BLACK IS EVERY COLOR
by Editor-in-Chief Anne Veinola
08.10.2010 12:41
Hirameki's black spark represents the creators behind products. In addition to top design, the exhibition's curators, Harri Koskinen and Ilkka Suppanen, have also displayed Finnish designers and interesting new designer groups.
Suppanen and Koskinen are top Finnish designers themselves. They were elected Design Forum Finland's Young Designers of the Year 2000. The design duo was the first ever recipient of this prize, immediately setting the bar high. Further recognition, awards, and success have followed thereafter both in Finland and abroad.
The common denominator for all black spark designers and products is a strong design aesthetic. Many of the products are classics - or well on their way. Strong, original products and designers are in the limelight. But has a designer's role changed from what it used to be?
"Yes, their role has changed," says Ilkka Suppanen. "Previously, designers were on a par with artists - any eccentricities were forgiven. A company took a designer on board and gave them full artistic liberty. There was mutual trust, a possibility to experiment and play. Now each assignment is a competition: the company compares designers and chooses one for each new product. Designers have had to learn how to sell their skills. An increasingly large part of the day is devoted to business rather than creative work."
"A designer's role and creative authority vary product by product," Harri Koskinen notes. "Industrially designed products like machines and equipment are always the end result of a collaboration between several experts, and they are seldom appointed to anyone individually."
Over the past few years, a whole host of designer groups and collectives have emerged in Finland. How have they affected creative authority?
"In designer groups, the collective has replaced the individual designer as the creator," says Suppanen. "There is still always a creator. The designer's identity has not changed."
"Many collectives are very loosely organised," says Koskinen. "They may share marketing and PR functions, for example, but otherwise allow each designer to create their own work, remaining true to their own philosophy and style. The more traditional the design product, the more artistic the object."
Why is the identity of a designer and company important?
According to both Koskinen and Suppanen, they create the story behind the product. They form the identity of a product. "The Hirameki exhibition gives products the opportunity to tell their own story," says Koskinen. "The exhibition itself is not narrative, but once you get to know the product, you see the story behind it. And the story is what justifies the product's existence, making it unique."
What is Hirameki's message to Japanese viewers? "The most typical, traditional icons of Finnish design are not featured in Hirameki," says Ilkka Suppanen. "We decided to take a chance and replace them with modern creations. We believe they are strong enough to stand alone." "We wanted to update the current image of Finnish design," Harri Koskinen adds. "Design and business go hand in hand, benefiting both. At the same time, new contacts within the Japanese business world are hopefully established. Hirameki showcases what is currently going on in the Finnish design world."
The exhibition curators were interviewed by Anne Veinola, editor-in-chief at Design Forum Finland and the editor of the Finnish Design Yearbook 2010-11.
