Finnish Design Month november

2009

Follow-up report by

Pirita Valander, Elena Piñero, Martti Pärssinen, Saara Kiviluoto & Sami Auvinen

Ibero-American Foundation, Finland & Ibero-American Institute of Finland

Helsinki – Madrid 2011

3

Published byIbero-American Foundation, Finland &Ibero-American Institute of Finland

Printed byDiScript Preimpresión, S. L. Madrid, Spain 2011

Layout:Reetta Kettunen

Photographs:Olli Nurminen (pages: 6-7, 12, 14, 16, 19, 20, 24, 34-35)Saara Kiviluoto (pages: 30, 32, 39, 40, 41, 42, 45, 46, 49, 50)

Visual Image of the Finnish Design Month:Olli NurminenAnne-Maria SaarioTimo Ilola

ISBN 978-952-5481-15-0 (pbk.)ISBN 978-952-5481-16-7 (PDF) Depósito Legal: M-20403-2011

3

9. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 37

10. SCOPE 37

11. RESULTS 37

General resume of all the answers 37

Company-specific summaries 39

12. EVALUATION 51

PREFACE 5

1. INTRODUCTION 9

2. THE FINNISH DESIGN MONTH 10

Exhibitions and Activities 10

Showrooms 20

Supplementary cultural programme 20

3. BUDGET 22

4. CAMPAIGN MATERIAL 23

5. MEDIA REACTION 25

6. IMPACT AND OUTCOME

– REFLECTIONS FROM PARTICIPANTS 29

7. THE AFTERMATH OF THE FINNISH DESIGN MONTH 31

8. CONCLUSIONS 33

Follow-up report

Finnish Design Month november

2009

5

5

Preface

During the autumn of 2009, more than a month-long

event on Finnish design and architecture was organ-

ized in the Spanish capital under the title ‘Mes del

Diseño Finlandés’ (Finnish Design Month). During the

project some 3,500 m2 of exhibition space was used

and more than 600 design objects from 120 exhibi-

tors, representing more than 215 designers and ar-

chitects, were exhibited to the general public in the

city centre of Madrid.

The project consisted of ten exhibitions and numer-

ous complementary cultural activities, most of which

were carried out in November. All the events were

organized in collaboration with Finnish and Span-

ish partners. The Ibero-American Institute of Finland

acted as the main coordinator and worked closely

together with the Finnish Embassy, while the principal

local collaborator was the City of Madrid.

The Finnish Design Month succeeded in drawing the

attention of the Spanish media. The most important

daily newspapers, such as El País, El Mundo, ABC,

and La Vanguardia wrote numerous articles about

the event. In addition, several specialized magazines

published articles on Finnish design and architecture,

not to mention the hundreds of thousands of internet

entries concerning the events of the Finnish Design

Month.

The vast publicity helped the Museum of Decorative

Arts and many other participanting institutions almost

double their number of daily visitors. Some 60,000

individuals visited the different exhibitions and some

5,000 persons took part in the complementary activi-

ties of the Finnish Design Month.

In order to take note of the views from the collabora-

tors participating in the Finnish Design Month, the Ibe-

ro-American Institute of Finland produced a survey of

the Finnish and Spanish participants. The results of the

study carried out by Pirita Valander confirm that both

the Finnish and the Spanish participants were very

pleased and satisfied with the arrangements and co-

operation as well as the outcome of the project. The

positive experience and feedback from both sides

reflects the interest and readiness to collaborate also

in the future.

Sami Auvinen of Finpro Spain created the second

part for the survey in order to record the participants’

views specifically related to the economic benefit

generated by the event for each enterprise. The dif-

ficulty to find financial support for the business sector

of cultural exportation caused that the various busi-

ness-related events to compliment the Design Month

could not be realized. Although the companies were

otherwise satisfied with the organization of the event,

a more active participation of the business sector

could have clearly been beneficial.

The Finnish Design Month was one of the largest

events on Finnish design abroad in general and the

largest presentation of Finnish Culture in the Span-

ish-speaking world in particular. At least, we do not

have any records of other Finnish cultural event that

would have gained as much media attention in the

Hispanic world. Therefore it is safe to say that the Finn-

ish Design Month succeeded in its efforts in cultural

exportation.

Madrid 18.3.2011

Martti Pärssinen

Director of the Ibero-American Institute of Finland

6 7

PART 1

7

PART 1Finnish Design Month in Madrid November 2009

Follow-up report by the Ibero-American Institute of Finland Authors: Pirita Valander, Elena Piñero, Martti Pärssinen & Saara Kiviluoto

8 9

Location maPMETROPOLITAN

86

CIUDADUNIVERSITARIA

Avenida de Puerta de Hierro

LEGAZPI

1

PalazioReal 2

5

47

3

9

10

ÓPERA

CALLAOSANTO

DOMINGO

ANTÓNMARTÍN

ATOCHALAVAPIES

LA LATINA

TIRSO DEMOLINA

SEVILLA

GRAN VÍA

CHUECA

TRIBUNAL

COLÓN

BANCO DEESPAÑA

SOL

ALONSOMARTÍNES

EMPAJADORESACACIAS

PUERTA DETOLEDO

ATOCHA RENFE

MENÉNDEZPELAYO

SANBERNARDO

BILBAO

RETIRO

PlazaMayor

TeatroReal

Museo Centro de Arte Reina Soa

Estaciónde Atocha

Calle

de

San

Bern

ardo

Banco deEspaña

Parque del Retiro

11

Helsinki Madrid FinDesign Design Centre of Matadero Cultural CentrePaseo de la Chopera,14

Alvar Aalto, For Our Measure & MannerNational Museum of Decorative ArtsC/ Montalbán, 12

Alvar Aalto, Dimensions on Wood Istituto Europeo di DesignIED MasterC/ Larra, 14

Designer Awards ‘08 Istituto Europeo di Design Palacio de Altamira C/ Flor Alta, 8

Complementary events: Finland in the Círculo Círculo de Bellas Artes C/ Alcalá, 42

OTTO Círculo de Bellas Artes, Sala MinervaC/ Alcalá, 42

Wood Works Architectural Department of the Technical University of MadridAvda. Juan de Herrera, 4

Finnish Architecture 0607 College of Architects of Madrid C/ Piamonte, 12

Marimekko: 10 Points of View Spanish National Dress Museum Avda. Juan de Herrera, 2

Raili y Reima Pietilä: Challenging Modern ArchitectureMuseo ICOC/ Zorrilla, 3

Complementary events: Theatre company Ilmatar Teatro del Retiro Paseo de Colombia

Pekka Loiri: 30 PostersEscuela de Arte 10 Avenida Ciudad de Barcelona, 25

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

9

The Finnish Design Month ‘Mes del Diseño Finlandés’

brought to Spain’s capital city during the autumn of

2009 some of the most notable achievements in the

fields of Finnish design, architecture and culture at

large. The project consisted of 10 exhibitions about

Finnish design and architecture as well as numerous

complementary events. The majority of the exhibi-

tions and events were scheduled for November 2009,

although the first events started in September of the

same year, and the last exhibition extended until Feb-

ruary 2010.

The Finnish Design Month -project was one of the most

important events of Finnish cultural exportation in Eu-

rope during 2009. The idea for the project was born in

the spring of 2008. The Dutch had organized a design

month in Madrid in March 2008, which gave birth to

the idea of creating a similar high profile event about

Finnish design. The Netherlands’ design event served

as a good example and a starting point for the ideas,

but from the very beginning the Finnish Design Month

was planned to be different and unique, just like the

design of the country it was to represent.

The Finnish Design Month was organized through a

multilateral collaboration between Finnish and Span-

ish partners. The main coordinator of the project was

the Ibero-American Institute of Finland, working closely

together with the Finnish Embassy. The City of Madrid

was the main local collaborator. The Ibero-American

Institute was granted funding from the Ministry of Edu-

cation and Culture in Finland for the general organiza-

tion and communications of the event, but Finnish and

Spanish organizers took the responsibility of the funding

and the production of the corresponding exhibitions.

In addition to the contribution and funding from the

Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture, the collabo-

ration of the City of Helsinki in the main exhibition Helsin-

ki Madrid FinDesign was fundamental for the success

of the whole project. Also ‘Visit Finland’ contributed by

participating in the organization of the cultural pro-

gramme Finland in the Círculo, the cultural events that

complimented the exhibitions of the design month. At

the initial stage of the project, Finpro Spain also had

an active role in fomenting contacts between Finnish

and Spanish enterprises. Finpro applied funding from

various sources. These included EU-funding together

with the Cities of Turku, Espoo and Helsinki, but unfor-

tunately the results were not positive. According to our

knowledge, most of the EU-funds allocated to cultural

exportation among other themes, were in fact finally

returned to the European Union. The difficulties to find

financial support from the part of the Finnish authorities

for business sector of cultural exportation caused that

Finpro was unable to participate in the final project.

This document is a follow-up of the Finnish Design

Month. The following chapters aim to study and ex-

plain the impact of the project. To this end, the report

examines the reflections of the different collaborators

and aims to evaluate the event from the point of view

of both the Spanish and the Finnish institutions. It ex-

plores the following questions: What kind of response

did the Finnish Design Month receive in Spain? How do

the Finnish and Spanish organizing institutions view the

outcome of the event? Did the event succeed in cre-

ating lasting links between Finland and Spain for future

collaboration? Did the Finnish Design Month in Madrid

succeed in exporting Finnish culture to Spain? The in-

formation was gathered via an e-mail survey, which

was sent to the main collaborators of the event.

1. introDUction

10 11

The project was based on themes and values such

as Finnish creativity, innovation and sustainable devel-

opment. It introduced Finnish design, architecture and

fashion to the Spanish public through diverse exhibi-

tions and activities of high quality. The citizens of Ma-

drid got an opportunity to visit 10 different exhibitions

altogether, held in the most significant cultural centres

in the city. The exhibitions sought to bring Finnish design

to the public through more than the mere presenta-

tion of object examples. The main aim of the project

was to create a space where media, professionals

and the public could interact with the contents of the

exhibitions while considering the meaning and the

current position of Finnish design and architecture on

a world scale. To achieve this, numerous workshops,

conferences, courses and guided tours were organ-

ized in addition to the exhibitions.

Due to the expectations and a great amount of re-

quests on behalf of the Spanish institutions and the

media beforehand, an extensive programme of sup-

plementary cultural events consisting of theatre, music

and movies, was organized alongside the main exhibi-

tions of the Finnish Design Month. This meant that the

Spanish public also had an opportunity to get to know

the Finnish culture at large, providing an insight into as-

pects and nuances of Finnish culture, as yet not so well

known in the Iberian Peninsula.

The Finnish Design Month campaign was mainly fund-

ed by the Ministry of Education and Culture and by

the institutions which took part in the project. The Ibe-

ro-American Institute of Finland was in charge of ap-

plying and administrating the funding from the Minis-

try, meant for the event as a whole. The institute also

worked closely with the Finnish Embassy in Madrid. Both

the institute and the embassy dedicated much of their

expertise, resources and personnel to the organization

of this huge project. At the embassy, the press and

cultural attaché Eva Hannikainen directed a great part

of her time and energy to ensuring the success of the

project during both the planning and the implemen-

tation periods. The large amount of work meant that

the institute assigned most of its personnel resources,

including those of director Martti Pärssinen and press

manager Elena Piñero to the Finnish Design Month

projects, as well as hiring two extra assistants for a peri-

od of two months to support the communication tasks.

Due to the lack of funding, hiring extra personnel for a

longer period of time was unfortunately not possible.

Altogether 19 traineeships at the institute were offered

to students and young professionals during 2009, of

which eight worked within the period when the Finn-

ish Design Month actually took place. Other interns

had for their part participated in the previous planning

process. As the event drew closer, two young profes-

sionals were specially assigned to oversee the coor-

dination of the main exhibition organized in Madrid´s

Matadero cultural centre.

From September 2009 to February 2010 Ibero-Amer-

ican Institute was established as a centre of logistics

for the project. During this time the project personnel

occupied most of the institute’s infrastructure, includ-

ing phones and computers. In addition, leaflets and

other marketing materials were produced and depos-

ited there.

Exhibitions and Activities

Main Exhibition: Helsinki Madrid FinDesign, Design Centre of Matadero Cultural Centre

The main exhibition of the Finnish Design Month, Hel-

sinki Madrid FinDesign, was one of the most important

projects for cultural exportation provided by the Finnish

Ministry of Education and Culture in 2009. The exhibi-

tion was organized at the Design Centre (Central de

Diseño) of the new Matadero cultural centre of the City

of Madrid which is based on the premises of the city’s

former slaughter house. Close collaboration between

Finnish and Spanish parties was established and Helsinki

2. tHe finniSH DeSiGn montH

11

Design Week and Huippu Design Management worked

in co-ordination with the Spanish partner Designers’ as-

sociation in Madrid (DIMAD) with the support of the Ibe-

ro-American Institute.

The City of Helsinki was also greatly involved in the

organization of the impressive exhibition and its side

events. The exhibition was curated by Kari Korkman,

the director of Helsinki Design Week and Laura Sarvilin-

na, design manager from Huippu Design Manage-

ment in collaboration with Pedro Feduchi from DIMAD.

