Post 19. Finnish Santa Claus

Ciao tutti,

So this is the last post for my blog during our course. As also the Christmas is getting closer and closer I want to introduce to you one of the most known persons of Finland - SANTA CLAUS. I am sure everyone of you knows who he is and what he does. The man behind the modern Santa is believed to be bishop Saint Nicholaus, who died on the 6th of December in 345 or 352. His hometown was Anatolia in Turkey and he was a well-known philantrophist. He also was a tutelary of sailors and merchants. After he died, his reputation spread to the Mediterranean sea and to the Atlantic area.

Usually Santa Claus is pictured as kind, red hat, big belly, old man, who has a white massive beard. Santa's origin is nowadays naturally in Korvatunturi at Arctic circle in Finland!!! From there Santa delivers presents to all good kids in the world every Christmas.

The designer of the moderns Santa Claus is an American artist Haddon Sundblom, who had strong Scandinavian roots as well - his dad was Finnish and mom Swedish. The picture of Santa was designed for the Coca-Cola company in the 1930s.

Buon Natale, hou hou hou! And remember to behave good, because the Santa is watching!

Post 18. Young finnish designer in 2008.

The young finnish designer-prize was given to two designers in year 2008: Nathalie Lahdenmäki (born 1974) and Naoto Niidome (born 1974). Both of these young designers have been studying in the University of Art and Design in Helsinki: Nathalie studied in glass- and ceramics section and Naoto in furniture deisgn section.

In addition to this, Niidome has studied clothing design. This veratile designer has worked so far within furniture design, clothing design, graphic design and unique items. In his work he has combined ideas and materials in a fresh way, for example "dressing up" furnitures instead of sheathing them.

Nathalie Lahdemäki uses ceramics and glass as her materials. Lahdenmaki's sophisticated and sensitive way of working has created from old materials new unique items. Nathalie also teaches product design in the University of Art and design.

The jury justificated their desicion about the winners by declaring that these designers are very promising for the future as well. Their eork is done with careful touch without going to the extremes. The result is original and suprising design. Their products are not shouting but they have something deeply spiritual in them. Both of the deisgners have also worked for famous Finnish companies as Iittala and Marimekka. Also both of these deisgners are half Fnnish: Lahdenmaki half french and Niidome half japanese. They represent in their production traditional finnish design - clear and pre lines

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This picture on the right represents Niidome's production for Marimekko. In the picture above you can see Lahdenmäki's work for finnish comapny Iittala.

Post 17. Young finnish designer-prize

Ciao,

since I have now written about finnish design overall, starting from its foundations leading to the future of finnish design, I would like to introduce to you a prize which is given to a talented young designer/designers yearly, Vuoden nuori muotoilija (the young finnish designer-prize).

The prize is given to a designer, who has shown exceptional, original and high-class expertise in the field of arts and crafts, applied arts, industrial design, grafic design or interior architecture. The purpose of this prize is to inspire young designers to rigorous and original working.

The prize can be given to a person, people or a group, which has/have shown new creative point of view and expertise in the field of design. The amount if the prize is 5 000 euros and it also includes an exhibition in the premises of Design Forum Finland, which is the organization behind this prize. The prize was first introduced in year 2000 and it has been handed out since then almost yearly.

The winners of the prize starting from the year 2000 have been designers Harri Koskinen and Ilkka Suppanen (2000), interioir architect Karola Sahi and architect Eeva Lithovius (2001), designer and carpenter Tuuli Autio and silversmith Pyry Tamminen (2002), graphic designers Antti Hinkula and Teemu Suviala (2005), industrial designer Jukka Korpihete and furniture designer Mikko Paakkanen (2006) and shoe designer Julia Lundsten and designer Janne Kyttänen (2007). I am sure these names are still to be heard of!!!

In my next post I will introduce to you the winners of the year 2008. In the picture above, there is a K-chair designed by the first Vuoden nuori muotoilija-prize winner. Harri Koskinen The chair is available in different colors and sizes. The chair is designed for the company Woodnotes. At the international furniture fair (IMM) in January 2004, k chair was granted an interioir innovation award.

