The Kasper Stromman Design Blog

The Aalto University Masters of Art show is on at the moment, and as avid followers of the design scene we naturally went along. Here’s a top three of what’s on offer:

3. Volvo bike

Timo Hyppönen managed to turn an old car into a bike. Literally. That takes some skills.

2. Untitled

Okay, so this wasn’t technically part of the exhibition, but don’t you kind of wish it was? “In my graduation thesis I have researched the powers of the colours black and yellow to act as an warning signal for people wanting to ram their vehicle over and over again into vertical piping. In my research I have done just this until I ran out of means of transportation, so yeah.” 

1. Wall of Toilet Seats

This amazing Wall of Toilet Seats was created by a bunch of school children as part of some Unicef related hygiene thing. We’re guessing these children don’t have a Masters degree yet, but it’s still our favourite.

You know what? This calls for a top 3 within the top 1:

1c. Finland

This looks like the same advertising agency that redesigned the Silja Line logo would have tried their hands on the Finnish coat of arms. Although to be honest, they probably wouldn’t have done such a good job.

1b. Seagull shitting on Marimekko

Very nice combination of skilfully rendered bird and classic Unikko pattern. Feels like this one could have some commercial potential.

1a. Dance Cheer

This instructional toilet seat is the clear winner though: here’s a little dance you can perform while waiting to use the toilet.

Best Masters show in ages!

The Aalto University Masters of Arts show is on until June 3rd.

Finnish ferry line Silja Line has once again redesigned their logo. This is remarkable as the logo went through a redesign as little as a month ago. However, after passengers expressed their dissatisfaction with the “cack handed” redesign – which also saw the seal stop smiling – SIlja Line has returned to the drawing board. 

“I guess messing around with our classic logo wasn’t such a smooth move” sighs Silja Line head of marketing Bo Hager. “But we have decided to give our advertising agency another chance to get it right. We are positive they are going to do a good job this time; Fréderic has promised me personally they will get a real graphic designer on the case this time, instead of an intern.”

“Logo schlogo” shrugs Fréderic LeGrande of advertising agency TBWA France when confronted about the redesign. “Who cares? That seal looked butt-ugly to start with. But since everyone is being such a big bebé about it I guess we will redesign it once more to be more in tune with the old logo”. 

“Happy now?”, added LeGrande. “Merde!”

The redesigned logo will be in use on all Silja Line ferries sailing the Baltic Sea from June 1st. 

Guess what? We’ve redesigned the Kasper Stromman Design Blog Worldwide Headquarters toilet facilities! Before we just had an ordinary toilet…

… but now our restroom is called the Water Design Closet, or WDC for short.

We like this new acronym. It’s got a nice ring to it. 

SUOMI - FINLAND
KOKKOLA GAMLA KARLEBY 

Sturenkatu 37. An ordinary looking house, you say. Well, not quite – because here’s where Karl-August Fagerholm lived in the 1930s.

Karl-August–who, you might ask, and we don’t blame you.  But we checked up on the guy, and turns out he was Prime Minister of Finland on and off in the late 1940s and again in the 1950s. 

Wow. Trams number 6 and 8 will take you to this magical house – try not to go all at once.

Kasper Stromman will be talking at the Moikka & Moi event together with Sofia Østerhus at the WDC Pavilion this coming Friday. At the moment it looks like the theme will be food, and don’t think for a minute it won’t feature this guy, because it will:

Rumour has it there will be sponsored beer as well. Welcome!

On Saturday Helsinki once again experienced Restaurant day – “a food carnival when anyone can open up a restaurant for a day”. We like this idea here at the Kasper Stromman Design Blog. It’s refreshing to see people set up their own pop-up restaurant without having to go through the heavy bureaucracy, even if it’s just for a day. 

That’s why we decided to take the idea one step further; why limit this food carnival to a specific day? Hence we yesterday set up our own pop-up restaurant, “The Kasper Stromman Beer Outlet”, on the stairs of the Kasper Stromman Design Blog Worldwide Headquarters. On the menu: beer.

