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suomeksi

YOUNG DESIGNER OF THE YEAR 2010:

Imu and Aivan!

The Young Designer of the Year Prize of 2010 goes to the Aivan! and Imu groups, comprising seven young designers committed to joint effort. Aivan! is a design studio organized as a company, with Jarkko Jämsén (born 1975), Antti Mäkelä (born 1980), Mikael Silvanto (born 1980) and Saku Sysiö (born 1980) as its members. Imu is a community of designers founded by Elina Aalto (born 1976), Krista Kosonen (born 1975) and Saara Renvall (born 1973). Both groups will share the prize sum of € 5,000, donated by Deko magazine, and will take part in a joint exhibition at Design Forum Finland from 2 June until 15 August 2010. The Young Designer of the Year Prize award was established by Design Forum Finland in 2000 in honour of the 125th anniversary of the Finnish Society of Crafts and Design and it is now awarded for the ninth time.

The work of Aivan! is marked by interest and curiosity. Its bold and often large projects require collaboration and the exchange of information with experts in various fields, researchers, engineers and behavioural scientists. Aivan! offers its clients an open-minded total approach to design. Prime results are obtained by combining the best skills of individual designers in joint projects.

Imu calls itself Finland's national design team. Its original concept is based on the ideas of collaboration and community, with doors open to students and new designers. They are given an opportunity to work and enter the market with advice and support from more experienced designers. Imu has boldly and successfully taken under its wing designers who would previously been regarded as competitors. Jointly realized projects, including exhibitions, have introduced young designers on the market.

The range and methods of design have expanded in recent years. It has become communal, the work of groups composed in different ways. Skills in new social production and media are also involved. The courage of participation, renewal and presenting one's views comes naturally to the new young actors in design. The global requirement to "do good" is an aspect of a new kind of design entrepreneurship, in which sustainability and responsible production are essential considerations. The jury also noted that in the prize-winning groups the change in the modes of operation of design has taken place as a natural part of the work.

The Young Design of the Year 2010 prize jury consisted of CEO Mikko Kalhama / Design Forum Finland, Editor-in-Chief Heidi Laaksonen / Deko Magazine, Professor Eero Miettinen, Curator Jukka Savolainen / Design Museum and Vice President, Design Director Anne Stenros.

Previous recipients of the prize are designers Harri Koskinen and Ilkka Suppanen (2000), interior architect Karola Sahi and architect Eeva Lithovius (2001), designer and cabinetmaker Tuuli Autio and designer and silversmith Pyry Tamminen (2002), graphic designers Antti Hinkula and Teemu Suviala (2005), industrial designer Jukka Korpihete and furniture designer Mikko Paakkanen (2006), shoe designer Julia Lundsten and designer Janne Kyttänen (2007), designers Nathalie Lahdenmäki and Naoto Niidome (2008) and designers Terhi Tuominen and Mikko Laakkonen (2009).

Press release and images

Imu
Aivan!

Imu. Photo: Pekka Holmström.Aivan! Photo: Pekka Holmström.Imu, Designersblock. Milan, 2003.Marino APB, Aivan! & Marino, 2009.