Post 16. The future

The continuity of Finnish design’s success lies is in education and young designers. Since the late 1980s, young designers have brought a breath of fresh air to the sector. Experiments with materials, new kinds of housing concepts and a new way of life have been given new forms in implementation.

Prizes and competitions are used to support improvements in the field of design and to raise the profile of high-quality products. The Fennia Prize competition is the biggest international design competition held in Finland. The first prize is 25,000 euros and it is held every two years. In the past ten years, the competition has established its place and brought out a number of success stories from widely differing fields of manufacturing. Another important prize is the annual Kaj Franck Design Prize, which is presented to a distinguished designer for his or her life’s work.

Design is important both culturally and in economic terms. Its cultural significance is in creating a national and individual identity. Design is also a part of the memory and history. The cheerful 1960s fabrics of Marimekko were a part of many Finns’ youth and their parents’ generation have cherished memories of meals on Kilta tableware. For the young people of today, Nokia’s mobile phones are everyday tools. In a broader perspective, Finland is known around the world for a handful of things: Alvar Aalto, Jean Sibelius, Finnish design, and nowadays also Nokia and other technological firms.

In global competition, images, stories, myths and reputations have their place. They all contribute to a strong image of capability and long tradition. They also reflect originality and uniqueness; qualities with which exports of Finnish products are boosted. The economic importance of design is comprised of the strength of its cultural importance. In the final analysis, cultural strength springs from perceptive design – and is therefore in the hands of the skilful designer. Products today are usually backed by a team of highly skilled professionals, experts in their own specialisations – it is precisely their vision and skills that will create the successful designs of tomorrow.

Success embraces trust. Thus trust can be built only through reality and attainments. The products and attainments of Finnish industry foster international trust, which is the core of companies’ success. Finnish design is one part of this concatenation of expertise, trust and success. But strangely – because of its already strong myth!

Picture above: EgO cup (1998) Designed by Stefan Lindfors for Arabia

Source for the story of Finnish design: http://virtual.finland.fi

Post 15. The success

Success comes from reputation. The cornerstone of the reputation is always what is already being done and real products and actions. A reputation generates trust, which in turn contributes success to a business. Although the myth of Finnish design is history, its reputation has been joined by a new factor that supports it: high technology. As a leading IT country, Finland’s industry has perceptively linked state-of-the-art technology with excellent design – which has given rise to new international success stories.

The achievement of success by Finnish design in the late 1990s and later in the 21st century has required companies to have strong expertise and brand-building as well as necessitating support from the state. The Design 2005! programme was issued in 2000 with the aims of improving design education and research and of internationalising design firms. Another mission is to encourage more small and medium-sized companies to use design services holistically in their businesses.

Iittala has developed a new, lifestyle-based concept for marketing and product design. This is particularly aimed at the young consumers and the global market. International designers are nowadays used for some of iittala’s products. In the picture above, there is one of the most known design of Iittala, Mariskooli.

Post 14. The reputation

Over the years, the myth changed into an international reputation of our design. Arctic exoticism gradually gave way to an image of Finnish design. The image of our industrial arts became more everyday but more realistic, and it took on new aspects. Finnish design had become a concept. It has a reputation based on its strong history, original styling and high-quality manufacture. The reputation of design also powered the success of industry. Implements originally designed and produced purely for domestic consumption rapidly became sought-after in export markets.

In the 1960s and 70s, Finnish industrial arts were highly exportable. Finland’s heavy industrial exports were joined by Artek, Arabia, Iittala and Marimekko, which went to buyers in North and South America, Europe and Australia.

In the early 1970s, new materials such as plastic and fibreglass brought greater malleability of form and brighter colours to design. However, the first energy crisis of the 1970s brought production of plastic chairs to a halt. Ergonomics and ecology became important criteria for design. In furniture of the 1980s, there was a return to an examination of wood’s attributes, different types of wood and combinations of wood and metal.

