Christmas Markets in Helsinki

It's under one month to Christmas, so this is a perfect time for making findings in design markets! Here are a few events I was thinking of visiting:

Helsinki 10 Design Markets

Helsinki10
Eerikinkatu 3,
00100 Helsinki.

Opening hours:
Mon-Fri klo 11–19
Sat klo 10–18
Sun 28.11, 5.12, 12.12 and 19.12 open: 12-18.00.

Designers:
&Bros A-J Silvennoinen & Elisa Konttinen http://www.andbros.fi/
aaaS Anni Arela ja Anu Saari
Alavalla maalla kalenteri 2011 Lahden ammattikorkeakoulun http://www.alavallamaalla.com/
Muotoilu- ja taideinstituutin valokuvauksen 2.vuosikurssin opiskelijat
Antti Asplund Antti Asplund http://www.anttiasplund.com/
Anu Halmesmaa
BFF Ansku Heiskanen
Bijou Noir Linda Hackman www.mtv3.fi/luukku
Colás Pilar Colás
design by Meri Malmi
Diana Luganski Diana Luganski http://www.dianaluganski.com/
First Crush Mari Himmanen http://www.firstcrush.fi/
Fungimaa Suvi-Tuuli Junttila http://www.fungimaa.com/
Hankala Petra Hankaniemi http://www.hundpark.net/
Helsinki Remade by Mottoform Elizabeth Salonen http://www.mottoform.com/
I Know Why No Aino Vainio http://www.iknowwhyno.com/
I Made This Tiina Palm http://www.tiinapalm.com/
ILOA Anu Salonen http://www.iloa.fi/
I.N.N.A. Inna Leppänen
Island
Sofia Järnefelt www.myspace.com/sofiajarnefelt
Joonas Saari http://www.joonassaari.com/
Kaipaus Paola Suhonen ja Antti Eklund http://www.kaipaus.com/
KAKSITVA Marjo Kuusinen Piia Keto http://www.kaksitva.com/
Katariina Guthwert Katariina Guthwert http://www.katariinaguthwert.com/
Kirsi Nisonen Kirsi Nisonen http://www.kirsinisonen.com/
Kooky Gems Reetta Kiuru http://www.kookygems.com/
LIMBO Heini Lindström ja Riikka Lassila http://www.limbo.fi/,
Lustwear Hammi & Maikku Mettinen http://www.lustwear.fi/
Magisso http://www.magisso.com/
Merry-Go-Round Henna Soronen www.designmerrygoround.fi
Miia Halmesmaa Miia Halmesmaa http://www.miiahalmesmaa.com/
Minna Parikka Minna Parikka http://www.minnaparikka.com/
MirandaLingerie&TyraTherman Tyra Therman http://www.tyratherman.com/
Mirkka Metsola http://www.mirkkametsola.com/
MOIKO Mari Heinonmäki http://www.moiko.fi/
Outo Ville Lahtinen http://www.outowear.com/
PISTO Annika Rantala http://www.pisto.fi/
Polkajam Moona Tikka http://www.polkkajam.com/
Poola Kataryna Paula Kasurinen poolakataryna.blogspot.com
Ronya Anne Törnroos http://www.annetornroos.fi/
Super Yellow Anna Ahlholm/ Henna Valkama http://www.superyellow.fi/
Tero Kuitunen Tero Kuitunen http://terokuitunen.blogspot.com/
Youth vs. Future Janni Hyvärinen ja Laura Vartio http://www.youthvsfuture.com/
 
 
 
Ofelia Market
 
Kulttuuriareena Gloria
Pieni Roobertinkatu 12
Helsinki
 
December the 11th 12:00-18:00
 
The list of designers is not out yet, please find more information on the event here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=140828512634254#!/event.php?eid=140828512634254
http://www.myspace.com/ofeliamarket
http://ofeliamarket.blogspot.com/
 
 
 
Ornamo Design Christmas Market
 
3rd – 5th December


In Ornamo Design Christmas Market you can enjoy sustainable consuming!  Find the most unique design, handicraft and art pieces in town: professional quality in glass, ceramics, metal, wood, textile, jewellery and fashion items. Ornamo is the Finnish Association of Designers, and you can find ceramics, clothes, accessories, decorations, cards, bags, jewellery etc, and also meet the designers while doing your shopping!

