Transcript Iittala Brand Guide. Join the movement.

”Alvar Aalto & Kaj Franck –
Masters of Everyday Design”
Iittala Brand heritage
Anu Hännikäinen
iittala as
Where it all started.
 Our roots date back to 1881 when
the glass factory in Iittala was
established by P.M. Abrahamsson.
 All essentials were close at hand.
Wood, water and sand were our
ingredients.
 Today Iittala is a leading
Scandinavian design brand from
Finland
Our rich design heritage
 Iittala’s breaktrhough started with the
early years of functionalism in 1930s
 The iconic Aalto Collection was
created in 1936 – will turn 75 in
2011.
 The oldest product still in
production: Aino Aalto from 1932.
 In 1950s and 60s Iittala designers
Kaj Franck, Alvar and Aino Aalto,
Tapio Wirkkala and Timo
Sarpaneva won tens of prizes in
Milan Triennials – in 1951 Wirkkala
got three out of six Grand Prixs.
 We keep our classics alive by
intoruducing annually new colours in
them
Anu Hännikäinen
Our succes is based on heritage,
functional design and consumer understanding
 In 2003 Iittala moved beyond being just a glass company to an interior design
brand. Iittala is a concept brand working with several different materials.
 Today, the success of Iittala is based on strong craftsmanship, cooperation with
innovative designers and a deep understanding of our consumers’ behavior.
 Our internationally renown designers – e.g. Antonio Citterio, Alfredo Häberli,
Oiva Toikka, Harri Koskinen, Anu Penttinen – shape the Iittala future.
 E.g. Harri Koskinen received the biggest design prize of the world, the
Torsten and Wanja Söderberg prize in Gothenburg in 2009.
Anu Hännikäinen
Our design philosophy.
What makes an object Iittala?
Thinking behind each object. End user experience.
It lasts like Iittala
 Iittala objects are iconic and timeless. They are
forever relevant and stand the test of time because
of design foresight and understanding of human
needs.
It feels like Iittala
 Iittala objects raise curiosity, they invite to touch and
to use. They are pleasing to human senses due to
shape, materials and the use of harmonious colours.
It works like Iittala

