FINNISH DESIGN - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Author Chad Latest Update Jul 28, 2023 0585
Born in 1983, Aino-Maija Metsola graduated with a degree in graphic design at the University of Art and Design in Helsinki. Shortly afterwards, she began to do freelance work, caught the eye of Marimekko during a design contest and eventually became an in-house designer for the textile giant. The versatile designer uses a variety of mediums to achieve her unique looks that are both strong and delicate, but has a special spot in her heart for watercolors; in fact, she uses the same watercolor case she has since she was 14 years old.
Though she lives in the bustling city of Helsinki, Metsola finds her muse in the many forests of Finland's countryside. Her nature-inspired designs have showcased fruits and vegetables, animals, flowers and most recently, weather, as part of Marimekko's new Sääpäiväkirja (Weather Diary) series. The line features her artwork on the clean-lined shapes of Sami Ruotsalainen's Oiva dinnerware, where Metsola's abstract lines and watercolor gradients reach their full potential.
Job Titles:
- Designer
- Author Chad Latest Update Jun 2, 2023 0713
Tapio Wirkkala is an outstanding iittala designer whose art glass and glassware sets virtually created the look and content of iittala design. Wirkkala's oeuvre is vast, and between the 1940s and 1980s he designed more than 400 different art glass objects and glassware series for iittala. Many of the art glass pieces and glassware sets have been skillfully remodeled in line with the changing technological advances.
Wirkkala studied ornamental sculpting at the Central School of Arts and Crafts, and objects designed by him often are very sculptural. Tapio Wirkkala came to iittala as a designer in 1946 after taking first place in a competition for engraved glass models held by the glassworks. Wirkkala's glass design was exceptional throughout his career as a designer. Of note are his Ultima Thule and Tapio glassware lines, which are still produced by iittala today.