The day was a success and we ran out of drinks in no time, which proves it’s possible to sell beer without “a license” in Kallio and making a buck for yourself in the process. It was such a fun day, and we will definitely do this again.

Oh yeah, and we’d like to thank our beer sponsor for the brewski – much appreciated, you guys!

PS Did you know the Kasper Stromman Design Blog is looking for a car sponsor for the summer? The car would definitely not be used for running an illegal cab service.

Guess what? Spring is here, and we suddenly realized we’re totally into guerilla gardening here at the Kasper Stromman Design Blog. Of course we don’t call it that. We call it “surprise garden design”.

Also, we refuse to garden anything lame, like carrots. No, we’re going for avocados.

For our surprise garden spot we chose the lush soil behind the Kasper Stromman Design Blog Worldwide Headquarters. It shall be rich with avocado trees (Persea Americana) come autumn.

Don’t want to get too carried away or anything, but we expect this urban surprise garden to have some young avocados sprouting at the end of this week, possibly beginning of next week.

There! Provoking change through direct action – that’s what we’ve always been about.

The Kasper Stromman Design Blog will be monitoring the process of the Guerilla Avocado Garden through the summer.

The Kasper Stromman Design Blog Deep Space Probe is now finally on it’s way to find design in deep space. The probe was launched from the empty parking lot behind the Kasper Stromman Design Blog Worldwide Headquarters early this morning. We regret to have woken up the whole neighbourhood by launching this bad boy – sorry about that – but it was all done in the name of science.

So. As stated earlier we want this mission to be a two way street. Obviously we’d very much like to find design in outer space. But at the same time we feel that it’s important that the probe also carries some artefacts from earth. That’s why we included the following things on our probe:

• A cassette with recordings of the ocean sound, including a stranded whale but also a swimming horse
• A box of salty liquorice
• A lady-bug 

The ladybug got away or died or whatever though, so strickly speaking there are only two things on board the probe.

Also, why a cassette? As we don’t know how advanced the civilizations the probe might encounter are, we can’t use too advanced technology. A vinyl records feels kind of outdated though, and a cd could be too modern. But a cassette has that balance of feeling neither too outdated nor too modern.

Now it’s however time to wish our little space probe bon voyage. May it find lots of design in outer space!

The Kasper Stromman Design Blog will be monitoring the space probe’s journey as it ventures through our solar system and further out into deep space. We will be doing this by using modern techonolgy.

You might not be aware of this, but in addition to being renowned design journalists we are also skilled designers here at the Kasper Stromman Design Blog. This week we have been working mainly on the DIY ghetto laptop case.

The ghetto laptop case is made out of industry-grade cardboard, guaranteed to withstand all wear and tear your personal computer might be facing in an urban environment.

And look, if this box is able to house 24 cans of beer it also can hold your little laptop, okay?

This case has the added advantage of blending in seamlessly in your chosen “rough” area of town, so you won’t look like a goddamned tourist – or employed person – with your fancy personal computer.

We took ours to the chairs of the Social Services Department in Kallio, Helsinki to get some reactions out of passers by. Needless to say, noone batted an eyelid.

Pre-orders for the laptop case can be placed now at sales@kasperstromman.com.

SAVONLINNA SUOMI FINLAND

KUULTOKUVA
KUSTANNUS JA TUONTI  HELSINKI

SAATAVANA MYÖS KUULTOKUVANA
AVAILABLE ALSO IN COLOUR SLIDE

5 - väripainos

Remeber our February Designer of the Month, Jussi Takkinen? He’s still designing away, but has also taken the time to send us some pictures of Stefan Lindfors looking fresh in 1985. Nice boombox, dude.

As a bonus Jussi also sends us a prime example of dope 1980s furniture:

What are those, tiny wheels on the chair? Also, no shortage of ceramics in this picture.

Our favourite picture though has to be this one with some funky chairs and a Ken Marino look-alike. Naked and bound of course.