Feduchi also created the exhibition architecture with

the help of two assistants, Antonio Morales and Álvaro

Catalan de Ocón. This main exhibition encompassed

altogether more than 300 objects from 47 Finnish ex-

hibitors (companies, designers & organizations), repre-

senting the creative work of some 140 designers and

architects.

Helsinki Madrid FinDesign was inaugurated on the 3rd

of November by the Finnish Prime Minister Matti Van-

hanen, the Deputy Mayor of the City of Helsinki, Tuula

Haatainen, Madrid City Council of Arts Deputy Alicia

Moreno and Manuel Estrada, the director of DIMAD.

On the opening night a ‘Pecha Kucha –happening’

was organized. Both Finnish and Spanish designers

and experts including the likes of Emilio Tuñón, Luis

Mansilla, Esa Vesmanen, Enrique Radigales, Johanna

Sarviharju, PENSART, Tuomas Toivonen, Teresa Olaza-

bal, Manuela Villa, Luis Vidal and Terhi Tuominen held

presentations following the Pecha Kucha -concept (20

images each shown for 20 seconds).

The exhibition was designed to offer the Spanish pub-

lic a wide perspective of Finnish design. The slogan of

the City of Helsinki “Embedding design in life” worked

as an inspiration and a point of departure for the con-

cept of the exhibition which took design as something

that is meant for everybody, everywhere. Therefore the

exhibition contained an extensive collection of objects

from different design fields, ranging from architecture

and interior design to product design, fashion, adver-

tising, industrial design and illustration. One of the lead-

ing ideas was to create a mutual dialogue between

the objects while presenting the continuity of the Finn-

ish design tradition. The work of young and promising

designers met with timeless classics created by the

acknowledged maestros of Finnish design. This result-

ed in an interesting interaction between the different

objects and the creation of a space where new in-

sights could be born.

The City of Helsinki organized various workshops dur-

ing the exhibition that also supported the candidacy

of Helsinki for the election of the World Design Capital

2012. The first workshop titled Graphic Design as Col-

lage was held by the graphic designer Arja Karhumaa.

Pihla Meskanen, the director of the children’s architec-

ture school Arkki gave a seminar where she presented

Arkki and its diverse projects in the cultural centre Casa

Encendida. Meskanen also held a workshop in Mata-

dero under a very fitting title Sweet Architecture (Arqui-

tectura Dulce) together with Hilkka Hytönen from the

City of Helsinki.

During the workshop the children were urged to discov-

er the world of architectural structure by constructing a

hat using only candy and toothpicks. Also a little Christ-

mas party with snacks was organized for the partici-

pants and their families. The last workshop organized

by the City of Helsinki concentrated on sustainable de-

sign. Vuokko Oikarinen and Lisa Giraldo-Gerdt from the

Uusix workshop of the City of Helsinki gave a lecture

on design and recycled materials. Furthermore, Lou-

ise Borgenstierna, Pedro Feduchi, Alvaro Catalán de

Ocón, María Astiaso and Roberta Sartori organized a

workshop series about ‘Re-board’ – a recycled carton

material which was the main material used for the ex-

hibition architecture and an important sponsor of the

exhibition along with Grupo Rafael, the company re-

sponsible for the printing of the Re-board-material.

There were also other activities organized alongside

the Helsinki Madrid FinDesign exhibition. The textile de-

signer Erja Hirvi from the textile company Marimekko

gave a workshop where the participants familiarized

themselves with interpreting nature through textiles as

well as creating their own pattern design using meth-

ods introduced by Hirvi. The professor Lily Díaz from

the Aalto University’s School of Art and Design held a

13

workshop titled Digital innovation through art and de-

sign. The Ibero-American Institute´s representatives at

the Matadero centre guided groups consisting of local

design students and other visitors, providing the partici-

pants with insights into some of the ideas behind the

exhibition and Finnish Design at large.

A survey was made on the reflections and opinions

of the visitors of the exhibition. According to the over-

all results, the exhibition was received in a very posi-

tive way as the exhibition was awarded high, general

marks (4,31/5) from the visitors. A specific survey was

also made about every workshop and according to

the feedback received the participants were also very

satisfied with the activities and the organization as a

whole. The ideas for the inclusion of children in the ac-

tivities programme received excellent feedback.

During the two months of its duration, the exhibition at-

tracted approximately 19 000 visitors, which averages

out to 321 visitors per day. In the Dutch Design Month

exhibition, which was held in the spring of 2008 at the

same location, the attendance was approximately

6 000 visitors per month, so the Helsinki-Madrid FinDe-

sign -exhibition seemed to attract more visitors if com-

pared on a monthly basis. In conclusion it seems clear

that the exhibition succeeded in elevating the number

of visitors to the Design Centre of the Cultural Centre

Matadero as figures show an increase in attendance.

The following 47 Finnish exhibitors participated in

Helsinki Madrid FinDesign. It should be noted that

various designers contributed to the subsections of

EcoDesign, Grafia, Imudesign / Protoshop, Gallery Nor-

su, Newly Drawn and Pekka Finland, more informa-

tion is given where these exhibitors are mentioned.

ARCHITECTURE AND INTERIOR DESIGN

• KOKO3, www.koko3.fi

• Newly Drawn (Presented the work of 9 archi-

tectural offices: Anttinen Oiva Architects, Fron-

delius + Keppo + Salmenperä Architects,

K2S, VERSTAS Architects, NOW Office, ALA Ar-

chitects, Lassila Hirvilammi Architects, Avanto

The Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen and Tuula Haatainen, the Deputy Mayor of the City of Helsinki, at the exhibition opening.

12

13

Architects and Hollmén Reuter Sandman Archi-

tects), www.newlydrawn.fi

FURNITURE

• Ari Kanerva, www.arikanerva.com

• Artek, www.artek.fi

• Design & Art Management Finland Oy Ltd / Eero

Aarnio, www.designeeroaarnio.com

• EcoDesign, www.ecodesign.fi (Presented ten ec-

ological design objects from the EcoDesign ex-

hibition held in conjunction with Habitare Fair at

the Helsinki Exhibition & Convention Centre from

the following parties: Yrjö Kukkapuro & Fang Hai,

SEOS, Teemu Karhunen/Avarte, Merita Soini &

Tapio Anttila, Hannu Kähönen/Creadesign, Jou-

ko Järvisalo, Samu Naamanka/Piiroinen, Mikko

Paakkanen, Antti Kotilainen, Pekka Harni)

• Esa Vesmanen, www.puredesign.fi

• Habitek, www.habitek.fi

• Harri Koskinen Works, www.harrikoskinenworks.com

• Jitan V Patel, www.jitan.com

• Magaru, www.magaru.info

• Magis, www.magisdesign.com

• Martela, www.martela.fi

• Melaja Ltd., http://melaja.fi/

• Tapiovaara Design, www.tapiovaara.fi

• Terhi Tuominen, www.terhituominen.com

• Woodnotes, www.woodnotes.fi

PRODUCT DESIGN & INTERIOR

• Anne Kyyrö Quinn, www.annekyyroquinn.com

• Fokus Fabrik, www.fokusfabrik.fi

• Gallery Norsu, www.norsu.info (the gallery brought

the work of nine designers or businesses to the ex-

hibition: Jatta Lavi, Johanna Ojanen, Sarita Koi-

vukoski, Camilla Moberg Design, Lasisirkus, Tuulia

Penttilä, Nathalie Lahdenmäki, Pertti Metsälampi

& Karin Widnäs)

• Genelec, www.genelec.com

• Iittala, www.iittala.com

• Imu Design / ProtoShop, www.imudesign.org (Pro-

toShop is an event produced jointly by the Finnish

Fair Corporation and Imu Design for the Ahead!

-design area at the Habitare fair. Protohop pre-

sented in Madrid designs from six different de-

signers Marjukka Takala, Enni Äijälä, Jouni Leino,

Tiina Ripatti, Linda Bergroth, Jesse Pietilä)

• Johanna Gullichsen, www.johannagullichsen.com

• Korpi Design, www.korpidesign.com

• Kristiina Lassus, www.kristiinalassus.com

• Marimekko, www.marimekko.fi

• Nounou Design, www.nounoudesign.com

• Rehti, www.rehti.org

• Saas Instruments, www.saas.fi

• Secret Shop, www.com-pa-ny.com

• Secto Design, www.sectodesign.fi

• Selki Asema, www.selki-asema.fi

• Teemu Järvi, www.jarvi-ruoho.com

• Tuija Asta Järvenpää, www.tuijaastajarvenpaa.fi

• Tunto Design, www.tunto.com

GRAPHIC DESIGN

• Grafia/Vuoden huiput 2008, www.vuodenhuiput.fi

(Grafia brought 27 awarded designs from the as-

sociation’s Best of the Year 2008 competition for

advertising and graphic design)

• Pekka Finland, www.pekkafinland.fi (Work from five

illustrators represented by the illustration agency:

Antti Uotila, Rami Niemi, Inka Järvinen, Pietari Pos-

ti & Miika Saksi)

FASHION DESIGN

• Daniel Palillo, http://danielpalillo.blogspot.com

• Gilles et Dada, www.gillesetdada.com

• Hel-Looks, www.hel-looks.com

• Marita Huurinainen, www.maritadesign.com

• Onni / Tuula Pöyhönen, www.onni.eu

• vainio.seitsonen, www.vainioseitsonen.fi

INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

• Fiskars, www.fiskars.com

• Kone, www.kone.com

• Vaisala,www.vaisala.fi

14 15

Main Exhibition: Helsinki Madrid FinDesign, Design Centre of the Matadero Cultural Centre4.11.2009 – 10.1.2010

Total Exhibition Space: 1,500 m2Number of exhibitors: 47 exhibitors Number of objects: More than 340 objects + 27 examples of awarded advertising and design presented in Grafia’s Best of the Year -competition’s sectionNumber of Visitors (approx.): 19,000Workshops: 1. Pihla Meskanen: Sweet Architecture 2. Arja Karhumaa: Graphic Design as Collage 3. Vuokko Oikarinen & Lisa Giraldo-Gerdt: Uusix – Sustainable Design 4. Erja Hirvi: Marimekko 5. Lily Diaz: Digital Innovation Through the Art and Design 6. Louise Borgenstierna, Pedro Feduchi, Alvaro Catalán de Ocón, María Astiaso and Roberta Sartori: Re-board Workshops (30.11-11.12, 15.1.-21.1.)

Other Complementary activities: • Guided tours (mainly for groups of design students) Interactive visit for children • Seminar about Children’s´ architecture education by Pihla Meskanen of Arkki School of Architecture for Children held in Casa Encendida • Pecha Kucha Night, presentations held by Emilio Tuñón, Luis Mansilla, Esa Vesmanen, Enrique Radigales, Johanna Sarviharju, PENSART, Tuomas Toivonen, Teresa Olazabal, Manuela Villa, Luis Vidal and Terhi Tuominen.

info

15

Alvar Aalto, For Our Measure & Manner, National Museum of Decorative Arts

Alvar Aalto continues to be the most famous and re-

spected Finnish designer, internationally as well as in

Spain. Aalto’s work was presented in Madrid in the form

of two exhibitions produced by the Alvar Aalto Founda-

tion. The first of the two: Alvar Aalto. For Our Measure

and Manner, with its inauguration in mid-September,

marked the beginning of the autumn of Finnish Design

events in Madrid.

The exhibition comprised a collection of Alvar Aal-

to’s design furniture and lighting, which were exhibit-

ed at the National Decorative Arts Museum. Markku

Keinänen the Finnish Ambassador to Spain, inaugu-

rated the exhibition. Markku Lahti, the former director

of the Alvar Aalto Foundation, gave a presentation-

seminar of Aalto and his work at the inauguration. The

inauguration, the presentation and the exhibition all

attracted a good number of visitors.

According to the museum’s report from 2009, the

number of visitors to the museum increased signifi-

cantly during the exhibition. In comparison to the pre-

vious year the numbers doubled during October and

November and the museum attendance reached al-

most equal numbers in September although the mu-

seum was open to the public for only two weeks in-

stead of four as in the previous year. The report also

states that the press coverage of the museum and

the exhibition was notably more extensive than usual.

Alvar Aalto, Dimensions on Wood, Istituto Europeo di Design (5.-27.11.2009)

The second exhibition, Dimensions on Wood, intro-

duced the audience to Alvar Aalto’s use of wood as

a construction material. The exhibition was inaugurat-

ed by the Secretary of State Marcus Rantala from the

Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture and organ-

ized at the Istituto Europeo di Design. Alongside this

exhibition, Mikko Mansikka, the president of the board

of Alvar Aalto Foundation, held a seminar on Aalto’s

urban architecture entitled City’s Inner Silhouette.

These two Aalto exhibitions attracted wide interest and

extremely positive feedback from the Spanish media

and general public. Many articles were published in

the most important newspapers and specialized mag-

azines and the number of visitors increased in both in-

stitutions, National Decorative Arts Museum and Istituto

Europeo di Design, during and thanks to the exhibitions.

Alvar Aalto, Dimensions on Wood,Istituto Europeo di DesignIED Master5.11.2009 – 27.11.2009

Total exhibition space: 380 m2Number of exhibitors: 1Number of Visitors (approx.): 3,600Complementary activities: • City’s Inner Silhouette, a seminar on Alvar Aalto’s urban architecture by Mikko Mansikka (president of the board of Alvar Aalto Foundation)

Alvar Aalto, For Our Measure & Manner,National Museum of Decorative Arts18.9.2009 – 15.11.2009

Total exhibition space: 160 m2Number of exhibitors: 1Number of Visitors (approx.): 9,300 Complementary activities: • A lecture by Markku Lahti (former director of the Alvar Aalto Foundation) in the inauguration of the exhibition.