In the 1980s, in addition to industrial arts, other types of industrial manufactures – such as capital goods – began to use more design in the product development stage. Industrial design gradually began to increase its share relative to that of the traditional industrial arts. The tendency was to move away from the central role of artist-designers and towards product development teams in which the designer was one of the specialists. In spite of the economic recession in the 1990s, this trend continued. Technology and metal industry companies began to use industrial designers and to pay greater attention to industrial design as a part of product development and the corporate strategy. In the 1990s, a clutch of global brands emerged, among them Nokia, Suunto, Metsopaper (Valmet), Ponsse, and Polar, whose reputations are still in the forefront globally.

The reputation of Finnish design has also helped young designers with their internationalisation. The rise of the University of Art and Design to become one of Europe’s leading colleges of its kind has greatly supported this trend.

Post 13. The myth

The myth of Fnnish design was created in most respects in the 1950s. Its foundations was the Romantic movement at the turn of the century which had made industrial arts, part of the creative culture, along with architecture and the fine arts. The late 19th century also marked the beginnig of systematic action to promote industrial arts and craft, as a result of which the Finnish Society of Crafts and Design was founded in 1875.

Following the Second World War, Finland needed a new and modern identity, as vast numbers of people left the countryside for the cities, trade and industry restructured, and the climate of international politics cahnged. Together with industry, designers responded to the challenge of the times and began to build a new-style, modern everyday life and an international image of Finland. The Finnish Society of Crafts and Design created the Finnish section at the Milan Triennales of the 1950s and 60s. Many products that were designed then, are still in production. The most famous designers at that time were Tapio Wirkkala, Timo Sarpaneva and Kaj Franck. Also Alvar Aalto had designed innovative furniture and new kinds of glassware since the 1930s, attracting attention in the international arena. His most famous products were his three-legged stool from 1933 and the Aalto vase from 1936.

Myths are born of stories, which are often varied as necessary. The myth of Finnish design began with Eliel Saarinen’s national-style interiors and Aalto’s functionalist furniture, progressing towards Wirkkala’s somewhat more romantic style and the sculptural forms of Sarpaneva. The legend of Finland's struggle against the forces of nature and the pressures of history provided a basis for marketing design with mythical elements: snow, ice, forests, lakes, the summer of light and sisu (perseverance) were an inspiration to designers. In the 50s and 60s, the Finnish national identity was internationally built up largely through design, architecture and music. The images arising from this made Finland stand out between East and West and created a unique identity for it. Distinctive industrial arts became an export also in an imaginative sense. The myth of Finnish design was complete.

The myth of Finnish design parallels another strong legend originating in the 1950s, Scandinavian design, a term applied to the entire modern industrial arts of the Nordic countries (Finland, Sweden and Denmark). This concept was built up consciously through international touring exhibitions by the Finnish Society of Crafts and Design. The most important of the exhibitions was Design in Scandinavia, which toured the U.S. 1954-57 and was seen by more than a million people. Scandinavian Design is still today an internationally recognised and strong brand.

In the picture above, you can see Tapio Wirkkala's series of five bottles (designed in 1968 for Venini). These bottles are made with "Incalmo" technique wherein two different tyoes of glass, worked separately, are fused together to obtain, with a single object, separate areas differentiated by colors. The price of these bottles is 7380 $.

Post 12. The story of finnish design

Ciao ragazzi,

My next few posts are going to be about finnish design overall. Finnish design is very higly valued and known all over the world. Design of finnish companies is more and more the major success factor of them.The story of Finnish design is also part of the background to this success. First the myth of Finnish design was built, generating the international reputation of our design, which is still today the cornerstone of Finnish design’s success.

According to international studies, Finnish industry today is among the front rank for competitiveness: state-of-the-art, information technology and high levels of innovation, combined with excellent research and education, create a strong competitive edge and a basis for industrial success now and in the future. In the 21st century, an increasingly important part of this overall competitiveness of companies has been played by industrial design and the added value it confers: it is frequently what makes a product the first choiceof a consumer.

My next posts are going to be about the myth of finnish design turning into a success and reputation. The last post concerning this subject will be about the future expectations.

Have fun diving into the miraculous world of finnish design with me!!

