I'M MI issue 02 2026

ISSUE 02

PUBLISHER LAB University of Applied Sciences Institute of Design and Fine Arts 2026 Mukkulankatu 19 15210 Lahti Finland www.lab.fi/muotoiluinstituutti @me_olemme_mi COVER Photo by MATTI KOSKINEN Fashion design by PIPSA SAARINEN Models ARIANNA DOARDO & MARIANA NUNES LEAL

Table of contents 2 We need people who dare to reshape the world

Grasping interactions

4 Rethinking identities

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Breaking the fracture

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48 From human-centred to more-than-human design 52 Field of study: Digital Experience Design 54 Field of study: Sustainable Design Business

8 Beyond abstraction: Visual thinking as reform practice

56 Freedom of expression in exceptional times

12 Field of study: Photography

60 Field of study: Visual Communication Design

14 Field of study: Fine Arts 16 Sustainable lens-based art in unused spaces

Process of becoming Flowing through phases

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64 The inner work of changemaking 66 Field of study: Wearable Design

22 Less is more, again

68 Someone needs to take action

25 Student work showcase

70 Our graduates

34 Field of study: Product Design

74 Crossword

36 Field of study: Interior Architecture & Furniture Design 38 Cut-out game

76 References

45 Colouring page

78 Greetings and credits 80 Degrees in Culture and Arts

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Illustration by JENNY IDMAN

We need people who dare to reshape the world 4

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TYTTI-LOTTA OJALA Dean of LAB Institute of Design and Fine Arts

It is easy to say that the world is in transition.

Far harder is to admit that the old ways of thinking are no longer enough to understand it – let alone to change it.

We live in a time when problems do not fall neatly into categories. They intersect, evolve, and refuse to stay still. That is why solutions, too, cannot be linear. We need non-linear thinking: the ability to see connections where none are immediately visible, and the courage to move forward without a map already drawn.

But thinking alone is not enough.

What defines this moment is not how much we understand the world, but what we are willing to do to make it better. We need doers – people who do not remain on the sidelines observing, analysing, or waiting for the perfect moment, but who engage with what is in front of them.

Doing is not an alternative to thinking; it is its continuation. This is why the idea of a school of real makers feels more relevant than ever. It is not merely a pedagogical model, but a statement: the world is not changed from the outside, but from within. Learning does not happen detached from reality, but in the midst of it – through friction, uncertainty, and consequence.

This calls for optimism – not a light belief that everything will somehow work out, but a deeper trust that things can be influenced.

We do not want merely to dream – we want to turn our community into a movement. A movement that becomes visible as a collective force for renewal, through people who are not satisfied with what the world is.

In our community, reformers design the world towards something boldly different – and better.

We encourage action, not waiting for permission.

Our students are expected to seek out ideas, test them in practice, and refine them further until something emerges that works – and makes a difference.

This is how meaningful change is created. Not as passing signals or short-lived trends, but as actions that leave a lasting mark – as change that endures and creates visible value around it. And also for the makers themselves – for we represent, after all, a place of growth for every member of our community.

“THE WORLD IS NOT CHANGED FROM THE OUTSIDE, BUT FROM WITHIN. LEARNING DOES NOT HAPPEN DETACHED FROM REALITY, BUT IN THE MIDST OF IT—THROUGH FRICTION, UNCERTAINTY, AND CONSEQUENCE.” This is exactly the kind of evolving, transformative capability the world now needs: the ability to combine imagination and execution, thinking and action.

Independent thinkers do not emerge by accident. They grow in environments where fearlessness, creativity, and a culture of making come together. In places where we learn not only to answer questions, but to reframe them. In places where the world is seen as something to be designed – not something given.

We need more places like this now.

And above all, more people who choose to put this spirit into action.

The world will not become ready by waiting.

It is built in the hands of those who dare to engage with it – and reshape it.

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Rethinking identities The new brand strategy of LAB Institute of Design and Fine Arts embodies an identity built on continuous reinvention and reshaping.

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‘Muotoillaanpa se toisin’ is the challenge we present to prospective students of the Institute of Design and Fine Arts, known in Finland as Muotoiluinstituutti.

This multi-layered phrase – which translates variably as ‘Let’s reformulate that,’ ‘Let’s design it differently,’ or ‘Let’s put it another way’ – sits at the heart of the school’s new brand strategy and visual identity, revamped by the Helsinki-based creative studio Bond.

Creatives are at the forefront of rethinking systems and reshaping the future. The Institute of Design and Fine Arts aims to be a place where future creative thinkers and reformers can grow. Reformers strive for nothing less than a better world. To drive change, one must ask what could – and should – be different. And to answer that, one must learn how to ask better questions.

Asking questions and maintaining a critical perspective on one’s own work was also essential for the designers behind

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the rebrand – many of whom are alumni of the institution itself. ‘Muotoillaanpa se toisin’ is not only one of the core statements of the verbal identity, but also a guiding principle behind the entire design process.

“It also served as a measuring stick throughout the process, forcing us to ask whether this really rethinks things or not. Many of the first, safe, and obvious visual ideas were filtered out through this lens,” says Nils Kajander, creative director at Bond.

Thus, the brand renewal moves beyond the typical higher education focus on programmes, facilities, and institutional heritage. Instead, it centres on how the Institute of Design and Fine Arts shapes students’ identities – and how students, in turn, reshape the world through it.

“This idea did not merely guide the design process; it served as its starting point and foundation,” explains Arttu Salovaara, strategist at Bond.

The identity called for a logo that could express continuous change. A fixed, static mark would have contradicted an institution defined by ongoing reinvention, so the design process focused on flexibility – seeking a balance between clarity and playfulness. The result is a form stable enough to be recognisable, yet open enough to shift and evolve.

The final logo is malleable: sculptural, lively, slightly unpredictable, yet always intentional. It has a clear structure but no fixed state, continuously reshaping itself in motion.

The typographic system combines typefaces from Schick Toikka with a bespoke typeface for the identity, Lahti Never Regular, grounded in the idea of rethinking and reshaping familiar typographic structures into new forms.

Many members of the creative team are alumni of the institution, creating a meaningful link back to it. As Arttu

reflects, working on a brand renewal for one’s own alma mater is far more than an ordinary assignment – it is deeply personal, inspiring, and at times challenging, as you shape the identity of the place that has once shaped you.

Alongside Arttu and Nils, the process involved several alumni at different stages, including Lauri Toikka, who worked on selected typefaces, and Kimmo Syväri, who directed and shot films.

As Nils adds, students – both current and former – were placed at the very core of the photographic approach: “It highlights our true reformers, our agents of change. Their real moments, not staged poses, were captured to reflect genuine presence, energy, and intensity.”

Current students also participated by photographing their peers, further strengthening the sense of immediacy and lived experience.

Ultimately, this was never a solo effort. Bringing in multiple perspectives was essential, as renewal and rethinking depend on openness and shared thinking.

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Breaking

fracture

the

Photo by SENNI NURKKALA

Beyond abstraction:

Visual thinking as reform practice Text by PETRI SUNI & KATARIINA MÄENPÄÄ Illustration by RONJA MARKUSSON

What could, and what should, be different? That is the Reformer’s question. In complex systems, reform rarely stalls because we lack ideas. It stalls because we cannot agree on what should change, who benefits, and what success would even look like. Often the hardest part is gaining a clear view of what the current system actually does – only then can we decide what to dismantle, what to keep, and what to redefine.

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THE LIMITS OF WORDS Words alone cannot capture complexity. No individual can hold the whole system in their head, so each person possesses only a partial picture and quietly fills in the gaps. At the same time, words carry different meanings for different people.

Terms like ‘efficiency’, ‘quality’, or ‘sustainability’ can sound like shared language while masking competing interpretations.

No wonder meetings about complex change can feel productive, yet nothing really shifts. The conversation stays polite, buzzwords align, and people leave with different takeaways.

Reform begins with problem setting, not solutions. Before changing anything, we must agree on what the problem actually is and where its boundaries lie.

A visual model is invaluable here. It makes concepts visible, assumptions explicit, and constraints testable – showing what is part of the problem, what is excluded, and what we take for granted. It also forces a quieter decision into the open: what not to optimise for. Not every change is an improvement, which is why direction and trade-offs must be made explicit early. If we fail to do so deliberately, the system will decide on our behalf – usually in the direction of the easiest metric.

MAKING THINKING VISIBLE There is a reason sketches often work better than conversation. Thinking does not happen solely in the brain; it continues on paper, on whiteboards, and in shared models. When the whole no longer fits in working memory, externalised visualisations are more than just a nice-to-have extra – they are the very thing that enables coherent thinking to happen at all.

