Aalto student wins the Finnish Design Academy logo competition

In a logo competition funded by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture as part of the Finnish Design Academy initiative, the jury selected a submission by an Aalto University student as the winning entry. The jury saw potential for a recognizable identity and applicability to various environments, with a symbolism considered to be strong and determinate. The orientation of the three blocks raises lots of questions. Allusions of the symbol are not obvious — new meanings can be found continuously.

The winning designer, Veera Kesänen, is a first-year student in Visual Communication Design. She tells she wanted to express in the logo the simplicity and beauty of Finnish design. Three blocks are formed from the side lines of the letters F, D and A in the Finnish Design Academy.

Competition submissions were evaluated by a jury which consisted of three graphic design teachers: Tuomas Aatola, Harri Heikkilä and Markus Joutsela. The selection was two phased. In the first phase the jury gave the works grades from 1 to 5 and the winner was chosen by the jury among the five best scored works.

The jury saw incompleteness as an issue in all the submissions. In the end, they chose the work that has most potential, and still expected it to develop even further. In the winning work, the jury indicated that the text still needed extra work. Instead of geometric and grotesque font they suggested to choose a more humanistic and preferably Finnish font. As a second improvement the jury proposed the animation of the logo, which would make the impression less harsh. Initial agreement of the follow-up work has been done with the winner.

The Finnish Design Academy is a nationwide two-year project (2018-2020) to develop and promote Finnish design education. The project is funded by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture. The project is carried out in collaboration between expert organization for designers Ornamo and all universities of applied sciences and universities providing higher design education in Finland. Together these associates are committed to increase the quality of design education so that it will better respond to the needs of future and working life. The head of the project is Lahti Institute of Design. Department of Design at Aalto University will be coordinating the creating of a forum for collaboration and standards of activity.