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.