17

Designer Awards ’08, Istituto Europeo di Design

Ornamo, the Finnish Association of Designers, also pre-

sented two exhibitions in Madrid. Designer Awards ´08

exhibition showed the work of six distinguished design-

ers awarded by Ornamo and Grafia, the Association

of Professional Graphic Designers, in 2008. Among

these recognized designers were Graphic Designer

Klaus Haapaniemi, Industrial Designer Tuuli Mattelmäki,

Fashion Designer Anssi Tuupainen, Artist Virpi Vesanen-

Laukkanen, Interior architect Esa Vesmanen and Textile

Artist Kristiina Wiherheimo.

The Designer Awards’ 08 -exhibition came to Madrid as

a continuation of a larger tour, which had already tak-

en it to Brussels and Eindhoven. The honoured interior

designer Esa Vesmanen was in charge of the exhibi-

tion architecture and also participated in an encoun-

ter with the students of the European Design Labs at

the Instituto Europeo di Design during his visit to Madrid.

OTTO, Círculo de Bellas Artes

Ornamo´s other exhibition OTTO took place in one of

the most iconic places in Spain, the cultural centre

Círculo de Bellas Artes. The exhibition included artwork

from 16 Finnish artists, all representing the organization

Artists O: Aino Favén, Miia Kallio, Sunna Kangas, Kirsi Ki-

vivirta, Tytti Korin, Laura Kärki, Riikka Latva-Somppi, Lee-

na Mäki-Patola, Nithikul Nimkulrat, Pekka Paikkari, Silja

Puranen, Caroline Slotte, Johanna Suonpää, Outi Tur-

peinen, Jaakko Vasko and Virpi Vesanen-Laukkanen.

The exhibition was inaugurated by Lidija Sircelj, the

General Coordinator of the Círculo de Bellas Artes,

Lena Strömberg, who was the Secretary General of Or-

namo, the Finnish Association of Designers during that

time and the visual artist and designer Outi Turpeinen

– also one of the artists of the exhibition. OTTO formed

a part of the Finlandia en el Círculo – Finland in the

Círculo (of Bellas Artes) – events that filled one of the

most important cultural centres in Spain with different

forms of Finnish culture.

Designer Awards ’08, Istituto Europeo di Design, Palacio de Altamira 4.11.2009 – 12.11.2009

Total exhibition space: 61 m2Number of exhibitors: 6Number of Visitors (approx.): 1,800Complementary activities: • Esa Vesmanen: Encounter with the students of the European Design Labs • Lily Diaz: Mapa digital de la ciudad de Mexico

OTTO, Círculo de Bellas Artes, Sala Minerva30.10.2009 – 22.11.2009

Total exhibition space: 87 m2Number of exhibitors: 16Number of Visitors (approx.): 3,000Complementary activities: • Cultural Programme Finlandia en el Círculo (more information in a separate chapter)

16

17

Finnish Architecture 0607, College of Architects of Madrid

The Finnish National Museum of Architecture organ-

ized two exhibitions in Madrid. The first: Finnish Archi-

tecture 0607, presented the best of modern Finnish ar-

chitecture, including the following 25 selected works of

architecture and urban planning form 2006 and 2007:

HOUSING

• House Holappa, Espoo by Archeus Ltd

• House Humlegård, Fiskars by Friman.Laaksonen

architects

• Villa Pinia, Jurmala, Latvia by Ark-house Architects

Ltd

• Villa Nuotta, Kerimäki by Tuomo Siitonen Architects

• Villa O, Inkoo by A-piste arkkitehdit Oy

• Triadi Apartments, Helsinki by Architects Huttunen-

Lipasti-Pakkanen Ltd

• Hansarinne Row Houses, Espoo by ARK-house Ar-

chitects Ltd

• Housing Block in Hermanni, Helsinki by A-konsultit

Architects

• Student Housing Kumpula, Helsinki by Brunow &

Maunula Architects

• Apartment Buildings in Katajanokka, Helsinki by Ar-

chitects NRT Ltd

PUBLIC BUILDINGS

• Welfare Centre Onni, Pukkila by L&M Sievänen

Architects

• Enter, Upper Secondary School and Vocational

College, Sipoo by K2S Architects Ltd

• Joensuun Lyseo Comprehensive School, Joens-

uu by Architects Lahdelma & Mahlamäki

• Main Library, Turku by JKMM Architects Cultur-

al Centre Sandels, Helsinki by Juha Leiviskä and

Rosemarie Schnitzler, Architects SAFA

• Porthania, Renovation of University Faculty Build-

ing, Helsinki by Architects NRT Ltd

• WeeGee Exhibition Centre, Espoo by Airas

Architects

• Arts and Congress Centre Verkatehdas, Hämeen-

linna by JKMM Architects

• Finnish Food Safety Authority, Helsinki by Architects

Lahdelma & Mahlamäki

• Travel Centre, Mikkeli by B&M Architects Ltd

• Public Toilets, Helsinki by P & P Manner Architects

• Club Building, Vanke Deep Blue, Shanghai, China

by PES Architects

URBAN PLANNING

• Kamppi Centre, Above Ground Parts, Helsinki by

Juhani Pallasmaa Architects, Helin & Co Archi-

tects, Marja-Riitta Norri Architects, ARX Architects

• Korteniitty Housing Area, Jyväskylä by Kirsti Sivén &

Asko Takala Architects

• Pihlajamäki, Protection of a 1960s Suburban

Neighborhood, Helsinki by Helsinki City Planning

Department

The exhibition had earlier toured Rome, Saint Peters-

burg and Paris. In Madrid it took place at the College

of Architects of Madrid (COAM), which is regarded as

one of the best venues for exhibitions on architecture

in the city.

Raili and Reima Pietilä – Challenging modern architecture, Museum ICO

The other exhibition of the Finnish National Museum

of Architecture, Raili and Reima Pietilä – Challenging

Modern Architecture, displayed the incredible work of

the inspired couple, who are considered to be among

the greatest Finnish architects of the 20th Century. The

inauguration of the exhibition took place at the Museum

ICO and was honoured by the presence of Raili Pietilä

herself. The ICO Foundation also published the first

Finnish Architecture 0607, College of Architects of Madrid 6.11.2009 – 29.11.2009

Total exhibition space: 125 m2Number of exhibitors: 25Number of Visitors (approx.): 3,500Complementary activities: N.A.

18

ever book in Spanish about the couple´s architecture.

This extensive catalogue, Un desafío a la arquitectura

moderna – Challenging Modern Architecture, presents

the work of the Pietilä through a diverse set of articles,

photographs, descriptive texts and sketches. The ex-

hibition was the last exhibition in the programme for

the autumn of Finnish Design and was inaugurated in

mid-December.

Marimekko: 10 Points of View, Spanish National Dress Museum

Design Museum of Helsinki participated in the Finnish

Design Month by bringing an exhibition of Marimekko,

one of the most prestigious Finnish fashion houses, to

the Spanish capital.

The exhibition Marimekko: 10 Points of View brought

together the past and the present of the company’s

history under the roof of the Spanish National Dress

Museum Museo del Traje. Design Museum of Helsinki

also published an exhibition catalogue in Spanish to

complement the exhibition. Marcus Rantala, the Sec-

retary of State from the Finnish Ministry of Education

and Culture, inaugurated the exhibition together with

the chancellor Risto Ihamuotila.

Marimekko also organized a seminar held by PR-man-

ager Tiina Alahuhta-Kasko and Erja Hirvi, a well known

textile designer working for the company. The partic-

ipants got a glimpse of the history of the company

as well as the process of the design and fabrication

of the print textiles. Spanish media showed remark-

able interest towards Marimekko. OnMadrid, the Fri-

day supplement of El País, the largest newspaper of

Spain, dedicated an entire cover for the Finnish Design

Month using Marimekko prints and published a spread

about the different Design Month events.

Thanks to the impact of the media and the success of

the exhibitions of the Finnish Design Month events, first

class museums like Reina Sofia, the widely known and

recognized art centre in Madrid, demonstrated to the

secretary of state, Marcus Rantala, the great interest

in exhibiting more Finnish art. High officers of the Span-

ish Ministry of Culture made known their disposition for

future exhibition collaborations and their satisfaction

with the exhibitions organized during the Finnish Design

Month.

Wood Works, Architectural Department of the Technical University of Madrid

The Department of Architecture of the Aalto University’s

School of Science and Technology organized, in co-

operation with the Technical University of Madrid (Uni-

versidad Politécnica) and its School of Architecture, Es-

cuela Superior de Arquitectura (ETSAM), an exhibition

concentrating on the use of wood in architecture un-

der the title Wood Works.

This exhibition presented the diverse work from 20 stu-

dents of the Wood Programme of the Architectural De-

partment of the Aalto University School of Science and

Raili and Reima Pietilä,Challenging Modern ArchitectureMuseo ICO17.12.2009 – 21.2.2010

Total exhibition space: 450 m2Number of exhibitors: 2Number of Visitors (approx.): 6,897Complementary activities: • Publication: Desafío a la arquitectura moderna (Challenging Modern Architecture)

Marimekko: 10 Points of View, Spanish National Dress Museum 6.11.2009 – 13.12.2009

Total exhibition space: 150 m2 Number of exhibitors: 1Number of Visitors (approx.): 9,000Complementary activities: • Exhibition catalogue• Seminar by Marimekko´s PR-manager Tiina Alahuhta-Kasko & textile designer Erja Hirvi

Technology. Professor Pekka Heikkinen, the director of

the programme, participated in the opening ceremo-

nies and the following seminar discussions.

Participants included: Jaakko Keppo, Niko Sirola, Sebas-

tian Lönnqvist, Ville Hara, Risto Huttunen, Winfried Endres,

Olli Hatvala, Johanna Rope, Peter Westerlund, Motomi

Morii, Tatu Korhonen, Jonathan Montandon, Roy Katz,

Tiina Rytkönen, Antti Lehto, Jessie Smith, Teemu Sep-

pänen, Anna Scheinin, Jan Söderlund, Seppo Häkli,

Matti Kuittinen, Hannu Hirsi, Kimmo Lylykangas, Otso

Tarkela, Antti Matti Siikala, Tapio Saarelainen, Pekka Pak-

kanen, Anna Kronlöf, Lotte Roberts, Risto Huttunen, Pe-

ter Westerlund, Lauri Salokangas, Katja Vahtikari, Georg

Grotenfelt, Matti Kairi, Marko Huttunen, Katja Savolainen.

Different seminars and conferences were organized

complementing the exhibition. One of them, Intergen-

erational dialogue, a discussion between the Spanish

and the Finnish young architects, was organized as a

part of opening seminar. The second seminar, Blue

wings: Facts and Fictions about Finland, was held by

the architect Mikko Heikkinen of the Heikkinen / Komo-

nen architects. Third seminar was given by Antti

Pitkänen from the SEOS Design collective on sustain-

able design and research.

Wood Works,School of Architecture of the Technical University of Madrid,5.11.2009 – 25.11.2009

Total exhibition space: 140 m2Number of Visitors (approx.): 2,400Number of exhibitors: 20Complementary activities: • Intergenerational dialogue, a discussion between the Spanish and the Finnish young architects as part of the opening seminar. Finnish participants: Pekka Heikkisen, Janne Teräsvirta (Ala Architects), Anu Puustinen (Avanto Architects), Ilkka Salminen (Verstas Architects), Mikko Summanen. (K2S Architects), Vesa Oiva (Anttinen Oiva Architects) • Blue wings: Facts and Fictions about Finland by the architect Mikko Heikkinen of the Heikkinen / Komonen architects • Antti Pitkänen, SEOS: Sustainable design and research seminar President of the Ibero-American

Foundation, Chancellor Risto Ihamuotila and Kristiina Ihamuotila

19

21

The programme of the Finnish Design Month present-

ed the work of today’s young Finnish architects through

various exhibitions. Helsinki Madrid FinDesign, the main

exhibition of the event discussed earlier in this report

dedicated a separate space for nine Finnish architec-

ture companies who presented their work as part of

Newly Drawn – Emerging Finnish Architects in the Mat-

adero’s Design Centre. Another version of the Newly

Drawn exhibit was presented in the Technical University

of Madrid through video projections.

Pekka Loiri: 30 posters, Escuela de Arte 10

Madrid-based art and design school Escuela de Arte

10 organized an exhibition entitled 30 posters, to

present the work of the recognized Finnish graphic de-

signer and illustrator Pekka Loiri. The posters were exhib-

ited at the Escuela de Arte 10’s premises during No-

vember and December 2009. Alongside the exhibit,

Pekka Loiri gave a conference and held a workshop for

the students of the art school.

Showrooms

The following six design-shops participated in the Finn-

ish Design Month by selling Finnish Design Products:

Italcris, Simsum, Modernario, Aalto Diseño, Diedro and

Aldeasa in Museo de Traje.

Supplementary cultural programme

The Spanish public was given the opportunity to be-

come familiar not only with design and architecture

but other aspects of Finnish culture as well. A supple-

mentary programme agenda was created for Círcu-

lo de Bellas Artes cultural centre, organized in coop-

eration with the Ibero-American Institute and with the

support of Visit Finland. The cultural programming was

entitled Finlandia en el Círculo, Finland in the Círculo.