Iittala objects are natural and easy to use. They
perfectly fit the task and let the end user decide the
use. Functional & combinable with each other and
other objects in the home. Multifunctional.
´
Alvar Aalto collection
since 1936.
Aalto anniversary 2011.
Anu Hännikäinen
Alvar Aalto collection.
Philosophy
 Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) is known as the father of modern architecture and Scandinavian
design. Aalto created his own unique style of architecture and design inspired by nature.
He thought good design should be part of everyday life – and this can be seen in his
carefully considered works which delight their users from one day to the next. Alvar Aalto
never specified how the pieces he designed were to be used, he wanted their users to
decide for themselves.
 Nature played an important role in Alvar Aalto’s life and as a source of his creativity. The
freeform, undulating shapes of the objects in the Aalto collection are like the Finnish
landscape with its thousands of lakes – beautiful, alive and untamed. Glassblowers at the
Iittala glassworks still sensitively blow the legendary vases in which variations on a single
theme and organic shapes give the user the freedom to decide how they are to be used.
Different interpretations of the now familiar shape in new colours and materials extend
the growing Alvar Aalto Collection while remaining true to his original design philosophy.
Anu Hännikäinen
Alvar Aalto collection.
Since 1936.
 The Aalto vase is an internationally renowned Finnish design icon and the heart of the
Alvar Aalto collection.
 The organic shape was the work of world famous architect and designer Alvar Aalto in
1936.
 All Aalto vases are mouth blown at Iittala, in Finland. Blowing one vase takes seven
glassblowers working together seamlessly.
 The shape of the Aalto vase was drawn from the shoreline of Finland’s thousands of
lakes. Aalto wanted to retain the link between man and nature.
 His philosophy was that users should be free to decide for themselves how the piece
was to be used.
 The original Alvar Aalto collection did not only contain vases but objects that
could be used in a variety of everyday contexts, as a tray, a fruit bowl, a plant
pot or to store bits and bobs.
 The Savoy shape of the Aalto vase is an EU trademark registered to the Iittala Group.
Anu Hännikäinen
Alvar Aalto collection.
The Savoy design is born.
 Alvar Aalto's first sketches for the vases were
jokingly named "Eskimo woman's leather
trousers". Curved, asymmetric and freely
meandering shapes deviated from the
symmetrical shapes of traditional glass design.
 The vases created following the Eskimo
woman’s leather trousers design were first
displayed at the Paris Exhibition in 1937. The
collection featured about ten different objects,
from a shallow dish to a vase a metre high.
 These successful vases were obtained for the
Savoy restaurant in Helsinki, when Aalto was
responsible for the interior design in 1937. Later
the most popular model (product number 9750)
became known as Savoy.
 In the history of the Finnish art industry Aalto’s
Savoy or the Aalto vase represents an attempt
at new unusual design. Today it is one of the
internationally best known pieces of Finnish
design.
Anu Hännikäinen
Heritage. Our designers.
Kaj Franck Centennial
(1911-1989)
 Kaj Franck had an extreme yet rational
design philosophy based on three
familiar basic shapes
 A circle
 A square
 A rectangle
 Franck believed objects should be
multi-functional and combinable.
 Together with Kaj Franck, Aino and
Alvar Aalto believed objects should be
essential, crafted, beautiful, useful and
democratically available to all.
 Aino and Alvar Aalto believed design
should be humanising, and refused to
show how their objects should be used
– ”The end user decides the use”.
Teema 1952 and Kartio 1958.
The secret behind their popularity.
•
Essential and necessary
•
Timeless
• Designed around consumers’ real needs, only essential objects
• For every day use and special occasions. Changing with lifestyles,
habits and
culinary trends. Living with the seasons, through the different stages of life (from
singles to families, passed on from one generation to the next). The design with its
clean lines never becoming boring and never going out of fashion.
•
Versatile
•
Classics of the Finnish table
•
• From oven to table (Teema)
• Stackable, space-saving, one object – many uses.
• A range from which everyone can pick their favourite to suit their own needs.
• Revolutionary design in the 1950s, still delight the eye and the senses. Clean,
uncompromising design, a lifelong friend. Low collectability threshold, easy to
combine.
Colours
• A wide colour scheme enables restrained as well as colourful and personal table
settings, colour can also be used to emphasise different seasons.
Anu Hännikäinen
Iittala offers best Finnish design
for the home
• In1930s Iittala made the transition from traditional,
decorative dinner sets to simple, multifunctional
functional Scandinavian design.



Kilta 1952 = Teema 1981
Teema 2010
Mix and match principle
 Iittala items can be combined with each
other easily – or with your old items
 Combinability offers Iittala consumers
endless possibilities to make their own
combinations – to be the final designers.
Iittala design is so timeless you never want to
throw it away.
Things with a thought
 We can do with less items when the items
are thought through in form, function and
quality.
Anu Hännikäinen
Iittala colour scheme 2011.
Pale blue/
turquoise
Rio brown
/terracotta
(new colours!)
Grey/
black
White
/clear
Iittala in essence.
 Timeless design and future classics with stories behind.


Multifunctionality, strong heritage and craftsmanship.
Products for everyday life at home, more specificly for the
kitchen and livingroom
Products for all lifestages
 Moving away from home
 Settling down
 Building new homes
 Gifting
 Wedding
 Birthday
 Something special for someone special
 Inspiration for creating a special everyday
 Timeless design with a thought
Inspiration
Just mix and match
Anu Hännikäinen
Inspiration
Anu Hännikäinen
Inspiration
Just mix and match
Timeless designs with a thought
Aino Aalto
1932
Aalto
1936
Aarne Kilta/
1948 Teema
1952
Kartio
1958
Sarpaneva
1960
Birds by
Toikka
1972
Kivi
1988
Tools
1998
Some future classics:
Collective
Tools
2000
Anu Hännikäinen
Essence
2001
Inspired by
Aalto
2006
Taika
2007
Birds by
Penttinen
2008
Fireplace
2008
Vitriini
2010
Korento
2011
Origo
1999
The beauty lies within simplisity!
Thank you!