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This matters especially in reform work, where we must address competing definitions, hidden assumptions, and downstream consequences simultaneously. Without external representations, that task tends to collapse into simplifications, quick agreements, or fights over words.

A sketch transforms the system into something you can point at, push back on, and revise. Dependencies are revealed, boundaries be come explicit, and assumptions stop hiding in the background – including rules and steps we treat as settled. The Reformer does not merely receive information, but reshapes it into a form that makes understanding and choice possible. The goal is not more data, but greater order in the overload, and a clearer basis for decisions.

Consider a team arguing about ‘efficiency’. For one person, it means throughput time; for another, cost; for a third, quality; and for a fourth, the wellbeing of people and their capacity to work. When the process and decision points are sketched in a shared view, the disagreement becomes locatable. Often, the uncomfortable reality is that the metric rewards speed, so people learn to cut corners, producing a ‘quality problem’ upstream. At that point, the conversation shifts. Instead of fighting over a word, the team can decide what to change first.

When created collaboratively, a sketch becomes a site of negotiation. The shared model functions as a boundary object: it accommodates different interpretations while giving everyone a common reference point. The dispute moves from people to the map, often revealing handoffs and blind spots no one owns. In conversation alone, we often miss what we fail to ask, assume someone else will handle, or where responsibility quietly falls through the cracks. A shared map exposes these gaps without turning the exercise into a blame game.

The model is not ‘the truth’. It is a provisional, testable explanation of how the system seems to work – good enough to negotiate, revise, and act on.

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DISMANTLING, LEVER AGE, AND IMPACT

See page 76 for references

Dismantling often lies at the core of reform. Reform does not always mean adding something new. It can mean removing surplus, eliminating overlaps, reducing unnecessary checks, or updating meanings under sustainability constraints.

Sometimes the most radical reform is discovering what can be removed entirely: a rule, a metric, a handover, or even a whole step that exists only because it has always been there.

The next question is: where to start?

Leverage points reveal where dismantling will make a real difference. They distinguish minor adjustments from changes that alter what the system rewards. Often, leverage lies not in minor parameters, but in rules, goals, metrics, and in what is treated as success. In the ‘efficiency’ example above, the leverage point is the metric: change the metric, and behaviour also changes, shifting the system’s ‘normal’.

Reform involves more than just doing things more efficiently – it is re-deciding what we are aiming for and what we consider acceptable.

But dismantling without a clear direction is mere cutting.

A practical utopia is not a finished picture of the future, but a shared direction. It remains deliberately unfinished so it can withstand critique and invite refinement. Here, being unfinished is a feature, not a flaw. An incomplete image keeps attention focused on structure, not surface, forcing the question: what affects what, and what is excluded when we draw the line here rather than there?

The end goal is not simply a better conversation. It is responsible choices and visible impact. What changes, who benefits, and how will we recognise it in practice? Sometimes the signal is a metric that stops rewarding the wrong behaviour. Sometimes it is a clarified handover that prevents work from bouncing back and forth. Sometimes it is simply that the ‘normal’ can finally be named, questioned, and revised.

When these questions can be asked around a shared map, reform becomes possible – and the Reformer’s question becomes practical: what could, and what should, be different?

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Photography Photo by SENNI NURKKALA

“I once experienced a museum exhibition that moved everyone to tears, which showed me how powerful photography can be.”

– Enni Sorvisto 14

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Photography WHY DID YOU CHOOSE PHOTOGRAPHY? I’ve had a camera in my hand since I was a child.

I don’t even know where it started – it has always felt natural, as if I was born with it. As I grew up, I realised this is something you can study and pursue as a career. I heard about the Institute of Design and Fine Arts, and it sparked my interest. The camera and I have always been, and always will be, connected.

FI ELD O F ST U DY

ENNI SORVISTO

WHERE DO YOU SEEK INSPIRATION? At this stage in my life, school plays a big role.

Assignments and briefs often spark ideas, even when the guidelines are very open. I’m inspired by fashion, so photography allows me to combine different interests – I don’t have to choose just one. I especially enjoy photographing people. Collaboration and working across fields of study also plays an important role in my process.

WHAT KIND OF IMPACT DOES YOUR WORK HAVE ON THE WORLD? I once experienced a museum exhibition that moved everyone to tears, which showed me how powerful photography can be. I think I am still on a journey of discovering what kind of impact my own photographs can have.

HOW DO WE ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER TO NAVIGATE UNCERTAINTY? I’m still dealing with uncertainty, especially when it comes to finding employment, but as my mother always said, hardworking people will find opportunities, and I trust that things will work out. It is important to maintain good relationships in this field. School is the best place to meet people you may work with in the future – they could become colleagues, collaborators, or employers. You won’t find this kind of community anywhere else. There is such a strong sense of collaboration across different fields.

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RASMUS LEPPÄNEN Fine Arts

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE FINE ARTS? Already as a child, I wanted to work in advertising.

I attended a children’s art school and followed a visual arts path throughout my education. The visual world has always been a big part of my life.

Over time, my ambitions shifted towards fine art and creative exploration rather than commercial work. I want to keep learning new ways of creating and to expand beyond my usual methods.

WHERE DO YOU SEEK INSPIRATION? My creative process is constant. Ideas come through association, words, humour, and visual contrasts. I relate to the idea of “fishing” ideas from the subconscious. Often, I simply start making, and the work takes shape along the way.

I also spend a lot of time thinking about meaning – what I want to express and why. Inspiration can come from anywhere, even something random online, which I then reinterpret in my own way.

WHAT KIND OF IMPACT CAN SOMEONE IN YOUR FIELD HAVE ON THE WORLD? Art is such a fundamental part of humanity that it feels strange to claim I’m changing the world through it. But art can act as a counterforce in a culture that often undervalues it. Personally, I hope my work inspires others to make things, to experiment, to be playful.

WHAT DO YOU THINK NEEDS TO CHANGE? The endless competition for attention needs to change. The world has become too focused on individuals. When you create authentically with your own motivations, the work has lasting value. Trying to please others leads to insecurity, while staying true to your own intentions and finding ways to express them helps build confidence. What we need is stronger community – people supporting each other and building trust. In uncertain times, having a reliable network makes it easier to face uncertainty.

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Fine Arts Photo by SENNI NURKKALA

“Art is at its best when it provokes a reaction.

No one remembers something that was just ‘nice’.”

– Rasmus Leppänen SECTION NAME

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Text by IIDA VIIO Photos by UTOPIAS LAHTI

Sustainable lens-based art in unused spaces UTOPIAS LAHTI 2026 Utopias Lahti 2023

Utopias Lahti 2026 transforms the city’s unused spaces into a stage for experimental, sustainable lens-based art. The festival is guided by a zero-waste principle and rooted in artist-led practice, local side streams, and regenerative production methods that open up new ways of making exhibitions.

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The festival has been organised twice before and builds on the Climate Utopias visual arts festival, held in November 2021 as part of the ‘Lahti – European Green Capital’ EU project year. It is developed and produced by a working group from the Lahti Association of Photographic Artists, active since the 1980s. In addition to presenting art, the festival works closely with artists to develop new, locally grounded exhibition practices for lens-based work.

The festival’s exhibition design and construction are guided by a zero-waste principle rooted in research and material experimentation, aiming to meet all material needs through the local circular economy and to repurpose material for new uses after the event, often drawing on industrial surplus.

Today’s cultural landscape, shaped by accelerated consumption of images, has increasingly alienated artists and audiences alike from the material processes of photography.

The material practices underpinning our image culture, often tied to fossil extractivism – are critically re-examined by the festival, with the ultimate aim of rethinking artistic production from the ground up.

By building a network of companies, associations, and communities, Utopias Lahti is creating a new, sustainable approach to producing and curating art events. Through this network, the festival gathers leftover materials that form the basis of its exhibition design. In order to create a truly sustainable model, the usual curatorial process is reversed: materials become the starting point. The festival thus highlights how selected projects can be adapted to the materials and spaces available.

For the 2026 instalment, production materials have been sourced in collaboration with smaller artist-run spaces such as Swamp Swap and Helsingin Paperipaja, as well as larger companies including Hartela and Lindström. The festival reuses planks, pallets, and plywood from construction sites for its exhibition structures. As part of its sustainable practices, Utopias Lahti has also produced handmade inkjet paper with Helsingin Paperipaja using leftover cotton towels and sheets from hotels.

