WANTED DESIGN STUDIO
Wanted creates design concepts by building cross over collaboration between visual artists & designers.
Niko Luoma
Niko Luoma is a visual artist. He has played a key role internationally for the past 20 years for his experiments with photographic abstraction through his approach of multiple exposures on the same negative by using light as a raw material. As a senior lecturer at Aalto University, he has pushed the parameters of how we perceive, think and use the photographic experience to create a new visual language, which has established him as a true innovator of analogue photography.
Niko Luoma (b. 1970) lives and works in Helsinki.
He studied at the New England School of Photography, Boston, The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Aalto University, Helsinki. His works have been widely published and exhibited internationally.
His works have been recently exhibited at Mannheimer Kustverein and Weserburg Museum, Bremen, Konst Museum, Borås (2017). They are represented in numerous collections, including those of the Finnish National Gallery, the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Danish National Museum of Photography.
IDA PIHLAJANIEMI
Ida Pihlajaniemi (born 1984) is an interior architect based in Helsinki. The focus in Ida’s work is harmony between textures, colors, and patterns. Ida’s signature is soft color tones and tactile aesthetics. This style stems from her life long passion for the beauty of nature and creative visual expression. Ida’s profession is supported by her background in architectural drafting and degree in interior design.
The preference for material choices are natural and sustainable. Timeless design and high-quality materials ensure a long lifespan for interior elements while it reduces consumption and waste.
With this core value Ida wanted to design a soft, durable and customizable rug for the Wanted collection. The MOSAIK rug combines the classic checked pattern with a natural material in 100% New Zealand wool pile. In MOSAIK the pattern is everchanging depending on the angle of view. The softness and warmth of wool and the pile height alterations create a versatile rug with beautiful visual and tactile properties. See MOSAIK here
Kimmo sCHRODERUS
Kimmo Schroderus (b 1970) is a Finnish sculptor. His main material is steel, that is molded into expressions with several dimensions. Small details form a whole with larger scale experience visible from a further viewpoint.
The Crossroads rug is based on Schroderus’ sculpture “Risteys” (2010). The art work is inspired by the large highways crossing in several layers. The sculpture is situated at the Finlandia House in Helsinki.
Kimmo Schroderus has received multiple awards (incl. Ars Fennica Prize 2004) and national and international recognition for his unique work. Schroderus works have been displayed in numerous solo and group exhibitions and can be found in several art collections, including Museum of Contemporary Art KIASMA, Malmö Art Museum and Helsinki City Art Museum.
Schroderus holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki, and has also studied at the Royal University College of Fine Arts in Stockholm. Schroderus lives and works in Salo, Finland. See CROSSROADS here
TEEMU PERTTUNEN
Teemu Perttunen (born 1987) is a product designer and interior architect based in Helsinki, Finland.
Teemu studied art and design at the Institute of Design in Lahti and at Konstfack in Stockholm. He graduated in 2018 with a thesis that explored the aesthetics of imperfection and humanity and researched how to awaken compassion and positive emotions through art and design.
In his work Teemu is interested in always just slightly pushing the conventional limits through bending the rules to create interesting new perspectives. In Teemu’s work there is a pursuit to express playfulness, joy and lightness to evoke happiness and good feelings.
After graduating Teemu designed a furniture collection, and his work was displayed at the Habitare talentshop 2018 in Helsinki as well as, selected by Sahara Widoff to be exhibited at the Temperament trend exhibition 2019 and the Greenhouse at Stockholm Furniture Fair.
Teemu has designed the rug collection GRID for Wanted. See GRID here
Heikki Ruoho
Heikki Ruoho is an industrial-, furniture-, and interior designer. Ruoho has received numerous awards for his designs including: the Ornamo Design Award (Finland -08), the Fennia Prize (Finland -07), the Oribe Craft Design Award (Japan -06), the Caiazza Memorial Challenge at the Promosedia International Chair Exhibition (Italy -04), Workspaces (USA -01), European Packaging Design Prize (Sweden -00), A House for the Third Millennium (Italy -99), and Koizumi Lightning Design Competition (Japan -94). He has been awarded major grants by the Arts Council of Finland (-12 and -13), Finnish Cultural Foundation (-06 and -09) and the Finnish Furniture Foundation (-05).
His work has appeared in various international design exhibitions and numerous publications, including: Abitare, Domus, Frame, Interni, Ottagono, Svensk Form, and Finnish Design Yearbook. ”Kenno” child's chair, designed by Ruoho in 2011, is part of the permanent collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Heikki Ruoho has designed the 100%wool rug SIGNALS for Wanted Interior. He received his formal education at the Lahti Institute of Design (industrial design, BA), and at the University of Art and Design Helsinki (furniture design, MA). See SIGNALS here
ANU SUSI
Anu Susi is a Finnish designer and has a background in the fashion industry. Her experience is extensive, working for design houses in Finland and the US. Anu has graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, with a BFA in Fashion Design. She has a passion for pattern design and has an impeccable eye for color. Anu works as Wanted’s in-house designer, and masters the process of customizing pattern designs in both rugs and curtain fabrics. Anu has designed the curtain patterns ELEVATION and ALBA. See designs here