“At the heart of Iittala has always been an experimental, open-minded, and bold approach to design,” says Iittala’s creative director Janni Vepsäläinen. Read the exclusive Design Stories interview to find out how the beloved Finnish brand was revamped, logo included – and what Vepsäläinen’s own Iittala favorites are!
Hi, Janni! As Iittala’s creative director, you were tasked with creating the company’s new brand identity. What can we expect to see in the future?
“Hi! The most visible changes are the way Iittala’s logo, brand color and visual communications are changing. Personally, I think the most important aspect is that we’re taking on the role of an active cultural actor. The launch party in Stockholm was a very significant event in terms of this change. During the evening, a British multi-instrumentalist Damsel Elysium took to the stage. Their performance used glass instruments co-created with Iittala, and they had composed a unique piece especially for these instruments.
The project and resulting performance reflect Iittala's new collaborative ethos. We want to make handicraft expertise relevant and bring Iittala’s glassmaking expertise to the forefront of our creative brand by working with an artist who does not necessarily have a background in traditional design.
With the new vision, we have also wanted to explore modern rituals and customs within the home. These may involve, for example, habits related to eating. Do we eat at the table, on the sofa, or sitting on the floor? Are our cupboards big enough to fit a complete set of dishes, or perhaps just enough for three bowls and one plate?
We want to answer these questions in a way that appeals to younger target groups as well. I think it is important for any kind of brand to take note of this as they think about the future and how to stay relevant for years to come. This is why we want to tell Iittala’s story to younger generations in a way that speaks to them.”
What kind of journey has this transformation been like for you as a creative leader?
“Previously, Iittala has only had design directors, whose work has been very product-centered. The creative director is a completely new and much more holistic role. The fact that there is suddenly someone at the company whose job encompasses basically everything it does has brought its own challenges, and the learning process is still ongoing. However, I want to highlight that above all, my job is to help the people around me, and that everything we do, we do together as a team. Even though the overarching vision comes from me, I would never be able to bring it to life by myself. Already during the idea phase, I put together a small team with whom we met weekly. Many of these meetings were spent simply having a conversation, and these conversations brought out ideas that were later used in the final vision.
I have been living abroad for so long that even the local working culture felt foreign to me at first. Finnish people tend to try to reach a consensus on everything, even though it is rarely possible. Personally, I find it is easier to make decisions quickly, take an intuitive approach to things and just move on.
A big part of my vision is to really bring creativity into focus in everything we do. This means that we need to do everything thoroughly and with reverence. When you work like this, you cannot constantly compromise to please others. If you try too hard to please other people, you will only end up losing yourself and pleasing no one. During my career in high-end fashion, I’ve learned that a boring, pleasant result is the worst thing you can end up with. Creativity does not always have to be something crazy, either. You just have to have an idea, a thought, and then stick to it.”
“During my career in high-end fashion, I’ve learned that a boring, pleasant result is the worst thing you can end up with.”
As you already touched on, you have a strong background in fashion. What has your career been like so far?
“I am originally from Lahti, Finland, and have been drawing, painting and engaging in visual culture since I was just a little kid. It was always clear for me that I wanted to do something creative, but I thought I would go into something like photography, painting, or graphic design. Instead, I ended up studying fashion in my hometown. During the first two years, fitting in felt hard. Then I did a student exchange in Copenhagen, which included a really good knitting class. It was there that I realized that this was my thing. I was able to construct my own fabric, choose my own yarns and combine them as I best saw fit. It was amazing!
I actually experienced a very similar feeling when I applied as Iittala’s creative director. During the last recruitment stage, I got to visit the Iittala Glass Factory. I got to see how the craftspeople worked the materials up close: how they create glass out of sand and use minerals to give it a specific hue. As I watched the glassblowers at work, immersing themselves in the material, it felt like I was onto something big again.
• Read also: Visiting the Iittala Glass Factory >
After Copenhagen, I worked with different fashion brands in Paris, London and New York. London has always been a kind of home base for me, and I still keep a second home there. It was in London that I worked for the luxury fashion brand JW Anderson for five years. I practically revamped their entire knitwear category. The next step for me would have been to start my own fashion brand. My partner and I had also just renovated our London home, and were thinking of really setting down roots there.
