Accidental hipster interior (small text on the wall: "no bicycle storage").

After spending a relaxing Christmas in Turku I flew to Warsaw on boxing day to visit my relatives and enjoy some of the polish Christmas traditions. Going on the trip together with my wife and son we went on a typical family tour around Warsaw's numerous Christmas Cribs. We started from the most known, even in my childhood in the early 80s', kept by the Capuchin Monastery. The mobile (in a traditional way) Cristmas Crib of the Cappuchin's has changed only a little over the centuries but still has managed to keep it's big audience.

Pope John Paul II (Jan Pawel II in Polish), a recent addition to the Christmas Crib. 

Werklig staff wishes you all

Hyvää joulua!
God jul!
Merry Christmas!

We'll be mostly out of office during holiday season (until January 2nd 2012) – but in a case of emergency feel free to call or drop an e-mail.

Ho ho ho!

Out now: exclusive Werklig gift wrapping paper – 2011 Christmas edition. All you elves out there, come and get yours. You may also use wrapper as a poster. They're free!

Nyt saatavilla: Werkligin joulupaperimallisto 2011! Tule ja hae omasi. Paperi sopii erinomaisesti paketointiin, mutta halutessaan kääreestä saa jouluisen julisteenkin. 

We're open until Thursday 22.12 1800 1600 hrs. Welcome!
Toimisto avoinna torstaihin 22.12. klo 18.00 16.00 asti. Tervetuloa!

[edit: we're out-of-office earlier (see above). Well, there's a lot of paper left so you may get some for next year, too!]

The office drawing table has been in active use lately.

Pekka of Finland is continuing the European tour. Bruxelles and Eindhoven are now behind and it's towards next destinations (Budapest, Luxenburg, Sofia, Athens, Berlin and Stockholm). So far the exhibition has had 46.500 visitors.  

Here are some pictures from setting up the Dutch Design Week exhibition.

As the World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 is approaching Aalto University had a programme launch event last week. Aalto University plays a major role in the WDC2012 programme. Aalto University's World Design Capital theme Living+ and chosen projects were presented at the event. 

Here at Werklig we have been working on Aalto University's WDC2012 identity, website being one of the main applications. The presentation shown in the pictures was also done here at Werklig. The last picture shows the website layout.

Opening words by Kaisa Kivelä, WDC2012 Project Manager, Aalto University.

Living+, Aalto University's WDC2012 slogan, and the statement presented by Kaisa Kivelä.

"To celebrate the World Design Capital Helsinki 2012, Aalto University is undertaking an extensive programme to create better, more sustainable living enviroments.

We believe that creative collisions between art, technology and business lead to life-improwing design. Design that helps more people live a better life."  

Welcoming words by Dean Helena Hyvönen, School of Art and Design.

Aalto University's WDC2012 projects divided by schools.

Aalto University's World Design Capital project timeline for the year 2012.

Anna Varakas, WDC2012 Producer from Aalto University showing a sneak peak of Aalto University's WDC2012 website soon to be opened. The website was designed here at Werklig.

Part of us have been on a 2-day workshop in Snappertuna. Magnificent seaside environment and a lot of of Post-Its. 

m⁵ architects is a young, Helsinki-based architectural practice with works ranging from furniture to urban planning. They have a wide experience and expertise in Building Information Modeling (BIM).

m⁵ architects are specialized in so-called five-dimensional planning, which means integrating traditional architectural 3D modeling with two other layers of variables (such as construction time and building costs). m⁵ architects asked Werklig to create an identity based on 5D concept. The identity needed to be extremely simple, usable and timeless – with the "5D" element visible.

Solutions
1. Logo

m⁵ logo is the key building block of m⁵ identity, the primary visual element that identifies the company. The logo is simple, but it has a subtle hidden message in it: a common square meter symbol (m²) has been flipped, thus creating a symbol for the five-dimensional approach of m⁵ architects.

"Hidden" visual pun in the m⁵ logo




Both English and Finnish logo versions were created

2. Colors

Corporate colors were picked from m⁵ architects' new premises interior. Strong vibrant orange, grays and white color were used to create a versatile palette.

m⁵ interiors were used as the basis of corporate color palette



m⁵ color palette

3. Typography

The final touch to the overall feel was made with typographical choices. m⁵ uses FF DIN as a corporate typeface. FF DIN is a robust and very legible typeface, with a technical/architectural twist. Using DIN is also a small cultural hint towards Germany–both M5 main designers have solid German roots, so what would be more suitable typeface for them? 

“DIN, an acronym for the German Deutsches Institut für Normung (German Institute for Standardization) [– –]. The earliest version of a DIN typeface was released by the D Stempel AG foundry in 1923. In 1936 the German Standard Committee selected DIN 1451 as the standard typeface for use in the areas of engineering, technology, traffic, administration and business.” (Source: FontFont)

Application examples

 
Business cards, set with DIN

Johan Aarnio is a rapidly evolving construction company. It started as a one-man company carrying out private renovations but uncompromising work and top-notch quality has yielded them more and more work. 

Currently, Johan Aarnio is creating ever more complex and bigger projects without sacrificing the attained level of quality. Moreover, this passion has lead them being the chosen company by many architects, corporations and demanding individuals. They sincerely want to be the best in their field, nothing less.  

Johan Aarnio's crown jewel is their carpenter workshop designing and manufacturing everything from custom made furnitures to kitchens and everything in between.  

Brief

Johan Aarnio approached Werklig with a demanding brand task: how to brand a construction company with a distinctive edge and make their brand promise evident and easy to understand. Company is bilingual, working every day with Swedish and Finnish speaking customers. 

Sketches from early meetings.


Solution

Their brand promise was crystallized in two words in Swedish "Hemma bäst" which, idiomatically, are not easily translated to English but loosely translate as "best at home". Swedish was chosen because, historically, Swedish speaking minority has always been better off in Finland but the actual phrase is common enough to be understood by Finnish speaking natives as well. 

The Slogan


Applications

Brand materials were designed to make employees proud of their brand and position Johan Aarnio apart from their competitors. In order to do so, graphic elements were stripped down to a bare minimum. Primary colors black and white were chosen to demonstrate the simple quality-driven attitude towards all the projects Johan Aarnio is carrying out. For corporate typography Helvetica was chosen for its simple and timeless character. 

Business cards.

Brochure.