Foreword
Estonian applied art and product design has a long tradition and is used to attention, and during recent years it has gained more and more attention and international recognition.
Estonian graphic art, fittings, furniture, textile, jewellery and clothing design have made their way to various exhibitions and fairs as well as to international markets. Elle Decoration, Elle, Avantage, ID, Dwell and other publications from France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and the USA have run features on Estonian designers and their accomplishments. The US magazine Newsweek named Tallinn a surprising design capital. That honour has been earned by us for our fashionably and emotionally created Estonian cafes, restaurants, museums, hotels and spas, behind which are several interior designers who have received a strong design education: Pille Lausmäe, Gert Sarv, Maile Grünberg, Agency Pink, Plank, Design Agency Laika, Belka and Strelka, the Vaikla families, etc. The interiors are known for their Nordic look, carefully considered complexity and innovative solutions. The latest trend is the accentuating of Estonian styles and the meshing of ethnic elements into a modern environment. Textile artist Signe Kivi and jewellery artist Kärt Summatavet are the initiators of this new trend.
The largest design sector in Estonia is the garment and textile industry. The brands Ivo Nikkolo, Monton, Sangar, and sportswear-specialising ISC are effectively developing in international markets. The innovative trademark Hula, created in co-operation with the students of the Estonian Academy of Arts, is also preparing to make its entrance on the world stage. Reet Aus has brought the brand Re-Use to the market, which propagates re-using clothing.
In spite of the high export rate of unprocessed wood, furniture production is rapidly growing; designers in this realm have been the most successful and gained much recognition. Designer Martin Pärn has been awarded the international "Red Dot" award for his innovative product "Martin's table". Other prominent furniture designers are Thulema (designer: Martin Pärn), T&T Mang (designers: Tiina Mang, Kaisa Raidmets, Aet Seire), Standard (designer: Katrin Soans), the design pair of Jan Graps and Ken Ruut, and Lum (Igor Volkov). The new brand Fellin Furniture (designers: Sixten Heidmets, Sirli Põllumäe) is a future hopeful. 4Room by Tarmo Luisk is a leader in the fittings production field. A new wind is blowing in the field of outdoor lighting thanks to the company ByRollers.
The bath industry is developing into a competitive production sector led by two major manufacturers, Balteco (designers: Matti Õunapuu, Tiit Liiv, Aivar Habakukk and others) and the more delicate Aquator (designers: Sven Sõrmus and Villi Pogga). A great bit of recognition was the awarding of the USA's innovation award ADEX to Sten Ader for his health cocoon NeoQ.
There are also a number of very design savvy small enterprises participating in the market. The seasoned designer Matti Õunapuu, having discovered his market niche in the designing and manufacturing of ski boxes, has also made his contribution to both the automobile and bath industries.
Our applied art tradition, stemming from deep Nordic roots, is pursuing an outlet in the modern design market. Jewellery artists and textile designers are touching the boundary between applied art and design; examples include jewellery artists Anneli Tammik, Katrin Amos and Ülle Kõuts. A new generation of textile designers is offering innovative solutions to compete with traditional textile products. Together with IT specialists, they are working on so-called "smart materials". Cold- and heat-sensitive materials are emerging, as well as talking or brightening carpets, etc. Artistically and technically, a very high level of design is demonstrated by such textile designers as Mare Kelpman, Annike Laigo, Monika Järg, Krista Leesi, Elna Kaasik, and many others.
Estonian graphic design also has strong roots. Alongside everyday commercial logos and other visually identifying creations (Asko Künnap, Markko Karu, etc.), there has been a revival of posters as art (Markko Kekishev, Martin Pedanik, Ivar Sakk, Ruth Huimerind, etc.), as well as graphic designers in search of Estonia's typographic identity (Kristjan Jagomägi, Anton Koovit, Mart Anderson). Ilona Gurjanova has worked in co-operation with the Finnish company Savcor Oy to produce a series of ceramic plates featuring her graphic designs. The individuals responsible for this generation of strong graphic designers are Estonian Academy of Arts professors Ivar Sakk and Kristjan Mändmaa.
