Joining forces

Design agency TSTO combines illustrative artistic expession with the practical mindset of graphic design.

Text Maiju Malk
Photos Kaarle Hurtig

Mr. Unknown

”I have hundreds of songs in the drawer, but right now I have at least three or four really good tracks that I want to publish post haste. The new material will be deeper and more techno than my previous club tracks”, says music producer Ercola.

Text Teemu Fiilin
Photos Mikko Ryhänen

Portfolio: Musuta Ltd.

Musuta Ltd. burst into design-oriented minds in June 2010, when they won the coveted Gold Lion award at Cannes International Advertising Festival.

Text Heini Lehtinen

Tokyo story

For a long time, Finns have been said to share with the Japanese an affection with simple shapes and basic colors. Scandinavian design has been popular in Japan for over a decade, and its popularity doesn’t seem to be fading. The Hirameki project, set for launch in Tokyo in October, aims to keep it that way.

Text Heini Lehtinen
Photos Anders Westerholm

Bright white

Skanno kicked off the new decade by launching a concept store, designed by Anna Katriina Tilli, in downtown Helsinki. At the same time, the company is heading into the international furniture market with their own collection.

Text Heini Lehtinen
Photos Juuso Noronkoski

Technological creativity and the love of natural forms

By Kivi Sotamaa

Just like the electric guitar and Jimi Hendrix created a new psychedelic sound in the 1960s, computers and the manufacturing robots they control are now enabling the discovery of new forms of expression in architecture and design for the third millennium.

Photos Juuso Noronkoski

Popping up in London

In London’s temporary restaurant Hel Yes! you can enjoy traditional Finnish food from a recycled plate beneath trembling aspens from 16 September–3 October 2010.

Text Ville Aalto
Illustration Klaus Haapaniemi
Photos Adam Laycock

Media play

Media art festival Media Façades, coming to Finland for the first time, plays with media interfaces. Among other things, the festival will bring interactive media pieces and projections to Helsinki nights.

Text Petteri Kainulainen
Images Media Façades / m-cult

Towards WDC 2012: A piece of a new world

Hub Helsinki organized a World Design Capital 2012 brainstorming day in Helsinki at the end of May. During Helsinki Design Week, it is exploring urban gardens and communal construction. What Hub Helsinki?

Text Heini Lehtinen
Photos Tanja Korvenmaa

By OK Do: Design disease

The terms ‘design’ or ‘the world of design’ bring us anguish, but it’s hard to see a way out besides creating your own sphere within the terms. What is it about design that makes us sick?

Text Anni Puolakka & Jenna Sutela
Illustration Rami Niemi

SlowHill: Muzak

SlowHill relies on the same sound as on their previous albums: meditative woodwinds, tranquil trip hop beats, gentle keyboard harmonies and jazzy guitars.

Text Teemu Fiilin

Kap Kap: Holy Are You

Kap Kap gets most of its influences from 1960s–1970s hypnotic krautrock, but the final product contains also traces of Ennio Morricone’s epic movie themes, Giorgio Moroder’s synth sounds and Primal Scream rock mysticism.

Text Teemu Fiilin

Superjanne: Munkkisaari

Named after the rapper-singer-producer-songwriter Superjanne’s native Helsinki district, Munkkisaari is a down-to-earth record that doesn’t beat around the bush.

Text Teemu Fiilin

Shine 2009: Associates EP

Shine 2009 combines the spirit of Gothenburg’s balearic pop bands like with the wild years of Ibiza and the Madchester mania.

Text Teemu Fiilin