Because that’s how they did things in the 80s.

Since we here at the Kasper Stromman Design Blog finally have a beer sponsor – thanks to the “More Beer” team at Futurice – we are now ready to take the next logical step:

We are now looking for a car sponsorship for the summer.

Now, we’re not going to be unreasonable about this sponsorship. We understand the whole summer might be stretching it a bit, so if we could just have the car for the month of July, that would be great. And not too much to ask, right?

Also, since we are all about Finnish design we’d prefer a Finnish car. Of course we understand that’s impossible since such cars don’t exist. But there is Valmet Automotive who have been manufacturing foreign makes of cars since the 1960s, so that’s what we are going to settle for.

Here’s our preferred Top 5 Finnish-made cars we might consider:

1. Saab 900 Convertbile, 1986–2003

The obvious choice for summer, and such a classic. Only problem is that Saab kind of went bakrupt at the end of last year, so sponsorship looks unlikely at this point. But still our number one choice. No air-conditioning needed.

2. Euro Samara, 1996–1998

This “Eurofied” version of the Soviet/Russian economy car Lada Samara looks like a fine automobile, and is thus our second choice. We understand that Ladas are no longer sold in Finland, so sponsorship could be tricky. But maybe you are a private owner who wants to sponsor us?

Talbot Horizon, 1979–1985

A classic compact car, and probably real nifty to navigate around town. And judging from the picture above you can even drive it on some kind of moore. If Talbot as a brand didn’t cease to exist in 1986 this would so be our number one choice.  

4. Porsche Cayman, 2005–2011

We’re going to be honest here: we are not really feeling the Porsche Cayman. Not really our style, and looks unpractical if we want to head out in the countryside. But if Porsche really wants to sponsor us, I guess we could drive this for a month. But we won’t be happy about it.

1. Fisker Karma, 2011–

The only car Valmet Automotive is manufacturing at the moment, so I guess this is the one that makes sense from a sponsorship perspective. Although we have to say that while we’re not usually that sensitive about these things the advertising for this car really is a bit much. Sure, the slogan goes “Pure Sensuality”, but to us it looks more like the driver just killed a prostitute and threw the body in the backseat. But maybe that’s just us.

Anyhow, Fisker people, get in touch for that sponsorship: you can reach us at contact@kasperstromman.com. And it’s going to be July pretty soon you know, so please hurry.

The Finnish Academy of Fine Arts Degree Show showcases work by 36 Master students this year. Normally we here at the Kasper Stromman Design Blog would review it ourselves, but this year we let a three-year-old do it for us. Or in the words of the reviewer: “What’s an art exhibition? I don’t want to go to a museum I have never been to before. I want to go to the animal museum.”

Here’s anyhow the reviewer’s picks:

Mari Hallapuro

“I like cats and and I like flowers. I don’t like the colour black. Why can’t I touch the painting?”

Sara Basta

“Is that a sandbox on the little TV? I want to play in the sandbox when we get home. Just for a little while?”

Lotta Hänninen

“Are these the same kind of papers I get to draw on when I visit you at work? Somebody has already drawn on these papers. You always tell me not to use them all”.

Satu Nenonen

“Are these gingerbreads? I love gingerbread cookies! Can we please make some gingerbread cookies when we get home, like we did at christmas? I like this painting the best. Can we please stay a little bit longer?”

The Academy of Fine Arts Degree Show is on until June 3rd.

Dear Kasper Strömman Design Blog!

I’m sending you a picture of an antique treasure; how do you like this skateboarding horse?

Best,
Jussi Karjalainen

Dear Jussi,

We love it! Can it do a frontside ollie?

Love,
Kasper Stromman 

We here at the Kasper Stromman Design Blog are happy to announce that we have finally recieved some sponsored beer, courtesy of the “More Beer” team at Futurice!

If you look closely at the picture you can actually see how we were moved to tears as the beer was delivered here at the Kasper Stromman Design Blog Worldwide Headquarters. This truly is a dream come true and such a big surprise – although I guess we have hinted a couple of times over the months that a beer sponsor is definitely not anything we would say no to. 