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IN CONVERSATION WITH HENRI AIRO Henri Airo is the artistic director of Utopias Lahti and a BA graduate in photography from the LAB Institute of Design and Fine Arts.

He is currently based in Helsinki.

WHAT COLLABOR ATIONS HAS UTOPIAS LAHTI BUILT INTERNATIONALLY? From the start, the concept of Utopias Lahti has been to create an international festival – a platform that also forges ties between Lahti and the rest of the world. In particular, we’ve built strong links with European institutions. The exhibiting artists have always been international, coming to Lahti from different continents. The main merit for which the festival has been recognised internationally within the photographic and fine art field is our circular economy production model.

This recognition has come from the contacts we’ve made and the discussions we’ve had with partners across regions including the Baltics, Nordics, and Poland.

We’ve started a collaboration with the photographic art space NOUA in Bodø, Norway, and with ISSP in Latvia to start a residency programme. We’re also building new connections with European photography institutions through Fotofestiwal in Łódź. Someone from one of these partner institutions once described us, somewhat humorously, as an avant-garde festival because of how unconventional we are. The aesthetic of the festival – and our interest not only in photography but also more broadly in sculpture and other art forms – combined with our strong focus on materiality, makes us an interesting outlier.

ARE THERE ANY OTHER ART FESTIVALS WITH SIMILAR SUSTAINABLE PR ACTICES?

Utopias Lahti 2023

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Our model is very unique, and I don’t know of anyone working in exactly this way or as intensively with the circular economy as we do. This has drawn widespread interest. Many of the new connections we’ve made have come from people contacting us because they’re curious about the festival. For instance, Fotofestiwal in Łódź contacted us after the 2023 instalment. A curator there was writing about sustainable lens-based practices and had researched many European festivals. They felt ours was among the most advanced, particularly in areas like paper production. In many other contexts, circular economy tends to focus more on recycling prints and other existing materials or managing waste and emissions, rather than rethinking material production itself.

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WHAT CAN WE LOOK FORWARD TO IN THE 2026 PROGR AMME?

Utopias Lahti 2023

“OUR MODEL IS VERY UNIQUE, AND I DON’T KNOW OF ANYONE WORKING IN EXACTLY THIS WAY OR AS INTENSIVELY WITH THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY AS WE DO.” – Henri Airo

This year, we’ve chosen the theme of site-specific practices in lens-based art. This is especially visible in our main exhibition, Skeleton, featuring six artists. Their work has been designed very site-specifically for the space we’re working in, and their practices create compelling connections between photography and spatial experience – particularly in how photography influences us within spatial environments.

This exhibition also includes works created during a twomonth residency by artists Gundega Strauberga and Leonardo Taddei. Other artists featured are Hicham Benohound, Paul Kuimet, Victoria Pidust and Ida Tomminen.

In addition, we are presenting another major exhibition: the graduation show of fourth-year students from the Lahti Institute of Design. Threshold has also been conceived site-specifically for a basement space in central Lahti. It brings together the work of fourteen artists with diverse relationships to photography. For this exhibition, we worked with the students through our circular economy model, designing each work specifically for this festival format and space. The result is a highly immersive exhibition featuring sculptural approaches, sound, video, and other media.

This year, we are also placing greater emphasis on our expanded programme of events. In addition to advancing circular production, one of our key goals is to activate underutilised spaces in the city. From previous years, we’ve learned that events and activities are an effective way for people to discover these spaces.

The expanded programme – roughly twice the scale of previous years – includes workshops, talks, and events organised with local partners such as Pinna Skateboarding and Kauno ry. Events take place across the city in collaboration with local partner organisations and at Gallery Uusi Kipinä, which will host a pedagogical workshop space and a third exhibition presenting outcomes from the workshops.

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Flowing

through

Photo by TOM KOSTET

Less is more, again Text by HARRI HEIKKILÄ

Technological progress has long focused on adding features, data, and automation.

Yet issues such as cognitive overload and loss of trust often arise from too much technology, not too little.

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The paradox is striking: while technological capability has never been greater, the lived experience of technology often feels exhausting rather than empowering. Interfaces demand constant attention. Systems interrupt rather than support action. Efficiency becomes an end in itself, detached from human purpose. Reform, under these conditions, does not require inventing something radically new – it requires learning how to stop.

Calm Technology may offer one path forward. It is not a nostalgic retreat from digitalisation, but a reformist design stance rooted within technological modernity. Calm Technology is not merely a visual style or minimalistic UI – it is a way of thinking about technology’s role in human life. It asks a deceptively simple question: how little technology is actually needed to achieve the intended outcome? The goal is not to make technology invisible by removing it, but to make it unproblematic – present when needed, silent when not, disappearing through seamless use rather than absence.

LESSONS OF NEGLECT Consider the consequences of ignoring this principle.

When Volkswagen replaced physical controls with touchscreens, drivers were forced to navigate menus instead of roads. Mechanical buttons were eventually restored – not because touchscreens failed technically, but because they failed experientially. Technology that demands attention in contexts requiring focus is not innovation. It is regression disguised as progress.

In safety-critical environments – such as bridges, cockpits, emergency rooms, or control rooms – work consists of long periods of routine monitoring interrupted by brief moments that demand absolute clarity and fast decisions.

Amber Case (2026) shows how excessive on-screen information and cascading alerts can turn interfaces into cognitive noise, where critical signals no longer stand out. Historic examples such as the Three Mile Island nuclear incident illustrate this dramatically. The underlying problem is universal: when systems are designed to show “everything, just in case,” they often end up showing too much, precisely when calm prioritisation is most needed.

Conversely, consider why smartphones succeeded where previous mobile devices struggled. One reason is the discipline imposed by strict design guidelines – Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines and Google’s Material Design – which enforce consistency and predictability. The interfaces were not just visually minimal; they were economical in what they demanded from the user. Users could act without needing to focus on the interface itself. Calm Technology works the same way: it reduces not only visual clutter, but also the mental effort required to act.

REFORMING TECHNOLOGY WITHOUT ADDING MORE A thin interface is about more than just screen design; it is a commitment to clarity that runs through the whole system, from tools to routines and responsibilities. Simplifying interfaces when organisational routines remain complex leads to failure. Human-centred design collapses if reduced to surface-level usability overlaid on systems organised purely for efficiency. Design must be anchored at the level where organisations actually operate: where design principles translate into training, standards, software procurement, and everyday practice. The shift is from managing attention to protecting agency: from making systems easy to navigate to enabling people to act with judgement and purpose.

This perspective aligns with Industry 5.0, now gaining traction in European policy. Calm Technology fits within this broader framework, which foregrounds sustainability and resilience by articulating the human-centric dimension of technological development. It concretises what “human-centricity” means: designing technologies to human scale, accommodating the limits of attention, judgement, and action, instead of requiring humans to adapt to the pace and logic of machines. If human-centricity is the goal, cognitive sustainability becomes an important measure: a framework for evaluating whether technology supports or erodes the capacity for human judgement over time.

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COGNITIVE SUSTAINABILITY Calm Technology also reframes sustainability beyond the ecological. Attention is a limited resource.

Cognitive load accumulates over time. Systems that constantly demand reaction wear down long-term mental endurance. By cognitive sustainability I mean technology should be designed with a focus on its longterm effects on attention, not only on the efficiency of a single interaction. A calm system continues to function in a reduced but intelligible way. It supports action even when parts fail. It is built around human limits, instead of pretending they do not exist.

What does cognitive sustainability mean in practice? Drawing on work initiated at Xerox PARC in the 1990s (Weiser & Brown, 1996) and continued by the Calm Technology Institute (Case, 2015), we can distil a set of actionable design commitments:

I.

Technology should minimise cognitive load by demanding only the attention necessary for task completion.

II.

Technology should augment human capability while preserving autonomy.

IV.

Technology should continue to function in a reduced but intelligible way when parts fail.

See page 76 for references

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V.

III.

Technology should employ familiar patterns and conventions consistently.

Technology should embrace minimalism to advance both accessibility and sustainability.

These principles do not describe a distant ideal. They describe something that is already achievable – once the question shifts from how much new technology we can build to how deliberately we decide what not to build.

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Photos by MARK SERGEEV Models SANDRA HARTIKAINEN & NINA DAMLJANOVIC

Student work showcase

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Costumes for Abreu’s dancers IIVO HYLE Wearable Design

Photos by MARK SERGEEV

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Models SANDRA HARTIKAINEN & NINA DAMLJANOVIC

This project was carried out through my own company as a client assignment, and was integrated into my studies as a substitute for one course module. It was a demanding, large-scale project that required significant time, resources, and meticulous project management, but it became one of the most pivotal and rewarding projects of my career.

