Marimekko design – The utmost of artistic and technical skill

Strong and distinctive product design is the cornerstone of Marimekko’s operations and corporate culture. The starting point for design is that each individual Marimekko product must earn its own design value and express Marimekko’s lifestyle concept. Alongside distinctive and individual design there is a stress on the functionality and practical aspects of the products. Design proceeds in close interaction with production, sales and marketing.

Whether well-known and recognised names or young promising talents at the beginning of their career, Marimekko’s designers are all among the leading figures in their field. Marimekko has always collaborated closely with students of design and young designers, a mutually beneficial relationship in which young designers can demonstrate their skills, while Marimekko gains new impulses and a feel for contemporary phenomena.

From sketch to printed fabric

Marimekko introduces dozens of new fabric designs each year. The progress of a new design from the sketches to the printed fabric begins with an exchange of ideas and concepts. The designer and the Marimekko interior textile team discuss in what form a design could function best and have the greatest appeal, what kind of soul it could have and in what context it could belong. Designers are not given any instructions or limitations beforehand. Instead, they are free to create and inject their own experiences and views of trends into the patterns. Marimekko’s collections thus achieve a varied and rich range of different worlds of patterns and colours.

The new fabric patterns originate from the creative ideas of the designer and each new fabric is primarily the result of its designer’s creative effort. The work, however, is not complete until the designer and the various professionals of the production process have jointly tested how the ideas function. The final appearance and spirit of the fabric emerge through co-operation with those making the stencils, working in the colour laboratory and running the printing machines. At Marimekko, all who participate in the production process are among the best in their own fields.