Made in the hood

There must be 1000 ways to work as a designer. Take the Finnish-Korean couple behind Helsinkibased designproducer Company for example. They chose a starting point very far from the usual international-designer-as-a-star-concept: they produce their own design and only work with local manufacturers. Aamu Song and Johan Olin talk about their ideas in terms of “seeds that make the local factories grow” and describe the “recipes” of 70 of their products in their “Company Cookbook”. Since 2008 they also run their own shop Salakauppa (the Secret Shop) close to the Kiasma museum of modern art in the center of Helsinki. The dancing shoes “Tanssitossut” for father and daughter are made of Finnish felt and rubber in Jämsä, Finland.

Old barn, new barn

You might have seen architecture like this before. Quite a few architects have made their contribution to the modern barn, or the "Monopoly"-house, the last few years. But this one has got a point that others don't. The Swedish company behind "Bringåsen", Arvesund, have an unusual and somewhat controversial business idea: They take over old, forgotten barns in northern Sweden and transform them into modern, Scandinavian architecture and design. A collection of 21st century barn houses will be launched at the upcoming furniture fair in Milan in April. "Bringåsen" is designed by Daniel Franzén.

All you need is Mormor

Despite the retro look mormor.nu (grandma.now) is a business idea of the future. This Danish webshop selling hand knitted children's clothes made by organic alpaeca has no employee younger than 68. Suddenly older growing populations and higher getting unemployment rates seem like problems with solutions.

Textiles by you in pioneering net store

Finnish Bon Bon Kakku is a net store that gives the customers the opportunity to design their own fabrics and sometimes even see them being produced. Everything takes place online at www.bonbonkakku.com where you can submit and rate designs. When a fabric receives enough votes from the web site visitors, it is put into production and can be bought directly from the site. A great way to give new designers and patterns a chance, if you ask me. And a great way to modernize an old company: Bon Bon Kakku is owned by the Finnish fabric and interior manufacturer Vallila Interior, a 70 year old, family owned company that once started as a textiles mill.