This is part II of 5+1 series. Originally the idea was to gather some sort of mix'n'match selection of (hopefully somehow design-related) links that would be posted on Werklig site every Friday. However, this week we have Easter coming up so I had to do this already on Thursday. Anyways, here goes! 

1. First, some interiors and architecture. Why all public spaces (especially in Finland) are so dull? It's all lame light gray, light green, light yellow and cherry/beech laminate. Why can't they look like the Achievement First Endeavor Middle School in Brooklyn designed by Pentagram? If there's an architect reading our blog, please feel free to comment.
2. House Industries has released a new font called "Eames". Not too bad. Surprisingly I seem to like even the Stencil version, which is odd.
3. This is just great: "Movie Title Stills Collection". You should also check out a documentary about film music on Yle Teema next Sunday (L'Age d'or de la musique de film).
4. The Story of O (in design, people).
5. I bet you didn't know this about banknote patterns.
+ and finally, some zen letterpress stuff here and here. Sit down, watch and enjoy.

Happy Easter!
 

(Picture courtesy of Pentagram) 

 

Finland’s competitiveness and the well-being of its people depend on deep, broad-ranging changes. Sitra engages in foresight activities and advances these changes in cooperation with other actors. Through programmes and strategic processes, Sitra grasps the challenges that are most crucial for Finland. Sitra is an independent public foundation with a mission to build a successful Finland for tomorrow.

 

Low2No  – A Sustainable Development Design Competition

"The Low2No competition seeks comprehensive solutions to low/no carbon and energy efficient building solutions. The sustainable development design competition aims at showing that the national and international targets for lowering CO2 emissions and improving energy efficiency can be reached and even outperformed, while producing an economically sustainable and high architectural environment. The competition hopes that it can also help contribute to the cooperation between Finnish and international experts in different fields. The competition also encourages cities and communities to set more ambitious targets in developing new areas and to adopt new business models in planning."

The results of Low2No competition were gathered in a publication – and Werklig was chosen to do the design for it. The competition had some existing design elements in use: the Low2No "logo" (a pie-hart-like symbol) and some basic colours and typographic settings, so these factors needed to be taken into account. The existing elements were then mixed with some new ones, creating an interesting - but at the same time consistent - visual identity for the publication and Low2No competition itself.

The publication contains summaries of five awarded Low2No competition entries. These entries needed to be shown as they firts were presented for the jury (without any modifications). This was a big challenge, as the entries contained a lot of graphic data that had to be fitted in the publication, requiring a lot of reproduction work and layout planning. Also, it required some amounts of research to find proper paper and printing techiques to make the publication  as carbon-free as possible (honouring the competiton theme itself). 

You may take a look at online version of Low2No publication here.

 

Low2No publication cover




Cover details












Publication details

Here are 5+1 casual goodies gathered from the web for your Friday amusement. Surf on!

1. The Museum of Modern Art has acquired the @ symbol. At least that's what they say.
2. A Collection a Day. Very nice.
3. Roel Wouters. Check out the Grip-video for starters.
4. I want one of these. I don't know what for and why, but I do.  If I'd have a dog, I'd want one of these, too.
5. Meanwhile in Japan, Isamu Noguchi has set new cool standards for parks.
+ and as a bonus: something creepy, funny and strange in a blog that has a rude name. 

Have a great weekend! 

"The Finnish Catwalk is a meeting place for fashion experts and a means of giving the fashion industry and companies widespread media visibility. Leading fashion and accessory brands, both Finnish and non-Finnish, are invited to come and display at this fair: manufacturers, designers, importers and agents."

The aim of Finnish Catwalk, the biggest for fashion professionals, is to boost sales and marketing by innovative means and to establish contact with new clients. The next Finnish Catwalk event is to be held at Wanha Satama in Helsinki on January 30–31st 2010.

Werklig gave the 2010 event a facelift, including i.e. illustration, logo design and typography renewal.

As the client desired, previous years' visual identity was taken as a starting point for the facelift. This meant that a female silhoutte figure had to play a main role in the identity. To support illustration - and also to emphasize "2010-11" theme - an additional logo for the event was created.
 

 

2010-11 event logo




Illustration, used on white background




Illustration, used on black background




Illustration detail

More illustration details. A painstakingly high number of working hours were spent to create this high-quality multilayered illustration (from bits and pieces). But it was worth it! 

