Anna Leikas

How long have you lived in Brighton? What made you move here?

About 3.5 years. Without having ever visited Brighton before, I decided to move here to study just because I wanted to get out of Finland and I heard Brighton is a cool and lively place.

What does Finnish design mean to you?

When I used to live in Finland, to me, it meant boring, mundane, over-priced everyday objects that everyone has just for the sake of it, even if they have lost their appeal and status decades ago.After living in the UK for a while, however, I started understanding what’s special about it. I guess it required taking some distance from it – it’s hard to appreciate something that you see around you all the time. But that’s actually one of the special aspects of Finnish design: that it really surrounds you and is part of the everyday life. Even to the extent that it becomes invisible in a way, or you become “immune” to it. I like it how it’s often simple, minimalistic, hardwearing, practical, close to nature and often has a “clean” and airy feeling to it. Much of it also exceeds any differences in social class or income and it’s accessible for everyone and most Finns see its value and appreciate it. That’s not the case with design objects in all countries. In the UK, for instance, goods or their image and reputation is often tied to a specific social class or ideology.

Does Finnish design play a part in your daily life in any way?

Just in the way how I enjoy the aesthetics of it and browsing any new ones that come out occasionally purchasing some. There are many inventions in Finland that make your life just a little bit easier, and you don’t even notice it until you go somewhere where they don’t have it.

Which Finnish design item have you chosen to be photographed with and why?

The Taika crockery by Iittala, designed by Klaus Haapaniemi. I really like the folklore-ish imagery on them and the fresh and clean look. They are also, like any Iittala crockery, very hardwearing and can take anything. I have LOTS of them and I’ve got them all as  presents from all my family and friends so it kind of adds some value to it too.

Any other thoughts or comments?

It annoys me how little Finnish design is known in the world, although it’s slowly getting better. I think it’s because Finnish companies just don’t know how to market or brand their products so that they appeal to audiences/consumers in other countries. I can understand that because, like I mentioned, it is difficult to distance yourself from something that comes so naturally to you and that you grow up with. It’s hard to see it like an outsider would see it. You need to look at it from another point of view to make it appeal to an outsider and Finnish companies just seem to try and rely on the “Finland brand” too much – even if, in my opinion, that brand hardly exists! The products have value in themselves but Finland as a brand doesn’t mean much to foreigners because they don’t necessarily know anything about the country as a whole. Why don’t Finnish design houses and companies hire Finns living abroad as their brand- or marketing managers?

Photo by Sirpa Kutilainen.