The Kasper Stromman Design Blog

The Kasper Stromman Design Blog record of the month is the Terveissä ympyröissä 7” published by Suomen Koripalloliitto (Finnish Basketball Association) in 1978. It’s quite awful by any standards.

On the A side there’s a kind of faux 50s rock’n’roll track about the joys of basketball, which was kind of expected. But the real atrocity is the B side with it’s almost hymnlike slow jam about the virtues of a healthy lifestyle. This lifestyle doesn’t include smoking or drinking. 

We can’t really force anyone to listen to this bullcrap, but if you must the track is posted below.

You’ve been warned.

And by the way, shame on everyone involved in the making of this recording.

This is an insurance policy guide book. Could sombody please tell us here at the Kasper Stromman Design Blog what the hell is going on in the picture?

“Help! My son is all wet and we have a letter box! Where can I claim?”

“Sir. It has come to our intention that this young child is not actually your son. We’re afraid this is considered fraud.”

“Okay, okay, so maybe he’s not my son. But don’t you see that’s exactly why I had to hose him down? You people are monsters! So will you compensate me or not?” 

“No.”

The Kasper Stromman Design Blog magazine of the month is the nice looking Autojen maailma from 1966. It was published by car importer Berner Oy, who is cleverly trying to disguise this 30 page car ad as a normal magazine.

The magazine sure enough starts off by reporting on current automotive trends. By the way, when are we finally going to get these fantasy vehicles we have been promised since the 50s? You do realize Back to the Future II was set in 2015, and they had hoverboards? That’s less than four years away.

Some pictures kind of give away the fact that we are essentially dealing with a catalogue for Simcas, but that’s alright as long as they style them like this. We’re starting to feel Simca might actually be the Kasper Stromman Design Blog’s favourite brand of car.

Or perhaps the Fargo? Seriously, what was wrong with Berner exclusively representing cars that seems to have gone out of production only a few years later?

Or have you seen many Imperials around lately? We thought so.

This picture makes the Le Baron look perfect for picking up high-class prostitutes, by the way.

“You don’t really know who I am, do you? Well, let me tell you who I am: I’m the CEO of Berner, importer of soon-to-be discontinued automobiles, and I will not use a condom. Only sailors use condoms.”

It has to be said though that in many ways Autojen maailma was quite modern: the compact Simcas seem to be marketed exclusively for a woman driver.

Ha ha. Look at that poor schmuck having to carry all that shopping.

Although when it comes down to actual driving, a man is still needed.

“Don’t worry sweetheart, a man will soon come and grab the wheel. So who’s the schmuck now?”

On the whole Autojen maailma was very entertaining though, and made us feel like doing donuts on an empty parking lot while driving an Imperial Le Baron. And that has to be considered an achievement.

It’s also interesting to note that Berner Oy is still in business, and “represents Audi, Seat and Volkswagen in the Kouvola and Lappeenranta economic regions”.

So look out for these brands. They might soon not exist anymore.

The classic Finnish dish of munavelli manages to capture the essence of Scandinavian design in its very being: we’re talking the marriage of the perfectly shaped egg to the pureness of fresh milk, with nothing more than a hint of salt to seal the bond.

And then of course some butter, flour and sugar thrown in for good measure.

This would indeed be the perfect designer food if it didn’t make us throw up a little bit in our mouth upon smelling it.

The good news though is that a serving of munavelli only contains 343 calories.

5. Leningrad Cowboy beer, 1994–?

The Leningrad Cowboys is a Finnish novelty band that performs covers of popular songs, often featuring a Russian military band. In 1994, at the height of their popularity, they also released their own brand of beer.

Nobody knows if it’s still on the market since noone cares, but the damage was quickly done. Because now other artists realized they could do the same.

4. Hurriganes beer, 2004– ?

The band Hurriganes enjoyed it’s peak popularity in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Their last album Hurrygames was released in 1984. This would also have been the perfect time to introduce their own beer, but that’s not how Hurriganes do things. Instead they realeased their beer in 2004.