As lead designer, I was responsible for the overall design. The assignment involved designing two costume sets for eight dancers – a total of 80 garments plus accessories.

The final design of the outfits is my personal creation. I was responsible for the execution together with my team: I led the work, coordinated production, and actively participated in the manufacturing of the garments, ensuring that the final result matched both the design vision and the performance requirements.

The project was carried out in close collaboration with a team of fashion design students: Juuso Wallden, Oona Hirvonen, Sara Hinkkanen, Kaisa Valtanen, and Nea Paavilainen. During the concerts, we were on site, responsible for the dancers’ costumes and quick changes, ensuring the smooth flow of the performances and the continuity of the visual presentation.

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STUDENT WORK

Tardigrade TOMMI AHONEN Industrial Design

I have designed a rescue vehicle specifically tailored for off-road conditions. Most current ambulance fleets are designed for standard urban environments and are often ill-suited for difficult terrain or evacuating patients from such areas.

Recognising this gap, I developed a rescue vehicle intended for challenging environments that is capable of operating in all weather conditions.

The vehicle can also navigate through water when necessary – for instance, during flood situations.

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Don’t Kill Your Darlings ERICA MÄKI-TUURI Fine Arts

My thesis examines the material ecology of paintbrushes from an ethical perspective, focusing in particular on the use of animal-derived bristles. The accompanying artworks highlight the significance of brushes as essential tools in artistic practice and their role in making a unique mark.

Informed by my own reflections, my aim is to encourage art practitioners to

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consider more ethical and environmentally responsible choices in their materials and methods. Through my own works, I seek to draw attention to concerns and perspectives that are rarely discussed in relation to art-making.

The thesis is based on an art series consisting of eight conceptual paintbrushes titled Don’t Kill Your Darlings.

Each brush is named after the source

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from which its bristles were obtained.

The brushes are made from biodegradable materials obtained with the smallest possible carbon footprint.

The title of the series takes a stand on the ethics of collecting brush bristles and on the often careless way artists treat their brushes as tools.

STUDENT WORK

Unsmooth Clarity

JESSE POHJONEN

Photography

Unsmooth Clarity is a photo book that depicts the postcapitalist mental landscape.

It examines alienation as a central condition of our time and translates this experience into visual form. In the work, the world appears absurd and unfinished. The book seeks to expose the flaws of the current system and the artificial, constructed nature of capitalist realism. It also reflects on the possibility of reclaiming the idea of society as something changeable.

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Aarnio MARKUS ARO

Visual Communication Design

My thesis explores how storytelling can be used as a part of a product label to enhance communication. Based on my research, I created an alcohol-free beverage brand called Aarnio, for which three narrative labels reinterpret key stories from The Kalevala.

The labels approach narrativity in an implicit way, allowing consumers to form their own interpretations and build their own stories. Each label additionally connects to a corresponding narrative soundtrack via a QR-code.

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STUDENT WORK

Looking Both Ways IIDA VIIO Photography

“I started listening to them – more and more, every day. When I stepped outside, they filled the frosty sidewalks, reached farther than we ever could, and in the early mornings, seeped in through closed windows.

Whenever I heard their song coming from a certain direction, I pressed the shutter to take a photograph within ten seconds. Then I would wait or continue my way as the song quietly faded away.”

Looking Both Ways is a fourmonth performance in which Viio uses photography and birdsong to explore what it means to observe another being – and to be observed in return. Each image is a document of an encounter in which birds are singing somewhere nearby – hidden or watching from behind rooftops. Most of the images are of urban spaces, where Viio sought to disrupt an automated way of perceiving the city.

F LO W I N G T H R O U G H P H A S E S

Iida Viio (b. 2002) is a Helsinkibased artist in working with lensbased media and text. In their practice, Viio combines documentary methods with performatively constructed narratives. They are particularly interested in acts of noticing and in the connection between humans and the natural world.

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VARO MUA Photo by MAYA PERKO

PIPSA SAARINEN Wearable Design

Model ONA PÖYRY

Pipsa Saarinen is a fashion designer whose work emerges from emotion and lived experience. Her practice centres on individuality, responsibility, and creating garments that empower the wearer to feel confident and authentic in everyday life. She believes fashion should be a positive force that supports both functionality and self-expression.

Through her thesis collection, Saarinen explores natural liquid latex as a central material. Its skin-like texture, elasticity, and protective qualities become a metaphor for emotional “armour” and the ways people build resilience through experience. The work questions why such protection is needed and reflects on emotional vulnerability and self-worth.

At the same time, Saarinen is interested in material innovation and sustainability. She investigates how latex – often associated with niche subcultures – can be recontextualised within contemporary fashion and expanded into more versatile, wearable applications. Through her work, she invites you to protect your peace.

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I’M MI

STUDENT WORK

Photos by MARK SERGEEV

From top to bottom: Object 4, Object 1, Object 2, Object 3

The Written Object OSSI KARVONEN

Interior Architecture & Furniture Design I had long been fascinated by language and the phenomena surrounding it, which is why I applied to study phonetics at university some years ago. The doors of academia did not open for me at the time, and nowadays phonetics as an independent pro-

gramme seems to have disappeared altogether. Things turned out better for me than for the programme itself, however, and after a few twists and turns I eventually found my way to the Institute of Design to study interior architecture.

F LO W I N G T H R O U G H P H A S E S

The idea for my thesis came to me while reading a book, though in hindsight there had probably been scattered hints all along that I might end up choosing a subject like this.

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Product Design Photo by MATTI KOSKINEN

“The way visual art can affect people’s thinking can absolutely be done through design as well.”

– Eino Vuorinen 36

I’M MI

Product Design WHY DID YOU CHOOSE PRODUCT DESIGN? With my background in information technology, I haven’t always known that I would become a designer. As a child, I was always interested in DIY, crafts, and photography, but I initially thought of them purely as hobbies and planned to pursue a regular career in the tech field. I was strong in mathematics and natural sciences, though I didn’t really think much of it at the time.

After a while, I realised that the tech field did not feel as inspiring as I had expected. I wanted my creative projects to be my main focus instead.

Product design makes sense for me because it combines technical thinking with visual and creative work, allowing me to find a balance between these worlds.

F I E L D O F S T U DY

EINO VUORINEN

WHERE DO YOU SEEK INSPIRATION? I approach my projects through the materials I’m using. Usually, I go into the workshop and make small experiments with each one to see how they behave, and that’s where my inspirations come from. Recently I’ve been learning how to work with glass. In my own work I strive towards making my products look natural, almost like the material has taken shape on its own.

WHAT KIND OF IMPACT DOES YOUR WORK HAVE ON THE WORLD? Design has a strong commercial foundation, and within that logic the role of a single designer can feel depressingly limited. However, the way that visual art can affect people’s thinking can absolutely be done through design as well. If an object has a gentle or warm form language, it may encourage people to think in a gentler, more empathetic way. Design can challenge people’s view of what is beautiful or aspirational.

WHAT IN YOUR OPINION NEEDS TO CHANGE? Overconsumption. It is concerning how much people buy commodities driven by fleeting trends. It is a difficult issue to tackle. If consumers were offered higher-quality products that they value and cared for, that would already be a major step towards a more sustainable future.

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AINO KETTUNEN Interior Architecture & Furniture Desgin WHY DID YOU CHOOSE YOUR FIELD OF DESIGN? I have been very creative since childhood. I especially loved dollhouses and decorating them. My father and I used to build parts and furniture for them together. I realised that one of my strengths is spatial perception – I perceive spaces as part of a bigger picture with ease. At one point, I took a test with my vocational counsellor, who suggested I should study interior design. That sparked my interest, and I began to seriously consider it.

WHERE DO YOU SEEK INSPIRATION? I draw inspiration especially from my surroundings, history, different eras, cultural heritage, colours, and the forms found in nature. Music is always present in my creative process, and I find that creativity truly thrives in group work.

Sharing and developing ideas together strengthens the outcome. Other people inspire me and play an important role in the ideation process.

WHAT KIND OF IMPACT DOES YOUR WORK HAVE ON THE WORLD? I strongly believe that spaces have a significant impact on human interaction. Do they invite conversation, or offer a place to calm down?

Can creativity exist within them? Functionally designed spaces also attract people and customers. On a personal level, home is the most important haven for me – a small, personal nest.

The feeling of home is deeply meaningful: a place where you can simply exist as you are.