But since we’ve been blogging for so long with the sole purpose of getting a beer sponsor, the big question now is: how do we carry on now that we got one? 

You know what? It would be really nice to have a sponsored car for the summer.

We here at the Kasper Stromman Design Blog are very excited to tell you that the building of our Space Probe is going as planned. Our team of dedicated space scientists have been super busy and are hardly “dicking around” at all, so we should be ready to launch in about a week or two.

We have also overcome ur initial screwdriver problems by providing the whole staff with Phillips-headed screwdrivers. Turns out flat-head screwdrivers really are a thing of the past after all.

We’ve also been doing a lot of thinking while building our probe. Yes, we’re sending this thing out to search for design in outer space. But shouldn’t exploring be a two-way street? We’ve come to the solution that our probe really should be carrying some design stemming from earth on it’s journey through deep space.

As it is looking at the moment our scientists are thinking of including a gold record of 2. Maanantai’s Mixet tahdo olla mun kaa, the most sold single in Finland of 1994 – but we’re not a 100 per cent sure if this is really representative of earth as a whole.

Aa a matter of fact we’re a bit stuck for ideas. If you have an idea what our space probe should be carrying on it’s journey thorugh deep space, please mail your suggestion to contact@kasperstromman.com.

Every now and then we here at the Kasper Stromman Design Blog get asked what blogs we follow ourselves. Ususally we can never think of a single one. But you’ll be happy to know we have now finally found one – and let us assure us it’s in fact the only design realated blog worth following: Mariskooli! A shared knowledge base-wannabe for Mariskooli/Maribowl collectors.

Inspiration just got a new name.

Sometimes an ordinary product might have a slump in sales because it is perceived as “boring”. Luckily you can usually perk sales up by introducing a special version which is available for a limited time only. Right now all products want to appeal to young fashionable urban individuals. Here’s a top 3: 

3. Pantteri Street

Nothing says “street” like a bag full of fruit flavoured wine gums in different colours, right? Unfortunately consumers haven’t noticed this yet, so currently a totally rad graffiti version is on the market. Not only are these sweets “too cool for school” but they are also almost too “dope” to handle. You’ve been warned. 

2. Felix tomato ketchup feat. Felix

You know what else is cool? Beat boxing! Do you want to be as good a beat boxer as Felix Zenger? Then you’d better eat loads and loads of tomato ketchup – that’s how he got his “mad skillz”.

1. Marli Juissi Strawberry Lime, Limited Edition Rähinä records Edition

Finally, Lil Jon may have his Crunk Juice, but Rähinä Records provides a good domestic alternative by endorsing a really sweet strawberry and lime juice drink. It might not “mess you up” in the same way as Crunk juice does, but at least it’s got a dope slogan: Juo janoon! 

So you better watch out, because this is what fuels Finnish Hip Hop in 2012. Booyakasha!

Owning a motorcycle in Finland is not very practical since it’s either raining or snowing practically every day. But luckily you can cover your bike up. Here’s five completetly made up facts about bike covers.

1. Each year about three times more motorcycle covers are sold than actual motorbikes. This is because oftentimes people will place multiple covers on a single bike for increased protection against the elements, but also to make the motorcycle appear bigger.

2. Sometimes there’s not even a bike under the cover, but rather a chair and some old damp mattresses. This is one of those occasions.

3. Silver has traditionally been the classic choice for covers since the 1930s, but sometimes an owner will go for blue. This means the bike owner is looking for company or/and to buy drugs.

4. Some owners won’t actually take the cover off when riding their bike because they like the flapping sound it makes so much. Flappety-flappety-flap, it goes.

5. Very occasionally you will actually see a motorcycle without a cover though. The reason for this is that by Finnish law you are then entitled to borrow it, but if you do it must be returned on the same day to the same spot, and you have to buy a cover for it.

Still a pretty sweet deal for both parties though – and practically the only reason you will ever see a bike without a cover.

