Buy better presents

Buy better presents

Cheers to companies that actually give a s**t!

It’s that time of the year again when people are ramping up their efforts to give joy and happiness to their families, friends, and co-workers. What is a perfect gift like?

For me it’s a useful, well-designed product that lasts a long time. Even better if the brand is committed to ethical and sustainable business practices.

The concept of philanthropy, social and ecological responsibility as a product feature or company ethos is nothing new. Still, many of us are mainly focusing on brand and price.

That’s why we need more companies like MiiR.They design and manufacture amazing outdoor gear and I got an opportunity to customize a series of products for Strömfors Outdoor when they decided to collaborate with MiiR. They also donate 5% of their top-line revenue annually to different progressive projects around the world focusing on water, education and bicycle transportation.

What makes their giving concept cool though is the fact that each customer gets a code that links their product to a specific project. By entering the code on MiiR website the customer gets information and pictures on the active project associated with that code.

This Christmas and next year I encourage you to take a look at your own personal shopping choices and those of your company. Buy goods and services that spread good beyond the traditional value chain. And buy from companies that are committed to social and environmental accountability.

A great place to start your search is B Corp’s website. They are a non-profit organization that grants certificates for companies which pass their “rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency”.

Search for certified B Corps here.

Happy Thanksgiving and Better Shopping!

Factory Visit

Factory Visit

Visiting Strömfors Outdoor in Southern Finland

Strömfors Outdoor opened its doors for visitors in May this year and I got to visit the site in August. It was exciting to see how an old factory building had transformed into a modern clubhouse for trail runners, mountain bikers, and other outdoor enthusiasts. Our “outdoor factory” now hosts an office, a lounge area, and a rental shop. A yoga room and a weight training area for cross fit type training are in the works and opening soon.

It was interesting to see with my own eyes how the logo had been implemented in various real world applications. There was a rusted heavy metal sign over the entrance and it looked really good. The flags at the door and T-shirts in the shop were both adorned with the logo.

It was a great start. Well, it was more than a start. My partners had done an awesome job with the building, interior, and business. The visual side of the brand and experience is still in its infancy and it is my job to develop it further. My next goal is to create a richer visual language for Strömfors Outdoor that will be applied to our social media feed, other marketing channels, and that can be used in products such as clothing and posters.

Stay tuned, stay outside!

P.S. See more project images here

Suunto Movesense

Suunto Movesense

Smart clothing technology gets a brand identity

Suunto, a Finnish company that manufactures smart watches for athletes and adventurers is gradually licensing its Movesense technology to new companies. The latest partnership with Reima has produced ReimaGO® outerwear concept for kids. The idea is simple. Movesense sensors inside ReimaGO® clothing track kids’ activity and rewards them with fun content in iOS app. Movesense has previously been applied to athletic bras, heart rate belts and training shirts.

I was approached by Suunto to create a brand identity for Movesense. You can take a look at the result on here.