WHAT DO YOU THINK NEEDS TO CHANGE? The repetition of the same old formulas in Finland. Strict safety and building regulations can sometimes limit creativity and prevent truly unique spaces from emerging. Of course, safety must not be compromised, but there could be more flexibility for visually engaging design.

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Interior Architecture Photo by MATTI KOSKINEN

& Furniture Design “I strongly believe that spaces have a significant impact on human interaction.”

– Aino Kettunen F LO W I N G T H R O U G H P H A S E S

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Photos by JACKY LAW

When moving through our campus, you encounter a wide range of personal styles and forms of self-expression.

In this interactive section of the magazine, you can mix and match the outfits of the students by making two straight cuts along the marked lines on the next three pages. You can approach from either direction, producing different combinations. If you prefer not to alter your copy of the magazine, you can simply browse the lookbook to take in the range of unique styles present on campus.

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Väinö Neuvonen Wearable Design

SECTION NAME

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Åsa Kurosawa Interior Architecture & Furniture Design

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Urho Högman Photography

SECTION NAME

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Wilina Tojkander Interior Architecture & Furniture Design

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Reetta Salo Visual Communication Design

SECTION NAME

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Jasmin Eddabi Visual Communication Design

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Illustration by RASMUS HANGASMAA

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Grasping

interacti

Photo by SENNI NURKKALA

ons

From

human-centred to more-thanhuman design

Text by SUSANNE JACOBSON Photos by URHO HÖGMAN

Human-centred design is familiar to designers, researchers and educators: its principles, developed over decades, are well-established and widely taught. Yet today, we are witnessing a need for a new turn, one that shifts the focus beyond the human and invites designers to consider the needs and agency of all living beings.

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The origins of human-centred design can be traced to engineering-based approaches in ergonomics, computer science, and artificial intelligence (e.g. [3]). Standards such as ISO 13407, ISO 9241-210:2010 and ISO 9241-210:2019 provide guidance on human-centred design processes for interactive systems, listing requirements and recommendations for “human-centred design principles and activities”. [4] The core value is clear: instead of focusing on the designer, the material, or the technology, human-centred design prioritises the needs of the user. [3]

THE PROBLEMATICS OF HUMAN-CENTRED DESIGN

See page 76 for references

In today’s context of multiple eco-crises – especially biodiversity loss – focusing solely on humans is a limited perspective to say the least. Even before these crises, design rarely considered other-than-human beings, despite its broader implications for the environment. Design affects animals and plants in tangible ways. (E.g. [5]) Urban environments illustrate this clearly: small birds collide with glass façades; geese are forced to inhabit urban parks and shores after their arctic habitats are disrupted by humans; pigeons in railway stations struggle with litter entanglement. (Interestingly, the ancestors of these pigeons once helped humans in remarkable ways, carrying critical messages across battlefields and difficult terrain with intelligence and outstanding navigation skills.) These examples remind us that design has consequences beyond human experience.

Instead of focusing solely or mainly on human needs, design should widen its scope to include other beings affected by it. We must find ways to design that neither ignore nor harm other beings, but instead produce outcomes that also benefit them. As Edwards et al. [2, p. 3] argue in their work on more-than-human cities, design strategies must consider the needs of all nature, including species that humans might not find “useful” or “beautiful”. Importantly, this requires letting go of human control and acknowledging that other beings inhabit the same spaces. We need to re-conceptualise who and what a city is for.

THE POTENTIAL OF DESIGN While design has historically prioritised humans, environmental issues are being addressed to an increasing degree.

A sustainable turn has emerged in design over the past decades. Ceschin and Gaziulusoy [1] have traced this evolution, showing how sustainability was first integrated into improv-

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ing existing products, then extended to developing new ones, and later also to addressing the spatio-social conditions of communities, eventually even proposing radical changes supporting societal transitions to new socio-technical systems.

But why, and how, should design start taking responsibility for more-than-human beings? Veselova [8, pp. 53-58], who has conducted doctoral research on designing with nature, argues that design can contribute practical solutions aligned with multispecies sustainability and human-nature systems. She encourages design to go even deeper: it can challenge and shift worldviews that underpin current sustainability crises, exposing and destabilising unsustainable structures and systems. In his research paper on multispecies co-habitation and the future of design, Roudavski [7, p. 736] highlights how design can envision inspiring and plausible futures for multispecies cohabitation and concretise various alternatives. Moreover, Metcalfe [5, p. 101] points out in his doctoral dissertation on multispecies design that design has already shifted from modifying the physical environment to addressing socio-cultural contexts. The inclusion of ecological issues, such as biodiversity loss, is therefore a logical continuation. Yang et al. [9, p. 11-12], who foster the expansion of participatory design, further propose a shift in the role of designers from problem-solvers to enablers and empowerers, requiring a new skillset. In more-than-human design, this would include methods for working with multiple – human and other-than-human – stakeholders.

CONSIDER ATIONS FOR MORE-THAN-HUMAN DESIGN Design is not some kind of an external, mysterious force – it is the work of designers, shaped by what, how, and with whom we design. It is therefore inherently our responsibility to consider more-than-human beings. This demands a paradigm shift: a leap from anthropocentrism to planet-centricity, from utilitarianism to recognising intrinsic value in all life, and from human dominance to recognition of the many ways we are dependent on nature. This paradigm shift is not exclusive to design; it applies to everything. It requires multi-disciplinary expertise and collaboration with various stakeholders both human and other-than-human.

When practicing design, a distinction needs to be made between designing for and designing with. Roudavski [7, p. 738] states that “more-than-human design can achieve better outcomes by designing ‘with’ nonhuman users and not only ‘for’ them. This need to ‘design with’ highlights the existence and importance of overlapping human/nonhuman worlds: spaces, structures, behaviours, memories, stories.”

We also share time with other species [6, p. 4], though some are nocturnal and migratory, requiring further consideration of their particular needs.

DESIGN IS NOT SOME KIND OF AN EXTERNAL, MYSTERIOUS FORCE – IT IS THE WORK OF DESIGNERS, SHAPED BY WHAT, HOW, AND WITH WHOM WE DESIGN.

See page 76 for references

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Designing with more-than-human beings might sound like an endearing proposition, but it is not straightforward.

It requires meticulous consideration of various issues – and ethical questions abound: who can represent beings that cannot speak for themselves? While inclusive design for differently abled people remains challenging, how can we now extend equality to all species? How can we manage the “embedded humanness” in our thinking, planning, actions, and designs so that we do not end up merely mimicking nature for human benefit?

Even as we tackle these fundamental questions, we can take immediate steps to at least ensure that our designs cause no suffering. We can begin by stopping, noticing, and responding to beings around us – whether small birds, pigeons, geese, or other beings sharing our living environment.

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Digital Experience Photo by SENNI NURKKALA

Design “The work of a designer is continuous development, learning and observing others.”

–Diana Tsalabjan 54

I’M MI

Digital Experience Design HOW HAS THE INSTITUTE OF DESIGN AND FINE ARTS CHANGED YOU THROUGHOUT YOUR STUDIES? During my studies, I have gained a lot of confidence and courage. My experience at the Institute of Design and Fine Arts has been positive and has reinforced a direction in life that felt uncertain before I started my studies here. The teachers listen and encourage you to move forward. Today, as a designer, I can express my opinions confidently and with clear reasoning.

F I E L D O F S T U DY

DIANA TSALABJAN

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE DIGITAL DESIGN? It all began when I had to learn how to make a website for myself. More broadly, the idea of working as a designer has always felt like a calling, and I wanted to draw from my creative background in jewellery making. In today’s world, it is vital to keep up with digitalisation and stay at the forefront of change.

My latest realisation as a designer has been the potential of combining craftsmanship and digital design. Visualising accessories and fashion speaks to me, and in the future, I hope to bring together people’s passion for handicrafts and digital design methods.

WHERE DO YOU SEEK INSPIRATION? My inspiration comes from nature and deep emotions. The materials and stones I use in jewellery making often feel as though they call to me, in a sense. User experience design is less tangible than goldsmithing, and I experience the two fields as very different. Still, my background as a goldsmith is one of my strengths. I also draw inspiration from yoga, music, and my pet birds.

HOW CAN WE ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER TO NAVIGATE UNCERTAINTY? For a long time, I saw uncertainty as my greatest weakness, but I have learned to work through it with the help of collaboration and discussion. It is important to learn to live with uncertainty – to recognise it, yet still move forward. Among the teachers, Jenni Hautamäki has been a great inspiration through the experiences she has shared. My sense of hope has grown through exchanging ideas and working with others.