Post 11. Alvar Aalto

Ciao everyone,

as I have been very busy with my mid terms for the couple of last weeks, I have not been updating my blog during that time. However, now I am back to business and will present you maybe the most famous designer of Finland, Alvar Aalto, and some of his works. Alvar Aalto was born in 1898 and died in year 1976. He was a finnish architect, designer and academician.

His most famous works are for example Finlandia-house in Helsinki, Villa Mairea and Culture house in Helsinki. Aalto absorbed functionalism in his designing and stressed especially the meaning of humanity and social conscious. Typical for Aalto's buildings were white, geometrically simple walls and structures which made the buildings look like light. After the big wars Aalto changed his style to more humane and down-to-earth direction.

Maybe the most famous design of Aalto, the Finlandia-house, is many times critizised of the material used which is marble. This is because marble is not very suitable for finnish climate and because it affects negatively the acoustic features of the building.

Post 10. Xpress Music

Hello

Above you can see some recent design of Nokia. It is Nokia's music phone Xpress music. Since Apple introduced it's iPhone, Nokia's answer to this was Xpress Music. In this phone, regarding to the model, you can fit for example 3000 songs and enjoy up to 22 hours of music playback with headset. Nokia tells that you can listen with absolute clarity of sound thanks to the dedicated audio chip.

With this phone, you can also watch videos from a wide screen displayin 16 million colors and enjoy the video playback of almost dvd quality. Naturally this phone also includes high quality camera with flash. You can also call video calls so that you can see who you are calling and they can see you.

Also, I am sure that this phone is more comfortable to use than iPhone which is many times described to be a bit complicated. Also Nokia's music phones are mostly in a lower price range than Apple's so obviously they are more affordable. Which one would you choose?

Post 9. Nokia design

Hi all,

Now I want to introduce you the proud of Finland. The company is the most succesful finnish company which has ever existed. As many of you may already know, the company is called Nokia. And no, it is not from japan! Nokia-name comes from a small city in Finland - Nokia - where the company was born. First producing many other things such as rubber boots or televisions, Nokia introduced its first portable mobile phone for GSM networks in year 1992., which is seen in the picture above (model Nokia 1011). After that the growth rate of the market has been extremely high. Now Nokia is for sure the most known mobile phone producer in the world. The strenghts are basically the wide product range and the design which in this case means both, the aesthetics as well as the easy-to-use-feature. So Nokia produces mobile phones for every price category and for every different demand. Also the phones are designed to be as easy to use as possible.

At Nokia, design is the fundamental building block of the brand. It is central to their product creation and it is a core competence integrated into the entire company. Nokia is a global company, which employs designers from different cultures and backgrounds, representing the needs and desires of people all around the world. Nokia design works as a global network of multi-disciplinary teams. Together with consumer research, marketing, engineerking and technology experts, they explore and create solutions where design, technology and ease of use are combined. They give physical presence, identifiable characteristics and a contemporary look to the Nokia brand.

A mobile phone, device or enhancement is much more than a piece of electronics: it is a personal object. You keep it close to you, you tell it personal and intimate things, you use it when and where you want. It reflects your mood and personality and is in tune with your interests and attitudes. All of this separates it from the world of wired products, fixed locations and the convetions of how things have been done. All this makes it an object that embraces innovation and design and is a reflection of the changing lives we live.

Throughout history, craftsmen and designers have strived to produce objects, which satisfy both our functional and emotional needs. Achieving this human need with real balance and harmony continues to be a driver and inspiration to Nokia's designers. This approach has allowed Nokia to lead design innovation within the mobile phone industry. Nokia designs products for a broad portfolio, addressing the needs of different markets and users, and encompassing different technologies and protocols. The look of each Nokia device is the result of a combined creative and functional mission.The end-result is a unified and harmonious solution matching emerging user needs with various evolving technologies.

