Survey of Industrial Design in Finland

SurveyofIndustrialDesigninFinlanddesigniumDesignium,theNewCentreofInnovationinDesign,isbuiltonclosecooperationbetweentheUniversityofArtandDesignHelsinki,UniversityofLapland,HelsinkiUniversityofTechnologyandtheHelsinkiSchoolofEconomicsandBusinessAdministration,aswellasotheruniversities,polytechnics,businessesandpublicbodies.ThemissionofDesigniumistopromotethedevelopmentofnationaldesignpolicy,theinternationalisationofthesector,andenhancethecompetitivenessofFinnishindustrythroughmulti-disciplinaryresearchandinnovation.Tekes,theNationalTechnologyAgencyprovidesfundingandexpertservicesforthedevelopmentofinternationallycompetitiveproductsandproductiontechniques.Theagencyannuallyspendsover390millioneurosingrantsandloanstotechnologydevelopmentprojects.TechnologyprogrammescreatenewtechnologicalexpertiseinFinlandincooperationwithbusinesses,researchinstitutionsanduniversities.ThepurposeoftheprogrammesistoraisethetechnologicalcompetitivenessofFinnishindustryinthekeyindustrialsectorsofthefuture.Currently,theagencyhasabout50ongoingtechnologyprogrammes.SurveyofIndustrialDesigninFinland2002Copyright©2002Designium.PublisherDesignium-theNewCentreofInnovationinDesignUniversityofArtandDesignHelsinkiHämeentie135C,00560HelsinkiFinlandEditorsSampsaPiiraandJuhaJärvinenGraphicdesignbyJuhaJärvinenTranslatedbyTomiSnellman:Theearninglogicofdesignfirmsmustbedeveloped.Thefirmsoftenperformworkclassifiableasstrategicwork,yettheyarepaidaccordingtooperativework(asforproductdesignorgraphicdesign,forexample).Thefirmsthemselvesdonothavemultidisciplinaryresources,andtheirnetworkingconsistsofsubcontracting.Thisdoesnotsupportthedevelopmentoftheearninglogicorcredibilityofdesignfirmstothelevelofconsultancies.Mostdesignfirmsaresmall.Fledglingandone-manofficesshouldformlargeroperativeunitstogeneratebetterbusinessopportunitiesforthemselves.Operativeuseofdesigninindustryshouldbeincreasedincompanieswheresuchuseisscant.Moreover,corporateunderstandingoftheutilisationofdesignonthestrategiclevelshouldbeimproved.Long-termsystematicutilisationofdesigninproductdevelopmentshouldbeincreased.ThisalsocallsforincreasingresourcesbudgetedtoR&D.Cooperationbetweendesignfirmsandtheirindustrialclientsshouldbecloser.Itisimportantthattheirprocessesbecompatible.ThesurveywasconductedbyDesignium,theNewCentreofInnovationinDesignattheUniversityofArtandDesignHelsinki.Theauthorswishtoextendtheirwarmestthankstoallthosewhoparticipatedintheplanning,executingandfundingofthesurvey,aswellasotherwork,andespeciallytotherespondents.Helsinki,19Sept