The events that took place during November included

theatre performances, music and films as well as the

exhibition OTTO, previously mentioned in this report.

The Círculo de Bellas Artes is one Europe’s most im-

portant private cultural centres. This level of prestige,

together with its location in the heart of Madrid, guar-

anteed excellent visibility for the Finland in the Cír-

culo events. The supplementary cultural programme

of the Finnish Design Month also included theatre

Pekka Loiri, Escuela de Arte 1023.11.2009 – 11 .12.2009

Total exhibition space: 80 m2Number of exhibitors: 1Number of Visitors (approx.): 1,700Complementary activities: • Conference by Pekka LoiriWorkshop for students by Pekka Loiri

20

21

performances at the Theatre Casa de Vacas, situated

in the park of Retiro area in the centre of Madrid.

Theatre

The theatre company Quo Vadis arrived to Spain for

the first time to perform at the Círculo de Bellas Artes as

part of the Finland in the Círculo events. This Finnish the-

atre company, which had formerly toured cities such

as Paris and Moscow, set up its peculiar and unique

‘yurt’ at the Columnas hall of the cultural centre. Within

the yurt they performed three different plays over a

two-week period. One of the plays Saving Mama from

Blue was designed for children and the other two in

the repertoire, Quo Vadis Hamlet and Artic Bliss for an

adult audience. With the directors and authors Otso

Kautto and Markku Hoikkala, the company Quo Vadis

has already been on the stage for more than 20 years.

Quo Vadis has developed a special method of simul-

taneous bilingual acting. This method was also suc-

cessfully used in Madrid where the plays were per-

formed in Spanish and Finnish at the same time. During

their visit to Madrid, Quo Vadis cooperated with the lo-

cal theatre company Teatro Réplika. In total 29 artists

took part in the theatre programme. Furthermore, the

Columnas hall (400 m2) was given special decorative

furnishing, with the yurt in the middle and the rest of the

hall covered by an exhibition of felted artworks by the

artist Tuula Nikulainen.

At the Theatre Casa de Vacas, the theatre company

Ilmatar had eight performances of the play Panic by

the playwright and director Mika Myllyaho, who is also

the current director of the Finnish National Theatre. Il-

matar is a group comprised of four actors, a director

and a person responsible for lighting.

Music

The complementary cultural programme of the De-

sign Month also included unique musical performanc-

es. The Anssi Tikanmäki Orchestra performed twice in

Círculo the Bellas Artes. The group is especially known

for the compositions made by the band’s leader Ans-

si Tikanmäki for the films of the directors Aki and Mika

Kaurismäki. Anssi Tikanmäki Orchestra’s first show in Ma-

drid, included a projection of the silent film Juha from

the director Aki Kaurismäki. The film was followed by

a concert in which the band performed the themes

from the movie. In the second concert the Spanish

public was blown away by music from Aki and Mika

Kaurismäki’s movies as well as from the Tikanmäki’s

Finnish Landscapes albums.

The two concerts of Anssi Tikanmäki orchestra were

organized in collaboration with Esek, The Finnish Per-

forming Music Promotion Centre, alongside Luses, The

Foundation for Promotion of Finnish Music. The Orches-

tra comprised the following individuals: Anssi Tikanmäki

(keyboard, conductor), Eljas Tikanmäki (percussion,

accordion, mallets), Eemil Tikanmäki (guitar, violin),

Masa Orpana (saxophones), Juuso Nordlund (bass),

Lasse Raja (mixing), ja Tapio Korjus (tour manager).

The jazz band Esa Pietilä 4 Streams also came to play

a concert in the Círculo de Bellas Artes. The band con-

tains four jazz virtuosos; saxophonist Esa Pietilä, drum-

mer Markku Ounaskari, bass player Ulf Krokfors and pi-

anist Iro Haarla. It was also the first time the Esa Pietilä

4 Streams played together in Spain and they were ex-

tremely well received by the public.

Cinema

In cooperation with the Finnish Film Foundation, the

Ibero-American Institute and the Círculo de Bellas Artes

organized a film series dedicated to Finnish film in the

cinema of the cultural centre. During three weeks a to-

tal of 12 Finnish movies were projected and there were

altogether 41 projections. For film lovers, the film series

offered a unique chance to get to see a collection of

films relatively unknown and not often seen in Spain.

The series included films from the well-known directors

such as Aki and Mika Kaurismäki, as well as Miika Soini,

Markku Pölönen and Matti Ijäs, directors who are not

yet so well known in Spain.

22 23

The original budget for the project was estimated to

be about €2,262,450. When some eventual changes

to the final programme were taken in consideration,

the budget reached €2,450,000 including all activities

and costs. In reality, most of the budget went into the

hire of facilities as well as the hours spent working on

the project by all the participants and partners. 88% of

these costs were not billed and should hence be con-

sidered as in-kind contributions.

Basically, the Finnish participants prepared the exhibi-

tion materials, packed them and sent them to Madrid.

The Spanish participants gave their personnel, space

and other facilities for the exhibitions. The Spanish also

designed and printed the inauguration invitations, took

care of the mailing and provided the inauguration

servings. The Ibero-American Institute helped the par-

ties to make agreements, facilitated translations and

assisted in the unloading and setup of the exhibitions.

The insurance costs were individually negotiated case

by case. The largest costs were created by the trans-

portation of objects and participants. For example, the

Quo Vadis theatre group is formed of 29 actors and

assistants who lived in Madrid during the period of two

weeks. This alone equates to a notable cost in accom-

modation and travel.

In Finland, The Ministry of Education and Culture gave

the Ibero-American Institute of Finland financial sup-

port in the value of €45,000 to the coordination of all

the simultaneous events. Of this sum, €20,000 was

designated to the Design Centre of Madrid in order

to help them to organize the biggest single exhibition

event. The challenge was creating a new exhibition for

the 1,500 m2 of space in the Design Centre of Mata-

dero. For this objective the Ministry of Education and

Culture in Finland gave Helsinki Design Week €100,000

worth of financial support to create and curate the ex-

hibition, transport the objects to Madrid and to setup

the main exhibition. The contribution of the City of Hel-

sinki and the individual expositors secured the financ-

ing of the exhibition.

The remainder of the budget, €25,000, provided for the

Ibero-American Institute, was used to produce market-

ing materials, such as 50,000 catalogues and 500

street banners. In addition, the institute was supported

financially by the Finnish Embassy in Madrid through

the Department for Communications and Culture of

the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, which provid-

ed €8,100 toward the marketing costs. Other important

contributions were made by Visit Finland (marketing

€8,500), Helsinki Design Week (translator salary €2,400),

ESEK (€1,000), the Finnish Theatre Information Centre

(€1,600), Finpro Spain (€200), LUSES (€800), Viajes fies-

ta (€500), The Finnish Film Foundation (copyright pay-

ments), Marimekko (textile serviettes and tablecloths),

Stora Enso (paper) and Finlandia Vodka (drinks).

Altogether, The Finnish Ministry of Education and Cul-

ture contributed €145,000 to the project with €45,000

of that amount directed to the overall coordination of

the project and €100,000 to the coordination of the

main exhibition. The City of Helsinki, Finnish Embassy,

Visit Finland and other public and private Finnish or-

ganizations all together contributed around €100,000

of financial support that was directed to different spe-

cific activities. Thus, the total Finnish monetary contri-

bution to the project was €245,000. This means that

10% of the total budget was required as seed money

for the project.

The Spanish monetary contributions can be estimated

to have been about €50,000, so hence we may esti-

mate that 88% of the entire budged was filled with in-

kind reciprocal services contributed both by the Finn-

ish and by the Spanish participants to the project. For

example the renting value of 500 lamp-posts for street

banners during the period of one month by the City

of Madrid was alone an extremely important financial

contribution.

3. BUDGet

23

As an important part of the PR activities for the Finnish

Design Month, a diverse set of material for the cam-

paign publicity was produced consisting of the follow-

ing elements.

• logotype and a visual look (by Timo Ilola and

Manuel Estrada)

• street banners (500)

• three huge street banners in the crossroad of the

Streets Alcalá and Gran Vía to promote Finland in

the Círculo activities

• extensive catalogue (58 pages, 50,000 copies)

• Internet homepage for the event (www.diseno.fi)

• Facebook fan page

• Publicity campaign of the National Museum of

Decorative Arts in Spanish Newspapers: Alvar Aal-

to, For Our Measure & Manner (advertising)

• Publicity campaign of the City of Madrid

• Publicity campaign of the Circulo de Bellas Artes:

Finland in Circulo. Leaflets and advertising (to-

gether with Ibero-American Institute of Finland ) in

Spanish Newspapers.

• Publicity campaign of ICO-museum in Spanish

Newspapers: Raili and Reima Pietilä (advertising)

• Press releases of Embassy of Finland and Ibero-

American Institute of Finland

• Press releases of participant institutions

As one of the main collaborators of the event, the City

of Madrid offered publicity space for 500 banners that

adorned the streets of Madrid during November 2009.

Also a printed EsMadrid November catalogue (100,000

copies), internet, TV and Radio publicity channels of

the City of Madrid were given for the project’s use.

Furthermore, the specific Finnish Design Month cata-

logue, of which 50,000 copies were printed, was de-

signed and produced by the Ibero-American Institute.

Both Matti Vanhanen, Primer Minister of Finland, and

Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, Mayor of the City of Ma-

drid, contributed to the catalogue. The institute was

also in charge of the distribution of the catalogue in

various locations, e.g. the tourist information offices

around the capital as well as all the cultural centres

participating in the Design Month events. The Ibero-

American Institute also took charge of creating and

updating the Internet homepage for the project

which gathered all the latest information on the ex-

hibitions and events as well as publishing news re-

lated to Finnish Design in general. In addition, the

social media Internet site Facebook was used in the

marketing of the events during the Design Month.

4. camPaiGn materiaL

25

In general, the Ibero-American Institute was extremely

satisfied with the publicity campaigns of the Nation-

al Museum of Decorative Arts, Circulo de Bellas Artes,

ICO-museum and the City of Madrid. Thanks to these

specific publicity campaigns and general public-

ity in media, the information about the Design Month

reached more than one million citizens of Madrid

and a large percentage of the Spanish population in

general. Thanks to this vast publicity, Design Centre of

Matadero and many other participant institutions al-

most doubled the number of daily visitors. The Design

Month’s total amount of visitors was 65,000, which can

certainly be considered a good result.

Nevertheless, in spite of general publicity, the Ibero-

American Institute was not entirely satisfied with the

individual publicity campaign of Design Centre that

sought to capture more visitors to the main exhibition.

Even though 19,000 visitors to the exhibition in Design

Centre may have been close to their record, a criti-

cal analysis indicates that the amount of visitors could

have been doubled or even tripled by creating a simi-

lar publicity campaign that was realized, for example,

by the National Museum of Decorative Arts for their Al-

var Aalto exhibition. Unfortunately, due to lack of more

marketing personnel and monetary resources, a larger

publicity campaign for the Design Centre in Matadero

was not possible.

We are convinced that with a resource of €30,000

more for marketing, the amount of visitors to the main

exhibition could realistically have reached 55,000 and

a total of 100,000 visits to the Design Month’s events

would have thus been achieved.

24

Street banners advertising the event.

25

The Finnish Design Month received remarkable visibil-

ity and attention from Spanish media during the au-

tumn of 2009. The communications of the Finnish De-

sign Month in Spain were handled in cooperation with

the Ibero-American Institute and the Finnish Embassy

together with the Spanish organizers. The institute and

the embassy were in charge of the communication

of the event as a whole. The first press-conference of

the Finnish Design Month was organized in the National

Museum of Decorative Arts in September 2009 at the

time when the first exhibition was opened. The second

press-conference was held on November 2nd in the

Circulo de Bellas Artes in the yurt of the theatre group

Quo Vadis. The third conference was held during the

opening ceremonies of the main exhibition in Cultural

Centre of Matadero on November 3rd, in the pres-

ence of Prime Minister of Finland Matti Vanhanen and

the Deputy Mayor of Helsinki Tuula Haatainen.

Despite the lack of more specific press events, the

Finnish Design Month succeeded in drawing the atten-

tion of the Spanish media in a way that was beyond

any expectations. The most important daily newspa-

pers, such as El País, El Mundo, ABC and La Vanguardia

wrote numerous articles about the event. In addition,

several specialized magazines published articles on

Finnish design and architecture not to mention hun-

dreds of thousands of Internet entries about the events

of the Finnish Design Month. The Finnish Design pre-

sented in Madrid was also covered by Spanish Nation-

al Television and Radio.

Newspapers and magazines

In the printed media, El País, the newspaper with the

largest circulation in Spain, published many articles

about the Finnish Design Month during the autumn

of 2009. The first article, which served as an intriguing

teaser for the forthcoming event, came out in early

September and presented Finnish design in general as

well as introducing one of the most important design

events of the country: Helsinki Design Week. The De-

sign Month’s first exhibition Alvar Aalto, For Our Measure

and Manner that celebrated its inauguration in mid-

September was highlighted in the two largest news pa-

pers in the country, El País (26/9/2009) and El Mundo

(15/10/2009).