Less than a decade ago all mobile phones were black. Then Nokia introduced color to the priducts and everything changed. The mobile phone suddenly became the statement of one's personal style, communicating more about the owner's identity than any electronic product had before. Nokia was the first company to introduce removable covers, enabling people to personalize the look of their phone in seconds. Continuing to pioneer new forms of personalization and communication Nokia introduced ring tones, graphics, downloadable applications, text messaging, and multimedia messaging between devices.

The future will continue to bring further convergent digital capabilities to a variety of new mobile devices, each with different primary functionality. It will increasingly be about personal preferences, and the devices will be tailored to meet individual style, communication, services and entertainment needs. Nokia's design principles remain as relevant to this future vision for Nokia as they do today, and combined with the Nokia brand attributes, will continue to guide them.

In my next post, I am going to write about Nokia's answer to the Apple's iPhone, Music Xpress mobile phone. Till then I wish you all a plesent weekend!! CIAOO!

Post 8. Comfort versus La Bella Figura

The first day I walked through the hallways of Bocconi University, I noticed it right away. You can see it from the faces of people, by listening to them, from the way they dress up, from their shoes. It is even more obvious, I had thought before. And I love it. It is something what so strongly distinguishes people in Italy from those in Finland. What am I talking about? It is the above all sense of beauty. It is something so stereotypical italian. It is something that defines the meaning of existence for them: the most important thing is la bella figura: it means how things look like, not how they really are.

The reason I brought this up is that I wanted to link my previous and still coming posts together. I want to define them some common features and what would be a better way than to mirror the finnish design to the italian one. These two perceptions of design and beauty are stereotypically very contrary.

At first, when you look at a chair designed by a finnish designer and then a chair made by italian designer, the difference is significant. You can see right away which one is designed to be comfortable and which one is supposed to look marvellous and something that is luxorious.

First, here is a SWING-armchair designed ny HT-collection, which is a finnish furniture company. You can clearly see that this chair is meant to be comfortable and also the design is very simple. The chair is calling you to sit on it.

On the contrary, here is TERMINAL-chair/daybed designed by B&B Italy. This piece of furniture is clearly something that catches the attention. Since it is made of hard materials, it is not meant to be that comfortable. Also, the design is not symmetric nor simple. Quite a difference compared to the SWING-armchair.

So traditionally finnish design is something that is comfortable and beautiful in a simple way. Finnish people furnish their houses to be places where you feel cosy and where you can relax. Also the colours are usually harmonic and not very bright. It is just that way the finns have always done it.

You can see the difference also on the streets. People dress up in a pretty neutral way. One of the most visible ways of seeking the comfortableness is the shoes. When on the streets of Milan, you can see high heels in feet of every second woman, in Finland the amount could be one of five or even smaller. In Italy, it is normal that women wear heels and as they have always been doing it, it is not even a guestion of suffering for beauty any more. In Finland many women think that they don't want to wear high heels because they are not comfortable and because it is not an every day thing. The heels are digged from the closet, when it is the time to celebrate.

In my next post, I will continue the discussion of comfortableness and extend it to the easy-to-use. I will introduce you the most famous finnish company, Nokia, and its strenghts - why it is so succesfull.

Post 7. IVANAHelsinki and fashion week of Paris, October 2008

IVANAHelsinki arranged its official fashion show for the second time in the fashion week of Paris in October this year (2008). This time IVANAHelsinki was already something more than just a new-comer in the fashion field. The show was notified in many international medias, like in magazines such as International Herald Tribune and Le Monde.

International Herald Tribune made an interwiev of the designer of the brand Paola Suhonen and Le Monde chose IVANAHelsinki as an example of the internationalization of the fashion week. Also British Telegraph chose pictures of their show to the picture gallery of the magazine.

IVANAHelsinki is also cooperating with a british cloth chain, Topshop. IVANAHelsinki's collection will be in sale in Topshops from the 10th of October on.

Post 6. Paola Suhonen and IVANAhelsinki

Hi everyone!

As for the last two times I was writing about a classic finnish design company, Marimekko, which has been operating already for decades, I will continue with a new-comer to the same field of business. I want to introduce to you a young, promising finnish designer, Paola Suhonen, and her own, original clothing collection IVANAhelsinki.

