Blossoming Creativity and Designer Identity with Teemu Muurimäki
HAMK’s design students had the opportunity to learn from one of Finland’s most illustrious fashion designers, Teemu Muurimäki.
In a four-day Creativity and Designer Identity workshop Muurimäki guided Smart and Sustainable Design students in creative concepting. The students were asked to bring with them three concept ingredients: a chosen colour, a room or a world they liked and a well-known person. A closer look at the combination of these, what kind of brand would talk to the chosen person, was the first step.
– As a designer, you have to understand the DNA of a certain aesthetic, describes Muurimäki.
With these three pieces in mind the students first designed a product, like a shoe, costume or fashion piece. Then a whole shopping window display with a touch of 3D elements was designed to support the brand behind the product. With all the displays finally presented side-by-side in a shopping street, it’s about how to make your product and window pop up from the town of white buildings.
– The workshop is always quite a journey. It’s only four days but it was fantastic to see how they started to blossom there. The beginning is always a little bit stiff. First, they don’t really know how to approach the task, but I was day by day more and more impressed how they started to let it go. They came up with really crazy ideas. What I was really underlining was that it’s important to be creative in this workshop, so it’s not important to think about technical detailing or commercial side of the product, Muurimäki says and continues:
It’s all about a strong delivery, like delivering a really strong idea and presenting it beautifully.
During the workshop Muurimäki also showcased his own journey and discoveries in the design world, that took him from wedding dresses in Paris to fashion houses in Milan and all the way from Australia back to Finland, and eventually to the Eurovision stages. What experiences with for example Dolce & Gabbana, Giorgio Armani, Marimekko, Turo and as a freelancer thought him and how those learnings could benefit the new generation of designers.
The group talked about what it’s like to design for an established brand, what creates your own designer identity, how interest and knowledge of different materials can take you to places, and how to take feedback from the general audience but still remember to first and foremost listen to your customer.
On the last day of the workshop the final brand windows were showcased in HAMK’s campus displays for a final feedback session.
– On the last day I felt like Christmas when I came to work. The students were really working hard, many of them stayed quite late on the last night just to finish their work. And I think the results are fantastic, I’m very proud of them, Muurimäki says.