Okay, to be fair it would probably have been illegal to have your own beer in 1984. But let’s just say we haven’t seen that much Hurriganes beer in the shops lately.

3. Linda cider, 1997–2000

Linda Lampenius is a skilled violin player–cum–Playboy model who had a couple of popular albums in the late 1990s. Around the time she also had a succesful cider, and used to be flown around in a helicopter from one hyper market to another to promote it and write autographs. The cider sold some 12 million bottles in a couple of years, but then popularity waned.

Why? Well, it’s a lot like Loch Ness or Sasquatch. There really isn’t an answer. 

2. Lordi Cola 2006–2007

Hard rock band Lordi was the first Finnish performer ever to win the Eurovision Song Contest in 2006. Lordi Cola soon followed.

Lordi Cola was also very quickly discontinued. 

1. Matti Cider 2002–2003

Matti Nykänen dominated ski jumping through most of the 1980s. High points include winning gold and silver at the 1984 Winter Olympics and three gold medals at the 1988 Winter Olympics.

In the 1990s the jumping stopped though. Instead Matti Nykänen re-invented himself as a jolly alcoholic who when asked is never short on a fun comment.

Pirkanmaan Uusi Panimo (now Nokian Panimo), manufacturer of before mentioned Linda Cider saw an opportunity, and brought out the Matti cider in 2003.

Unfortunately the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health didn’t see much fun in this, and stopped the manufacturing on the grounds that a known alcoholic shouldn’t really be endorsing alcoholic drinks. Which we guess is techically true.

But the Matti cider will always live on in our hearts, as eternal number one of celebrity endorsed, slightly too sweet drinks.

A raanu is a traditional woven wall hanging, more specifically something the older generation would hang on the wall before there was flat screen TVs.

Here’s the thing though; a lot of times there isn’t anything good on TV. A raanu may then present itself as a very valid option.

That’s why we here at the Kasper Stromman Design Blog have chosen our top 5. For reference we naturally used the Mattila-yhtymä raanu catalogue from the early 1980s. What else?

5. Arki-Mikkeli

First of all it has to said raanus ain’t no Bayeux Tapestry. Mostly it’s just stripes in different colours. Of course you could argue that a lot can be read into these stripes, but seriously, come on. That’s just silly.

4. Heinä-Maija

I mean, which one would you rather watch: an episode of Game of Thrones or the Heinä-Maija? Our gut feeling is people must have been incredibly lazy back in the day, not bothering to weave intricate fantasy textiles after working 14 hours on a field, possibly while suffering from leprosy. 

3. Syys-Matti

Having said that, this one representing autumn is actually allright. Yeah, we get it. Leaves. That’s good, well done.

2. Talvi-Matti

And after autumn comes winter. Hey, I’m starting to get into these! You can almost feel the crispness in this one. Brrrr. So winter-y.

1. Runtuviikko

That’s it, we’re officially raanu converts!

Hey everyone, guess what we want for christmas here at the Kasper Stromman Design Blog?

A flat screen TV, of course.

SUOMI FINLAND
Tapiolan puutarhakaupunki
Sunnitteilja ja rakennuttaja Asuntosäätiö

Tapiola Garden City
Planner and builder Housing Foundation Asuntosäätiö

Saatavana myös kuultokuvana
Available also in colour slide

KUULTOKUVA
Helsinki
5 - väripainos 

Apparently the Angry Birds board game is the must have gift this christmas. Not so in 1984 – back then the Liikennekehä (ring road) game was all the rage.

The idea behind this game is very sober – what better way to ease your child into a life of commuting than by presenting him or her with a game that simulates the cold reality of travelling to work? This game really puts ‘bored’ back in ‘board games’.

The actual board looks a bit confusing, but luckily there are instructions. 

In fact, the leaflet inside looks almost jolly.

“Yey, look daddy! It’s a leaflet full of traffic signs!”

Then you realize you have to memorize all of them to actually be able to play the game at all. It was usually around this time the crying started.

“Boo-hoo. Daddy, I’m stuck in traffic! Sob.”