So who is this young promise and what does she do? Paola Suhonen is 31 year-old finnish designer and entrepreneur. She is one of the founders of the label IVANAhelsinki and her education background is bachelor of Arts. She has gone a long way to where she is now. Just few examples of that are vocational school and polytechnic in Helsinki, studying designing of clothes in a University, finnish national championship in snowboarding, designing for Italian company Fiorucci as well as for IVANAhelsinki and Nanso (a finnish home textile company).

IVANAhelsinki is expanding all the time to different couuntries throughout the world and last year they had their first fashion show on the fashion week of Milan. No one could claim, this young designer would not be on her way to the top.

So in year 1998, Paola founded IVANAhelsinki together with her sister. This finnish art brand represents a completely new northern style called "Fennofolk". On their website Fennofolk is described like this: "It brings together Slavic melancholity and pure Scandinavian moods with white arctic summer nights and endless winter sadness." For me this describtion is exactly what being finnish and being scandinavian represents.

IVANAhelsinki-name comes from two things. Firstably Paola's second name is Ivana. Secondably she is born and grown in Helsinki. Simple. IVANAhelsinki.

Paola Suhonen is the main designer of this art brand's fashion pieces starting from her dark naive mind-landscapes, northern legends and sagas, doing prints, graphics, short-movies and everything that is involved with the visuals.

IVANAhelsinki is run together by Paola and her older sister Pirjo. Every single IVANAhelsinki piece is ateljee manufactured in Finland. The whole manufacturing system is based on ethical and ecological choices. There are also a lot of hand-made details and traditional Finnish handcraft is featured.

This is what Paola Suhonen has said about their art brand:

"IVANAhelsinki started as my personal art-project, now it is a way of living to us. Hell yeah it's a clichee but that's how it is. I'd rather just travel around and go to my road trips, but it's pretty much ok to do cute, straight cotton and woolen dresses for drummer girls and girl women. They are the ones who love moonlight fields, pirates, dark forests, crummy motels, champagne state of drunkness, fragile butterflies, unstable relationships and guardian angels. After all, I'm sure they are just after love of their lives, just waiting to see, will he be a rock start, a motor biker, a gnome, a cosmonaut or a sailor."

And now I am positive, you are desperate to see what kind of clothes and textiles IVANAhelsinki designs. I will continue in my next post introducing to you some of their textiles more closely. Here for those, who cannot wait to see how they are, a link for IVANAhelsinki's website. Remember to turn the music on to get you into the right mood...

http://www.ivanahelsinki.com

Post 5. Marimekko goes H&M

CIAO!

Since the last time I already started with Marimekko, the great finnish design company, I will continue by discussing Marimekko's collaboration with a swedish fashion company H&M. Last summer H&M launched a whole line of clothes designed by Marimekko. The designes used in fabrics were not nothing new from Marimekko but the designs of clothes were naturally following the newest trends and were aimed to fashionalble young people. The designs H&M used were five different ones from 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. The companies described the line as "happily fresh, like an injection of vitamins".

By agreeing to do this collaboration with H&M, Marimekko also got lots of advantages from it. Firstably, since Marimekko is mostly known from its classic designs and clothes aimed for mostly middle-aged people, H&M clearly changed their image a bit younger. Since H&M is clearly one of the most trendy fashion houses in the world, it helped Marimekko to promote its products also for young people. This act made Marimekko more trendy than in years.

Also, even though Marimekko is well-known company and has expanded to many different countries, H&M made it even more known worldwide. The line of clothes by H&M was presented in 28 different countries. If Marimekko would have done this by itself, it would have taken lot more energy, money and time. By collaborating with H&M Marimekko managed to introduce its designs for wide variety of consumers in a short time.

As I previously presented you the most known desgn, Unikko fabric, by Marimekko, the question rises, if this design was part of the collection made for H&M. The answer is NO. Neither, H&M not Marimekko didn't want to include this design in the collection. H&M didn't even suggest getting the design in the line and Marimekko thinks, people may be even a bit bored with the design since, at least in Finland, it has been shown so much.