But then, an agent I had previously worked with contacted me and suggested I apply as the creative director of Iittala. Admittedly, my first thought was: “How would I ever fit into that role?” When you have been doing something for a long time, it can be easy to pigeonhole yourself into one particular role. However, I am an open-minded person and who enjoys creative challenges and finding different outlets for my creativity.”
How did you start working on your vision for Iittala?
“As part of the recruitment process, I had to submit a version of my creative vision. When I was putting that vision together, I took great care to analyze where Iittala stands currently as a brand and where I would like to take it as its creative director. The concepts and big picture completely swept me off my feet. I officially began in my current role in February 2023 and spent the first few months focusing solely on Iittala's archives and history.
When creating my vision, I wanted to constantly keep in mind that everything had to be connected to Iittala’s brand DNA and that I should not be trying to reinvent anything. Iittala has been around since 1881. The brand has a long history, and its craftspeople are among the best in the world.
At the heart of Iittala has always been an experimental, open-minded, risk-taking, and bold approach to design. The Aino Aalto series, for example, was launched in 1932. Back then, most design objects were decorated with golden edges and floral patterns. The designer Aino Aalto dared to question the prevailing trends of the time and approach the design process in a way that differed from her contemporaries. Tapio Wirkkala's Ultima Thule is another good example of this bold approach. Iittala’s designers have always known how to use disruption to their advantage. Once I realized this, everything became very clear. When you are constructing a vision, as with all creative work, you have hold on to your truth. There is no other way to do it. It stems from such a deep part of yourself that you simply have to follow it and let it lead you.
Iittala has a remarkable product portfolio that includes many Finnish design classics. We do not want to get rid of those, but instead lift them up higher and update them to make them more relevant from a current perspective. Perhaps the biggest challenge in creating the new vision has been combining the existing design language with new and building a coherent vision that utilizes both of these.”
“Sometimes, we become blind to things we see all around us and forget how unique they are on a global scale.”
Finns are known to have a very close relationship with their domestic design brands. Do you feel that your years abroad encouraged you to approach the Iittala brand more objectively?
“I think having lived outside Finland for so long is definitely a plus. I still feel like an outsider, and I want to hold onto that feeling for as long as I can. If Iittala would have wanted a creative director who would only make small changes, they would not have hired me for the job. My creative process demands that I look at the big picture and really focus on what I’m doing.
Because I am Finnish and grew up with Iittala’s products, my own relationship with the brand is of course very personal. Few brands are as involved in people's lives throughout their life. Iittala’s products touch so many people’s lives – in quite a literal sense. We eat and drink from Iittala dishes. They are a part of our national identity.
Of course, at its core, Iittala is primarily a Finnish brand. However, I am trying to move away from describing the company as Nordic or our design language as Scandinavian. These things are not even remotely synonymous, either. It's one thing to describe a brand as Finnish and quite another to call it Nordic. Finnish culture has a lot of peculiarities: there’s a lot of dualism, one half of the year being dark and the other filled with light. It really has an effect on our culture. Our culture also features a lot of rugged aesthetics. Personally, I find they really speak to me. Sometimes, we become blind to things we see all around us and forget how unique they are on a global scale. I believe that these small nuances are what makes Iittala unique on the international market.
I also want to talk about is what it means to be a Finn. When we talk about being Finnish, we should take into account that it is a very multifaceted thing. I feel that our national character is a very international one, and after all, we do live in a globalized world.”
What lessons have you brought over from the fashion world to design?
“Definitely a certain sense of speed and agility. I am used to designing nine collections per year and doing things and making decisions quickly. I'm always moving forward at a fast pace. I also trust my intuition – you have to trust your own feelings!
