pm and Sat 12-4 pm and at those times the store is open to anyone. (The only trick is to call a mobile number to get into the second floor apartment). Other times the store is solely for the keepers of the key. Should they need assistance, they have the number they can call.

This concept is an intriguing opening in retail. It suggests that “service overdose” is not the best way to serve demanding customers. It believes in people wanting independence, privacy and intimacy in creating their own personal style. To follow the same ideology, IVANAhelsinki believes in everybody being their own stylist: there’s no need for readily thought out, coordinated combinations. A person’s style is like an everchanging puzzle that people put together all their lives: something second hand, something borrowed from grandmother’s wardrobe, something ultra expensive and something homecrafted, perhaps. Certain refreshing roughness has entered the universe of design labels.

Ivana Helsinki Kallio Store is open from TODAY. All fans celebrate! The address is Franzeninkatu 21 A 7 - but you need to get the key or know the number...

This text contains excepts of a text written by Anna Moilanen to the Future Laboratory's Autumn06 Trends Newsletter. All pictures courtesy of Ivana Helsinki