Nordic Design

Nordic design is something that I have always been fascinated with. Almost as a block, the Nordic countries create products that are aesthetically pleasing, yet simple; elegant, yet practical. There is an inherent appreciation for nature and also for traditional crafts, while at the same time many of the products are technically advanced or cutting edge. This can be seen from the clean lines of an Absolut Vodka bottle, to the practicality of an IKEA Billy Bookcase, to the joy and simplicity of a Lego block, to the intuitive nature of a Nokia mobile menu.

This year Helsinki bears the mantle of the World Design Capital. Along with the other Finnish cities of Espoo, Lahti, Vantaa and Kauniainen, 

We are open. For us, openness equals transparency, global responsibility and innovation. Usability, sustainability and desirability. That is what we are looking for. We design for a better life. 

http://wdchelsinki2012.fi/en

This explanation, from the website, seems to sum up Nordic design. 

The following article is originally from the Nokia Connect website. It's a short and sweet analysis of some of the reasons behind the strength and uniqueness of Nordic design.

http://nokiaconnects.com/2011/12/30/northern-delights-how-nordic-design-has-influenced-nokia/ 

Northern delights: How Nordic design has influenced Nokia

Dec
30

13:24 pm

Joel.W

If you’ve ever wondered what forms the basis of some of Nokia’s most iconic designs, you don’t need to look much further than the company’s own back yard. Finnish culture, along with that of Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, helped created the Nordic design movement. This philosophy wooed the world with the concept of “beautiful things that make your life better”. But how did it evolve and what are its key features?

The magic of Modernism

You can’t talk about Nordic design without mentioning the influence of Modernism. More a way of thinking than a style, Modernists believed that the design of an object should be based purely on its purpose – that ‘form follows function’. This philosophy very much complemented the Nordic way of thinking and resulted in Nordic design embracing the abstract motifs and bold primary colours. No company has taken this idea more to heart than Marimekko, the iconic Finnish fashion designer.

Minimalism: Less is more

Living on top of the world, where the winter is long and very cold, the basis for all design was originally function. If a product’s design didn’t help you survive, it was no good. It’s this that explains Nordic design’s lack of decoration and its enthusiasm for minimalism. Use only what is needed, make its function clear and its form simple. A great example of how this traditional ideal is used in a very modern way is the technology of Danish electronic manufacturer, Bang & Olufsen.

 

Democratic design

Another key feature of Nordic design is the way it aims to create accessible, affordable products that appeal to the masses. This tradition stems from established institutions such as the Swedish Society of Industrial Design, which was created to promote design that the general public could access and enjoy. This doesn’t mean stripping design of its beauty, quite the opposite. It means ensuring that beauty is first and foremost functional. To appreciate the success of this philosophy just walk into into one of the thousands of Swedish Ikea stores located worldwide.

Industrial art

The Nordic countries industrialized a lot later than most of Western Europe. This meant that the mass production that kicked off between the two World Wars was on a much smaller scale there. As a result of this, the Nordic countries were better able to preserve their traditions of craftsmanship and integrate them into commercial production. The result has been called industrial art. You don’t have to look far in Nokia to see examples of this. The Nokia N9 embodies this concept beautifully.

Nokia devices are part of a design philosophy loved the world over. But what is it you enjoy most? The simplicity or the bold colours? The craftsmanship or the focus on function? As ever, we’d love to hear your thoughts.

Nokia's New CEO: The view from Forbes

Nokia looks like it is on the ropes at the moment.  This stalwart of the Finnish economy has gone from being at the forefront of technology and innovation to suddenly seeming clunky and out of tune with the changes going on around it.  This is such a shame, because if there is one thing that Nokia has been successful in over the years, it is change management.  The transformation of this century old paper and rubber company to a high-tech leader of the mobile phone revolution and Finnish icon has been a wonderful success - but that is now overshadowed by the precarious financial position and the huge loss of its market share.  Some commentators are even talking about the end of Nokia - no wonder then that Nokia has installed a new CEO. 

The following article is from Forbes reporter Parmy Olson on the installation of Nokia's new CEO, Stephen Elop.  She suggests some of the way forward for Nokia - it remains to be seen if Nokia does indeed manage its way out of its current crisis. 