Helsinki City Hall
Pohjoisesplanadi 11–13, Helsinki

Open
Friday 11 am – 19 pm
Saturday and Sunday 11 am – 17 pm

http://www.ornamo.fi/



Christmas Market at the Old Students House

12.-22.12.2010

This is one of the most traditional Christmas Markets in Helsinki held since 1980s. Here you can find traditional crafts, decorations, clothes, cards candles and Cristmas delicates from around 100 sellers!

Mon-Fri 11.00 – 20.00
Sat-Sun 11.00 – 18.00

http://www.unicafe.fi/juhlaravintolat/vanha-ylioppilastalo/vanhan-joulumyyj%C3%A4iset

House of Eco's Autumn Event in Cable Factory

House of Eco is a joint venture of Finnish companies that sell ecological products via internet. The mission of House of Eco is to make it easier for us customers to make ecological choises. House of Eco operates mainly in the internet (http://www.houseofeco.fi/), but it also arranges events occasionally. Tonight (Sept 15) they arranged an autumn event in the Cable Factory in Helsinki. The event was about giving the customers a chance to get to know the products and meet the designers as well as to buy the products. 5 % of the sales made during the evening were donated for charity. Here are my pickings from the event.

Sanna Rinne

Sanna Rinne was a special quest in the event, presenting her fashion designs mostly made of cutting waste materials. All of the products are made of strips of fabric sewn together as a garment. Sanna told me that she sews all the products by herself! She has an education for textile design as well as fashion design, which makes the materials specially important to her. I personally found the products very impressive.Take a look at the shirt Sanna is wearing in the image below, isn't it gourgeous! You can find out more about Sanna's designs in address http://www.sannarinne.com/.

Beibamboo

Another guest in the event was Beibamboo, a company that has brought a whole new children's wear concept to the Finnish fashion market. Beibamboo does not only sell, but it also rents baby clothing for ecologically councious parents! The idea is to recycle clothing, instead of buying a product you can rent it and return it after the use. I can imagine it's a great consept for families with children as they don't have to worry about re-selling the used clothing that children have grown out of. As the name implies, the products are made of bamboo, a very ecological material that is well suitable to baby wear due to it's good qualities such as softness and good washing abilities (it can be washed in 60 degrees). It's also antibacterical and transfers moisture from the skin. The products are designed to be comfortable to wear and easy to put on a baby. All the rented products are washed in a professional cleaner and all the stains are removed before delivery. Nina Ignatius, the founder of the concept (see picture below), told me that all the products are designed and sewn in Finland. And the cost of renting? 1 € per one week. As the slogan of Beibamboo says: You can rent happiness...

Punainen Norsu

Another interesting ecological design brand is Punainen Norsu (http://www.punainennorsu.com/index.php), who's products has been seen on this blog before in the Turku Design Now -posting. Punainen Norsu's products are adorable retro-styled clothing mainly for chldren. Some of the products are made of genuine old retro fabrics, and they are sewn in Finland, except for the Hedgehog -series which is sewn in Estonia. Punainen Norsu is designed by Helena Opas, and she told me that as a novelty she had designed a border lining for the cartboard package of Finnish maternity aid packing, which can be used as a baby's first bed. Just take a look at these super-cute patterns:

Enne

Enne Design (http://www.enne.fi/) is also a company that designs ecological children's wear. Enne's products are made of organically grown cotton and printed and sewn in Finland. Enne Design's products look soft, sensitive and child-like.