Every two years, the Estonian Association of Designers gives out the design award BRUNO. The design award SÄSI is given out to motivate young product designers. Estonian design has found more and more recognition outside of Estonia as well. Glass artist Tiina Sarapu was awarded the main prize for her design "Roundelay" at the Trieste Contemporanea Design Contest in Italy. Riho Tiivel, a student from the Estonian Academy of Arts, won the main prize at the international design competition ReAL13. At the 2006 Milan home furnishings fair MACEF, Estonian Academy of Arts student Pavel Sidorenko was awarded the Massimo Martini prize for design. In 2007, Thulema and Aquator earned the European Design Management special prize.
Estonian designers have had exhibits outside of Estonia since 2000 at the Helsinki Design Museum and in the Helsinki Design Forum, three times at the St. Etienne Design Biennial, at the international design festival DesignMai in Berlin and at the Communications Museum. In 2007, the Stuttgart Design Centre held the VII Design Conference Face to Face, where Estonian and German designers shared their success stories with one another. A travelling exhibit of Estonian design has visited Latvia and Turkey.
For several years now, Estonia has been introducing its designs at foreign exhibitions with the support of the government. For several years the Estonian Association of Designers has presented its collection at the Paris design fair Maison&Objet/now!. In 2008, they presented the collection for the first time at the London fair 100% Design as well.
Estonia has intense co-operation with its neighbouring countries. Co-operation between Estonian and Finnish companies and Estonian designers has brought forth a design project which produced new products and a concept for a future hotel. The products have been displayed at exhibits in Estonia and Finland. The goal is to give momentum to co-operation between designers and companies. Right now a co-operation project is being prepared to implement the concept produced by Design For All.
In the fall, the traditional Disainiöö (Night of Design) will take place within the framework of the Arts & Lights in Tallinn Festival (26-28 September 2008). The festival promotes creative thought in all disciplines—film, art, music, and theatre. Arts & Lights in Tallinn and Disainiöö have been selected as "Tallinn—Cultural Capital of Europe 2011" projects that will participate in the Cultural Capital programme. Disainiöö will take place in co-operation with Helsinki Design Week, and foreign performers are also included. Estonian designs will be concentrated into three exotic towers in the city wall and into the abandoned power plant (Kultuurikatel). The winners of the design award BRUNO will be announced, seminars will be held, new works will be presented, fashion will be exhibited, a design auction will be held for charity, etc.
Successful projects for creating awareness of design implemented during the Design Year held 2006-2007 proved that society needs more information and advice about design. As a result, in 2008 the Estonian Academy of the Arts, Tallinn Institute of Technology, the Estonian Association of Designers, and the Estonian Institute of Design created the Estonian Design Centre, with the purpose of successfully using design to introduce future opportunities and the development of Estonian design. The first steps have been made with the city of Tallinn to create a Design Cluster.
Ilona Gurjanova
Estonian Association of Designers, President
Estonian Design Centre
The Estonian Design Centre is a non-profit organisation aiming to increase the application and knowledge about design in Estonia. The centre was founded by the Estonian Art Academy, Tallinn University of Technology, Estonian Association of Designers and Estonian Institute of Design as one of the results of the successful campaign Year of Design 2006/2007. The main activities of the Estonian Design Centre are developing design awareness, design education and utilisation of design at all levels and spheres of life.
GREEN KITCHEN
A conceptual project for implementing a nature-based model in the kitchen Anna-Maria Einla and Pavel Sidorenko
The keywords of everyday contemporary life – routine, anonymity, artificiality, traffic, cold synthetic materials – inspired young designers Anna-Maria Einla and Pavel Sidorenko to contemplate how these values tend to rule our lives and how little urbanized people are tied to nature at a time when they need it all the more. The kitchen is the part of a home with heaviest use and it is also the place where certain processes akin to nature take place. Here is where the designers have introduced a writ-small of one cycle that takes place in nature. It works in two ways. First of all, plants placed on a kitchen exhaust system get nutrients from the condensation that collects. The water reaches them through a thin layer of peat which removes grease and other waste. The ventilator thus functions as a natural filter, producing something much like dew. The means for the other model is a sink and the water dripping from washed dishes. This is diverted for the plants' water needs. Herbs can be grown, for instance. The dish drying rack can also be placed above the sink for use as a colander for rinsing fruits and vegetables.
