A breath of fresh air
Now that I have somewhat settled down in London I find it very interesting to look at the Finnish design scene with outsider’s eyes and see how it evolves in comparison to UK. I have a couple posts in mind relating to that subject matter, but I start with a post about a new multidisciplinary creative agency based in Helsinki. Before we get into speaking about the studio I will write a bit why I feel that there is something special to see people setting up their own businessies in my old hometown.
Looking back at the Finnish graphic design heritage the professional field has always been dominated by big advertising agencies. Disagree if you like, but traditionally designers’ skills have been valuated rather with their ability to illustrate an advert rather than for example having a keen eye for typography. I see this legacy still casting its shadow over Finnish graphic design today. Luckily the field seems to be changing more and more towards a practise that I regard as being graphic design. One clear sign is that in recent years there has been a growing number of new young creative agencies - especially in Helsinki - that are ready to take a piece of the advertising agencies creamy cake. This emerging studio culture is really a long-awaited breath of fresh air to the scene and I truly hope it will blow out some of the old dust.
Now that I got that off my heart I can present to you (as promised) one of the recent and by far one of the most interesting new agency in Helsinki; Tsto. The name of the agency comes from the Finnish word “toimisto”, which believe it or not stands for an “agency”, simple but witty isn’t it? Tsto’s creativity doesn’t stop in the funny and unpronouncable name. In fact their portfolio is already full of very nice projects from branding and publishing to more artistic projects. One of the studio’s strongest sides seems to be their line-up of six people with relatively different styles. This diversity of styles can be seen in variety of their projects. It will most certainly be interesting to see where new agencies like Tsto and the Finnish graphic design scene are going to develop from now on.