“Well son, if you study hard and earn a lot of cash money you can possibly one day own a house that is less than an hours drive from where you work. Ha ha. Good luck with that.”

So, not perhaps the most spontaneus fun to be had.

“But Kasper”, you the reader might now ask, “how did you know about the crying?”

That’s because that child was me.

Actually, that’s not true. I made it up for effect. In reality I got this game for my birthday.

Which happens to be on Christmas eve. 

Hey, guess what – christmas is only a month away. That’s why we here at the Kasper Stromman Design blog have chosen the top 5 must have presents this year, using the AMO catalogue.

5. Rubik’s cube

As of 2009, 350 million Rubik’s Cubes have been sold worldwide. We’re not mathematicians here at the Kasper Stromman Design Blog, but that means every household in Finland already owns something along the lines of eight cubes.

That’s why Rubik’s Cube is “electronic” this year and apparently speaks Finnish. That must be so confusing abroad though. “Meitsi on Rubikin kuutio”. What?

Still, present of the year as far as wer’re concerned.

4. Disney princesses

Anyone else than we here at the Kasper Stromman Design Blog think it’s weird that you can take a bunch of princesses from different fairytales and just stick them together? No? And while on the subject, what exactly do they do when together? Compare tiaras?

Wow, that sounded so Spanish. “Compare tiaras”. Compare tiaras.

Toy of the year, clearly.

3. Buzzer

Not really sure what this game is about, but it sure looks fun. And for those of you who don’t speak Finnish, the guy in the middle is saying “I’m so totally gonna score with these chicks once this game is over”.

The Kasper Stromman Design Blog game of the year, clearly.

2. Bratz™ On The Mic douchebag dolls

Did you think the Bratz dolls were annoying? Well guess what? They’ve got boyfriends now, or something along those lines. Not clear what their names are, but we’re guessing Randy the Retard and Date Rape Dave. Oh, by they way, the year 2005 called and it wants it hairdo back.

Strong contender though for present of the year.

1. Fortuna

Don’t get me wrong, nothing wrong with a good ol’ game of Fortuna. But what’s up with the kid? He looks scary and Aryan, and I bet he will try to prevent anyone who’s not blond and blue eyed to play the game with him.

Nonetheless, the Kasper Stromman Design Blog present of the year.

3. Coca-Cola

Yeah yeah, not a very Helsinki specific beverage, you might say. But what about the not one but two black BMWs driving in the background? Now who’s mundane? 

2. Protein drink

“Look, with these biceps I can easily hoist this empty bottle on top of the parking meter. Just watch me!”

1. Pint of beer

This beer may be infested with AIDS and cancer, but we still think it’s amazing you can leave an almost full pint of beer around at Piritori and nobody will drink it.

A-mazing. 

If you liked this article, why not try the King Nosmo Cookbook? It’s a book full of greatness. And photographs.

1929
First shipment of coffee beans arrive at Kotka harbour. People are unfamiliar with this novelty, and the hearty stews prepared from the beans are considered uneatable.

1931
A portuguese sailor named Jorge teaches locals how to roast and grind the beans. Jorge is given the key to the city and is made mayor of Kotka. The city soon goes bankrupt as Jorge is pretty much useless at anytning else than making coffee.

1936
The first coffee craze sweeps Finland. The old practise of serving heated Pepsi-Cola to guests gives way to this new exotic custom. 

1962
President Kekkonen pushes true new law that regulates coffee can only be made from incredibly lightly roasted Robusta beans. CItizens sick of drinking full bodied dark blends openheartedly welcome this change, and show gratitude by re-electing Kekkonen about five times. 

1967
Follow up to the law states beans have to be roasted even lighter than before. Kekkonen re-elected again.

1968
Coffee consumption at all time high. No wait, or was that beer? Yeah, I guess it was beer after all.

1977
A new craze called “disco” is sweeping the nation. Party goers turn to coffee in order to be able to dance all night long. Yeah right. Coffee.

1981
Portuguese Jorge, now an old man, is trying to introduce tea to the country. People will have none of it though, since now that they are used to their daily bean juice. Weirdly Jorge is still made mayor of Kotka once more, a position he occupies until his death.