Boutique Minne

Boutique Minne (http://www.boutiqueminne.com/) is a vintage boutique situated in Turku. They sell genuine vintage clothing, but they also sew new products and fix products to be made-to-measure. I loved the dresses and jewellery they had on display. Thake a look at the beige dress below, it had details e.g. from an old watch!

Humbugi

Humbugi has also been presented in this blog befor (see Lasipalatsi Design Markets -posting), but let's see what wonderful and new they had to offre this time:

These cute silver leather bags are made of material that has been used as an upholstery in an elevator of a hotel in Moscow!

A Speciality Product:

Ipanajamit is a children's wear boutique that sells many ecological brands on address www.ipanajamit.com. I payed attention to these colourful bags by Coll.part. I found out that they are made of recycled materials and produced according to Fair Trade's standards. The products are made of plastic bags used by fishermen all over Cambodia! The plastic bags find a new life as hats, bags, purses, baskets etc. All the products are made by Fair Trade organisations in Cambodia. The aim of the company is to support social development projects and to produce first quality products. On of the projects supports women in need of help ofering them professional education and a possibility to their children to go to school, too. The other project helps the victims of mine fields and polio patients. The artistic manager of the colourful world of Coll.part is Nina Raeber. A purhase for a good cause, I would say!

 

About the event

The event was a very warm-spirited, and I enjoyed very much learning about new ecological design brands. What I liked about the display in the event was that all the companies had equal fixtures for display. The desks were made of used cartboard boxes, and the racks were made of birch branches painted white. The ecological philosophy was present in the fixtures as well! I also liked the fact that the companies had carefully selected the products they wanted to present, and the displays were OK because they were not too full.

The event was not only about selling the products, there was also an espresso bar and photo shootings that people were able to watch in a "behind the scenes" -kind of way (see the picture above).

About the assortment of House of Eco, I payed attention that many of the companies sold products for children, but hopefully in the future there will be more ecological products for fashionable women as well. I also hope that the event was a success for the companies that attented it. I didn't see any advertisements about the event anywhere, so I do hope that the crowds foud their way to the world of ecological design products!

Lasipalatsi Design Markets in Helsinki 4.-7.8.2010

Lasipalatsi Design Markets (http://designmarkets.lasipalatsi.fi/index.php/in-english) was held in Helsinki city center on 4.-7.8. It's an event which brings together young Finnish designers to present and sell their products to the audience. The event took place in Helsinki city center, just behind Lasipalatsi building. Many of the products were jewellery or accessories, and recycling design was a very strong trend on this market. Here are some of the blogger's pickings from the event.

Best product ideas:

101 Skateboard Jewellery (101sb.tumblr.com) makes jewellery from old skateboards. The jewellery has a layered look because of the the structure of the board.

Youth vs. Future (http://www.youthvsfuture.com/) makes jewellery from feathers. First they dye the feathers, then they add a hardening ingredient and on the top there's a alyer of lacquer. As a result each product is unique.

Tiia Arkko's jewels have a personal message for you: they state you that you are wonderful ("Ihana"), or remind you to breath ("Hengitä").

Uusix (http://www.uusix.fi/) has made rings from old keys. Uusix workshops gives a job opportunity to unemployed. The products are made of recycled materials according to sustainable development and ethics.

Kiertokulku (http://www.kiertokulku.fi/) had made a lamp out of medicine cups. A bit kitch maybe, but I liked it.

 

Sami Rinne Design (http://www.samirinne.fi/) sold ceramic products, for example coffe cups. Even though I found the display of the products to be a bit messy, I think that the products were one of the best design products on the market. Simple and yet powerful.

I really likes the irony on these Hankala's jewels by Petra Hankaniemi (http://www.designoutlet.com/). I think they're perfect for anyone with a broken heart...

Best display innovations:

101 Skateboard Jewellery's (101sb.tumblr.com) products were made of used skateboards, so they were placed on old skateboards - a very perceptual way to communicate on the product ond it's origins.