LACE
A rugged looking floor decoration
Ülle Jehe
Material: felt scraps
”Lace" is a floor covering which makes use of scraps left over from commercial feltmaking.
It is an interesting piece of work for at least two reasons. First of all, it transforms and breaks with tradition, causing us to think about how routine and pedestrian everyday things are. Textile is often material and technology centred – it is usually knit, woven, crocheted, or at least sewn or processed in some manner. With “Lace”, this prejudice is reconsidered. A rug is often thick and warm; with “Lace", that foregone conclusion is also challenged. The coarse white lace can be used as a room partition or wall decoration.
The other reason this work is important is that it is an environmentally friendly project which recycles scraps and gives them new value. Here we can see a way of thinking that has good reasons behind it – not necessarily to make something new, but to think about current needs and practices. Ülle Jehe is a young textile designer whose work to this point has been fresh, shaking the conventional idea of textile design which is often backed by tradition.
BOOTS
Handmade footwear
Jaanus Orgusaar
Jaanus Orgusaar stands out on the Estonian design and fashion scene with his bold signature. The more active focal point of his activity has been fashion design, but footwear has always held significance in his collections. Footwear – indispensable accessories – has become his definite trademark. His creations carry a strong personality, original, often featuring organic form, and are absolutely essential in terms of a wholesome collection. But they also work well on their own since they are consummately practical and well thought out. Orgusaar does not produce much, nor does he do so just to satisfy consumer demand.
Orgusaar is a "design polyglot" trained as a fashion designer, but has complemented his formal training as an autodidact in fields such as designer and costume artist. He made his name in the ERKI fashion shows of the mid 1990s. Orgusaar’s work typically contains a dose of theatricality – and no boundaries.
BIRGITTA
A modern version of a traditional chandelier
Tõnis Vellama
Material: metal leaf, glass
Tõnis Vellama is one of the most experienced light designers in Estonia. His range in the field is quite wide, from custom lighting solutions for buildings to individual lights. Vellama is notable for his passion for rethinking and working with the classic chandeliers. He offers modern solutions for the traditional forms. He tries to use newer and more efficient light sources such as halogen lamps, energy saving bulbs, light emitting diodes — or even candles as a very fundamental solution. The Birgitta chandelier is just one example of his determination to pursue this synthesis. Birgitta uses a combination of conventional candles and tiny halogen lights. Vellama has come up with lighting solutions for a number of Estonian embassies, and manor houses, primarily in the form of unique, one-off lights. His original work can also be seen in Mooste and Aruküla manors, and the hall of the Tallinn Teachers Building. He has collaborated with interior designers in numerous large-scale lighting projects (the Albert Hotel in Riga, the chandeliers in the Estonia Theatre’s public areas), creating suitable technical models on the basis of schematic plans. He also teaches lighting design at the Estonian Academy of Arts.
MYOTON™
Diagnostics device for measuring muscular contraction
Martin Pärn
Made by: Müomeetria OÜ
The myometer, a piece of diagnostic equipment used to evaluate the biomechanical properties of muscles (tone, elasticity, rigidity), was created by a group led by Dr. Arved Vain at the University of Tartu as the result of thirty years of research. A commercialized and certified apparatus known as Myoton was designed, developed and produced from a prototype developed by the researchers, and it mainly represents the work of Estonian companies. The myometer is a good example of how design can go hand in hand with technical equipment. The general user friendliness of the device undoubtedly revolves around the fact that the contoured exterior allows it to be comfortably held in one’s hand and cleaned, and that it does not seem intimidating to patients. The exterior also resolves the matter of how to stabilize the sensitive probe part of the device when it is transported. Today, myometers are available worldwide for in-depth study of muscular problems in rehabilitation, occupational health and in athletes. Martin Pärn is a product designer who is known first and foremost as a furniture designer, but has made his mark in other fields as well.