1985
Estonian Raivo Roosna teaches Finns they can enhance the flavour of their coffee by adding sugar. Consumption once again skyrockets. 

1994
For the first time in years the so called “internet generation” threatens the position of coffee with favouring a new beverage called the “energy drink”. Pffft, what’s that about? If Kekkonen was alive he’d have none of that, I’m telling you.

2005
The first coffee machines are imported from Germany. For the first time people won’t have to roast and grind their beans themselves before preparing coffee over an open fire.

2007

The caffe latte arrives in Finland.

Finland is up for a presidential election in January next year. We here at the Kasper Stromman Design Blog don’t have a strong opinion of the candidate most fit for the job as now, but we do have an opinion of their websites. Here’s an overview:

Sauli Niinistö

As a poll favourite, Sauli Niinistö of the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) likes to send out a chilled message. “Oh yeah, check me out” he seems to say. “I’m so sure of my victory I can afford to wear blue jeans whilst casually leaning against a chair. Boo-yah”.

All photographs on the site are heavily photoshopped, but that’s only not to scare the children since Sauli looks a lot like Mr Burns when not in make up. (We’re sorry, Mr. Burns, but he can’t help it.)

Fun fact: The site wants you to be proud of the fact that the reflector apparently is a Finnish invention, and thus it’s almost like Sauli invented it himself. What a nice guy. He deserves to win.

www.niinisto.fi

Timo Soini

According to the MTV3 poll Timo Soini of the Racist Party – sorry, we mean the True Finns – would get 9 % of all votes if the election was held today. Curiously Soini doesn’t seem to be aware of his candidacy at all on the website.

From a design point of view the site seems to be made with Excel, which may or may not be an intentional design desicion. Maybe it’s anti-design?

Fun fact: In Timo Soini’s world the word ‘blog’ is spelled ’ploki’.

http://timosoini.fi

Paavo Väyrynen

Paavo Väyrynen of the Centre Party (Keskusta) is by far the oldest candidate as he has been a presidential candidate both in 1988 and 1994. Väyrynen is aware of this. That’s why he has chosen an old-skool typeface for the site and chooses to stand in front of wood panelling. “Look at me”, he seems to say. “I’m riding the retro wave with my website! Wheee, watch me go! Cowabunga!” 

“But Paavo”, his staff intervenes. “Pave. Couldn’t we perhaps add a modern touch to your site? Maybe you could be holding an iPad or something?” “Hmm, okay then. Let’s go for a WACKY font for my name. Just like we did in 1988”.

Fun fact: Paavo Väyrynen has a Gmail-address.

www.vayrynen.com

Pekka Haavisto

With polls showing a popularity of 6 per cent Pekka Haavisto of the Green Party (Vihreät)  is probably not going to be elected, but that doesn’t seem to bother him. “Look” his picture seems to say “I don’t care if I don’t win. I’ve got lots going on anyway. Seriously. Look at my blog, I honestly don’t even know if I would have the time to be president. I would definetly have to make a lot of room in my calendar if that happened.”

Fun fact: Pekka Haavisto’s partner is from Ecuador, so if Pekka against all odds would get elected he could go by the name ‘El Presidente’ at home.“Would El Presidente care to take out the garbage?”

www.pekkahaavisto.net

Paavo Lipponen

Paavo Lipponen of the Finnish Social Democratic Party (Sosiaalidemokraatit) looks pretty smug in his picture considering he got a 6 per cent backing in the pre-polls. His wesite is very airy. Like a breeze of fresh air that’s not going to be elected. By the way, do you know what the big L in the upper left corner stands for? No? It stands for ‘Loser’.

Fun fact:”Paavo Lipponen believes in democracy”. Yeah well, noone was really going to vote for someone that believes in dicatorship?

www.paavolipponen.fi

Eva Biaudet

Eva Biaudet of the Swedish People’s Party (Svenska Folkpartiet / Ruotsalainen kansanpuolue) definitely has the trendiest website of the bunch. Let us explain: usually when you see Eva on TV she’s always wearing glasses and looking serious, but on the website she clearly had some kind of makeover and now looks like a Finnish version of Eva Dahlgren.