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MY LAI Sustainable Design Business HOW HAS THE INSTITUTE OF DESIGN AND FINE ARTS CHANGED YOU THROUGHOUT YOUR STUDIES? It has changed me a lot – not so much as a “designer” in the fixed sense, but as someone who is now more independent. Most of the courses require autonomous work, so you need to be very self-directed. In the first year, we focused more on theory and art history. In the second year, there was more group work, but still with a strong emphasis on autonomy. At the Institute of Design and Fine Arts, I became better at self-management and organising my work.

I also really liked the design faculty; everyone is friendly and approachable. During Orientation Days especially, I made many friends from different fields.

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE SUSTAINABLE DESIGN? At first, the name of the field simply sounded new and interesting to me. When I told my family in Vietnam, they didn’t really understand what it was, since nothing like it exists in my country. I initially thought it was mostly about eco-friendly design, but it turned out to be much broader.

You also need to consider business and people, and create in your own way. I like that the school includes the business side, because sometimes design can become too abstract and unrealistic.

This helps bring it back to a real-world context.

WHERE DO YOU SEEK INSPIRATION? I usually start with research. Then I discuss with my team: “What do we want to do?” Everything begins with a brief and a clear understanding of the problem. After that, I look for opportunities for improvement, conduct case studies, and create mood boards.

WHAT IN YOUR OPINION NEEDS TO CHANGE? Sustainable design needs to be recognised as a serious field of study, not just as something niche or difficult to define. People often assume it is only about biomaterials or eco-friendly marketing, but it extends far beyond that. I would like it to be more widely recognised and taken seriously.

My teachers are very passionate about sustainability, and it would be valuable to make that expertise more visible and formally acknowledged.

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Sustainable “Inspiration often comes from seeing how others have approached similar challenges. It’s not about copying, but about learning what works and building on that.”

–My Lai

Design Business Photo by MATTI KOSKINEN

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POSTER DESIGN SUMMER SCHOOL 2025

Freedom of expression in exceptional times

Photo by ANTTI KOKKOLA

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Text by MARION ROBINSON

Grafia Luonnos-ikkuna exhibition

G R A S P I N G I N T E R AC T I O N S

Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right – one we cannot afford to treat as permanent.

In recent years, the space for public debate has tightened: journalists face growing constraints, the World Press Freedom Index has declined even in the Nordic countries, and universities are increasingly called upon to defend the independence of research and teaching.

Yet expression also lives in the everday: in how we speak, sing, dress, make images, and gather (peacefully) to be seen and heard. In a design school, these questions arrive quietly and then all at once – in critique sessions, in group work, and in the small courage it takes to offer an unfamiliar idea. Designing responsibly is not only about what we say, but how we say it together; listening closely, disagreeing with care, and building shared meaning when topics are sensitive.

With this in mind, Poster Design Summer School 2025 brought together students from Nordic and Baltic design universities in the Cirrus network for an intensive week in Lahti. Different languages, histories, and media landscapes met at the same tables. Through shared briefs, daily feedback rounds, and hands-on making, participants worked side by side – trading questions, sharpening arguments, and exploring how a poster can hold many perspectives at once.

The resulting works are both a statement and an invitation. They bring complex realities into view, and ask which voices are amplified, muted, or excluded in our societies. Just as importantly, the summer school reflects a way of working that the LAB Institute of Design and Fine Arts actively supports: international collaboration that brings together perspectives from partner universities through shared ideas, critique, and cultural context.

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Visual communication shapes how communities perceive the world, and poster design has long spoken directly in public space. In exceptional times, that directness matters – but so does interaction: how messages are formed through exchange, how meanings shift across borders, and how we learn one another’s contexts in the process. These posters remind us that design is never neutral; it can question power, protect dignity, and open space for dialogue when it is needed most.

Poster Design Summer School 2026 takes place in Lithuania, at the Vilnius Academy of the Arts NIDA residence with theme “NOPEHOPE?” Poster by GRITTEL KASTAN

Poster by ILMARI POHJOLAINEN

Organized by

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Funded by

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Poster by ANASTASIIA ERMAKOVA

2025 Workshop mentors Marion Robinson Senior lecturer at LAB Institute of Design and Fine Arts, President of the Lahti International Poster Triennial

Marius Žalneravičius Visual Communication designer and associate professor at Vilnius Academy of the Arts

G R A S P I N G I N T E R AC T I O N S

Pekka Piippo Poster designer and organising committee member of the Lahti International Poster Triennial

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Visual Communication Photo by SENNI NURKKALA

Design “I hope to see more appreciation for craftsmanship and for the skills of people who study and work in this field.”

– Annu Moilanen 62

I’M MI

Visual Communication Design

F I E L D O F S T U DY

ANNU MOILANEN

HOW HAS THE INSTITUTE OF DESIGN AND FINE ARTS CHANGED YOU THROUGHOUT YOUR STUDIES? It has changed me a lot. I pay much more attention to small details now. When I walk down the street, I notice everything around me. I listen more closely to sound as well – sometimes I take my headphones off just to hear conversations on the bus. I look at advertisements much more carefully. A lot of it also happens subconsciously – things just stay with me.

WHERE DO YOU SEEK INSPIRATION? Ideas start forming little by little. Sometimes they come from conversations with people, or from something completely unexpected.

I might go for a walk and suddenly – “poof!”

– the idea appears. Or it happens in the middle of the night or early morning. I usually hold onto the very first idea that comes, but then let it evolve naturally afterwards. Sometimes I lose motivation halfway through a project. For example, I was designing a poster for a course and thought, “I can’t do this anymore, I’m so tired of this poster.” Then I switched to doing something else, and when I returned to it later, my head was clear again.

WHAT KIND OF IMPACT DOES YOUR WORK HAVE ON THE WORLD? I think the impact of our field is huge. Visual communication design is connected to politics and communication more broadly. I grew up consuming a lot of media – magazines, for example – and I enjoyed them deeply. For me, the most important thing is the feeling that if my work can make someone happy in this messy world, then that is enough.

WHAT DO YOU THINK NEEDS TO CHANGE IN THE FIELD? I want print to come fully back to life. I don’t want magazines to disappear – I want more of them.

Less living online and more being physically present in the real world. I actually believe this shift is coming. As more content is generated with AI, people will start thinking: “Everything looks the same – what if a real human made this instead?”.

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Process

becomi

of

Photo by TOM KOSTET

ng

The inner work of

changemaking Text by NOORA NYLANDER

Meaningful change begins within. The inner work of changemaking explores how regenerative practice invites designers to slow down, cultivate presence, and form reciprocal relationships with living materials. By embracing love, courage, and attentiveness, we learn to collaborate with the more-than-human world – and to transform ourselves as part of the systems we hope to change.

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II.

THE AGENTS OF CHANGE MUST CHANGE THEMSELVES

LIVING MATERIALS CHALLENGE PERCEPTION

Change rarely begins where we imagine it – within systems, institutions, or the behaviour of others. Often, it must first take place within ourselves. If we hope to inspire change in others, we ourselves must be willing to change, too.

In regenerative practice, meaningful change grows from three roots: love, courage, and presence. These are not abstract ideals, but ways of being in the world. They shape how we listen, respond to uncertainty, and relate to other living beings. For the agent of change, the question is an intimate one: how do love, courage, and presence manifest in your work, and are you willing to practice them?

Designers are accustomed to working with materials they can control. But what if we started to see materials as living, breathing partners? Fungal mycelium, for example, cannot be forced. Its colour, structure, and form emerge from its own rhythms.

Projects such as UN_SKIN, winner of the 2025 New European Bauhaus Award from Politecnico di Milano’s Polifactory, reveal the creative potential of living materials. They teach patience, attentiveness, and humility. Working with life means entering into dialogue, slowing down, and responding rather than imposing our will.

III.

IV.

A NEW RELATIONSHIP WITH LIVING BEINGS

THE LIVING FLOWER FR AMEWORK

Living materials carry stories. Wood feels alive because it remembers its growth journey. Mycelium also grows with its own history and purpose, choosing its own path. It reacts to disturbances and signals much like human nerves.

Working with living materials calls for a new approach to design: one guided by observation, presence, and reciprocity.

Could we learn to communicate with materials, through touch, sound, smell, or attention? Could we cultivate relationships that honour the agency of materials rather than trying to control them? This practice invites us to live and breathe alongside materials, moving with change and tuning ourselves to the frequency of stories told by other-than-human beings.