Poster design for the Nordic Symphony Orchestra
Kristjan Jagomägi
The Nordic Symphony Orchestra, a project led by sisters Anu and Kadri Tali, was born in 1997. Five times a year, top professional players from ten countries play together in concert. Originating in the legendary and historical cultural and commercial triangle bounded by Tallinn, St. Petersburg and Helsinki, and fusing music, image and text into a singular new cultural quality, the Nordic Symphony Orchestra styles itself as a successful neo-Nordic cultural phenomenon. Besides the work of the sisters themselves, the orchestra has been notable for its posters, which employ a heavy yet sensitive idiom, conveying a sense of the material performed and succeeded in creating an identity on several fronts. The man behind the Nordic Symphony Orchestra's visual identity is Kristjan Jagomägi, who cites the orchestra's “Finno-Ugric-Scandinavian-German-Slavic genes” as a rationale for the posters’ typographic influences of Estonian traditional hewn letters, runes and Cyrillic script. The posters for various Nordic Symphony Orchestra seasons have used various custom Grande Affiche poster fonts designed by Jagomägi.
HOLLOW SPOONS
Aluminium spoon-containers
Riho Tiivel
One of the key questions of future product design involves the reuse of materials in an innovative manner. Riho Tiivel won an international design competition – “ReAL13 – Eating Anywhere” – with his design for aluminium spoon-containers. The aim of the competition was to find ways of using recyclable or already recycled aluminium for food containers or utensils used in two kinds of settings: the “anywhere of daily life” – planes, cafes, outdoors – and the “anywhere of emergencies” – hospitals, internment camps, extreme sports. At the heart of the prized work is a symbiosis between packaging and use. The handle of this spoon is hollow and can be filled with anything edible. The design allows different ingredients to be packaged in spoons as single servings, such as jam or instant coffee on a plane, or premeasured doses of medicine for children. The handle of the spoon has a removable strip, and the contents are squeezed directly onto the spoon.
KROG
Workstation system
Martin Pärn and Thulema
Martin Pärn is a designer who has received plenty of acclaim both in Estonia and abroad. Besides a number of individual successes such as the Lib-lik (Butterfly) chair for Jalax, a table for Martin Martela and a myometer (which measures muscle contractions) for Myoton, he has benefited from a longstanding successful relationship with one of Estonia’s biggest furniture companies, Thulema. Their cooperation is close to the ideal – Pärn is involved in the production process from beginning to end. It has resulted in full collections and associations with other product families. One example is the Krog workstation system, which is a solution for an office environment that is anonymous in a good way, where the designer takes a back seat and the primary thing is as functional relationship with the user. Considering the contemporary office environment, this workstation consisting of various work surfaces and compartments, is meant to work in both an open office as well as private offices.
ROCKS
Felt-covered seats
Annike Laigo
Annike Laigo (b. 1973) is one of the most consistent artists in Estonian textile design.
Her achievements have justified her choice of profession: she has taken part in nearly every exhibition on Estonian design, plus enjoying a range of contacts and contracts that have led to real results both home and away. A graduate of the Estonian Academy of Arts, Annike is continuing studies towards a master’s degree at the same institution. She has also studied at the Kolding School of Design in Denmark and at the University of Art and Design Helsinki. Annike’s work includes a number of compelling examples. For example, a woollen carpet with a wavy surface gained consumer popularity. With a specific end result in mind, she has also worked with rugs and curtains made of unorthodox materials such as felt. Felt-covered seats reminiscent of stones have become a true hit and have often been displayed at international fairs and exhibitions.