The second press conference was successful in creat-

ing publicity thanks to the reports of EFE-news agen-

cy and local articles in El Mundo, ABC, and Periódico

among others. Later on in November, the inauguration

of the main exhibition Helsinki Madrid FinDesign was

widely reported in the main newspapers: both El País

and El Mundo published full-page articles about the

exhibition as well as interviews of its two curators: Kari

Korkman and Pedro Feduchi.

El País dedicated a whole cover and a spread of six

inner pages of its Friday supplement OnMadrid to the

Finnish Design Month. On the cover the word ‘Finland’

was written using a different distinguishing Marimekko

5. meDia reaction

26 27

Examples of articles in local media.

27

print for each individual letter. With the heading “Prac-

ticality and Simplicity Born in Coldness” the report out-

lined some of the basic elements of the Finnish de-

sign. It presented Finnish design and its basic values

while highlighting the eight different exhibitions of the

Finnish Design Month held in Madrid during November.

Furthermore, the Metrópolis supplement of El Mundo

offered a double page article on the Design Month’s

events including a map to show how to reach all the

different exhibitions. The event was also noticed by

other important national newspapers, such as ABC,

Público and La Vanguardia as well as in many local

publications of Madrid.

The media attention extended beyond the themes of

architecture and design as the supplementary cultur-

al programme of the event was also reported by the

newspapers. In mid-November, the theatre company

Quo Vadis obtained visibility in El País, which published

an article based on an interview of the director of the

company, Otso Kautto.

The Finnish film series was presented alongside the ar-

ticle about Aki Kaurismäki published in 20 Minutes – a

free city newspaper with the largest circulation in the

city. Furthermore, El País recommended the concert of

Anssi Tikanmäki Orchestra on its “Where to Go Today”

-page; and ABC recommended the concert of Esa

Pietilä quartet in its Friday supplement Madrid360.

Specialized magazines also dedicated space for Finn-

ish Design. One the most important art magazines in

Spain, Descubrir el Arte, presented in its November is-

sue a large spread with pictures of the Design Month’s

different exhibitions. Earlier in the autumn the same

magazine published an article about Alvar Aalto and

the exhibition For Our Measure and Manner which

launched the Finnish Design autumn in Madrid.

Alvar Aalto´s work attracted interest from other publi-

cations as well. The magazine Arquitectura y diseño

(Architecture and Design) published a three page ar-

ticle of the legacy of this grand maestro. Elle Deco

magazine dedicated three pages of its December

edition on the contemporary Finnish design and de-

signers including Harri Koskinen, Ilkka Suppanen, Mikko

Laakkonen, Eero Aarnio and Kristiina Isola.

Television, Radio and Internet

The media coverage of the Finnish Design Month was

not limited to the printed media. The event was also

seen in television and heard on the radio. In Finland,

the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE covered the

main exhibition Helsinki Madrid FinDesign inaugurated

by the Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen. The report aired

on the main news broadcast for the network on the 3rd

of November.

In Spain, the local television EsMadrid.tv made a spe-

cial programme about the Finnish Design Month which

aired several times during November. EsMadrid.tv also

made a special programme related to the main ex-

hibition and interviewed the curator of the exhibition

and the director of Helsinki Design Week, Kari Korkman.

Furthermore, the channel interviewed the director of

the Ibero-American Institute, Martti Pärssinen, and the

composer Anssi Tikanmäki, among others.

The Spanish National Television TVE made a special

report for the programme Escala 1:1 about the Finn-

ish Design Month. Escala 1:1 is a programme on the

cultural channel of TVE broadcast in various countries.

The director of the Ibero-American Institute, Martti Pärs-

sinen, was interviewed for the programme as was the

co-curator of the main exhibition Helsinki Madrid FinD-

esign Pedro Feduchi. In the programme Escala 1:1 the

Finnish Design Month was presented and special em-

phasis was given to the main exhibition in the Design

Centre of Matadero.

Hundreds and hundreds of internet pages noticed the

event and wrote about the various exhibitions as well

as the complementary activities of the Finnish Design

Month. All the most important newspapers also pub-

lished articles on the event on their web pages. The

Design Month was presented in various blogs (among

them those of influential design and architecture

bloggers) as well as other web pages. Google search

29

“Mes del diseño finlandés” found up to 700,000

matches in December 2009. The strategy of imple-

menting the communication through the Ibero-Amer-

ican Institute together with the Finnish Embassy in Ma-

drid worked well and succeeded in obtaining media

attention from September 2009 when the first exhibi-

tion was inaugurated until the closure of the last exhibi-

tion in February 2010 and beyond.

The media impact of the event extended past the ac-

tual duration of events for the Finnish Design Month. For

example, the newspaper El Periódico’s Sunday sup-

plement Domical published a large interview with Erja

Hirvi, the textile designer of Marimekko in March 2010.

Also, an article of the work of Raili and Reima Pietilä

was published in the first issue of 2010 of the magazine

Arte Contexto, a specialist magazine for professionals.

In general, the media impact of the Design Month was

extremely positive. So many articles appeared in dif-

ferent media that it was impossible to get copies of

all of them. Still, a summary of media news, advertise-

ments and articles (altogether 800 pages) was made

and given to the Ministry of Education and Culture in

Finland.

The media impact has also had a positive influence

on later exhibitions on Finnish culture as these obtained

a very good visibility in the Spanish media. For exam-

ple, the exhibition Artic Hysteria which was organized in

Salamanca and the Finnish glass art exhibition organ-

ized in Segovia in 2010, were both recognised and

reported by the Spanish media. Also, the festival Días

Nórdicos organized in Madrid in September and Oc-

tober 2010 gained greater visibility and the festival will

incorporate Finnish Design in its future programming.

Furthermore, thanks to the vast and positive publicity of

Design Month, Finland was invited, together with other

Nordic countries, to be a guest area of the Feria de

Libro de Madrid, one of the biggest Book Fairs in the

world with more than 1.5 million visitors.

28

29

During the summer of 2010, the Ibero-American Institute

of Finland produced a survey of the Finnish and Spanish

participants in order to take note of the views from the

collaborators participating in the Finnish Design Month.

Written inquiries were sent out to 15 Finnish and 11

Spanish collaborators. Unfortunately only one third of

the Finnish collaborators found the time to contribute,

thus from their part only four complete surveys were

received. The small number is in part due to the holi-

day season in Finland when the main inquiries were

delivered. The Spanish, however, took a more active

role. Of the eleven collaborators who received the sur-

vey, seven returned their comments. Thus the survey

succeeded in recording the views of no less than two

thirds of the local collaborators.

In general, the institute had received very positive

feedback through various channels after the events.

The survey was confirmation of this positive feedback.

According to the survey both the Finnish and the Span-

ish participants were very pleased and satisfied with

the arrangements and cooperation as well as the out-

come of the project.

The survey underlines the fact that the Finnish Design

Month achieved the goal of attracting public atten-

tion. According to the information received from the

Spanish organizers, the attendance grew significant-

ly during the exhibition of the Finnish Design Month in

50% of the exhibition venues. All the organizers who an-

swered to the survey stated that the response from the

visitors had been positive. The Spanish organizers were

of the opinion that the exhibitions and supplementary

programme offered an interesting and multifaceted

approach to Finnish culture. The exhibitions were seen

to have awoken great interest in Finnish design among

the general public as well as professionals.

The programme of the Finnish Design Month was

deemed versatile as it presented the internationally

known Finnish classics alongside the yet unknown de-

signers and artists in the Spanish capital. The Spanish

participants were extremely pleased with the organi-

zational skills of the Finnish collaborators. None of the

respondents had previous experience in working with

Finnish partners.

The collaboration with the Finnish partners was seen as

an extremely easy experience and the Spanish part-

ners appreciated the fact that the Finnish counterparts

fulfilled all the engagements they made. The dedica-

tion and work commitment of the Finnish counterparts

was also positively recognised. Besides the fact that

the Finnish proposals and ideas were welcomed with

great interest, the Spanish participants also stressed

that the Finnish Design Month presented them with an

opportunity to make contacts and network with Finnish

professionals. Most of the Spanish respondents stated

that the Finnish Design Month really had enabled them

to make contacts in Finland.

The survey showed that the Spanish counterparts are

also interested in collaborating with the Finnish institu-

tions in the future, though the respondents didn’t yet

present any concrete plans or any specific project. It

was the view of many of the Spanish participants that

the Helsinki World Design Capital 2012 project would

be one interesting opportunity to continue the collab-

oration with the Finnish counterparts.

On the other hand, the Finnish participants consid-

ered that the participation in the Finnish Design Month

project facilitated them to disseminate awareness

and create knowledge about the Finnish artists and

designers in Spain. Half of the Finnish participants who

answered to the survey had previous experience of

collaborations with Spanish institutions. Yet a majority

of the respondents shared the opinion that the Finnish

Design Month enabled them to create new contacts

and networks in Spain.

Furthermore, all the respondents expressed their inter-

est in collaborating with Spanish partners in the future.

6. imPact anD oUtcome – refLectionS from ParticiPantS

31

The answers show that Latin America is considered as

an interesting destination for organizing similar kinds of

events.

The survey shows that the Finnish participants were es-

pecially pleased with the visibility of the event in the

Spanish media. In general, the communications and

marketing of the Finnish Design Month was consid-

ered a success. Although lots of media attention was

gained in Spain, the survey also pointed out that the

event could have received more attention amongst

the Finnish media. The positive experience and feed-

back of the Finnish Design Month from both sides re-

flects the interest and readiness to collaborate in future

projects. In general, it is safe to assume that there is

real interest in Finnish design and architecture, as well

as the Finnish culture in general in the Hispanic world.

30

Entering to the Helsinki Madrid FinDesign -exhibition.

31

The purpose of the Finnish Design Month was to export

Finnish culture, design and architecture to the Iberian

Peninsula and to create contacts for future collabora-

tion. The media impact and the survey made of the

Finnish and Spanish organizers shows that the Finnish

Design Month succeeded in achieving both of these

goals.

Also, the cooperation between the two most important

Madrid-based Finnish institutions for the success of the

project, the Ibero-American Institute and the Finnish

Embassy, was strengthened even further through the

Design Month project and has continued to be close

afterwards. For example, the institute and the embas-

sy together coordinated the Finnish programme for

the Feria del Libro – book fair in the spring of 2010.

Thanks to the Design Month project these two impor-

tant Finnish institutions also created new connections

and strengthened the existing good relations with the

main actors in the field of culture in Madrid.

Cooperation Projects after the Finnish Design Month

Pihla Meskanen, the director of the children’s architec-

ture school Arkki, who held the children´s work shop

Sweet Architecture during Helsinki Madrid FinDesign

(the main exhibition of the Finnish Design Month), was

invited to Madrid for the Feria del Libro – book fair in

the spring of 2010. The workshop, after having enjoyed

great success during the Design Month, turned out to

be a real hit once again.

As before, numerous children gathered to create their

own hat design using only candy and toothpicks as

construction material. Since the Spanish public was

especially pleased with the workshops for children dur-

ing the Finnish Design Month, the result of this positive

feedback will prove very useful and will be taken into

account when planning the book fair programme in

the future.

The theatre company Quo Vadis amazed the Spanish

audience in November when they performed in the

Círculo de Bellas Artes. During this time, the compa-

ny cooperated with a local theatre company Teatro

Replika. The cooperation has since generated new

projects and Quo Vadis returned to the Iberian Penin-

sula in the spring of 2010 to perform at the Madrid

book fair as well as in the premises of Teatro Replika.

The cooperation between these two theatre compa-

nies has developed further and there are plans for a

joint European project together with other European

theatre companies. Quo Vadis has also been invited

by the Autonomous Community of Madrid to partici-

pate in the Theatre Night of Madrid during March 2011.

The Design Museum in Helsinki is coordinating a joint

European project called Fantasy Design in Commu-

nity, with the National Decorative Arts Museum in Ma-

drid (Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas). Fantasy

Design is an educational project where children and

young people are the designers. The project supports

learning with design and promoting design methods in

formal education and through informal learning. Fur-

thermore, Design Museum will present Marimekko’s 60

year’s exhibition in Cádiz in 2012.

In June 2010, Aalto University participated in the So-

lar Decathlon Europe competition in Madrid with the

Luukku house, a zero-energy house that is constructed

entirely out of wood. The Finnish team was victorious at

the competition and the Luukku house was awarded

with the Architecture Prize.

7. tHe aftermatH of tHe finniSH DeSiGn montH

3332

Helsinki Madrid FinDesign exhibition.

33

During the project some 3,500 m2 of exhibition space

was used and more than 600 objects from 120 exhibi-

tors, representing more than 215 designers and archi-

tects, were exhibited to the general public in the city

centre of Madrid.

Some 60,000 individuals visited the different exhibitions

and some 5,000 individuals took part in the comple-

mentary activities of the Finnish Design Month. Actu-

ally, the event was probably the largest Finnish design

event ever organized abroad. It also seems to have

been the biggest presentation of Finnish Culture in

Spain up to date. At least, in the Ibero-American Insti-

tute of Finland there are no records of any other Finnish

cultural event that would have gained as much me-

dia attention in the Hispanic world.

The response of the Spanish media was extremely

positive and reached beyond any expectations. Also

the media attention received during the Design Month

has had a positive influence on the visibility of the later

events related to Finnish design and art. In the light of

all this evidence, it seems clear that the Ibero-Ameri-

can Institute working closely together with the Finnish

Embassy succeeded in facilitating the creation of new

cooperatives as well as deepening the existing rela-

tions with the Spanish media. The image of Finnish cul-

ture, which is still rather unknown in the Hispanic world,

benefited from the Finnish Design Month, as the event

fomented an image of Finland the forms associations

with design, ecology and innovation.