Regenerative practice often uses metaphors to help us perceive systems as alive. The living flower framework offers one such perspective: each petal represents a dimension of practice, rooted in place, nurturing growth, embracing life, and fostering community.

Like a flower, regenerative practice draws nourishment from its environment and gives back in return. It is not a checklist, but a way of thinking – an invitation to slow down, listen, and humbly participate in the flow of life.

Change within ourselves, in our materials, and in our world does not begin with control, but with presence.

Regenerative design means becoming part of the living system we hope to transform.

See page 77 for references

I.

WORKING WITH LIVING MATERIALS CALLS FOR A NEW APPROACH TO DESIGN: ONE GUIDED BY OBSERVATION, PRESENCE, AND RECIPROCITY.

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Wearable Design Photo by SENNI NURKKALA

“In the same way as rappers write lyrics, I express my own inner world through clothing.”

– Nina Damljanovic 68

I’M MI

Wearable Design HOW HAS THE INSTITUTE OF DESIGN AND FINE ARTS CHANGED YOU THROUGHOUT YOUR STUDIES? That’s a tough question. Now in my second year, I feel that I have become much more independent in my work. Some of the new teachers have also strengthened my own perspective as a designer.

The workspaces have been especially helpful for developing my projects, and it is a big advantage that we are allowed to use the classrooms outside teaching time as well.

F I E L D O F S T U DY

NINA DAMLJANOVIC

WHERE DO YOU SEEK INSPIRATION? I want to tell stories through design – stories that fascinate me. In the same way as rappers write lyrics, I express my own inner world through clothing. It is highly rewarding.

Depending on the situation, I often intuitively discover what I wish to express. In the final stages, teachers and other students help me refine my ideas further.

HOW CAN WE ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER TO NAVIGATE UNCERTAINTY? At our school, we stick together. We do not see each other as competitors or opponents.

Everyone has space to exist and be visible. We support and help each other and lift one another up. These same people will most likely cross paths again in working life, so a sense of community is important.

WHAT DO YOU THINK NEEDS TO CHANGE? My advice is this: don’t let other people’s negative opinions affect you too much. If you like something, keep doing it. Failures are important – you learn the most from them and grow through them. At school, you are still learning – you don’t have to be perfect right away. Striving for perfection often takes more than it gives.

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Someone needs to take action In the words of its founder, Eemil Susi, QueerBay is an organisation for LGBTQIA+ students at LAB University of Applied Sciences and LUT University in Lahti. Its goal is to increase visibility for the queer community in Lahti.

In the summer of 2025, Susi spoke with a queer student organisation in Oulu and realised that nothing comparable existed in Lahti – although it should. University towns, which Lahti aspires to be, usually have at least one active organisation of this kind.

“IT’S USELESS TO JUST WAIT AROUND FOR SOMETHING TO CHANGE. IF YOU WANT IT TO HAPPEN, YOU HAVE TO DO IT YOURSELF” – Eemil Susi

Text by RASMUS HANGASMAA Photo by SENNI NURKKALA

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He started the project alone, despite having no prior experience of organisational work, confident that he would soon connect with like-minded people. And he was right. As soon as the idea was raised, others wanted to join. Today, QueerBay’s board has five members.

“This whole thing was created from nothing, so I’m already quite impressed with five,” Susi says with a laugh.

An article about QueerBay was published in Etelä-Suomen Sanomat in autumn 2025. “In a city this size, someone might recognise me from the article and make assumptions about me. That’s all part of it,” Susi says. “I am putting myself in a vulnerable position in that sense, but it shouldn’t be a problem for anyone to stand behind their values.”

His role on the board has prompted him to reflect on his presence on social media, though he feels he has drawn clear boundary between his private life and representing QueerBay.

I’M MI

INTERVIEW

Founding an LGBTQ+ organisation is inherently political, and Susi acknowledges this openly.

QueerBay does not position itself as a political organisation, yet its very existence automatically carries political weight.

At the very beginning, flyers placed around campus disappeared overnight from noticeboards where other posters were left untouched. “I just printed more. It was weird though,” Susi recalls.

When planning events, the board has also had to consider the possibility of someone showing up with harmful intentions. While such situations cannot be predicted, they must be acknowledged.

Even when the aim is simply to create safe spaces and increase visibility, the need for caution is always present. Most other student organisations never need to consider these risks in the same way – which is exactly why QueerBay and similar groups are needed.

QueerBay’s aim is to create space and recognition for LGBTQ+ students within the university community and city of Lahti. One concrete example would be seeing the Pride flag flown at Lahti City Hall . The city’s current policy is not to fly the rainbow flag in the name of “neutrality”.

Through its presence and activism, QueerBay hopes to reopen this conversation. Increasing visibility through local media is another immediate goal.

An active queer organisation signals to prospective students that their community is recognised at LAB and LUT, and more widely in Lahti.

Visibility contributes to a sense of safety and belonging, even before students arrive.

Alongside organising social events and gatherings, QueerBay responds to a broader political climate which has become more conservative in recent years. As Susi puts it: “QueerBay has ideological significance. If someone sees it as radical, that’s an even bigger reason for us to keep going.

Pride has always been a protest.”

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Photo by JACKY LAW

Our graduates 72

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INTERVIEW

Aleksi Kuokka INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER

“A designer’s role is not to impose their personal preferences onto every project, but to find the right solution for each specific company and brand.”

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE DESIGN, AND HOW HAVE YOUR STUDIES SHAPED YOUR CAREER? I discovered industrial design by accident in a career guidebook distributed to high school students. At the same time, I also applied to business school, so the two alternative career paths I considered were completely different. I became interested in industrial design because I was good at technical subjects, mathematics, and drawing. Intuitively, it felt as though this field combined those two worlds.

In the end, it may simply have been fate. The field turned out to be exactly the right choice for me, and even today I would not choose differently.

Throughout my career, I have gravitated toward projects where strategic thinking, business understanding, and physical design intersect. I am particularly interested in how abstract brand identities can be transformed into tangible, experiential form.

WHICH LIFE EXPERIENCE HAS SHAPED YOU THE MOST? One of the most significant moments in my studies came when a classmate pointed out that my work repeatedly uses the same formal language – a certain set of shapes and curves.

It was the first time I became consciously aware of my own design style. That realisation had a profound impact on my thinking and eventually led to my thesis on the language of form, as well as my later specialisation in design “DNA” work.

PROCESS OF BECOMING

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Photo by JACKY LAW

WHERE DO YOU SEEK INSPIR ATION? My creative process usually begins with paper and pencil. Sketching remains the most natural way for me to think. The first ideas are often messy scribbles and fragmented notes rather than polished drawings.

For a long time, my process was extremely technical and controlled. I would carefully draft patterns, refine every measurement, and approach each garment almost as if it were heading straight into industrial production. That precision taught me a great deal, but it could also become limiting.

Recently, I have been trying to embrace a more intuitive and immediate way of creating. Instead of always planning everything in advance, I now work directly with fabrics, experimenting through touch, movement, and construction itself. That shift has changed my relationship with design significantly.

Pali Albin FASHION DESIGNER

“Instead of constantly asking how to produce more, faster, and cheaper, we should ask how to create less – but with more meaning, personality, and care.”

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WHICH LIFE EXPERIENCE HAS STAYED WITH YOU MOST DEEPLY? Participating in the Finnish version of Project Runway was undoubtedly a major turning point. It exposed me to an entirely new level of visibility and opportunity, while also revealing how very human everything really is behind the scenes.

Whether it is a major fashion show, a campaign or a television production, there are always simply people behind it all – individuals building things together. That realisation has stayed with me.

The more I have worked in creative industries, the more I have understood that nothing is as unreachable as it might initially seem. Every project, production, and career path is ultimately shaped by people making decisions, taking risks, and collaborating. That understanding has fundamentally changed the way I see both creativity and possibility.

I’M MI

INTERVIEW

WHAT DO YOU THINK NEEDS TO CHANGE IN THE CREATIVE FIELD? Community and collaboration are essential in the creative field. It is vital to have people around you whom you can trust, and with whom you can build things without constant comparison.

The industry is competitive, and social media makes comparison almost unavoidable. Still, it is important not to compare yourself too much with others. Everyone has their own rhythm, perspective, and way of working.

In my own work, I value honesty and kindness. Creative work can be sensitive and personal, which is why the atmosphere around it matters. It is important to support one another.

Peppi-Lotta Heinonen

GRAPHIC DESIGNER

“Often things only fall into place through doing, not just through planning.”