Anatomical study of a Moomintroll
Kasper Stromman 1992
Terracotta 

A while ago we here at the Kasper Stromman Design Blog announced our new Deep Space Exploration Programme which aims to find out if there is design in outer space.

Today we can proudly announce that our new Space Programme Research Facilities are fully functional. As their first job our newly hired team of dedicated space scientists will build a space probe that will be sent out on an interstellar mission.

The space probe’s first goal will be Uranus, from which it will continue further into the outer solar system.

As we are very excited about this mission we also asked the Kasper Stromman Design Blog Design Department to jazz up the space programme logo a bit. They did a sterling job:

This is going to be so great.

Yellow City is an anthology of illustrated stories about Helsinki, which was released a couple a weeks ago. Currently an exhibition of the illustrations is on at the Napa Gallery, and as avid followers of the art scene we at the Kasper Stromman Design Blog were naturally at the opening party.

The party was fun and the illustrations looked okay and everything, but what’s most important – the beer was sponsored! As someone who is actively looking for a beer sponsor, this fact pretty much blew us away here at the Kasper Stromman Design Blog. 

– Marjo Granlund of Napa Illustrations, congratulations on the new exhibition. How did you go about to get a beer sponsor?

– Thank you! This exhibition has been long in the making, so it really is great to… wait, you are not going to be asking these pointless beer questions again, are you? Look, it’s the same beer that was left over from the book launch, okay?

Leena and Jussi.

– No, of course I’m not only going to be asking beer questions, don’t be silly. And don’t get me wrong, the illustrations look great. Almost as great as the delicious Heineken beer you are serving! I wish we at the Kasper Stromman Design Blog had such a great beer sponsor.

– Whatever. Anyway, the exhibition features work from Riikka Sormunen, Jussi Karjalainen, Christer Nuutinen and Pauliina Mäkelä of Napa Illustrations, who have interpreted texts by Juho Nieminen, Leena Parkkinen, Pauliina Haasjoki and Tiina Lehikoinen.

Johnny and Pauliina.

– That’s amazing. And guess what else is amazing? Heineken! I think the guests of this exhibition opening are incredibly lucky to have such an amazing beer at hand.

– Okay, that’s enough. Out.

The Yellow City exhibition is on at the Napa Gallery until May 26th.
The Yellow City book is available in all good bookshops and online now.

Did you know Kasper Stromman also runs a succesful, exclusive webshop? Our new arrivals this week include such luxurious new products as the Black and White Flatscreen TV, Vintage 2004 iPod and the Limited Edition Design Stool.

Due to heavy demand we also now sell clean urine.

Kasper Stromman welcomes you to a world of distinction at www.kasperstromman.com.

Design: Ville Valo, 1996

“According to Valo, the band has become better known for their logo than their music.” – Wikipedia

I’m a professional design blogger who needs beer sponsorship to lubricate my blogging.

The sponsor will have to provide:

• Beer.

In case of sponsorship I will blog about your beer. I will always give 100 %.

The sponsored beer I’m willing to drink is: any. But I do prefer a domestic one.

You can contact me on my e-mail, subject “Sponsorship”.

Thanks for read.
Kasper Stromman

I’m an amateur poker player that need’s sponsorship to take some tournaments.


The sponsor will have to pay.



* Travel spences.

* Buy-in

* Stay

* Meals




In case of winning some price i will take 70% of the price and the sponsor will take the 30%.




The tournamet im willing to go is LAPT- Punta del Este.



You can contact me at my e-mail, subject “Sponsorship”.



Thanks for read.


Faustto Fernandez

Dear Faustto,

No. No no no. Faustto, you got it all wrong: it is actually us here at the Kasper Stromman Design Blog who are looking for a beer sponsor, not the other way around. Let us just be a 100 % clear on this issue.

But seriously though Faustto: your letter doesn’t sound too convincing to us. If we ever are going to sponsor any poker player it needs to be a pro, not an amateur. Okay?

Love,
Kasper Stromman