News

Creadesign proudly presents a proposal to develop Helsinki City centre in a new way! Having worked on this in close co-operation with several passionate urban experience developers, please find the UrBaana presentation and introduction of the group behind here. Looking forward to making it real!

Helsingin Sanomat newspaper introduced the suggestion today, available here. Visionary image in the article is made by Creadesign. There will be an exhibition in Kamppi next summer. Contact us for more information and co-operation!

National design strategy for Finland was handed over for Minister of Economic Affairs, Finland, on March 22, 2013. Creadesign set the direction for design strategy in open co-design process with stakeholers from industries and public sector, and developed the design strategy draft for Ministry of Employment and the Economy. The program is available in the Ministry of Employment and the Economy web site currently only in Finnish, click here to get familiar with it.

Guangdong University of Technology (GDUT) staff and students visited Creadesign with the lead of Prof. Fang Hai. GDUT is one of the most competitive institutes of industrial design in Canton and China. Creadesign CEO is teaching part-time in GDUT, while the agency as a whole is contributing by integrating Finnish industrial design knowhow to the locally operating businesses. 

Click here to find some images from China visit in November 2012

Creadesign is preparing National Design Program for Finland.  Ministry of Employment and the Economy launched the program work on April 27, 2012 and is leading the work, which aims to being very open process. The program will be published by the end of the year. With the help of communications company Hill + Knowlton Finland, Creadesign collects various viewpoints communicated in workshops and social media channels, and connects the results to the program work. 

Click to Facebook discussion here!
(Sorry, moderated mostly only in Finnish)

Guangdong University of Technology has invited Kähönen to teach industrial design in the School of Arts Design. He is requested to teach design thinking and changing values behind contemporary design. Moreover, co-operation aims in creating further interaction between Finnish and Chinese companies.

Work in China takes only part of Kahonen's time, so customer co-operation and projects in Finland will be advanced as today.

More information of the Guangdong University of Technology

The reed mobiles reflect Finnish folk traditions with a modern twist. They are inspired by Finnish handicraft traditions and Finnish archipelago, and fit perfectly well to homes and offices, not to mention public spaces. The beauty of natural materials and soft movement of the mobile are thought to have an impact on wellbeing.

Custom made by Creadesign.
Email designer Annele Valkama here to get one.

We are happy to let you know Finnish Association of Designers Ornamo gave in 100 years -celebration "Ornamo pallo" Award for Creadesign! We are the first industrial design agency ever to receive it, and feel very honoured to get this acknoledgement from the industry. Ornamo praised our materials understanding as well as highly user-friendly, accessible and ecological designs.

Ornamo web site

Creadesign is dedicated in finding a launching partner to bring the Harmony product line available in Japan. Feel free to contact local Sales Manager Daishi Sakagutchi if you find Kapeneva, 2F, Askit or Fruit Box sales interesting!

Japanese site www.creadesign.fi/japan

New York Times covered Hannu Kähönen’s Fruit Box chair in a story of sustainable design getting playful. Creadesign presented the works of Kähönen and Annele Valkama in new Finnish Design SCENARIOS exhibition, which was held in New York during the 24th annual International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) on May 12 - 17, 2011. SCENARIOS showcased trends in contemporary Finnish design, e.g. sustainability, mobility, ethical thinking, material innovations, and an appreciation for handicraft skills.

NY Times about playful furniture design
New Finnish Design SCENARIOS
Facebook fan page
Images in Core77 design magazine & resource

Kähönen commented sustainable design and ‘Integrating design in urban planning’ in New York Urban Design SCENARIOS panel discussion along Rick Bell (Executive Director of AIA New York Chapter), Justin W Cook (Sustanable Development Lead at Sitra, the Finnish Innovation Fund and Helsinki Design Lab’s expert on issues relating to climate change and the built environment) and David Resnick (AIA, Deputy Commissioner, New York City Department of Design and Construction).

Panel discussion on Integrating design into City planning

Ecological chair production should not result in generation of environmental emissions. The concept of the Fruit Box chair includes guidelines for how to build a chair from existing wooden fruit boxes. It’s accomplished with everyday tools by adding only a couple of metres of trim as legs, which are then bound to the boxes with no-longer-needed cord.

NY Times about the chair
SCENARIOS exhibition

A Finnish lifestyle magazine granted Hotpot Duo cookware BEST! Cookware award. The jury praised the desingers’ magnificent insight: ”Hotpot Duo is beautiful, easy to use, multifunctional and designed so that you will not burn your arms. Since used materials are light and colours bright and fun, you get the feeling the food is fresh and delicious simply by looking at it!” (Kodin Kuvalehti 3/2011)

Oct 29 – Nov 7, 2010 Living Design Center Ozone, Tokyo

In 2010, Design Forum Finland staged a design export initiative at the Tokyo Designers Week, Hirameki Design × Finland, which presented the Japanese public with the full repertoire of Finnish design. HIRAMEKI offered an opportunity to exchange views in Japan. Creadesign exhibited Kapeneva, 2F, ASKIT and Fruit Box. Positive feedback from Japanese led to launching export initiative. As of May 2011, Japanese contact for Creadesign products sales and manufacturing is Daishi Sagagutchi. Stay tuned for updates!

Email Daishi
Hirameki introduction

Creadesign took a holistic perspective to develop cookware for Kermansavi (Tulikivi Corp). User-centred design is timelessly simple and multifunctional. Hotpot Duo has a new, warm relationship between pot and lid, and they can also be used on their own as an oven plate, serving plate or pot stand. Duo comes in four colours that can be mixed and matched in fun ways.

Tulikivi shop online
Press release of Hotpot Duo launch

Creadesign designed the new straight lined design stoves for Tulikivi Corporation. Tulikivi is a listed family company, the world’s largest manufacturer of heat-retaining fireplaces. Creadesign designed stoves timeless, clear and always contemporary, so they are pleasing to the eyes of modern interior decorators. Modular solutions add flexibility. The heart of Tulikivi’s design stoves is a clean burning firebox and the minimalist design brings out the best in the naturally rough soapstone surface.

Tulikivi introduces design stoves

Creadesign’s CEO Kähönen became the 18th winner of the prestigious Kaj Franck Design Prize in 2009. According to the jury, “Hannu Kähönen’s oeuvre reflects in a beautiful manner the industrial aesthetic, and its core ideas are knowledge of materials, the usability of products, their accessibility and recyclability. Over his career, Kähönen has become widely familiar with the needs of business making use of design. He has helped to develop the field through his work in national and international positions of trust.”

Design Forum Finlandin press release
WDC 2012 News
Design Addict online portal
Designophy Design Knowledge Intermediary
Korea Institute of Design Promotion