Helsinki-Tokyo based design studio Musuta has won a gold lion in Cannes in Design category. Congrats!

The winning piece, called "Urban Abstract", is "a journey across urban space that unfolds in forty, 5 second parts. The journey, in one, two and three dimensions, is a bit like abstract surfing in which the original destination is only reached after a number of seemingly random yet linked detours occur. Points, lines, planes and other abstract elements create a journey through an Urban Abstract." (quote from Musuta)

The piece was shown last November as break bumpers on Finnish TV channel Nelonen.

Check out the video here and set yourself on a laid-back Midsummer mood.  

Still screenshot taken from Musuta's "Urban Abstract" 

We are open. There will be always, even in July, someone at the office you can contact. Don't hesitate. Please, drop by, call or email.

Werklig summer holiday plan ↑

"Men’s month. – Basically life couldn’t get any better”

Midsummer – Hot topic at home: “What, there is no TV on that island?!” 

(Brazil – Portugal, 25th June, 5 pm) Panic.

As usually, and even in this case, after all, there really seem to be a possibility to find the bright side of things. Bright side of life. I, accidentally, as a result of very random googling and after browsing couple of FIFA-related pages, succeed to start to see this very strongly more as a women’s month. 

Personally I chose to follow following players for one month:

Tsuneyasu Miyanoto (Japan) Photo via Daily Telegraph



Claudio Marchisio (Italy) and Roque Santa Cruz (Paraguay)

Conor Casey (USA) and Marco Borriello (Italy)

Thierry Henry (France)

Mourad Meghni (Algeria) and Miguel Torres (Portugal)

AND of course Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden) Ok, he didn't not actually make it to the FIFA World Cup - but I'm sure he will be in South Africa....and still hot. The coolest.

At Balihai 

A couple of weeks ago I met mr. Du Qin and mr. Zhao Yu from well-known international Design 360^o magazine during their journalistic trip in Helsinki. That was their day 7/10 in Helsinki and already before our date they've had over 60 design-related meetings all over the metropolitan area! Including all the prestigious Finnish design institutes, corporate giants, the most interesting Helsinki based design agencies, collectives and illustrators.

That night their host Professor Tapio Vapaasalo from the Aalto University had convened a group of passionate people to have a get-together at Balihai and to discuss about the special sense of community you can feel in Helsinki among the small graphic design studios, design collectives and illustrators. Those vital vibes. 

Also, it's always very interesting to hear others' points of view and notes about Finnish design scene. Actually I found it VERY fascinating to spend some time thinking about our unique Finnish vibes and state of mind. Like update one's own mind every now and then in the best possible company according to topic (Kaarle Hurtig, Lotta Nieminen, Johannes Ekholm, Janine Rewell).

I'm really looking forward to see the coming soon Finland Design Issue for Design 360°. That was the reason of Sandu Publishing guys' Helsinki trip of course. Now let their minds and eyes browse over & over and inside out all their Helsinki materials – Books and notes, interview tapes and pics, they managed to carry home and create a killer issue about our creativity!

It's been really, really busy here at Werklig office, so haven't been able to do the "5+1" post for a couple of weeks. But now we're back in business.

1. "The recipient of the Young Designer of the Year 2010 was published on Tuesday, June 1st. The winners are two designer groups, Imu and Aivan!. The prize exhibition will open to the public on Wednesday 2 June." Read more at Design Forum Finland's website or at WDC2012 website. Congrats!

2. This is not that recent news, as the new site has been up and running for some time, but anyways: nice people at Kokoro&Moi have their new site up and running. Check it out!

3. Also a bit "old news" but always worth mentioning: kaarlekaarle.com. I suppose we haven't blogged Kaarle yet, so it's about time. Good stuff.

4. Now that we're talking about photographs, you may want to relax your mind and just flip through some inspirational pictures and more pictures (apparently there are some explicit pics, too, so you've been properly warned).

5. Pulpmag - "an online publication redefining how food is seen and presented in public".

+ BAP! KAPOW! ZLONK!

We've updated some Saana ja Olli samples and a small case study in our Work section. If you're fluent in Finnish, you may also read this interesting story about Saana ja Olli.

Stay tuned for more stuff!

Here is a discloth that we really like. Wonder why? Well, you can order yourself one from the German online shop magazin.

Finnish Design Yearbook 2010-11 by Design Forum Finland is out now

Finnish Design Yearbook explores design as a tool of business success, a means for creating a better life and a better society, an aid for the commodification of innovations, and as an aspect of self-expression. Four very relevant viewpoints. 

The book is primarily aimed at the international market. Its international distribution will include bookstores, sales on the Web, design fairs and events, and the press. 

Werklig and our work is introduced in Page 101 – "Design as a business tool" section: Werklig is a Finnish brand design agency that has become a noteworthy contender in its field in only a few years. In 2009, Werklig designed an ingenious logo for the Best of Year graphic design competition, displaying the name of the contest in ribbon-like text.     

In the section "Design as a means of expression" you can find Minna Parikka scarves (A/W 2010) designed by Inka.

It's Friday - time to check browser history. Some links, people.

1. According to my browsing behaviour one of the most interesting themes this week has been Milan 2010 Fair. Lots and lots of interesting stuff, but it is really hard to pinpoint the best designs and/or ideas - or to even make a decent summary of them. Dezeen's reports are worth checking out. Fast Company has a slide show of new Finnish goodies, too.

2. Now that we are talking about Milan Fair... Artek revealed their new chair, designed by Enzo Mari. According to Artek's press release, "customers will purchase a set of precut pinewood boards, nails and instructions for the chair". Apparently it's more of a concept than an actual chair. It may be noticable that we've seen a lot of these postmodern self-assemblage items recently, actually there was one rather similar chair in Milan called "Fruit Box" by Finnish group Creadesign. Nevertheless, mr. Mari's work and career is indeed worth checking out. If this is the first time you hear about this grand old man, go and google.

3. A new find (at least for me): Moustache. Fun and playful, some items have even echoes of baroque and the 70's - but not tacky. Like!

4. The Most Beautiful Finnish Books of 2009 have been selected. "The title chosen as Book of the Year was Amour unit deux cours - Henry Lönnforsin miniatyyrikokoelma - Henry Lönnfors miniatyrsamling (The Henry Lönnfors Miniature Collection) published by the Turku Art Museum." Good, traditional graphic design. Why not check out the previous awards (via my older blog post).

5. Did you know that the first world exposition was held already in 1851? This year China will host the 2010 Expo in Shanghai, and (naturally) Finland will take part in it, too. "The Finland Pavilion "Kirnu" is surrounded by a lake, appearing to float on the water. It has the slogan "Sharing Inspiration," where ideas can meet and mix. The design draws inspiration from Finnish nature. Elements reinterpreted in the pavilion include the shape of small rocks found on coastal islands, the surface of a fish, reflection on water, framed view of the sky and smell of tar on wood." Doesn't sound very avant-garde at all, but the 3D mockup looks kinda nice in pictures - but I didn't know that there is so much empty white space in Shanghai... and only a handful of people?

+ 1 And last but not least: someone has made calculations about font ink usage. Loving the comments, great professional entertainment. But seriously: if you really are concerned about your company's ink usage, please hire a designer to help solve these kind of problems. 

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)