PABLO
massage bath
Aquator
Material: moulded acrylic
For many people, a bubble bath is synonymous with well-being and pleasure. In recent years, a number of bath manufacturers have risen to the forefront with a broad and ample selection of products, enjoying equal success home and abroad. The success is undoubtedly owed to modern ergonomic and functional design solutions. Aquator, led by designers Villi Pogga and Sven Sõrmus, is one such company situated at the nexus of form and technology. One should note that Pogga studied precision mechanics. As they see it, a bath and bathroom are not just part of the culture of cleanliness, but rather related to relaxation and healthful lifestyles. Aquator was founded in the 1990s and has created and manufactured a number of baths with lyrical names.
HULA
Fashion students´ trademark
Hula is a project initiated by the Estonian Academy of Arts – and a trademark which has been in use for five years. It attests to the Academy’s aspiration of being a major centre for design. The purpose of the project is to offer young consumers accessible and practical products. This direction was preceded by thorough research into the expectations and habits of consumer groups. The fashion design department decided to get their master level students involved in the real processes of product design and development. Now HULA has now gone beyond the academic framework and has a studio shop in Tallinn’s Old Town. The concept became a commercial success as well. Now a shape-shifting tradition, each year a new collection is unveiled under the HULA trademark and occasionally special publications appear. Cooperation between students in other fields is also considered essential to creating clothing collections, accessories and home textiles.
100-KROON NOTE
Estonian banknotes
Vladimir Taiger
A design competition for newly independent Estonia’s banknotes was announced in late 1989, when life was relatively impoverished, full of hope and a fair share of anxiety. Although the computer age had dawned by that time, Tallinn only had a few PCs and even fewer people who knew how to digitize and retrieve images. The winner of the competition was an Academy of Arts faculty member, the virtuoso illustrator Vladimir Taiger, whose hand colour pencil renderings depicted de rigueur cultural figures and images beloved of Estonians – traditional farm dwellings, oaks, and stormy seas under a limestone cliff. The initial drawings changed somewhat in the process of converting them to computer format – a task entrusted to the printing shop of Thomas de la Rue in England. But when the kroons came into circulation on 20 June 1992, the Estonian public was very satisfied. It will be hard to abandon these favourite motifs – if and when the switch is made to the Euro – considering that the generic architectural details used on European currency have not proved very popular in any of the Euro zone countries.
RE-USE
Reet Aus
Reet Aus is a clothing designer who has been active in many areas and is currently known above all as a proponent of an environmentally friendly and ecologically conscious worldview. As a designer and stylist in the fields of fashion, music and theatre, she has found herself a niche where she is doing what she feels should be done. A cooperative relationship with a recycling centre in Tallinn that got off to a start in 2005, has led to a new designer collection that is an alternative to mass production.
The keywords of the collection are environmental, local, economical, an appreciation for design; and the goal is to create on demand, and not to create demand. The same values have served as the basis for Aus in her other work, such as the creation of costumes for a production staged on the island of Naissaar, “Songs of Estonian Women.” All of the clothing articles are handmade from natural or recycled materials (old household textiles such as sheets and curtains were used), all for a fair price and in Estonia.
AURA
Plastic bottle
Veiko Liis
Veiko Liis is a young designer who has only a handful of works to his name, but all of them speak volumes. One of his first big successes was a modern plywood desk with aluminium legs made with laser technology, which requires not a single screw or bolt for assembly. It is easy to transport as well – the desk is lightweight. His second design is no doubt more anonymous than the first and also used more widely – the plastic bottles designed for Aura's non-carbonated beverages. Four “dimples” in the bottle make it easy to handle. The shape also works as a reference to the Aura logo. The idea for the bottle design came straight from nature – the stripes on the lower part of the bottle are a stylized carrot.
BASIC
Family of lights
Tarmo Luisk
material: sheet metal (steel)
Tarmo Luisk (b. 1970) made his Estonian design debut with his “Basic” series of lights at a time when the ranks of local product designers were still fairly sparse. This 1997 series, as indicated by the name, includes basic types of lights and is lean and spare. In its unimposing lightness of being, it functions as a neutral addition to an untold number of Estonian interiors. “Basic” has become a byword for a renaissance in Estonian product design. Luisk’s subsequent work is also closely related to lighting. He has partnered for years with 4ROOM, a trademark which evolved out of a Soviet era lighting manufacturer, designing the bulk of their products. In addition, Luisk has designed furniture and more experimental sorts of lights. For example, he recently collaborated on the design of the city of Tallinn’s boundary markers.
