State Prize for Design 2012 awarded to Pentagon Design
Ministry of Education and Culture
Publication date
29.11.2012
10.00
Press release
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The 2012 State Prize for Design has been awarded to industrial designers Arni Aromaa and Sauli Suomela, founders of Pentagon Design. The prize sum for the award is ?15,000. The award will be presented by Minister of Culture and Sport Paavo Arhinmäki on Thursday 29 November in Helsinki. Finland?s state prizes for the arts are awarded in recognition of work completed within the last three years that is of especially high artistic merit, or for long-term valuable work for the good of a specific artform. The State Prize for Design is awarded by the National Council for Design.
Grounds for the State Prize for Design 2012:
Industrial designers Arni Aromaa (born 1971) and Sauli Suomela (1969) work at the design agency that they founded, Pentagon Design. The agency designs carefully considered product, service, brand and space solutions for everyday needs. The details of these visionary, diverse, user-friendly and even surprising solutions are exquisitely thought out. The design work involves a thorough analysis of the end customer?s needs, while at the same time recognising the business opportunities for the client.
?In 2030, half of Finnish design initiatives deal with developing services and experiences. Finnish design and Finnish designers make living happier, easier and more sustainable.? These words introduce the Design for tomorrow – The Future of Finnish Design and Going Global report that is being published today. The multifaceted and high quality work of this year?s recipient of the State Prize for Design, Pentagon Design, is a fine example of the model that will be used for offering the design services of tomorrow. Pentagon Design has expanded its expertise to encompass the design of services and experiences with the aim of creating attractive and functional experiences for the consumer. ?Reinventing the everyday? is the design agency?s motto. Good design enhances positive interactions and responsibility, while also improving the quality of everyday life.
Arni Aromaa and Sauli Suomela founded their company Pentagon Design as students in 1995. Their starting point has always been consumer design, a user-friendly approach to design. Their original motto was ?rational passion?. The focus when promoting their ecological and ethical designs has always been on the client and the consumer.
Pentagon Design presented their 15th anniversary exhibition at the Design Museum last spring as part of the World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 programme. Over the years Pentagon Design has grown to become one of the leading design agencies in the Nordic countries, with customers from Helsinki to Istanbul. Through their work, contemporary Finnish design has gained a lot of visibility around the world.
Further information:
- Kirsi Väkiparta, Senior Advisor (Arts Council of Finland), tel. +358 (0)295 330 724
Industrial designers Arni Aromaa (born 1971) and Sauli Suomela (1969) work at the design agency that they founded, Pentagon Design. The agency designs carefully considered product, service, brand and space solutions for everyday needs. The details of these visionary, diverse, user-friendly and even surprising solutions are exquisitely thought out. The design work involves a thorough analysis of the end customer?s needs, while at the same time recognising the business opportunities for the client.
?In 2030, half of Finnish design initiatives deal with developing services and experiences. Finnish design and Finnish designers make living happier, easier and more sustainable.? These words introduce the Design for tomorrow – The Future of Finnish Design and Going Global report that is being published today. The multifaceted and high quality work of this year?s recipient of the State Prize for Design, Pentagon Design, is a fine example of the model that will be used for offering the design services of tomorrow. Pentagon Design has expanded its expertise to encompass the design of services and experiences with the aim of creating attractive and functional experiences for the consumer. ?Reinventing the everyday? is the design agency?s motto. Good design enhances positive interactions and responsibility, while also improving the quality of everyday life.
Arni Aromaa and Sauli Suomela founded their company Pentagon Design as students in 1995. Their starting point has always been consumer design, a user-friendly approach to design. Their original motto was ?rational passion?. The focus when promoting their ecological and ethical designs has always been on the client and the consumer.
Pentagon Design presented their 15th anniversary exhibition at the Design Museum last spring as part of the World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 programme. Over the years Pentagon Design has grown to become one of the leading design agencies in the Nordic countries, with customers from Helsinki to Istanbul. Through their work, contemporary Finnish design has gained a lot of visibility around the world.
Further information:
- Kirsi Väkiparta, Senior Advisor (Arts Council of Finland), tel. +358 (0)295 330 724