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Interview
Anna Valtonen
Researcher, University of Art and Design Helsinki
1. What
would you like to see achieved by Finnish Design Year?
I would
like to see the significance of design given concrete meaning to others
than design professional alone, and to have growing numbers of people stop
and think about what constitutes a good product. People rarely pay
attention to how a product is designed and why it is designed in a
particular way. It is often thought that design is to be found only in the
products created by so-called leading names. Most design work, however,
takes place within companies, in teams of several members in collaboration
with experts in a variety of fields.
2. Whom would you like
to see inspired by Finnish Design Year?
Designing is creative
activity seeking to achieve the best possible products. But there are
still many companies in Finland that have not yet completely understood
what could be achieved with design. Design is readily seen as only an
aesthetic finish to product, although its benefits could be considerably
greater for the positioning and development of competitive products.
3. What can Finnish design offer the world?
Finnish skills are of
good international standard in design as well as in many other fields.
Accordingly, we can offer expertise related to our methods of operation,
language of form and research.
4. How can the influence of
design on a product be studied?
The most traditional way is to
study it with economic indicators. Another approach that is used a great
deal is to investigate how the user experiences a product and how he or
she uses it. Research of this kind has been conducted to a great deal for
example at the University of Art and Design Helsinki. A third way is to
address the impact of design on products and brands. An example of this
approach is Toni-Matti Karjalainen’s recent doctoral dissertation:
"Semantic Transformation in Design”. There are also other approaches.
5. How has the work of Finnish designers changed over the years?
The introduction of computers, the rise of the electronics industry and
improved training and education have greatly changed the work of
designers. The biggest change over the past decade has been the
specialization of designers. Ten years ago, it was still quite common for
an individual designer to work on anything from children’s toys to public
transport vehicles. Today we have, among other specialists, user-interface
designers, design managers of various kinds and designers focusing on the
needs of specific industries.
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