Post 4. Marimekko and the fight for the Unikko-design with Dolce&Gabbana

Ciao everyone!

Today I want to introduce you very famous Finnish company, Marimekko. It is a company founded in the 1950s and from there on, it has been one of the most succesfull finnish design companies. The most famous design of Marimekko is Unikko-fabric, which is designed by Maija Isola in 1964. Ironicly, the fabric was designed right after the CEO at that time had announced that the company is never going to design flower fabrics. As a protest for that statement Maija Isola then designed the fabric, from which became a huge success. At this time it is still the most known design of Marimekko and now it is probably more famous than ever. The company owns the patent rights to the use of the Unikko-design.

In June 2008 Dolce&Gabbana had used Unikko-fabric in some of their clothes, for example in shorts and skirts. According to Marimekko, Dolce&Gabbana had used the design without the permission of company. Dolce&Gabbana has applied for the cancellation of the patent for Marimekko's red Unikko-fabric.

It is really interesting to follow the battle of these two companies: Dolce&Gabbana being one of the biggest fashion companies in the world and Marimekko having such a strong position in the world of designing fabrics. The time will show, how this dispute will be solved. However, as a finnish person, my personal opinion is that Marimekko should be justified to keep the Unikko-fabric for itself. Not less because it is really the design which has raised Marimekko to the position, where it is at the moment.

On the right side is a dress from Dolce&Gabbana and on the left side a jacket of Marimekko.
The similarity of the designs is not debatable.

Post 3. About design in general...

Design... it is used to improve the world, to make things simpler. For example new technologies are considered design and they are created to make things happen smoothly. A designer can be considered as a story teller. Designs are stories and the story telling capacity of a designer is the key feature.

Design world is changing nowdays. Design is becoming a commodity, so it is everywhere. Every object in the world is designed by someone. This makes design a thing that belongs to everyone. As before design was considered only as something luxurious, now it is becoming more and more part of normal people's life. Also the design world is changing in terms of its size. It is expanding from North America, Western Europe and Japan to South America, China, India, Southeast Asia and Korea etc. It is also becoming a common thing for people all around the world.

As design is becoming a commodity, it can be described like mass production of specialized products. So, one example of this could be IKEA, since it is designing all of its products and they are ment to be sold for ordinary people. The first thing considered when designing an IKEA product is usually the price and the easiness logistics. Of course the appearance of the product is important as well, but IKEA is strongly realting to these two factors, told here before. We have come far from the perception of design, which meant only luxurious and something that costs a lot.

When creating something totally new, the purpose of design is to arise a new need in a person. Good example of that is Sony Walkman. Before creating this product, people didn't really think, they would need to carry music with them when moving. However, after launching the product, there was no question about if it would be a success or not. Now people needed to get the music with them everywhere they went.

Design doesn't happen over-night. It needs lots of time and a concept like a "child-wonder" is not very common when talking about design. From the idea till the actual launching of a product, the time line can be tens of years. However, we have a exception here as well, if we consider music as design. Especially these days, when popular music changes so quickly, the time line has to be short, in order for it be succesfull.

The last question about design considered here is, if it is about passion or about money. Naturally, nothing is possible without finance. However, it is not possible to design anything really succesfull without the passion to do it. Basically, both are needed and the balance between design (idealism) and finance has to there. It is very fragile, but there is no way one could survive without another.

Post 2. Savoy vase by Alvar Aalto

Savoy vase by Alvar Aalto is an object that represents me the finnish design in its purest form. The shape of the vase is simple but extremely interesting. I think it reflects the water, because it reminds me of floating waves. Since in Finland we have more than 187 888 lakes, the vase represents deeply my perception of the finnish nature.

Post 1. Finnish nature

Hello everyone!

So this is my blog. It is about finnish design. I chose this subject, because I love my country and I also want to show you why it is so amazing. I think the environment people live in affects their way of thinking. Also, their way of thinking affects the kind of design they prefer. Finnish design is traditionally very restrained and down-to-earth. The colours are natural, not too bright, and the shapes are simple. I think this comes from the finnish nature - the most beautiful thing in the world.