World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 by Kokoro & Moi

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CLIENT

The World Design Cap­i­tal is a city pro­mo­tion project cel­e­brat­ing the mer­its of design. Held bien­ni­al­ly, it seeks to high­light the accom­plish­ments of cities that are tru­ly lever­ag­ing design as a tool to improve their social, cul­tur­al, and eco­nom­ic cli­mate through­out a year-long pro­gram of design-relat­ed events.

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BRIEF

After suc­cess­ful­ly com­plet­ing the appli­ca­tion phase in 2009, Koko­ro & Moi was invit­ed to con­tin­ue work­ing with World Design Cap­i­tal Helsin­ki in 2012; brought in to devel­op the iden­ti­ty con­cept, visu­al iden­ti­ty, com­mu­ni­ca­tion design, adver­tis­ing, and sev­er­al design projects from prod­uct to spa­tial and inter­ac­tive design. The main themes for the WDC Helsin­ki 2012 year were Open City, Glob­al Respon­si­bil­i­ty, and Roots for New Growth. World Design Cap­i­tal Helsin­ki 2012 events, exhi­bi­tions, and loca­tions attract­ed near­ly one mil­lion vis­i­tors. 2,800 events were orga­nized through­out the year and the pro­gram includ­ed 580 projects.

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APPROACH

The World Design Cap­i­tal Helsin­ki 2012 visu­al iden­ti­ty was built around the idea of open­ness. Cit­i­zens were tak­en to the cen­ter of design and prob­lem solv­ing to devel­op ideas and solu­tions fur­ther. The brand iden­ti­ty fea­tured hun­dreds of graph­ic inter­pre­ta­tions of the main themes (Open Helsinki—Embedding Design in Life, Glob­al Respon­si­bil­i­ty, and Roots for New Growth), designed in Open Iden­ti­ty Work­shops by peo­ple from all ages, nation­al­i­ties, and dif­fer­ent back­grounds. The iden­ti­ty changed its look across medi­ums and events as more graph­ics fed in—it rep­re­sent­ed the open source idea in the form of an iden­ti­ty system.

The visual identity for the World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 project played a very important role, bringing the project to life and making it visible among citizens and guests who visited Helsinki during 2012. Alongside the logo, Kokoro & Moi created an identity based on the core messages in the strategy, which highlighted the idea of openness and encouraged people to get involved in the development of their city. Kokoro & Moi created the “Open Identity Workshop” concept where anybody could come to draw and give their input to the identity—these were a huge success with hundreds of people attending. They were also a great way to tell people about the design capital project, its strategy, and the goals. The identity was always evolving (like the city which is never finished) when more and more illustrations from people were fed in. The visual identity succeeded with its vivid, colorful, and fresh look and attitude, and was something else other than the clear and minimalist language of form that Finnish design is known for. — Mr. Pekka Timonen, Executive Director of World Design Capital Helsinki 2012”