We like this transition. The new Eva Biaudet looks like she probably sings well, which is nice because as a president she could do the New Year’s speech in song. That’s reason alone to elect her.

Fun fact: There’s more trendy shots under ’media’.

www.evabiaudet.fi

Sometimes we here at the Kasper Stromman Design Blog will pick up some pre-owned children’s clothing. Nothing weird about that. Often these items of clothing are labeled with the child’s name. If you are anything like us you may ask yourself: where are they now?   

Juha Hakala

To get on with this investigation we assembled a highly trained crack team of Kasper Stromman intelligence people. They quickly found out there are currently nine different Juha Hakalas on LinkedIn. We were kind of hoping it was going to be the one that is advertising manager at Kokkolan Halpa-Halli, but then we found this guy. Please let it be him.

Karim Hännikäinen

Next our investigating team started cracking down on Karim. I’m going to be very honest here: we ain’t got much on Karim. It seems there’s one in Sweden who has a friend called Olle Svensson though. I guess we’ll put this one on file for now. 

Olga V.

See, now it gets interesting. No surname? Not a problem for our investigating team. In fact we’re just going to go ahead and assume it’s Olga V of Cirque du Soleil.

Investigating is easy when you’re dealing with the pros. Didn’t even break a sweat with this one.

Topi

Raising the bar even higher, now we only have a first name to go with. Again, not an issue for our intelligence team.

After some light googling we quickly decided this blanket didn’t belong to a child at all, but rather to a “social and fast antelope of the genus Damaliscus”. 

So run like the wind Topi, your blanket is safe with us here at the Kasper Stromman Design Blog!

LEPOLAMPI
LOMAHOTELLI 30 KM HELSINGISTÄ LÄNTEEN VANHAA TURUNTIETÄ
SEMESTERHOTEL 30 KM VÄSTEROM HELSINGFORS, HUVUDVÄG 1
HOLIDAY HOTEL 19 MILES WEST OF HELSINKI BY MAIN ROAD 1
FERIEN-HOTEL 30 KM WESTLICH VON HELSINKI AUF DEM HAUPTWEG NR. 1

KUVAAJA: U.LAPPI 

Some people turn to the local paper, word of mouth or “the internet” to find out what’s going down. We use a notice board, simply because it’s a classic. Here’s the top 3 for Vantaa tonight, 11/11/11.

3. Dance, dance, dance

Heimo Erkki is entertaining at House of Karelia. Cover charge of € 10 includes coffee and pulla. Nice.

Wait, was this last week?

2. Haircuts all around

Helena Heiskanen will style your flowing mane for you if you’re able to read her phone number. Makes it more interesting dosn’t it? Getting your hair cut shouldn’t be too easy. 

1. Some more dancing

Yeah well, it’s not like a lot is happening at Vantaa tonight? Despite, from the look of it this could be the last time Heimo Erkki (or Heimo Kettunen?) is performing.

Or was that last week?

In the early 80s Arwo Pullola of Filipstad, Sweden got the idea for a compact camper shell that would attach to a standard Saab 99 Combi Coupé. By removing the rear hatch and fastening the shell an ordinary car could now become a camper van within less than half an hour.  

Arwo decided to call his invention Toppola, which was born from combining the word ‘top’ with the suffix ‘ola’ – the latter to emphasize his Finnish roots.

The unit may look small, but it actually has a standing height of 2 metres and features a 170 by 200 cm double bed as well as a full kitchen and heating. It also only weighs 115 kgs, thus not affecting car performance too badly.

The Toppola was on the official Saab list of extra options in the mid 80s, being the most expensive one. Production actually went on to as late as 2006, but only some 300 were ever made due to logistic and other problems. Today they are naturally highly sought after by Saab ethusiasts. 

If you fancy one you should know that 2 to 3 go on sale every year in Sweden were most Toppolas are to be found. You’ll be looking to pay anything between € 2,500 and € 8,000 though, but then the car is often included.