Five Things We Want To Hear From Nokia’s New CEO: 20th October


Tomorrow is probably the most important day in Stephen Elop’s career. Installed as the new CEO of Nokia just one month ago, the former Microsoft exec will be presenting the company’s third-quarter results and, crucially, addressing nervous investors and analysts for the first time.




“Nervous” because of, well, a lot: Nokia’s share price is down 17% since the start of the year. Several executives, including the boss of the Symbian Foundation as of yesterday, have resigned. First impressions of new flagship device the N8 (including my own) have been disappointing.


Given where Nokia is at right now, everyone wants to hear what Elop has to say, and how he says it, more than how much money Nokia made in the last quarter. It would be fun if Elop were to do a Steve-Jobs, ranting and metaphorically beating his chest on the conference call about the competition and what it’s doing wrong – but it might be too early in his tenure for this.


I’ve talked to bloggers and equity analysts, some who see Nokia as a company in decline, others who think there is light ahead. Here’s what some of us hope Elop is scribbling down in his crib notes for tomorrow’s address:


“We’re ditching Symbian.”


For people who’ve followed and worked with Nokia’s main mobile operating system and software platform over the years, this will be painful to listen to. For anyone who’s actually put money in Nokia, it’ll be a breath of fresh air. The latest iteration of Symbian on the N8 makes for a clunky and downright antiquated user interface. I also hear from an analyst who wished to remain anonymous that Symbian^4 is not that much better and is even delayed (again) until 2012, after Nokia said in April it would be launched in 2011. Nokia apparently can’t get the OS to port to ST-Ericsson’s new U8500 system-on-chip, part of a collaboration Nokia announced early last year.


At the very least, Elop could rule that Symbian, a slow, heavy, almost truculent platform with 50 million lines of code that take forever to overhaul, only used by Nokia on its mid-range phones along with Series 40, leaving its high-end smartphones to Meego, the upcoming an open-source OS it’s collaborating on with Intel. Nokia has already said its future N-series phones will run on Meego.


Listen careful to the way Elop talks about Symbian tomorrow. He won’t say “ditch” outright but instead of using the word “exclusively” when he talks about Symbian, he’ll talk about using it “as and when we see applicability.”


Better yet:


“We may entertain the use of third-party operating systems.”


This will be wonderful, seismic news for app developers who are struggling to build applications for the Symbian platform. The process is messy and time consuming with its different program coding platforms and various developmental tools, when with Android or the Apple OS there is just a simple developers kit. No longer a scale proposition for developers, it’s why there are 250,000 apps in Apple’s app store and only 7,000 on Nokia’s Ovi store.


There’s little argument over Nokia’s biggest strength being in hardware – it makes robust, durable phones—and also that it’s struggling to maintain the popularity of Symbian when Apple’s iPhone and Android enabled phones boast better, more intuitive user experiences. Elop probably wouldn’t say outright that we can expect to see a Google Android platform on Nokia’s most high end phones, as early as next year, but it would be nice if he hinted as much.


(Slightly overshadowed in all this talk about operating systems has been QT—pronounced “cute”—a cross-platform development tool kit that could attract wary developers back to the Nokia fold, and which could be at the front end of Nokia devices in the long-term. Read technology blogger Julien Fourgeaud’s recent prescient post on the importance of QT and irrelevance of Meego and Symbian here.)


“We’re streamlining our product portfolio.”


Being the world’s biggest phone maker poses a crucial dilemma: How do you attract new customers with innovative new technology, without alienating the 1.3 billion people who are already used to the way your phones work? The answer is to try to be all things to all people. Ever hear of that one working?


Nokia could find a lot of efficiencies in cost and design if it just slimmed its huge product portfolio – it would probably benefit its margins, which have recently been thinning as the huge product inventory makes for a messy supply chain. According to its Web site, Nokia has a whopping 104 handsets available to buy, including those “coming soon” or are in pre-order availability such as the N8, E7, C7 and 5250.


“The culture at Nokia is going to change.”