Photo by OKKO TAMMINEN

HOW DID THE INSTITUTE OF DESIGN AND FINE ARTS CHANGE YOU? Sometimes I find myself realising that it has already been eight years since my time at the Institute of Design and Fine Arts. Those years had a huge impact on me, especially on how I understand creative work and my own place within the field.

Above all, I learned more clearly what I want to do. The Institute of Design and Fine Arts shaped me primarily through people.

During my studies, I was surrounded by different makers, thinkers, and perspectives, which strongly influenced how my own work began to take shape.

Larger projects and managing broader visual concepts have always felt natural to me. I am interested in how entire worlds are built: moods, images, typography, materials, and stories that together form something coherent. I also recognise a certain perfectionism in myself, but in the right measure it can be an asset – it pushes me to refine details and reflect on why something looks or feels exactly right.

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1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

See page 76 for references

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12

1. Substance used to make something 2. Outline or form of an object 3. Steps taken to achieve something 4. Arrangement of parts within a whole 5. Movement that expresses feeling

6. Skilled making by hand 7. Early model of a product 8. Regular sequence of elements 9. Sign that represents something else 10. Empty area between objects

I’M MI

11. A tool used to carry out a task 12. Ability to imagine what does not exist yet

References BEYOND ABSTRACTION: VISUAL THINKING AS REFORM PRACTICE Petri Suni, Katariina Mäenpää, p. 9-11 Gedenryd, H. (1998). How designers work: Making sense of authentic cognitive activities (Doctoral dissertation, Lund University).

Meadows, D. (1999). Leverage points: Places to intervene in a system. Sustainability Institute.

Star, S. L., & Griesemer, J. R. (1989). Institutional ecology, “translations” and boundary objects: Amateurs and professionals in Berkeley’s Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, 1907–39. Social Studies of Science, 19(3), 387–420.

Turner, J. R., Allen, J., Hawamdeh, S., & Mastanamma, G. (2023). The multifaceted sensemaking theory: A systematic literature review and content analysis on sensemaking. Systems, 11(3), 145.

LESS IS MORE, AGAIN Harri Heikkilä, p. 23-25 Case, A. (2015). Calm Technology: Principles and Patterns for Non-Intrusive Design. O’Reilly Media.

Case, A. (2026, January 26). Calm Design for Critical Situations. LinkedIn. Weiser, M., & Brown, J. S. (1996). ‘The Coming Age of Calm Technology’. In P. J. Denning & R. M. Metcalfe (Eds.), Beyond Calculation: The Next Fifty Years of Computing (pp. 75–85). Copernicus.

FROM HUMAN-CENTRED TO

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MORE-THAN-HUMAN DESIGN Susanne Jacobson, p. 49-51 [1] Ceschin, F. & Gaziulusoy, I. 2016. ‘Evolution of Design for Sustainability: From Product Design to Design for System Innovations and Transitions’.

Design Studies, 47(C November 2016), 118-163.

Accessed January on 26, 2026. Available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.destud.2016.09.002 [2] Edwards, F., Corsepius Melen, I.M., Syse, A.C., & Pettersen, I.N. 2022. ‘Birds, Bees and Bats: Exploring Possibilities for Cohabitation in the MoreThan-Human City’, in Lockton, D., Lenzi, S., Hekkert, P., Oak, A., Sádaba, J., Lloyd, P. (eds.) DRS2022: Bilbao, 25 June - 3 July, Bilbao, Spain. Accessed January 26, 2026. Available at https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2022.770 [3] Giacomin, J. 2014. ‘What Is Human Centred Design?’ The Design Journal, 17(4), 606–623.

Accessed January 26, 2026.

Available at https://doi.org/10.2752/1756306 14X14056185480186 [4] International Organization for Standardization 2019. ISO 9241-210:2019: Ergonomics of human-system interaction: Part 210: Human-centred design for interactive systems. Accessed January 26, 2026.

Available at https://www.iso.org/standard/77520.html [5] Metcalfe, D.J. 2015. Multispecies Design.

Doctoral dissertation. University of the Arts London. Accessed January 26, 2026. Available at ht tp s://u a l r e s e a r c h o n l i n e . a r t s . a c .u k / i d/ eprint/13351/1/D_Metcalfe%20Multispecies%20 Design%20PhD%20Thesis%20-%20FINAL.pdf

[6] Pschetz, L., Gebker, M., Wieland, S., & Bastian, M. 2024. ‘Designing Temporal Ecologies: Reframing Multispecies Temporalities Through Design,’ in Gray, C., Ciliotta Chehade, E., Hekkert, P., Forlano, L., Ciuccarelli, P., Lloyd, P. (eds.) DRS2024: Boston, 23–28 June, Boston, USA. Accessed January 26, 2026. Available at https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.1068 [7] Roudavski, S. 2020. ‘Multispecies Cohabitation and Future Design’, in Boess, S., Cheung, M. and Cain, R. (eds.), Synergy - DRS International Conference 2020, 11-14 August, Held online.

Accessed January 26, 2026. Available at https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2020.402 [8] Veselova, E. 2023. Designing with Nature for Sustainability: Towards a Critical Approach for Including Natural Nonhuman Stakeholders in Collaborative and Participatory Design when Designing for Sustainability, Aalto University publication series, Doctoral theses 92/2023. Accessed January 26, 2026. Available at https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/server/api/core/bitstreams/8b4d9a0f-8a58-47f2-bed2-7c9f85fa8faa/ content [9] Yang, Z., Wai Michael Siu, K., & Zhao, X. 2024.

‘Expanding Participatory Design: Reflections on Current Epistemological Framework in Dark Time’, in Gray, C., Ciliotta Chehade, E., Hekkert, P., Forlano, L., Ciuccarelli, P., Lloyd, P. (eds.), DRS2024: Boston, 23–28 June, Boston, USA. Accessed January 26, 2026. Available at https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.434

THE INNER WORK OF CHANGEMAKING Noora Nylander, p. 65-66 Place-Based Regeneration: Capabilities for Transformative Change. Really Regenerative CIC, supported by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2025 Regenerative Research Camp at Hyytiälä, Finland, learning materials, September 2025 Lopes Cardozo, van der Berg & Wessels, The Art of Regenerative Educatorship: A Developmental Guide, 2025.

Sheldrake, M. Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds and Shape Our Futures, Random House, 2020

CROSSWORD SOLUTION Created by Erika Häyrinen , Chiara Redaelli Illustrations by Ronja Markusson , Rasmus Hangasmaa. p. 74 1. Material 2. Shape 3. Process 4. Structure 5. Gesture 6. Craft 7. Prototype 8. Pattern 9. Symbol 10. Space 11. Instrument 12. Vision

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Moikka Adeu Goodbye Adeus Hejdå Ciao ciao

This year we set out to explore who the true reformers are, and what qualities shape their actions. We came to understand that change begins within: through questioning and reflection, we allow our creativity to guide us towards transformation. Our innate ability to create with empathy forms the basis for a hopeful and sustainable future. To reform is to recognise that the world we are part of is interconnected, and that it calls us to move forward together.

Koskettaessasi lehteämme, toivomme koskettavamme sinua. Missä ääriviivamme kohtaavat paljastuu yhteytemme.

Thank you for accompaning us on this journey!

From the Makers of I’M MI issue 2

Photo by TOM KOSTET

DESIGNERS Santra Ahde Arianna Doardo Rasmus Hangasmaa Erika Häyrinen Jenny Idman Laura Kemppainen Haus Kulju Ronja Markusson Margit Muukkonen Mariana Nunes Leal Peppi Pöyhönen Chiara Redaelli Enric Rubió Capdevila Paula Ruiz Triviño Sini Taimisto Evita Valtonen EDITORIAL STAFF Sara Bengts Riku Koskelo Marion Robinson Silja Kudel Selina Vienola PHOTOGRAPHERS Urho Högman Matti Koskinen Tom Kostet Jacky Law Senni Nurkkala

Okko Tamminen MODELS Arianna Doardo (cover) Inka Günther (p. 20-21) Laura Kemppainen (p. 48, 51) Haus Kulju (p. 6-7) Franco Melamed (p. 46-47) Mariana Nunes Leal (cover)

Degrees in Culture and Arts Bachelor’s Digital Experience Design

(FI)

Fine Arts

(FI)

Interior Architecture and Furniture Design

(FI)

Photography

(FI)

Product Design

(FI)

Sustainable Design Business

(EN)

Visual Communication Design

(FI)

Wearable Design

(FI)

Master’s Circular Economy Solutions

(EN)

Design for the Planet

(EN)

Digital Experience Design and Management

(FI)

Fine Arts

(FI)