To conclude this report, the Finnish Design Month suc-

ceeded in its efforts in cultural exportation. The institute

is confident in the awareness and knowledge that with

an investment of less than €250,000 of seed money,

Finland was, as incredible as it may seem, able to

organize events that have a value of €2.5 million in

real terms. This was achieved mainly through dona-

tions in-kind. Through this project Finnish design, archi-

tecture and other cultural areas were activated within

the consciousness of the Spanish public. The survey

made of the Spanish collaborators showed that the

Finnish Design Month also strengthened the image of

the Finnish as reliable partners, reflecting the interest

in future collaboration between the Finnish and Span-

ish counterparts. The event was a response to the de-

mand for a better knowledge of the Finnish culture in

the Iberian peninsula and has succeeded in foment-

ing the interest towards other cultural fields such as lit-

erature, music and dance. Some new projects have

already seen the light of day after the end of the Finn-

ish Design Month and we are certain that more new

projects will emerge in the near future.

The Ibero-American Institute is also very proud of the

fact that the important contribution of the City of Hel-

sinki in the main exhibition “Helsinki Madrid, FinDesign”

was one of the pillars that won Helsinki the title of De-

sign Capital 2012. The Design Committee that award-

ed Helsinki the title in Singapore (November 2009) was

well aware of Helsinki’s role in the Design Month of

Madrid.

SUMMARY: Finnish Design Month 2009

Total exhibition space: 3,533 m2 including the Columnas hall (400 m2) in Circulo that was furnished with special decoration with the yurt in the middle

Number of exhibitors: 120 exhibitors representing more than 215 designers and architects

Complementary activities: • 7 Workshops • 10 Seminars • 3 Concerts • 42 Film projections • 25 Theatre plays • 6 Showrooms

TOTAL NUMBER OF VISITORS (approx.) Exhibitions: 60,200Complementary activities: 5,000

8. concLUSionS

34

PART 2

Finnish Design Month in Madrid November 2009

Follow-up report for the Ibero-American Institute of Finland by Finpro Spain

PART 2

Author: Sami Auvinen

36 37

37

In November 2009 the Ibero-American Institute of Fin-

land organized a theme month focused on Finnish

design and culture, which included various exhibitions

and events. The event was received very well in Ma-

drid and also generally throughout Spain. For exam-

ple, the media coverage that included articles and

reports can be described as massive.

In order to find out about the experience and the gen-

eral organization of the event from the point of view

of the companies and designers that were present,

the Ibero-American Institute of Finland commissioned

Finpro to perform a study. At the same time the study

served as a survey of the interest these companies

had for similar events in the future as well as the gen-

eral interest in the markets of Spain, Portugal and Latin

America. Meanwhile the Ibero-American Institute of

Finland performed a similar study for the different Finn-

ish institutions that participated in the event.

10. ScoPe

The Ibero-American Institute and Finpro agreed on the

project objectives and processes. On this basis, Finpro

designed a questionnaire that was e-mailed to all the

companies and designers who were present at the

Finnish Design Month (see Appendix 1 –questionnaire

sent to the companies). By the end of the given dead-

line for the answers, only a few of the companies had

responded to the survey, therefore the study was con-

tinued by calling the companies.

After completing the phone calls, there were answers

from 25 companies who had either filled out the ques-

tionnaire or had been personally interviewed over the

phone. Finpro made a resume about the feedback

according to the answers and interviews received.

A totally 25 companies participated in the study.

Nine of them returned the questionnaire and 16 gave

a short interview. The averages of the answers are pre-

sented below, with the scale ranging from (4) being the

highest and best and (0) being the lowest and worst

score. The answers to the open questions are also listed

below.

General resume of all the answers

1) Were you satisfied about participating in the design month? —> 2,5

2) Did your company benefit somehow from par-ticipation? —> 1,6

2b) Other comments related to the design month?

“We have not received any information how the event went. We were personally not present. Nor have we received any enquiries or contacts related to the event“.

“Well organized event that got a lot of attention in the Spanish press. In Finland a little bit more could have been written”.

“We also should have been present ourselves”.

“Considering the amount of time the organizers were given it was an exceptional exhibition with interesting space and architecture. The target audiences were mostly general consumers, which does not bring with so many professional contacts for designers”.

“Very well organized PR event, unfortunately the situation in Spain does not seem good for sales at the moment” .

3) Would you be interested in similar events in other Latin countries, for exam-ple in Latin America or Portugal? —> 2,3

9. BackGroUnD anD PUrPoSe

11. reSULtS

38

4) Would you be interested in developing your activities in Spain? —> 2,8

4b) In what ways?

”Finding agents & resellers”.

”We are definitely interested in promoting the Tapiovaara brand with committed and result oriented resellers”.

“Woodnotes has established sales channels in Spain and it has been one of the best export markets for us”.

“Client search and the construction of a partner network”.

“Selling design work is not the same as selling tangible products. A possible interest for products at prototype phase could speed up or start preparation work in Finland”.

“Spain as much as some other European markets. Does not require special effort. At the moment the target markets are UK and France”.

“Spain, Portugal and Latin America are not the focus markets of Iittala at this moment but naturally we will participate if something is organized”.

“More contacts with local resellers”.

“Interested especially in Latin America. It would be good to get contacts of local resellers and sub contractors”.

“For example the exhibitions have been an effective way to export the brand” .

5) Have you already considered any further ac-tions in Spain? —> 1,9

6) Would you consider cooperation with Finpro as a meaningful way to open up these markets? —> 2,3

6b) What kind of help you would need from Fin-pro?

”Finding adequate partners and their commitment in contractual form”.

“Woodnotes has been present in the markets since 1995 with a reasonable level of success”.

“Support in market studies and organizing the events”.

“Already organizing these kinds of events is good. Any interest achieved in this manner towards my work or possible products is good”.

”Essentially PR”.

”More contacts with local resellers”.

“Information about similar events globally, sales channel development, contacts etc”.

“In the practical matters such as consulting assistance if we decide at some point to participate in some major events that require marketing communication”.

7) Would you find it meaningful to co-operate with other design companies in the internation-alization process? —> 3,0

8) If so, which companies or products would you choose to support the activities?

”Interior design products - high class”.

”Should be studied case by case”.

“I can´t specify”.

“Joint exhibition in which the concept is collected with clear ideas that allow easy communication. Huge exhibitions to demonstrate modern design can be a valid project on the national level but does not offer international contacts for designers as the content is too general”.

“Marimekko”.

“Other major design brands that are not direct rivals”.

Company-specific summaries

S.E.O.S.• Contact: Antti Pitkänen

• Founded: 2007

• Personnel: 4

• Line of business: Design

• Products: Research design and training services

S.E.O.S was satisfied with the event and felt they had

benefitted from it. Antti Pitkänen commented:

“It was a well organized event that got a lot of atten-tion in the Spanish press. In Finland a little bit more could have been written.”

S.E.O.S has strong interests on similar events in other

Ibero-American countries and is very interested to de-

velop the company’s activities in Spain, for example

with client search and the construction of a partner

network. The company already had strong intrest to

carry out further activities in Spain. They considered

cooperation with Finpro as a very important way of

opening up the Ibero-American markets to the com-

pany, and saw that Finpro could help them especially

in regards to carrying out market studies and organ-

izing events. To them, cooperating with other design

companies could be to some extent important in an

internationalization sense.

Kristiina Lassus Studio• Contact: Kristiina Lassus

• Founded: 2003

• Personnel: 3

• Line of business: Design

• Products: Rugs, design, consulting

Kristiina Lassus was satisfied with the event to a mod-

erate degree. She felt that her company benefitted

slightly from their participation in the event. The de-

signer is very interested in developing the company’s

activities in Spain, especially in finding agents and re-

sellers. The company had some intrest in carrying out

further activities in Spain. Lassus saw collaborating with

Finpro to open these markets important to some de-

gree. The designer considered that Finpro could help

the company especially in finding adequate partners

and their commitment in contractual form. Kristiina

Lassus considered that cooperation with other de-

sign companies, especially those whose line of busi-

ness is in high-class interior design products, would

be very sensible from an internationalization sense.

Woodnotes• Contact: Mikko Puotila

• Founded: 1987

• Personnel: 11

• Line of business: Wholesale of carpets, interior

textiles and wooden furniture

• Products: carpets, curtains, furniture, handmade

decorative products and small items

Woodnotes was satisfied with the event to a moder-

ate degree. The company found participation in the

event benefitted them only slightly. Woodnotes’ Mikko

Puotila shared the following comment: ”We have not received any information how the event went. We were personally not present. Nor have we received any enquiries or contacts related to the event”.

Woodnotes has little interest in similar events in other

Ibero-American countries, though they are very inter-

ested in developing their activities in Spain. Woodnotes

already has sales channels in Spain, an area that has

provided one of the best export markets for them.

39

Rugs by Kristiina Lassus at the Helsinki Madrid FinDesign -exhibition.

41

The company has very strong intentions for carrying

out further activities in Spain.

Woodnotes has been present in the markets since

1995 with a reasonable success and therefore did

not consider collaboration with Finpro necessary. They

considered cooperation with other design companies

to some extent important when considering interna-

tionalization and emphasized that the possible collab-

orations should be studied case by case.

Aero Design Furniture• Contact: Kira Setkänen

• Founded: 2000

• Personnel: 6

• Line of business: Interior design and furniture

• Products: Tapiovaara products (furniture)

• After this study was made, Artek acquired the en-

tire share capital of Aero Design Furniture and the

Tapiovaara products became part of the prod-

uct range of Artek.

Aero design Furniture was moderately satisfied with the

event. The company gained some benefit through

their participation, but has no interest in similar events

in other Ibero-American countries. The company is

moderately interested in developing its activities in

Spain. What definitely interests them is the promotion

of the Tapiovaara brand with committed and result ori-

ented resellers.

The company reported no existing plans for further

activities in Spain. Aero design Furniture considered

cooperation with Finpro as to some extent important

in regards to opening up the Ibero-American mar-

kets. They also saw that cooperating with other design

companies when considering the internationalization

of their activities could be of some importance.

Melaja Oy• Contact: Petri Melaja

• Founded: 1990

• Personnel: 4

• Line of business: Plastic production

• Products: Different infrastructure products, for ex-

ample containers. Eero Aarnio Studio design

products

The company has not received much feedback on

the event - only one newspaper article. Sending a

short resume of the results and a thank you note is

highly recommended. The company basically has

two lines of business that include plastic production;

including different kinds of infrastructure items such as

containers. Melaja also functions on a subcontracting

basis taking care of the production. The other business

lines are the design products of legendary Eero Aarnio.

These are distributed in Spain by a French company

called Roche-Bobois which has quite a comprehen-

sive store chain on a European level.

Melaja is open to and interested in new markets includ-

ing Spain, Portugal and Latin America. As the compa-

ny is relatively small, they would mostly be interested in

cooperation with companies in the same sector and

would most probably be willing to work in an export

partner group if other companies in the same sector

would be available. The company has experience in

40

Tapiovaara chairs.

41

collaborating with Finpro in UK, where the Finpro con-

tact person is Leena Stockus. Further contact with the

company is recommended.

Enni Äijälä/Freelance designer• Contact: Enni Äijälä

• Founded: 2007

• Personnel: 1

• Line of business: Design

• Products: Freelance designer – works for other

companies, f.e. ceramic and table ware

Enni Äijälä is a freelance designer who has had her

own company since 2007. At the moment her main

focus is in offering design services for manufacturers.

She mainly designs ceramics, tableware and other

smaller items. When reflecting on the Finnish Design

Month in Madrid she was very satisfied with the practi-

cal arrangements in Finland.

However, the information about the event came with

such a short notice that she could not participate per-

sonally. According to her, this would have been es-

sential in order to meet the potential clients. She had

not noticed any direct and concrete benefits from

the participation. At the same time if there is a similar

event in the future she would be interested in partici-

pating, depending on the costs and timing.

The help she would find useful in her internationaliza-

tion efforts lie in recognition and localization of differ-

ent product manufacturers and, later on, the facili-

tating of meetings with the representatives of these

companies. Ms. Äijälä would be keen to co-operate

with other designers even though it would be better

if they were not in direct competition. At the moment

they are organizing joint exhibitions with, for example,

associations such as Imudesign. When these kinds of

exhibitions are organized it would be important that

the meetings with potential clients would be organ-

ized beforehand. When asked about what she would

consider a suitable fee for these services of Finpro, she

said it will most probably vary from few hundred to a

few thousand Euros.

Iittala• Contact: Ann-Kristin Löfgren

• Founded: 1811

• Personnel: 1,400

• Line of business: Glass, porcelain and metal

production

• Products: Glass, porcelain and metal production

Iittala was satisfied with the event and stated they had

benefitted from it. In the words of Ittala’s representative

Ann-Kristin Löffgren: “A very well organized PR event, un-fortunately the situation in Spain does not seem good for sales at the moment”. Ittala has some interests in

similar events in other Ibero-American countries as well

as an interest to develop the company’s activities in

Spain to a moderate degree. Löffgren commented:

“Spain, Portugal and Latin America are not in the focus of Iittala at this moment, but naturally we will partici-pate if something is organized”.