Approaching things from a collection perspective is also something I have brought to Iittala from my previous career in fashion. At Iittala, we are now committed to launching a new collection at regular intervals instead of designing and launching single products. These collections function as larger lifestyle ensembles and support each other. This is a completely new direction for us. I also want to strengthen Iittala's "creative muscle". That is a big strategic decision we have committed ourselves to.
I believe that we should encourage people to move more freely between fashion and design. It can only bring positive things to the entire field of design. These days, we are constantly seeing this kind of mobility. Musicians may move to work with fashion brands or to design furniture, for example. We need to look at creativity in a more multidimensional way. It’s the modern thing to do. When we encourage people to move freely between different industries, we also gain new perspectives.”
Let's circle back to Iittala's new look. What sources of inspiration have influenced your final vision?
“David Bowie and Iggy Pop’s album Lust for Life were important sources of inspiration during this process. In terms of form-oriented thinking, draw a lot of inspiration from fashion. The Finnish artist Kain Tapper's work condenses our national character in a wonderfully nuanced way. The artist couple Christo and Jeanne-Claude are also important role models for me. The reverence they have for the things they do really speaks to me. Sometimes I wonder if my own ideas are too intense. At moments like this, looking at their projects helps me to set things into perspective. At least I am not going around wrapping up whole town halls! So, looking at their work also gives me a sense of peace. I find that the greatest cultural moments are always born out of two things coming together in an unexpected way. I sometimes think about how Iggy Pop or David Bowie’s art could be combined with Iittala’s design, and what interesting things could result from the dialogue between them.
Colors are very important to me. I have a highly personal relationship to them. Iittala’s new brand color is a vivid yellow that reflects kiln-melted glass – a material ready to be molded. At the same time, it is a nod to the Bauhaus tradition and primary colors. Yellow is almost invariably considered a positive color in all cultures, signifying creativity, joy and positive things.”
Almost every Finn has a favorite Iittala product that holds special significance to them. What is your personal favorite?
“The Aino Aalto drinking glasses! My parents had them our home, and I remember them well from my childhood. The more I have read about Aino and learned about the origin story of the glasses, the more important they have become to me. I find that they are very well designed and that they should be given more attention.”
Iittala has always had a strong presence in homes and kitchens. Do you have any thoughts on your own home to end the interview with?
“I like homes that are not too polished and where you can feel the presence of the people who live there. If something feels too perfect or too arranged, I instantly reject it. My own home is full of small treasures that represent memories from my travels and my past. My husband plays many different instruments, so we also have a lot of those, many books, and a lot of art in our home.
The home we renovated in London actually represented the home of our dreams. We had bought a Victorian house which was built in the 1870s that featured 150-year-old stairwells and railings. We wanted to both honor the spirit of the old house, but also to bring something modern into the mix.
The original floor tiles had been preserved, and we sanded and re-varnished them. We tore through many, many layers of wallpaper and left the walls looking purposefully rough, giving them a sort of a plastered look. The kitchen was given a minimalist look with microcement surfaces. We also built a large dining table out of oak plywood. We really built that home with love. When you look at it, you could say that there are a lot of parallels between that project and Iittala’s brand reform!”
Janni Vepsäläinen TOP 3:
Role model: “David Bowie was one of the few cultural and creative figures who managed to navigate both avant-garde and popularity in a really wonderful way. He was constantly recreating himself. He moved freely between different art forms and held onto his freedom. During his first active years, he did not succeed or receive much recognition, but he kept on going. That kind of perseverance really speaks to me.”
Phenomenon: “I believe that as people, we are seeking to counterbalance our ever-accelerating pace of life and trying to find a way to put some distance between ourselves and the digital world. People are looking for peace and quiet, and our homes play a central role in this quest.”
Activity: “My favorite activity in London is, of course, enjoying the cultural landscape of the city: visiting galleries and art exhibitions and eating out in restaurants. One of my favorite spots is Primeur, a restaurant built into an old garage. In Helsinki, I like to do things that help me connect with nature, such as ice swimming or taking walks on the ice that covers the Baltic sea during the winter.”
Iittala favorites
See also:
Text: Jenna Kiuru Images: Mikael Niemi Production: Design Stories