Sounio

A little morning walk in the forest

Finnish spring art....

Casa Malaparte

Dreaming about building a house?

Newsweek and Daily Beast love Nokia's Lumia 900

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/01/10/nokia-lumia-900-boast-sleeker-more-modern-design-than-apple-iphone.html

Ps. My family member works at Nokia so this is "biased" marketing fun....

Brändikäs, my new book Brandcat finally out!

Dear international friends, 

I am deeply sorry for being so quiet for months and months! I was searching my "Finnish voice" by writing my first book Brändikäs or Brandikas. It is a whole new kind of business entertainment book! It is a true story and a bold manifesto, told in a sarcastic and witty way.

Brändikäs is just being published by Talentum, the largest professional publisher of law and business books in Finland.

My book Brandikas reveals what happens behind the curtains of the most iconic Finnish design companies, such as Marimekko, Iittala and Artek.

I am not just writing juicy gossip, sooner I try to capture the fierce spirit of intern politics inside the compananies and describe the battles of product development.

For example I have been named as the girl who raped the Alvar Aalto vase as i pushed iittala to renew the famous Aalto vase, one of the most famous design products in the world.

Also, I am doing the Finnish or perhaps even world record in name dropping. In Brandikas you will find the legendary figures of Finnish business elite, top politicians and internationally acknowledged Finnish designers.

Moreover, Brandikas tells also briefly the story of Dopplr, an online service for frequent travellers I co-founded in 2007 with Matt Biddulph, Matt Jones, Dan Gilmor and my then boyfriend Marko Ahtisaari. Dopplr's story is a tale of internet warriors who try to beat the web gigants like Facebook by focusing on the values and respect towards the users.

Check out the invitations to the Brandikas book launch here.

The english, swedish and german edition of Brandikas, or Brandcat will come out in 2011.

Photo: Twitpic Vianiipola.

Rethinking flying experience

I have sometimes critisized airline companies for the loss of creativity in designing in flight experiences. Now Finnair asked me to write down my ideas to make it better...Rethinking quality column here.

Brändikäs, my new book coming out on October, 12th, 2010

The green "wanna-be" writer laughing at herself. Photo: Lehtikuva

Talentum, the Finnish business publisher is the printing house for my new, "business entertainment" book Brändikäs, that comes out in October, 2010.

What is "Brändikäs"?

Brändikäs is a mix of words brand & mediasexy. It does not refer to the plundering smile above, but to the fact that controlling brands is dead. Your company, your product or service has to inspire, stand out in an original way and to be constantly newsworthy.

In the BABBLE ECONOMY, all you (your product, service) can do is to "sail along the winds of conversation and constant attention world cup". Fascinating rhetorics and sustainable values count.

Rocking Wallpaper

 Design Awards chez Wallpaper in London.

Whoops - Money did not make me happy!

The Weekend FT Life & Arts pages had an excellent interview of the writer John Lancaster. His new book "Whoops" about money & happiness comes out next week. The interview gave me insights to why I grew workaholic, and also, why it's so damn difficult to de-learn workaholism. Recommended reading! An an excercise of truth for the wanna-be writers!

The big two, Steffi & Mr Yunus, and the tiny me celebrating the end of the DLD conference.

http://www.life.com/image/96186488