The company also had some existing intentions for fur-

ther activities in Spain. In relation to possibly collabo-

ration with Finpro, Iittala saw that it could be of some

importance in opening their markets; essentially in re-

lation to PR. They also saw it could be sensible to some

degree to cooperate in the internationalization efforts

with other design companies, such as with Marimekko

for example.

Iittala objects.

43

Studio Paakkanen• Contact: Mikko Paakkanen

• Founded: 2007

• Personnel: 1

• Line of business: Design

• Products: Designing of the products of the

manufacturers

Mikko Paakkanen is a freelance designer who is work-

ing closely with some companies, for example Saas

Instruments. Normally the companies contract him

to do the designing. In the case of original ideas, he

might also offer the products direct to manufacturers

himself. Most of the design products are furniture and

lamps.

He has mostly been working for Finnish companies

and on some occasions also with Japanese and Ital-

ian manufacturers. Mr. Paakkanen considered the De-

sign Month a well-organized event and wanted to give

special praise to the logistical operations as everything

was handled smoothly. He has also received some re-

quests about the products that were exhibited. He was

very interested in other similar events and exhibitions.

However he saw that personal participation in the ac-

tual event would be essential. He is interested in en-

tering new markets and saw cooperation with other

companies as an interesting option as the resources

of a freelance designer are limited. As potential part-

ners he mentioned the companies that he is already

working for.

Tmi Naoto Niidome• Contact: Naoto Niidome

• Founded: 2003

• Personnel: 1

• Line of business: Design

• Products: Freelance designer – works for other

companies, f.e furniture

Naoto Niidome is a freelance designer who was se-

lected as the young designer of the year in 2008. He

has been working for such companies as Marimekko,

Nanso as well as the Japanese company Magaru and

has also had some occasional clients from Germany.

The products he has designed are mainly furniture,

other objects and clothing.

42

Obi table and chairs, Mikko Paakkanen for Magaru.

43

Mr. Niidome was not personally present in the Design

Month and hasn’t received direct requests but the

feedback he has got from other people has been

very positive. He also mentioned that he and some

of the other participants received a proposal about

organizing a similar event in Buenos Aires. Mr. Niidome

will try to find the Argentinean contacts and it can be

studied if it would be possible to organize an exhibition

of Finnish design in Buenos Aires.

Niidome is interested in the markets in Spain, Portugal

and Latin America as well as the international market

in general. He would mostly need support when cre-

ating the contacts with potential clients and partners,

as well as in public relations. He sees cooperation with

other designers as a suitable way to find synergies in

regard to internationalization. Other designers could

also be potential collaborators since everybody tends

to have their own style and it always depends on the

suitability to the client‘s needs.

Ari Kanerva Design• Contact: Ari Kanerva

• Founded: 2008

• Personnel: 1

• Line of business: Design

• Products: Freelance designer – works for other

companies, f.e. furniture

Ari Kanerva Design is a company formed by a single

freelance designer founded at 2008. Kanerva’s busi-

ness is focused on product design with an emphasis

on furniture, but also includes other items such as, for

example, clocks. The ideal situation for Kanerva is that

the companies contract him to design the products

that they then manufacture later on.

Ari Kanerva felt that there has at least not been any

direct benefit from participating in the Finnish Design

Month in Madrid. However, depending on the situa-

tion, he is interested in participating in similar events,

for example at the moment he is taking part in a simi-

lar event in New York and is also regularly present at the

Milan design fair. Mr. Kanerva has interest in the Span-

ish market and would also most probably need and

appreciate Finpro’s services when entering the market.

The basic need lies in getting face to face meetings

with the decision makers of the potential client com-

panies. The most interesting sector from his point of

view is the furniture industry, but also companies that

produce other kinds of items are also of some interest.

He considered the possibility of cooperation with other

companies and designers in the sector as a suitable

working method and in fact already uses this model

on some occasions.

Design & Art Management Finland Oy Ltd• Contact: Antti Kallio

• Line of business: Design and consulting

• Products: Representation of designers

Mr. Kallio did not return the questionnaire or participate

in the personal interviews. Instead he sent the following

comments: “Thank you for the interest but the future our participation requires the presence of our person-nel in the event. Our products were spread around the exhibition and they could not be connected to our company/activities. To put it shortly we haven´t got any contacts and somebody else has got the credit from the collection that was put together. In the fu-ture we will prepare for our participation better. We will ensure that our marketing message is delivered by our personnel instead of leaving our products at the exhibition. “

Jouko Järvisalo/Mobel Original Design• Contact: Jouko Järvisalo/Designer – Tiine Ventilä/

Mobel Original Design

• Founded: 2007

• Personnel: +10

• Line of business: Design and marketing

• Products: Mobel has outsourced the manufactur-

ing of the furniture to Huonekalutehdas Korhonen

and their focus is on design and marketing

At the moment Mr. Järvisalo is a freelance design-

er even though his work is very much linked to the

44

design and marketing organization Mobel. Furni-

ture, the main product of Mobel is manufactured by

Huonekalutehdas Korhonen which has 100 years of

tradition in furniture production in Finland. Mr. Järvisalo

commented that at the moment they had not had

any direct benefits from their participation in the de-

sign month event in Madrid. However, he said that the

benefits could come during a longer period of time

since this kind of event will increase the interest towards

Finnish design on a more general level. They would

also be interested in similar events in, for example, Por-

tugal or Latin America.

Mobel has two agents in Spain,in Barcelona and in A

Coruña, and an agent in Braga in Portugal. Accord-

ing to Mr. Järvisalo it could be possible to add new

partners in the market but this should be discussed

with Ms. Tiina Ventilä, the managing director of Mobel.

The normal method used by Mobel is having agents

in different markets. Finding new partners and agents

is also the part of their internalization activities where

they could use the services of Finpro. Also getting bet-

ter information about the public funding could help

them. In general, the biggest problem when entering

the international markets experienced by Järvisalo is

the small size of the organization.

Mr Järvisalo was keen on co-operating with other

companies in the design sector when opening up new

markets. He mentioned textile companies in general

and specifically Woodnotes as possible partners.

Design Studio Jouni Leino Ky• Contact: Jouni Leino

• Founded: 1992

• Personnel: 2

• Line of business: Interior design and furniture

• Products: Design, as well as items & furniture

Design Studio Jouni Leino Ky was satisfied with the

event to a moderate degree. Jouni Leino felt that his

company benefitted slightly from the event. He add-

ed the following comment: “We should have been present ourselves”. Design Studio Jouni Leino Ky has

clear interest on similar events in other Ibero-American

countries, but only a small interest in developing the

company’s activities in Spain specifically. “Selling de-sign work is not the same as selling tangible products. A possible interest for products at the prototype phase could speed up or start the preparation work in Fin-land”, Leino commented.

The company had no existing intentions for further ac-

tivities in Spain, but does consider cooperation with

Finpro an important way to bring their products to the

Ibero-American market at large. Quoting Leino: ”Al-ready organizing this kind of event is good. Any inter-est achieved in this manner towards my work or pos-sible products is good”. Jouni Leino is very interested in

cooperating with other design companies in relation

to internationalization efforts, but did not further specify

in what manner.

Linda Bergroth• Contact: Linda Bergroth

• Founded: 2005

• Personnel: 1

• Line of business: Industrial design

• Products: Ranka chair

Linda Bergroth was very satisfied with the event. She

felt that her company gained only a slight benefit from

the event because the main target group of the Hel-

sinki Madrid FinDesign exhibition she participated in

was the general public. Quoting Linda: “Considering the amount of time the organisers were given it was an exceptional exhibition with interesting space and architecture. The target audience was mostly general consumers, which does not bring so many profession-al contacts for designers”.

Linda Berghroth had some interest in similar events in

other Ibero-American countries and is also interested

in developing her company’s activities in Spain though

only to a moderate degree. She commented: “Spain as much as some other European markets. Does not require special effort. At the moment the target mar-kets are the UK and France”.

The company had no existing intentions for further

actions in Spain, but Bergroth thought that coopera-

tion with Finpro would to some extent be important to

opening up the Ibero-American markets. She is very in-

terested in cooperation with other design companies

to support the internationalization efforts. She com-

mented: “A joint exhibition in which the concept is col-lected with clear ideas that allow easy communica-tion. Huge exhibitions to demonstrate modern design can be a valid project on the national level but does not offer international contacts for designers as the content is too general”.

Korpi Design• Contact: Jussi Nurmi

• Founded: 2009

• Personnel: 5

• Line of business: Furniture and lamps

• Products: Furniture and lamps

Korpi Design is a company founded in 2009, which

concentrates on furniture and lamps. Nowadays Korpi

Design has five employees who focus on design and

marketing. In Finland the production is outsourced to

Kustavin Puu and the products are sold mainly through

Vepsäläinen, a chain of Finnish retail stores that sell

furniture and other decorative items. At the moment

Korpi Design has no distribution outside Finland. Their

primary interest is in the near markets such as other

Nordic Countries and Germany.

Korpi Design has not noticed any direct benefits nor

received contacts from their participation in the Finn-

ish Design Month in Madrid, though Mr. Nurmi stated

that personal presence in the event could have been

helpful to create contacts. Otherwise, the commu-

nication and logistics were well handled. To improve

similar events in the future, instructions explaining the

possible results of how participating in such an exhibi-

tion could be of benefit in a commercial sense, would

be useful. Korpi Design is interested in foreign markets

in general and a meeting to organise their activities

with Finpro has already been arranged.

45

Objects by Korpi Design, Woodnotes & Secto Design.

47

Järvi & Ruoho• Contact: Teemu Järvi

• Founded: 2003

• Personnel: 2

• Line of business: Product design, f.e. furniture and

interior concept design

• Products: Design – no own brand products

Järvi & Ruoho is a small design company that employs

two people: Teemu Järvi and Heikki Ruoho. The com-

pany specializes in product design, mostly furniture but

also some other objects as well as interior concept de-

sign, including for example fair stands and restaurants.

They have also worked in art direction projects that

consist of product packaging and manual design, for

example.

Mr. Järvi considered the Finnish design month in Ma-

drid to be a good event in general, even though their

company has not noticed any direct benefits gained

from their participation. He went on to comment that

in order to achieve better results for the company, they

should have been present at the event. If there were

to be other similar events, Mr. Järvi would be interested

in participating but added that each case should be

considered separately.

As a development idea for future exhibitions and

events Mr. Järvi mentioned that it would be very helpful

if the designers could have direct contacts and meet-

ings with manufacturers. When asked about Spain as a

potential market for their company he mentioned that

as Spain is a huge furniture manufacturer, he sees it as

one of the most interesting markets alongside with Italy.

He also mentioned that the Spanish market would re-

quire active presence in which they could use support.

So far, the most common way of contacting the man-

ufacturers has been by direct e-mail and through par-

ticipating in fairs. Järvi & Ruoho are interested in finding

out more about how Finpro could help them to organ-

ize meetings with the right contacts.

Cooperation with other Finnish design companies

and designers is a model already being used by the

company in situations such as at fairs. Even though

the companies were rivals in the domestic market this

would not be an obstacle when entering the interna-

tional market.

Mr. Järvi also commented that he has been planning

a new design concept in which he would not be in-

terested in commercial exploitation but would instead

sell an entire design concept to a third party, most like-

ly in the US market. It was agreed that Mr. Järvi would

send some more information about his idea and a

meeting would be arranged to see how the project

could be supported by Finpro.

Nounou Design• Contact: Anu Penttinen

• Founded: 2003

• Personnel: 1

• Line of business: Glass design

• Products: Freelance designer, also own produc-

tion – small series and unique art pieces

Nounou Design is a company managed by its owner

and single employee Anu Penttinen. The company’s

activities are mainly formed by their own production,

accounting for approximately 80% of their activities.

The production includes mostly small series of glass

46

It’s a Wolf carpet designed by Teemu Järvi.

47

items and unique art pieces. Rest of the activities con-

sist of designing for other manufacturers such as Iittala.

The main material used by the company at the mo-

ment is glass but other materials are not excluded

either. Generally Ms. Penttinen was satisfied with the

Design Month in Madrid. However it has not resulted

in any direct contacts or had any other clear ben-

efits. Anu Penttinen pointed out that if she had been

present in exhibition herself, this could have changed

the situation.

When concerning the possible exhibitions and events

in Spain, Portugal and Latin America it was stated that

the company is interested but each case should be

studied separately according to costs and timing.

However Anu Penttinen also added that in order for

the events to be beneficial for individual designers

and smaller companies they should be smaller. Pent-

tinen felt that it would have been useful if meetings

with potential buyers and manufacturers had been

organized.

The help of Finpro could be used to identify and find

these contacts before the events. Ms. Penttinen added

that the exhibitions might not be the best way to create

business, since in her opinion they mostly serve other

objectives. In regards to internationalization of their ac-

tivities cooperation with other designers and compa-

nies is an attractive option for NouNou Design, but the

partners should be well considered beforehand.

Jari-Petri Voutilainen, Freelance Designer• Contact: Jari-Petri Voutilainen

• Personnel: 1

• Line of business: Design

• Products: Design – no own brand products

Jari-Petri Voutilainen is a freelance designer who, with

five other designers, has formed a group called Rehti.

Rehti is not an actual company nor an association, its

a loose group whose members share an office and a

web page. Voutilainen does not have his own product

brand but his clients are different manufacturers. He

mostly focuses on light fittings.

