Exhibition

Our exhibition in the Forum shopping center was a success. We received a lot of positive feedback, and also some ideas on how to improve on the design. Together with the testers passing by we were visualizing where one would find our product. 

One noteworthy suggestion was the airport, another a hotel lobby, places where you generally have to wait for extended periods of time. Hotels being our original purpose for the design.

Many of our testers expressed a desire to see more divans or other comfortable seating in Forum, and other shopping malls in general, so one could rest in between shopping.

We had a guest register where people were free to write what they wanted, we were positively surprised by the positivity of the comments. People really liked the design and functionality.

Once again I would like to thank all of our sponsors and also all the people who tested and commented on our design at the Forum exhibition.

Below are some pictures from the exhibition:

Finally we are closing in on the big event next January, the Heimtextil fair.

Until then we, and the blog, will be on Christmas break. We will return after Christmas once school begins again.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Picture from our guest register :)

Welcome to the exhibition at Forum shopping centre 7.12.-11.12.2015

one more sponsor

Our product is ready. So all we needed was a candy sponsor for the fair. But not anymore! Finlandia candy wanted to help us out and gave us five boxes sweets. Big thanks :)

It's finally starting to feel real :)

This week we have been really productive. We filmed a video, in which we are introducing our installation. We finished building at the workshop (some painting still needs to be done) and we bought the tickets to Germany. It's finally starting to feel real!! Frankfurt here we come!

I'm not saying anything more. Let the pictures do the talking ;)

Work continues at the workshop!

Sawing, construction products, cutting and shaping fabric..

In December, we have our products exhibition in the Forum department store! Awesome! The exhibition opens at 7.12.2015. Welcome to test the product.

We have a busy week ahead. Video Filming, making of marketing materials, product finishing ..

Exciting to see how it goes.

- Riikka

Making progress!!

We are making progress! On Friday I was again at the "paja"-workshop. I started work on the plywood that are going to work as the support structure for our divan. I rounded the corners, and cut the dents that are going to hold the cross beams. Again a big thanks to Hessu. Without him we would probably still be cutting those pieces with a carpet knife. Heres some new pictures from the action. 

 

I don't know about Riikka, but I really thought, that we would be working at the "paja" just once. Sawing the pieces and that would be it. I was wrong. We have been there already three times and there is still one final visit left. The last time, when we put it together. I'm looking forward to it. After that we can start work on the textile that is going on the top of the installation. Making furniture isn't as easy as how it looks!

You are probably wondering, how the final product is going to look like. We are writing about it and showing some pictures about the making process, but nobody really seems to know how our "baby" really looks like. The plans have changed so many times, so no wonder that nobody actually knows what we are really doing.

But now, finally I can brighten you up. Our teacher Tuiti Paju made a 3D modelling of our product for us and here it is:

 Looks quite hard, doesn't it? No worries! We are still working on it. We will make it a little bit prettier and softer! Just wait for it ;)

Photo shooting and working with saw

This week we had photography course and we took studio pictures for the portfolio and the presentation. We also booked studio time for the video shooting about our project.

I only had one day to work in the workshop. Luckily, workshop teacher “Hessu” helped me. Finally all the materials are cut! Now is time to build a product. Big thanks to workshop staff! We could not have done it without you.

The project will continue seeking a new workspace. When a product is built we can finally work on fabric. Presentation technique I've been thinking a virtual execution and the live video. More on this next time..

Below are some new pictures from the project: 

                                                  Workshop teacher ”Hessu”

                                                  Our materials

                                                    One studio picture of me

- Riikka

Work in progress

Back and forth we go.. Now we have all the materials. I drew the vector images again Illustrator program. Lakriima drew a pattern based on my vector images. Then we used our lunch break drawing guides to the correct material for cutting.

After that we have this one free day and we have time to go school workshop. Workshop teacher Mikko Siponen checked out and edited my vector images with Rino program. Finally we can start cutting material. Mikko Siponen taught us to use a circular saw and helped us.

Below are some new pictures from the project:

- Riikka

More Material

Not much has happened, since our last update. Last week we picked up some more materials from Etola and the rest from Foiltek. Now we have more than enough, so next week we can finally start to create. No more excuses :D 

Below are some new pictures from the project:

Thanks so much Etola :) we are more than happy!

Life can never be too easy and the same applies to this project. The materials we received from Foiltek wouldn't fit the trunk, so we had to leave it open. And what do you know some of the materials fell out as we were driving. So we had to stop the car and go pick them up. One could do naugh than laugh. 

Lakriima

Ups and downs

Like in all projects there is goin to be ups and downs. At the moment we are quite in the bottom. In the beginning of this project i had this strong vision in my mind how this lobby furniture should be.
I wanted to create this free and living form. Because we have a zero budget, we had to ask the materials for free. This has been really a challenge during the hole project. We haven't received the necessary assistance what comes to working with the body structure of the furniture. I feel that i need to "kill my darling" and go back to square one. This is a frustrating moment for me.

We're so grateful that we've got even some materials for free. So, now we have to process our materials and think about the options for the ongoing project. We both are mothers, students and we're also working at the same time, so we have to do this project in our own free time. The schedule is tight. It will be interesting to see the outcome of all this.

Sometimes it's good to stop and look around. This is what I saw and felt!

- Riikka

About the Material

Searching for the right material, has been a pain in the ass. Before we can start on building our instalation, we have to have the suitable materials for it. Because we have a zero budget, we had to ask the materials for free. Sometimes to get the stuff means walking across forests, freezing and to get lost! But we want to believe it was all worth it! Fortunately, there is a lot of wonderful people and companys, who wanted to help us and to be involved in our project. 

Below are some pictures from our material seeking journey:

A banner from the famous "Forumin kulma".

at the "Paja" workshop, in our school

Tikkurilan Romu oy, which actually was (in the middle of nowhere) in Tuusula.

At Foiltek Oy

Finally we have all the materials we need, so now we can start to create something! Big thanks to all involved <3

my beginning

Riikka's task was to find a partner for the project, and thats where I jumped in.

Riikka decided to create furniture for a hotel lobby, so my job was to think of all the opportunities on how to carry this out. I made some sketches and thought about suitable materials. The material we would settle on should be able to withstand frequent use. And that's where I got the idea to use recycled materials like truck tarps and outdoor banners. Which are made of hardy materials, so they should endure.

We wanted to create a free and living form, so my first idea was to work with felted balls, because they would allow us to change the furniture's shape freely. It didn't work for us, so we looked at other options. We began anew with the material. Here's are some photo's of my experiment's.

Lakriima