‘Go big, bold, brave,’ says design guru

“Go big and bold and brave” is the design guru Tuija Seipell’s bullet advice for the students, professionals and businesses in Arctic design.

Seipell is the editor of TheCoolhunter.net, a globally popular blog on pop culture and design, and her write-ups and presentations on topics such as design trends, creativity, customer experience, retailing, branding, and motivation are widely sought after.

Born in Finland, Seipell has been living and working in North America, mostly in Vancouver, Canada, for the last 35 years. She has been taking part in the Arctic Design Week for the last eight years in roles ranging from programme presenter and workshop leader to panel leader and coach.

This year Seipell is going to lead a high-spot event of the 10th Arctic Design Week jointly with Arctic Factory Design Director Julius Oförsagd. The interactive afternoon workshop, Mishmash Sparring slated for February 23, on ‘design thinking and customer service’ is offered to a maximum of 10 businesses.

“The key point in all businesses is to look at everything from the customer’s point of view, but most companies do not do this,” said Seipell. Therefore, the workshop’s focus will be on making customers the true cornerstone of a business. The business representatives taking part in the workshop will learn how to use design thinking to improve their products and services, she said. The session will also equip them with new tools to develop their specific businesses.

For Seipell, the words ‘Arctic’ and ‘design’ cover quite a wide area. From her perspective, Arctic design encompasses the ‘truly unique and fascinating’ design history of the lifestyle, tools, and techniques of the Sami people.

In her view, Arctic design is also about all the products and services that relate to and deal with the Arctic lifestyle, climate, and industry – from clothing to icebreakers, from medical research to vehicles, and from art to culture. “Design is a part of everything,” because everything is designed, she explained.

Seipell, who in her multi-track career has coached numerous design students, said design students should find their own inspirations and ideas, instead of following old trails and being content with safe and familiar choices. Hence, her message to all the design people is: “go big and bold and brave”.

Speaking on the world’s northernmost design event’s potential to go global, Seipell said, “It needs more contents that interest an international audience and more international PR.” She also thinks the organisers of the event have to deal with the challenge of achieving a right balance between the interests of local businesses and promoting the exotic Arctic design concepts in the international arena. She then referred to the current tourism boom in the North and surmised that “Now is the perfect time to make Arctic design visible to the rest of the world.”