A reputable source close to Nokia tells me that in one of Elop’s first addresses to employees, he made clear that he would not tolerate anyone stepping out of line under the company’s new strategic direction. It’s something his milder predecessor, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, wouldn’t have dreamed of saying. Assuming a more empowering and committed leadership style at Nokia doesn’t de-motivate its employees (and I don’t think it will) it should mean a more unified strategic vision starts to permeate through the company. Not a bad thing.


Talk of a culture shift from Elop is relevant not just because he’s a software guy from Microsoft, but because he’s American–like it or not this counts for much in a company who’s bosses have always been Finnish. If Elop at least indicates he’s aware that there will be some “culture clashes,” to use a cliché, it suggests we might see Nokia moving away from a “Finnish, box-making, almost attrition-loving mindset towards a fast-internet savvy mindset that will see them compete better,” as one analyst puts it.


“Things are going to be tough, but we’re going to win this.”


Ah, the good old rallying cry. Elop must first convince himself of this of course but it would be the icing on the cake if he could give us a sense tomorrow that he really does see improvements ahead for Nokia, and equally that he feels the freedom to bring them about. Style and intonation can mean a lot – if he addresses investors a la Mel Gibson in “Braveheart,” it could even give a little boost to the company’s share price.


Elop said when he started at Nokia a month ago that he wanted to listen to Nokia’s own internal developers and engineers to find out how they could better deliver the best experience to consumers. Now he’s going to tell us what he’s heard, and tackle the bigger challenge of what he’s going to do about it.


Any thoughts on what you’d like to hear from Stephen Elop tomorrow? Share them in the comments below.

http://blogs.forbes.com/parmyolson/2010/10/20/five-things-we-want-to-hear-from-nokias-new-ceo/#comment-592

The Aftonbladet Racial Saga

This article deals critically with irresponsible journalism and the inconsistency of Swedish government policies in relation to media freedom over the last few years. When combined, these two phenomena helped to create an international diplomatic row between Israel and Sweden. As such this article touches on the often taboo subjects of immigration, freedom of expression and racism (a taboo in so far as taking a contrary view to the ‘politically correct’ political left perspective is concerned). The Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet’s recent report in 2009, "Our sons are plundered of their organs" written by journalist Donald Boström alleged that Israeli soldiers kill Palestinians to harvest their organs in “an international organ trafficking scandal”. This report and the propaganda it contains is deplorable. The offending article is baseless, is ill-informed, and has done great damage to both Sweden’s reputation as well as to peace efforts.

While one needs to give Boström the benefit of doubt, and regard his article as being unintentionally ignorant, the effect is that it is nothing more than Jew-hate racism of the worst kind, and the article plays into the hands of both mainstream self-segregating immigrants and extremists within the refugee and immigrant community in Nordic countries. It is also counter-productive to efforts to bring peace to the Middle-East, and efforts to curtail global Islamism. Such blatantly anti-Jew propaganda feeds the anger and hatred and sense of victimisation of many ‘new Scandinavians’ and will lead to a greater degree of self-imposed segregation and religious, cultural and racial self-imposed silos that has befallen many Nordic countries. It also panders to the holier-than-thou political left in Nordic countries who are only too happy to continue to bash those with liberal values on the political spectrum by whatever means including providing tacit support for anti- Western forces within and outside the West.

Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said that his government would not condemn the Aftonbladet report. Prime Minister Reinfeldt told the Swedish news agency TT, "No one can demand that the Swedish government violate its own constitution. Freedom of speech is an indispensable part of Swedish society". While the Swedish Government has tried to excuse its own refusal to criticise the offensive article by claiming that it will not curb freedom of expression, the Jew-hate propaganda in Aftonbladet goes unchallenged by the Swedish Government. In fact Aftonbladet’s response to the whole issue has been to publish a second article that taunts Israel. The Swedish Government’s defence for its refusal to condemn the article is that it cannot impinge on press freedom, yet critics claim that it did exactly that during the 2005 upheaval over caricatures of the prophet Muhammad in the Danish press. In 2005, the then centre-left Social Democrat run Swedish Government led by Göran Persson took the unprecedented and drastic step of shutting down an Internet site in the country that posted the caricatures, and the Swedish foreign minister wrote a letter of apology to the president of Yemen. This extreme reaction flew in the face of freedom of expression and demonstrated in part how the political left was willing to sacrifice a key aspect of Nordic openness to retain the political support of some intolerant immigrant groups, the very groups that they brought into Sweden. This selling-out of liberalism and freedom of expression by the Social Democrats has come back to bite Sweden.