Keko is a joinment of four different Jewel designers. They had placed their products on painted cake tins. Very innovative! The jewels on this picture are made by Anna Marianne Rintanen (http://annamarianne.blogspot.com/).

Poni Design (http://imlittlepony.blogspot.com/) makes different kinds of jewellery, accessories and decor products. All of their products are hand made in Finland. Their candy jewels were displayed very deliciously.

Creativity is about being able to do things on even when you're on a very low budget. Omstart (http://www.omstart.fi/) had made a display head out of corrugated cardboard to display their secon hand made jewellery. The material is ecological and it fits on a small space after use. A creative idea for the display of ecological second hand made products.

Bird of Passage (http://www.birdofpassage.fi/) is a jewellewry company by Salla Silvonen. She had made display platforms in varying heights by placing a glass on a pile of egg cartongs. The product details were written by hand on the glass. The dark glass offered a better background to the products than the transparent glass, though. But I also liked the fact that she had chosen to only put one piece of every product on display.

The blogger's personal favourites:

Bling Bling But Different (http://blingblingbutdifferent.blogspot.com/) makes broochies made of lace and pictures from books or old photos. And since I love almost anything that's made of lace, I really loved their nostalgic and over-romantic products! Perfect for a vintage style lover like me. And I loved the display - the broochies were displayed on an old silver tray. On the same desk there was displayed also Humbugi's accessories (http://www.humbugi.com/). Humbugi sells bags, purses, damasques and bracelets made of leather. Very feminine, very vintage, very...me!

Don't you just love the graphic design on these Poola Kataryna's products by designer Paula Kasurinen? I know I do! To me, this is almost like a whole design concept: theproducts, hang tags, logos, displays... Everyhting speaks the same language. Even the hangers! In my opinion, this label could have very good commercial opportunities.

Nonodd (http://www.nonodd.fi/fi/Etusivu.html) is a company of two designers, Tanja Aivila and Siri Huovila. Their products are graphical and fresh. Thay gain their inspiration from nature and from Helsinki city life. Perhaps my favourites were the  products with the illustrations of ice breaker Urho. The mass display was very well made.

First Crush (http://www.firstcrush.fi/) gives a whiole new life to old paper as a design item. Designer Mari Himmanen makes bags and jewellery out of laminated paper. I think this is a brilliant concept! The bags were made of old music sheets, maps, comics etc. The products were very well detailled. What a great concept!

About the event
It was obvious tha the companys were closely selected to this happening  which I found very good. Compared to Jyväskylä Design Market (there's a previous posting about this event in this blog), this was a very well organized and advertised event. Many of the companys were small in size, and their products were sold in small series so that a customer can feel that she/he is buying something unique. The organizers had also given effort to the event as a concept. There as a dj's playing music and other happenings in addition to the selling of the products, such as a dance performance. I found this to be was a very positive feature for this happening: it was more than an event, it was an event.

Main themes were ecology, recycling and making by hands

Most of the companies sold products that were made of second hand and recycled materials. Sustainable development in design could be seen as a supporting theme if this event. Some companies were able to make very nice design products by recycling materials, but of course some of the products were more like kitch rather than design.

Kitch or design?

Display in the design markets

Compared to the display in Jyväskylä Design Market, I found the displays of the companies in tis design market very innovative. I loved the fact that the designers had actually put some effort on thinking alternative ways for display. Most of the designers had innovated new ways to present their products, and the idea had often something to do with the idea of the product, so that there was a dialogue between the product and the display strategy. Some companys succeeded in display better than the others. One caution that I made was that the less products there were on display, the better the display usually looked. Especially on products that are minimalistic on their form, I think it would be a good idea to put just one piece of each product on display and have a stock on yhe selling items under the board. When the style of the products is more voluminous, the display strategy can also be accordingly more generous.

However, I found this design event to be a very good stage for young Finnish designers to present their products for the customers. And for the customers if was a great opportunity see a cut through on the products of the young designers. In addition, this was also commercial for Finnish Design aboard, since there were many tourists as visitors.