 

VIP Invitation

Invitation and customer cards. These include a hidden surprise – unfold and see it. 




Promotional posters

 

 

Avoine is the first Finnish IT company to focus solely on the Finnish third sector. Avoine's existing customers include the biggest unions and associations in Finland, such as Palvelualojen ammattiliitto PAM, Pardia, Rakennusliitto, SAK, Suomen Liikunta ja Urheilu SLU, Tehy, National Coalition Party and The Finnish Social Democratic Party.

Werklig created Avoine's new visual identity, including logo, colours and typography. Main design drivers for the visual concept were openess, freshness and usability.

Werklig also assisted in creating the encapsulation of Avoine’s core marketing message. As the foundation of all communication, it’s based on the central, distinctive and enduring features of Avoine.  

Avoine business cards




Avoine identity guidelines


You may read more about the concept here (blog of Jukka Helin, Avoine Marketing Manager)

Pyynikki swimming hall in Tampere was opened in 1956 and it has been under renovation since 2007. It is one of the oldest swimming halls in Finland. The swimming hall was designed by architect Harry W. Schreck, assisted by architects Olavi Suvitie and Taito Uusitalo. Once a beautiful example of Finnish 50's modernist architecture is now in a really, really shabby condition.

50's charm in its full glory. Oh joy! Absolutely fantastic details and finish (Photos courtesy of Arkkitehtitoimisto Harry W. Schreck).

Current decay of the swimming hall. Oh dear.


Unfortunately the renovation has been apparently been delayed for some time. But there are happy news! While waiting for complete makeover, the hall will be temporarily transformed into a theater venue in spring 2010 by Teatteri Siperia.

Press release photos, courtesy of Yle / Petri Aaltonen.
(Check out Yle's story about the project, too)

The play "Pää edellä" ("Head first", roughly translated) will be premiered on February 12th, 2010. The project includes also other functions, such as art exhibition, discussions and educational events. You may read more about the project from projects website or from Teatteri Siperia's website (in Finnish). Let's hope that activation of the swimming hall space will put some speed also to the renovation plans.

Pää edellä poster (original photo by Jukka Salminen, Tiikerikuva).

Posters, leaflets, ourtdoor advertising and other pr-material were created by Anssi from Werklig. You may check out older Teatteri Siperia stuff at our Work-section, too.

Werklig staff created three unique posters representing our new home neighbourhood, Kruununhaka, for last week's housewarming party. All posters are 50x70 in size and they have one spot ink offset-printed on uncoated 150g/m2 quality paper. All in Werklig-colours, of course.

The posters were handed to our beloved party guests as a giveaway. However, there are still some posters left. Come and get 'em! Just drop us a line and/or pay a visit to Werklig office, we'll provide you with a set.

Kaamos design group has an exhibition at Esplanadi in Helsinki. Very fresh choice for a "gallery" space indeed. The exhibition is open still today and tomorrow (4.-5.9.2009) at Espan lava, Pohjoisesplanadi 19. Good stuff! Go!

Exhibition graphics by Erik Bertell (photo: Tiina Närkki)

"Hely" pendant lamp by Katriina Nuutinen (photo: Sirpa Kinnunen)

"Kide" pendant lamp by Anna Palomaa (photo: Sirpa Kinnunen). Made out of sugar!

Teatteri Siperia's new play, "Valitut" (The Chosen Ones) will be premiered on 1st of September."Valitut" is a avant-gardish in form: it's a triptych, consisting of three different stories in different style and era. Read more, book tickets and check it out!

Naturally the poster, brochures, flyers and t-shirts were made by Anssi from Werklig.

Photo: Timo Teräväinen

"Bantora is the place for connecting like-minded people in the coder / developer / planner community and making events happen."

Werklig created visual identity and thematic concept for Bantora, an online event-organizing service. Bantora identity consists of logo, typography and colour specifications and graphic elements. The concept for visual identity was "playground", meaning basic shapes, forms and colours that could be used in a varied way. Check out Bantora website for more information!

Online execution was made by nice people at Luxus.

 

Bantora logo




Part of visual guidelines, featuring primary colours




Bantora website, illustrations and execution by Luxus