The designer has not received any direct responses or

concrete benefits from the Design Month but could

be interested in similar events on other occasions and

markets depending on the situation. Voutilainen has no

special interest in any specific market but he is open

to ideas. He has, for example, negotiated with a local

light manufacturer in Spain. Generally he is looking for

contacts with different manufacturers and considers

events as good platforms for networking.

Newly Drawn• Contact: Tuomas Toivonen

• Founded: 2005

• Line of business: Architecture

• Products: Publishes books and organizes exhibitions

Newly Drawn is an organization of architects with the

purpose of publishing books and organizing exhibitions

on the subject of architecture. Newly Drawn also func-

tion as an information channel for its members. They

have been building international networks for different

architecture offices in Finland and other countries.

Tuomas Toivonen represents the views of Newly Drawn

in this study. According to Toivonen, The Finnish design

month in Madrid was a very positive experience for

those of Newly Drawn. The project they presented in

Madrid served as a pilot for later exhibitions and the

same structure will be used in the USA, Sweden and

China along with some other countries.

The member companies got good media contacts

and have also been giving lectures in Spain. Since the

construction sector in Spain is going through a seri-

ous crisis, the prospects for architecture offices in the

Spanish market are not the brightest. However, Latin

America and especially Brazil could be very attractive

markets at the moment.

Mr. Toivonen was interested in creating networks with

other architects and thought this could eventually

even lead to joint projects on an international level.

He could not point to the exact areas where Finpro

could help them, but they could possibly use some

48

specialist knowledge related to, for example, Cleantech

technologies or product development. Sometimes the

aim or final outcome of an internationalization project

is not clearly defined beforehand but finds its form dur-

ing the process.

vainio.seitsonen• Contact: Johanna Vainio

• Founded: 1994

• Personnel: 2

• Line of business: Clothes design, production and

sales

• Products: Clothes design, production and sales

Vainio.seitsonen was founded in 1994 by two design-

ers, Johanna Vainio and Merja Seitsonen. The com-

pany has its own line of clothing both designed and

sold by the company.

The company did not receive any direct benefits from

participating in the Madrid design month. However Ms.

Vainio acknowledged that this may be due to the fact

that they were not personally present at the event. She

had heard of the benefits from other colleagues who

had participated in the event.

When considering the future, Johanna Vainio who rep-

resented the company in the study was not enthusias-

tic about events of similar kind since she considered

that the fashion products would require other sorts of

channels.

Vainio and Seitsonen could potentially be interested in

any market areas mentioned here, especially the Nor-

dic markets. Ms. Vainio had doubts about Finpro’s abili-

ties to give support to fashion companies but agreed

that they could be contacted if new projects related

to fashion design would turn up.

A specific problem mentioned by Vainio was the lack

of finance since the company is rather small. The

company participated in an export partner group in

2002–2007 but according to Ms. Vainio the benefit

was next to nothing.

Marimekko• Contact: Tiina Alahuhta-Kasko

• Founded: 1951

• Personnel: 370

• Line of business: Textile & clothing

• Products: Clothing, interior design, bags

Marimekko was extremely satisfied with the event,

even though they got only some benefits from it. The

company has some interest in similar events in other

Ibero-American countries and is moderately interested

in developing their activities in Spain. Marimekko’s Tiina

Alahuhta-Kasko commented: “For example the exhibi-

tions have been an effective way to export the brand.”

The company had little intention toward further activity

in Spain. Tiina Alahuhta-Kasko thinks that cooperation

with Finpro could help them to some degree to open

up the Ibero-American markets. She commented: “In practical matters such as consulting assistance if we decide at some point do some major events that re-quire marketing communication”. Cooperation with

other design companies in the international markets

moderately interested them. They saw possibilities,

for example, in collaborating with other major design

brands who are not their direct rivals.

Marita Huurinainen• Contact: Marita Huurinainen

• Personnel: 1

• Line of business: Design – clothes, shoes, bags

and spaces

• Products: Design and own product lines

Marita Huurinainen has a small design company

which has its own production and brand. Huurinainen

also designs for other companies such as Marimekko

and Promise Oy as well as designing unique clothing

for individual clients, one example being the dress of

President Tarja Halonen for the Independence Day

celebration. The majority of the products designed

by Huurinainen are clothing, shoes and bags – some-

times she designs other objects as well as interiors. She

was personally present at the Helsinki Madrid FinDesign

exhibition opening and got some interesting contacts.

She is also interested in similar events in the future.

Huurinainen pointed out some possible improvement

to the events such as contacting the potential clients

and arranging meetings which would take place si-

multaneously with the exhibition. For Huurinainen,

Spain could be one of the potential markets in the fu-

ture and she was at least theoretically interested in co-

operating with other designers or design companies to

enter the international market.

Gilles et Dada• Contact: Jasmin Mishima

• Founded: 2005

• Personnel: 2

• Line of business: Clothing design, graphic design

and photography

• Products: Clothing for men and women, lifestyle

products, photography and design services

Gilles et Dada was satisfied with the event to a mod-

erate degree, but felt that it did not generate any

clear benefits. The company has a strong interest in

similar events in other Ibero-American countries and

is very interested to develop its activities in Spain. Jas-

min Mishima commented for Gilles et Dada’s: “We are especially interested in Latin America. It would be good to get the contacts of local resellers and sub-contractors.”

The company has intentions toward further activities in

Spain. They consider cooperation with Finpro a very

important way to open up the possible markets. Fin-

pro could help them, for example, to get information

about similar events globally as well as developing

suitable sales channels and acquiring contacts etc.

Gilles et Dada sees cooperation with other design

companies as very meaningful in the efforts toward

internationalization.

49

Fashion design by Gilles et Dada.

Daniel Palillo• Contact: Daniel Palillo

• Founded: 2006

• Personnel: 1

• Line of business: Clothing design

• Products: Own brand clothes

Daniel Palillo is a self-employed designer who special-

ises in clothing that he markets under his own brand,

also called Daniel Palillo. He was not present at the

design month personally but received a few contacts

from the press as well as contacts from a couple of

interested distributors from the Barcelona region. In

the future he is also interested in similar events in other

countries. Palillo already has a distributor in Spain with

an exclusive contract for the Barcelona area. Palillo

explained that for him the market with the most poten-

tial is Asia and specially Hong Kong where he could

also be interested in Finpro services. The designer saw

collaborating with other Finnish designers or design

companies meaningful in internationalization efforts

even though he did not mention any companies in

particular.

Muotoilutoimisto Tuija Asta Järvenpää• Contact: Tuija Järvenpää

• Personnel: 1

• Line of business: Design

Tuija Järvenpää was moderately satisfied with the

event. The company gained some benefit from the

event and has interest in participating in similar events

in other Ibero-American countries. Tuija Järvenpää is

interested in developing the company’s activities in

Spain. Järvenpää would especially like Finpro to help

her to obtain more contacts with local resellers. The de-

signer also considers that cooperation with other design

companies in relation to the internationalization efforts

could be very beneficial.

50

Paper Christmas Tree by Tuija Asta Järvenpää.

When considering the companies present at the

design month, they all fall under four basic profile

categories:

Finnish Design Month

Almost all the companies that had participated in

the design month were satisfied with the event and its

organization.

• The logistics were specially praised for being ex-

ceptionally well organized.

• Quite many of the companies and designers

had not been informed about the results of the

event, for example, the excellent media cover-

age the event achieved.

• Most of the companies did not get any direct

contacts or enquiries. However, most of the com-

panies admitted that a personal presence would

have been fundamental to establishing new

contacts. Many had just sent the items to the

exhibition.

• Even when there had not been any direct ben-

efits it was mentioned that this sort of event im-

proves the image of Finland as a country of high

quality design, which in the long run will help to

establish their own businesses in the internation-

al markets.

• Except for just a few companies almost all would

be generally interested in similar events on oth-

er occasions in Spain, Portugal and Latin Ameri-

ca as well as other regions. This would naturally on

depend on schedules and costs.

Interest in Spanish, Portuguese or Latin American markets

• On a general level practically all of the compa-

nies and designers were interested in internation-

al markets since the interior market of Finland is

relatively limited in this sector.

• A total of 15 companies were interested in Spanish,

Group 4 – International design brands

• For example Marimekko and Iittala• Strong brand in Finland but probably not as well known

in foreign markets• The actual design aspect can be outsourced • Focused on manufacturing, marketing, resale and

distribution management• Depending on the target market presence in markets

already established

Group 1 – companies that are purely focused on the design

• The companies are small, in many cases formed by just one freelance designer or 2-3 employees at most.

• Manufacturing is outsourced• A need to find manufacturers to buy their design work• Strictly B2B sales • Activities focused on design and client search

Group 2 – Companies who have their production

• Slightly bigger company size than in the first group 1-5 employees

• Own brand names • Manufacturing outsourced in most cases • Activities are focused on design and marketing

Group 3 – Companies with their own production and brands as well as designing for other manufacturers

• Mixture of the first two groups

12. evaLUation

51

52 53

Portuguese and Latin American markets to some

extent.

• There were also many companies that are al-

ready present in the Spanish or Portuguese mar-

kets but in some cases they admitted that they

could also use some new resellers or partners.

• For the furniture designers there could be interest-

ing possibilities since there are various manufactur-

ers, especially in the region of Valencia.

Finpro as a potential partner

• In general the interviews revealed that quite

many of the companies did not have a clear

idea of what services Finpro can offer them.

• When concerned with the exhibitions and events

such as the Finnish Design Month the service that

many companies were missing was a ‘match-

making’ service with potential clients and part-

ners in Spain.

• Support with regard to market studies, PR-work,

communication, event organization, finding

partners and resellers were also mentioned

Cooperation with other design companies – Export partner groups

• When interviewed almost all the companies ex-

pressed their interest in co-operating with other

companies in the same sector

• Especially within the companies that are exclu-

sively focused on design (group 1) there are al-

ready different forms of cooperation that can

vary from joint stands at trade fairs to some slight-

ly more intensive brand building which may in-

clude, for example, common offices or web

pages.

• Group 1 companies would also be able to par-

ticipate in different mutual projects even if other

participants could be considered as their rivals.

• When concerning the companies with their own

brands and especially big Finnish brands the ide-

al partners should have only complementary

products.

For more information contact:

Finpro/Finland Trade CenterC/Fernando el Santo, 27, 2, A28010 MadridTel: +34 91 308 47 15

Pekka Tolonen/Head of the trade center:pekka.tolonen@finpro.fi

Sami Auvinen/Senior Consultant:sami.auvinen@finpro.fi

53

Appendix 1. Questionnaire Sent to the Companies (Finnish)

MALLIKIRJE Hyvä designin ammattilainen, Finpro toteuttaa yhdessä Madridissa toimivan Suomen kulttuuri-instituutin (Instituto Iberoamericano de Finlandia) tämän kyselyn, jossa kartoitamme millainen kokemus Madridissa toteutettu suomalaisen designin kuukausi oli alan yrityksille. Tämän ohella haluamme selvittää yritysten kiinnostuksen jatkotoimenpiteisiin Espanjassa ja Latinalaisessa Amerikassa.

Kysymykset ovat skaalalla 4=erittäin paljon; 3=melko paljon; 2=jossain määrin; 1=vähän; o=ei lainkaan 1) Oletteko tyytyväinen osallistumisestanne muotoilukuukauteen?

4 3 2 1

0

2) Oliko osallistumisesta teille hyötyä?

4 3 2 1

0

Puhelin:

www-sivut:

Kontaktihenkilö:

Sähköpostiosoite:

Perustamisvuosi: Henkilöstön määrä:

Toimiala:

Tuotteet:

Osoite:

Yrityksennimi:

2b) Muita kommentteja designkuukauteen liittyen?

54 55

3) Kiinnostaisiko vastaavat tapahtumat muissa latinalaisissa maissa, esim. Latinalaisessa Amerikassa tai Portugalissa?

4 3 2 1

0

4) Kiinnostaisiko toimintanne kehittäminen edelleen Espanjassa?

4 3 2 1

0

5) Oletteko jo olleet aikeissa tehdä jatkotoimenpiteitä Espanjassa

4 3 2 1

0

6) Koetteko yhteistyön Finpron kanssa mielekkäänä näiden markkinoiden avaamisessa?

4 3 2 1

0

4b) Millä tavoin?

6b) Millaista apua toivotte Finprolta saavanne?

55

7) Olisiko yhteistyö muiden designyritysten kanssa kansainsainvälistymiessä teille mielekästä

4 3 2 1

0

Kiitämme osallistumisesta, Finpro & Instituto Iberoamerico de Finlandia, Madrid

7b) Jos kyllä, niin minkä teidän toimintaanne tukevien tuotteiden tai konkreettisten yritysten kanssa?

The Ibero-American Institute of Finland would like to sincerely thank all the collaborators for their dedication, enthusiasm and work well done.

We have been honoured to work with all of the institutions and people behind them and wish to continue our collaboration long into the future.

tHank YoU!

AB TEKNILLINEN KORKEAKOULUTEKNISKA HÖGSKOLANHELSINKI UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

Lo esencial. Nada más.

DISEÑO FINLANDÉS

www.diseno.fiwww.madrid.fi

ISBN 978-952-5481-15-0 (pbk.)ISBN 978-952-5481-16-7 (PDF)