Luovi and Helsinki Design Week are pleased to announce that our own Kari Korkman has been honoured with the Estlander Prize. The award ceremony is a part of the World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 Gala on the 2nd of February, one of the high points of the year for celebrating design.

Kari Korkman is the founder and director of Helsinki Design Week and the managing director of Luovi Oy. Over the past 20 years he has been active in the design business, connecting a variety of design companies and design interests together.

What aspects of your work did they consider in awarding you the prize?

Kari: This is about HDW and the development that has gone into it. There is also recognition of me as a private person who has devoted so much time to contributing to the industry.

What future do you see in this work?

Kari: The recognition comes to all the people who work for HDW, and hopefully this recognition brings more credibility to the work of the international design week network that we have been building. More people are believing in the network and the growing movement towards working together in the field of design.

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Helsinki Design Week 2012 will be from the 6th to the 16th of September. Welcome! This year, our program this year will be larger than ever - our greatest celebration of design so far!

From our heart to yours, Helsinki Design Week wishes you a Merry Christmas!

The Nordic Baltic Designers’ exhibition 16 steps closer, curated by Kari Korkman, will take place from 13 October until 27 November.  The exhibition features visions of a future Baltic Sea, which is clean and pure, in the hope of inspiring change.

Kari Korkman explains, “I am convinced that at least to some extent the identity of us who live around the Baltic Sea has always been shaped by its proximity.We have invited designers and architects from each of the Nordic and Baltic countries to outline an idea of how they would like to improve the lives of the people on the Baltic seacoast. As of 13 October, when the exhibition is due to open, the sixteen visionary concepts will be open to public view.”

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We are happy to announce that the Finnish Association of Designers Ornamo awarded the "Ornamo Pallo" award to Helsinki Design Week. Ornamo based its decision on how well Helsinki Design Week has fulfilled its goals. "The goal of Helsinki Design Week has been to better the general operating conditions in the design field. It has developed into an anticipated, yearly event that brings together designers and companies."

Since 1961 Ornamo has awarded the Ornamo Pallo to a company that has accomplished prominent innovations or other achievements in the field of design. The Ornamo Pallo prize was designed by Timo Sarpaneva.

www.ornamo.fi

We at Helsinki Design Week would like to thank those who made this wonderful and eventful week happen. Especially to all of you who planned and organized an event with us through our Event Exchange – your ideas were amazing, and we hope that you continue with us next year.  Also, thank you to those who volunteered to make our events function. Your work did not go unnoticed.

There were so many who made this week happen. Our partner companies and the World Design Capital organization. The designers who participated in the exhibitions, and the speakers from PechaKucha. We appreciate all of your contributions.

And perhaps the most important thank you of all goes to the visitors. You are the ones that we are doing all this for. You make it worthwhile to put a good event together, when we see you enjoying yourselves. We would like to invite you back next year for the exciting program for 2012.

To keep up with all the new events coming up, subscribe to the Helsinki Design Week newsletter, and don’t miss a thing.

Also, keep sending your ideas to us! It's not too early to think about how you will participate in Helsinki Design Week next year.

Linda Sipilä, winner of the 2011 Muodin Huipulle (Project Runway) show in Finland, has just returned from Copenhagen Design Week, sponsored by Helsinki Design Week.

Did things change for you after the show?

After the show, I developed a collection for Sipilä. I’m going to make more special pieces, just a bit more festive, using silk and really high quality materials.

And how was Copenhagen?

I went to a few young designers shows, Danish designers, and that was really exciting. It was great to see Gallery, the trade show. I met Bruno from Lumi, Pauliina from the My o My shops, and Yat from 2or+. Copenhagen is lovely, the people are really happy and joyful.  There is design everywhere in the city, in the fashion, architecture, furniture, even art. It's a very inspiring place.

What did you learn from Copenhagen Design Week?

In Copenhagen, I gained a new perspective about what I want to do when I “grow up”.  I saw how hard the field is for a young designer to promote themselves. You really have to be persistent if you want your own collection to be sold, and it takes many years and lots of travelling.  To manage at that level, you need to have a group production and sales, but then again, I’m not so sure I want to stay at that level.

What does this mean for your collection?

I think if I continue to do basic jersey, there are already many labels that are similar. Also, when I look at my own small label from a small town in Finland, there are not enough customers in my area, so I would need to go abroad anyway.  I’m going to focus more on designing, and someday I’d like to do work for some bigger company. I love to design, I think it’s my strength. I hope to work someday for a company that already has the sales and production, so I can focus on what I do best.

The singers performing that evening, Anna Järvinen and Mirel Wagner, are known for their distinctive styles. But these musicians will each be remixed through the eyes of two fashion designers.

The synergy of the cooperation will create a completely new image, and perhaps even sound. Imagine if Kanye West went punk and thrashed around on stage, or Lady Gaga started dressing in long, sweeping ball gowns to serenade her audience. Your perception of the music will transform.

Anna Järvinen, a Swedish singer of Finnish heritage, is down to earth and soft-spoken, and
her voice is soft and dreamy. Her style is feminine, but casual, more Swedish countryside than urban. When she is restructured by the architectural designer Vuokko, will her performance change too? Will the playful and light designs of the fashion house Samuji make her seem more Finnish? Or perhaps Anna will bring these designs into her own world.

Mirel Wagner is a Finnish gothic folk singer, who was adopted from Ethiopia as a child. She sings a folksy blues in a smoky voice with topics of death and self-destruction. When she is partnered by Tuomas Laitinen, who designs an elegant and very gentrified men’s clothing line, what will change? How will she be seen through the lens of Heikki Salonen’s hard-edged urban chic? These designers may bring her from the dark forests to the city streets.

Since this is an experiment, there are more questions than answers. Stay tuned to see the results: join us at Helsinki Design Week LIVE on Saturday, 17.9.2011. Ticket now available at Tiketti.