Design for a team T-shirt for the Tough Viking extreme run event in Helsinki, September 2022.
I've been working with Adobe Illustrator for over twenty years. It's Adobe's premier software for vector graphics.
Initially, one had to read manuals and find tricks from bulletin boards and other users. Some features are still so well hidden that you would likely never know they exist unless you knew exactly what to look for. Fortunately, Adobe has added plenty of tips and guidance systems over the years, making it much more user-friendly.
For basic layouts, I usually use InDesign. When I want to add some flair, I turn to Photoshop. But when I aim to create something truly unique, Illustrator is often my tool of choice.
A bank in central Helsinki relocated to a new building and decided to name their meeting rooms after the street names found in the Finnish version of Monopoly. This sparked an idea in my colleague: 'Could you create a map of the premises that also resembles a Monopoly game board? It would be a fantastic addition to the lobby.' I was certainly up for the challenge, and the client was thrilled with this impromptu addition to their lobby.
Logos and other jobs
Over time, I have created multiple logos. Designing something new is always exciting, but the process isn't always straightforward. Here are a few stories (check the captions), each with its own unique twist.
Rap Duo Make and Gisu's logo. Good example of adaptability, since I designed the other way around, G on the left, the customer just flipped it around, so it matches the name of the duo.
Minna had a drawing that she had made for the logo of her beauty salon, but we both knew it just didn't work. In the drawing, a partial letter 'M' touched the sides of a full circle. On the walk home from the salon, a picture of a dinner plate with a pair of utensils left on it popped into my head, inspiring the idea of breaking the edge of the circle to let the image breathe. With just a few minor tweaks by Minna, that idea became the final logo, and we're both super proud of it.
Occasionally the original files just cannot be found when some people leave and new ones come in. The company did no longer have a decent sized version of their logo, so I was asked to redraw it in vector format.
Sometimes, one has very limited space to maneuver. This logo is actually a combination of elements from two different logos: the mountains from the gym's logo that is organizing a weightlifting cup, and the name of the company supplying the weights used in the competition. But it works!
The Vates Foundation turned 30 and wanted to celebrate the event by featuring a special version of their standard logo for a year. It's a very narrow path to walk, balancing the introduction of something new and interesting while maintaining the familiar look of the logo. In this case, it took only the addition of a smiling face, a sign, and slight adjustments to the characters' hands to make it appear as if they are holding the sign.
Maps
I might go long periods without working on anything too complicated in Illustrator. However, one task I regularly undertake, which is usually complex enough to keep my skills sharp, is creating maps. It took some time to develop nearly automated processes for extracting lines between water and land masses from various sources, along with other similar tricks to expedite the process.
Yet, each map is unique and requires different adjustments to fit the magazine layout, so there's always a significant amount of manual work involved.
A map of the area around Azerbaijan for issue 3 of the 2023 'Linnut' magazine.