ADAM
Family of fonts
Anton Koovit
Anyone who uses a computer knows at least a few typefaces – Times New Roman, for instance. Every font was designed by someone. Anton Koovit is a young graphic designer specializing in typography. After graduating from the Estonian Academy of Arts, Anton attended the Royal Academy of Art in Hague. One aspect of his work during his studies in Hague concerned 17th century typography in Estonian cultural history. The Adam family of fonts is a sans-serif style, which combines two properties: easy readability and good compatibility and dynamics between different heading levels. The typeface is compatible with Estonian character codes and all of the necessary diacritical marks are represented (õ, ä, ö, ü, š, ž). This typeface is used throughout the Year of Design materials, including this exhibition.
CREDIT [2D-3D] SPIRAL
Series of stainless steel jewellery
Anneli Tammik
Material: stainless steel
Technology: laser etching
An iconoclastic jewellery artist, Anneli Tammik has greatly expanded the meaning of jewellery in Estonia. For a number of years, she has primarily been creating designer jewellery more suited to mass rather than one-off production. This is not the norm in Estonia. Traditionally, great value has been ascribed to original unique pieces. Anneli also does work on commission and has worked as a designer for the jewellery manufacturer Aurum. A few years ago she performed an about-face, eschewing compromise and focusing on her own vision. She stands apart from traditional jewellery artists in that she uses a computer to design jewellery and only rarely precious metals. The collection Credit [2D-3D] Spiral is a good example of the trends described and conveys the essence of a designer piece of jewellery. The image of the piece is photo-etched using laser technology onto stainless steel foil. This is a technology that has been in use for decades, and is mainly used in the electronics industry. As the title of the collection indicates, the pieces of jewellery are planar but they can be made three-dimensional without compromising usability – for example they can be used to adorn either a person or a book.
FELLIN FURNITURE
A family of furniture
Sixten Heidmets and Sirli Põllumäe
materials: natural water-based finish, birch plywood, a blend of linen and wool textiles
Sirli Põllumäe and Sixten Heidmets have experienced the kind of collaboration that designers often dream of and which represents an ideal form of interaction between the designer and manufacturer. An Estonian businessman discovered Sixten Heidmets on the Designers’ Union homepage. The businessman was looking for new hunting grounds. He was anxious to realize some ideas that had piled up over time. One idea was furniture for young people. The cooperation led to the Fellin Furniture collection, which is still growing. Fellin was designed with young people in mind. The youthful like to do and create things, and thus most of the furniture has adjustable height, changeable shape, and interchangeable parts, broadening the target group significantly. The furniture leaves a neutral first impression. Pizzazz is provided by subtle yet clearly distinctive details. Both designers are graduates of the Estonian Academy of Arts. Sixten defended a master’s degree at the University of Lund, has studied at NASA and is a winner of the SÄSI competition. Sirli has previously been involved in various design projects, and has designed various lights. www.fellin.eu
HOLLOW SPOONS
Aluminium spoon-containers
Riho Tiivel
One of the key questions of future product design involves the reuse of materials in an innovative manner. Riho Tiivel won an international design competition – “ReAL13 – Eating Anywhere” – with his design for aluminium spoon-containers. The aim of the competition was to find ways of using recyclable or already recycled aluminium for food containers or utensils used in two kinds of settings: the “anywhere of daily life” – planes, cafes, outdoors – and the “anywhere of emergencies” – hospitals, internment camps, extreme sports. At the heart of the prized work is a symbiosis between packaging and use. The handle of this spoon is hollow and can be filled with anything edible. The design allows different ingredients to be packaged in spoons as single servings, such as jam or instant coffee on a plane, or premeasured doses of medicine for children. The handle of the spoon has a removable strip, and the contents are squeezed directly onto the spoon.