The Kasper Stromman Design Blog nevertheless find this to be a stroke of genius, and while there naturally are bigger campers on the market none of them make use of limited space in such a clever way. Or make us smile when we see them.

Can we have the Toppola back please?

www.toppola.com

When getting married it’s customary to put out little signs so that guests will find your wedding reception more easily. Here are our favourites: 

1. Jani & Sanna

Our guess is Sanna made this one. She’s the crafty type. Notice the attention to detail: names printed out by standard laser printer, but then cut out and glued onto yellow arrow. With a golden frame. And to finish it off an additional, squiggly black frame.

Most people would have been happy right there, but not Sanna. You see, she couldn’t get any sleep that night, so at 3 a.m. she got up and filled in the a’s and ampersand with a green highlighter. And then she slept like a baby.

2. Mikko & Mervi

This is totally the work of Mikko. He was meant to make the sign for a long time, but kept procrastinating. But once he got the old power tools out as well as the spray paint and starting stencilling it actually turned out to be such fun. Regardless that the stencilling kind of went to shit in the lower right corner.

A & L

This wedding was a surprise to everyone as A and L had only known each other three months prior to the date, which is reflected in this quickly scribbled happy-go-lucky sign. A and L seem very happy together though, so why not? A wedding is always fun.

Oh, we also hear a baby is on it’s way.

S & J

S and J like the classy approach, but at the last minute decided to save a little bit in the signage department by having J’s sister quickly throw something together. It actually turned out ok, but then she went to art school and everything. It’s a good thing those skills of hers are put to actual use for once in her life.

M & A

M and A don’t really love each other, which is also reflected in their sign. What? Come on, it’s the most sloppy one we’ve seen to date by far. Also, the wedding reception is actually not so much of a party as it is a private function at Hesburger. Free ketchup provided.

Sami & Sini

The graphic designer’s sign. 
– Hey Sini, wouldn’t it be fun if our signs looked like actual traffic signs?
– I don’t care.
– No, it totally would! Now I only have to find out what typeface the Traffic Agency uses…
– Yeah well, we’re getting married in three hours.
– No I got it now… DIN seems to be pretty close.
– You know what? Maybe you should marry that typeface instead of me?

A marriage built to last, we say. The Kasper Stromman Design Blog wishes Sami and Sini a long and interesting life together!

It has come to our attention here at the Kasper Stromman Design Blog that classic Tattarisuo lunch café Rape has changed it’s name to “Tattiksen Aura”. Disappointing!

About time then, someone might of course say, but that’s not the way we see it. After all, where’s all the fun possibilities for misinterpretation in the new name?

But we’ll always have these pictures from last winter.

10. Högfors

Nice plain cover for district heating. Kind of looks like a little safety net, doesn’t it? So you don’t fall in, you see.

9. Tele

Wild guess: here under be telephone cables. We know that because Tele used to be the state owned telecommunications company that changed it’s named to Sonera in 1998.

8. Sonera

See? Although the company has been known as TeliaSonera since 2002. Looks like these manhole covers aren’t really keeping up.

7. Paloposti

Nice plain fire hydrant. Hungarian made.

6. Paloposti #2

Can you fit a round lid into a square frame? Of course you can. Was that supposed to be some kind of trick question?

5. Huber

Huber is going with the classic net. That’s fine. You’re making manhole covers, not fine art.

4. Satakunnan valu Oy

Having said that, sometimes you get the feeling some more effort could have gone into these. Satakunnan valu is the name of the foundry by the way.

3. Plain net

No, I get it. Anonymity can be a virtue. Who knows what might lurk underneath this bad boy? Probably nothing much. Apart from some kind of abyss perhaps.

2. Wiggly arrows

At least some kind of symbol gives a clue of what’s happening underground, right? We’re guessing this is a “quick access shaft” to the metro system. That would be nice. Dangerous, but nice.

1. Millennium cover

Hey, it’s a festive millennium manhole cover by the Public Works Department! See? It doesn’t take that much to be number one on a list like this.

May this funky department live another 450 years!