Similarly in 2007, the Swedish Government, this time the centre-right Alliance for Sweden under Prime Minister Reinfeldt appeared to condemn a Swedish newspaper that published illustrated images of Islam’s prophet, Mohammad. This time however, Prime Minister Reinfeldt’s government did not go to the extreme measures of the previous (Social Democrat) government. In reaction to a cartoon lampooning Islam’s Prophet Mohammad by Swedish artist Lars Vilks, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan stated that "Regrettably, the tendency among some Europeans to mix the freedom of expression with an outright and deliberate insult to 1.3 billion Muslims in the world is on the rise". In response, the Swedish Chargé d'Affaires in Islamabad, Lennart Holst said that the Swedish government "fully shared the views of the Muslim community" and called the publication on August 18th "unfortunate." Reinfeldt’s government moved to quickly distance itself from this apparent apology, saying that it was ‘misinterpreted’, and were the views of Holst and not of the government. The Reinfeldt government made it a point to emphasise freedom of expression in Sweden. Perhaps it was a coincidence, however, one cannot help but notice how conveniently Ambassador Holst’s outburst placated some of those who were offended by the caricatures and yet allowed the Swedish government to claim the moral high ground in defending freedom of expression.

However, the damage inflicted by the previous Social Democrat government in placating extremists immigrants in Sweden had become obvious. On the question of the Aftonbladet Jew-hate affair, to some observers, the Swedish Government’s current silence screams loudly for all to hear in contrast to its (the former government’s) extreme reaction to the Mohammad cartoon. To Israeli ultra-nationalists, it appears that the Swedish Government has been a willing enabler of crass anti-Jewish propaganda, and a willing apologist to religious extremists in Sweden and outside of Sweden. To them the failure of the Swedish government to comment on the Aftonbladet affair is reminiscent of Sweden’s failure to intervene during the anti-Jewish holocaust in the Second World War.

The irresponsible actions of the previous Social Democrat government in placating the more extreme immigrants that they allowed to migrate to Sweden, and the apparent hypocrisy of the current Swedish Government exposes the damage being inflicted by some political parties in the Nordic countries, and will ultimately lead to the weakening of Western Liberal Democracy in Nordic countries. After all, the very fabric of Nordic society is permanently altered through irresponsible immigration programmes. The one silver lining in the sorry saga of Aftonbladet’s Jew-hate article is that it exposes the far-left fifth columnists within Nordic countries hell bent on ensuring that the Nordic region will no longer be majority ethnically or culturally Nordic within three generations (if recent trends continue). While there is nothing wrong with this trend racially, this matter has nothing whatsoever to do with race or skin colour. What should be of major concern to all Nordic people in pondering immigration is not race or skin colour but culture, attitude and beliefs - the socio-political and legislative impact brought by many immigrants. The openness, tolerance, and socially liberal values of Nordic countries will eventually become victims of careless and short-sighted and politically correct government policies such as ill-conceived and utopian immigration programmes.

Current events demonstrate that the Alliance for Sweden is much more willing to defend freedom of expression than the previous Social Democrat government that was obviously only too keen to sacrifice freedom of speech to retain votes of extremist immigrants. The writer does not suggest that the Reinfeldt government should curb freedom of expression or freedom of speech - merely that some degree of common sense should prevail, and basic leadership in the form of non-legally binding comments criticising racism and encouraging greater journalistic integrity would do much to smooth the matter over. Sometimes, silence is much louder than words, and the Swedish Government’s silence plays into the hands of extremists and racists.