If you liked these photographs you will love Around the World with King Nosmo, published by Napa Books. It’s a feast for your design hungry eyes.

To celebrate national Finnish Swedish Heritage Day we here at the Kasper Stromman Design Blog would like to share this special watering can we spotted in a local supermarket last time we visited Stockholm.

Is there something we are missing? (Nämen hallå roughly translates as ‘but seriously, come on’).

Musicians of the Finnish Defence Forces get to wear their own, unique uniforms. Here’s a best of:

Maavoimien soittokuntien esiintymispuku I

First things first: just because you have chosen to play your little oboe in the Armed Forces doesn’t mean you can’t also be a “lean mean killing machine”. Who’s to say that oboe doesn’t shoot poisoned darts? Exactly. So be careful who you’re making fun of, civilian.

By the way, nice handbag, dude.

Maavoimien soittokuntien esiintymispuku II

Oh, come on! Don’t get rid of the handbag man,  I’m sure it comes in handy for your poisoned darts or whatever. Or lip balm. What? Well I hear your lips get very dry from blowing all day long.

Varusmiessoittokunnan esiintymispuku m/90

There are a total of 13 military bands in Finland, of which 12 consist of salaried personnel and one of conscripts. The conspript band members get to wear some nice curtain tassels on their shoulders, but sometimes they find the drums to be a wee bit heavy to carry. 

Varusmiessoittokunnan esiintymispuku m/91

No? Well there you go, you big strong conscript. Now try to hit the blue spot on the drum several times, it shouldn’t be too hard.

Kaartin Soittokunnan edustuspuku m/95

Wow, it’s that oboe guy again. Now he’s wearing Adidas track suit bottoms, modified Finnish flag for top and sensible shoes.

I’m starting to think there are no poisoned darts in that oboe after all.

Jääkärisoittokuntien esiintymispuku m/03

Now see that’s a nice, resonable outfit for an army musician. Well done. But you don’t really know how to play an instrument, do you? I’m sorry, but that’s kind of essential though for being in a military band.

Panssarisoittokunnan esiintymispuku m/02

Ooh, so you play the trumpet, do you? Well why is there no sound from it? Is that because you’re supposed to blow, not suck? At playing the trumpet.

Ilmavoimien soittokuntien esiintymispuku I

Dude! The Air Force seems to be the only one who knows how to ROCK OUT! Think about it: first flying some fighter planes in the morning, lunch, and then jam sessions until late night while knocking down some cold ones. At ease, Air Force dude.

I now know which my favourite military band is. 

Suomi–Finland
Lappi–Lappland 

Wish there was a way to say “yes, I drive a car, but I am totally aware of the negative impact this has on the environment and whatnot, but still choose to drive”? Well now you can, sort of, with this fun Kasper Stromman Design Blog limited edition bumper sticker!

On the other hand, who’s to say other drivers won’t just see you as a slightly-more-arrogant-than-usual road user?

Finally there’s a way to make a really ambiguous statement.

Sticker available soon through the Kasper Stromman Exclusive Webshop

Matchboxes are often used in pictures to indicate scale. But what if we created a big-ass matchbox out of cardboard and carefully placed some objects next to it? Then what?

Our scientists at the Kasper Stromman Design Blog headquarters sure were gasping with delight when witnessing the result from test 1a: a basketball will now look tiny!

Fun! But you know what? The next test (2a) went even better. An orange will look even smaller! Ha ha, what a tiny orange.

So… how about a coffee pot then (test 3a)?

Didn’t you just know it! Minuscule!

Let’s try this one more time.

“I sure wonder what’s inside this totally normal sized (wink) matchbox?”

Ahahaha! A teensy-weensy shoe! Who on earth is going to be able to wear a little shoe like that?

Oh, wow. This test is working better than anticipated.

So, one last test: how about we place a pint glass next to this standard (wink again) matchbox? Will it perhaps look pint-sized?

No it won’t! It will look even smaller – as if pint-sized wasn’t small enough!

So there we have it, folks. Objects placed next to a larger-than-normal matchbox will appear smaller than usual.

Man, science is fun!