Where to from here? Nordic people must wake up from their slumber before they lose their own countries and find themselves seeking refuge in other countries in order to maintain their Western, liberal, and democratic lifestyle. Immigration can be highly beneficial provided one is very careful and diligent in selecting immigrants who willingly integrate in every sense, and positively contribute to civil society, and no doubt some immigrants in Nordic countries are good immigrants. Finnish and Swedish immigrants in Australia and in the USA are cases in point that illustrate how proper and genuine immigrants (as opposed to colonisers) can contribute enormously to their adopted countries. Immigrants should integrate fully, and adopt the cultural norms and social values of their adopted countries, otherwise they should not stay in the countries that provide them with asylum. After all those who do not integrate, colonise.

Similarly, Nordic newspapers should not pander to the intolerance and hatred of both the anti-West political left and of those immigrants with colonising tendencies, but should instead try to report objectively. On the same thread, political parties, especially those that are left-of-centre should re-examine their naive and utopian political dogma and learn to face reality, and also adopt a longer-term view of the impact of their decisions. Those on the right-of-centre are also not completely free of guilt, and need to match rhetoric with action. Given the fixed term electoral cycles, sadly this is unlikely to happen. The temptation to incur long term losses for the country in return for short term gains for the political party are often just too great to resist. Perhaps the hope lies with the Nordic people, who should realise that sometimes the things they get from their elected government (even previous ones) eventually become a permanent fixture if apathy prevails and decisiveness and moral courage are lacking. They would do well to remember that in a democracy, they get what they vote for, and should exercise their vote accordingly.

Wai Kiong CHAN
Co-Founder
Nordic Forum of Australia
kiong@paradigminfinitum.com

The writer says that governments that pander to intolerant immigrants are actually harming good and genuine immigrants. Such spinelessness also strengthens the hands of extremists and racists in our midst.
The Nordic Forum of Australia is a collection of individuals who are interested in all things Nordic. It provides an open forum for those who share a common interest in business, politics, culture and society. Opinions expressed in this article are the personal views of the writer and should not be attributed to any organisation he is connected with. He can be contacted at kiong@paradigminfinitum.com .

What is the Nordic Forum of Australia?

The Nordic Forum is an independent think-tank set up by Paradigm Infinitum, an Australian based consulting and training business. The Nordic Forum operates in conjunction with other non-profit arms of Paradigm Infinitum, including the Institute for Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) and The Asia Business Forum.

The Nordic Forum was set up to encourage discourse, engagement, and examination of issues currently being faced in the Nordic nations, by interested parties here in Australia.

The Nordic nations, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Iceland, occupy a unique place in our rapidly globalising world, and although they may well seem like the most distant places possible from Australia, we believe there is much to learn from the region.

Why Nordic?
Firstly, the founders of Paradigm Infinitum have personal links to the Nordic region through ancestry, so there is a natural interest and enthusiasm for this endeavour.

Secondly, we feel that in Australia discourse on international matters, business and political trends and practices, and cultural issues is largely limited to the USA, the UK and Asia. From our perspective, this is an oversight that we would like to redress.

Thirdly, global brands such as Ikea, Nokia, Ericsson, Absolut, Carlsberg beg the question, how do these five small nations, create these marketing and business phenomenon, leaders in their fields? From a marketing and business perspective, there are many case studies to be investigated which provide a different point of view on some of the business 'norms' we take for granted in an Australian context.

Finally, we believe there is much for us here in Australia to learn from the Nordic nations. The Nordic nations are recognised as having high ethical standards in business in politics and continually come at the top of Transparency International global scorecards. Other fields of interest in which the Nordic countries demonstrate leadership or different approaches include education, niche markets, public policy, and international relations, to name just a few.

About The Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS)

The Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) was established in 2008 as an arm of Paradigm Infinitum (a training and consulting firm). ISIS is engaged in a range of activities focusing on objective policy analysis and fostering dialogue and debate within and between the public sector, the private sector, elected representatives, academia and the informed public.

Mission:
Our mission is to analyse and promote the understanding of major international and strategic issues and current affairs in order to contribute to the development of policy and the strengthening of liberal democracy/the betterment of society.

The Institute examines areas such as social policy, military strategy, political strategy, economy, science and technology issues, and corporate and business policies.
Its programmes are directed towards six major areas of interest:
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