Erkki Ruuhinen (born September 3, 1943, in

Toivakka Toivakka is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Central Finland region, near Jyväskylä. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipality is unilingually ...

, Finland) is a Finnish graphic designer specializing in business emblems, logos and

design management Design management is a field of inquiry that uses project management, design, strategy, and supply chain techniques to control a creative process, support a culture of creativity, and build a structure and organization for design. The objectiv ...

. He is also known for his film posters and his calligraphic and typographic work.

Design projects

In 1993-1994 Ruuhinen made the visual redesign of Kesko Group and its four retail companies: K-lähikauppa, K-market, K-supermarket and Citymarket. In addition, his company has designed logos and visual style for the following companies, products and communities: Ilmarinen Pension Insurance Company, Labsystems Oy, Marja Kurki Design, Garantia Insurance Company, Orion Diagnostica, The City of

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

, Helsinki Waterworks, Heureka the Finnish Science Center, Marketing Institute, The Association of Finnish Advertisers, Tampere Hall, Expomark, Pellervo Confederation of Finnish Cooperatives, Turva Insurance Company, WSOY Company Books, Valtra Valmet, Vantaa Energy, Yellow Transport, Crafts Association Taito Group and Taito-Shop retail stores, Jyväskylä Educational Consortium and Jyväskylä Institute of Adult Education.

Film posters

In addition to his industrial work, Ruuhinen has designed posters for films and other cultural events. In particular, he has designed posters for most of the films directed or produced by

Jörn Donner Jörn Johan Donner (5 February 1933 – 30 January 2020) was a Finnish writer, film director, actor, producer, politician and founder of Finnish Film Archive. Biography Born into the Donner family of German descent, Jörn Donner was the son of ...

. These include the two posters for the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

winning film

Fanny and Alexander ''Fanny and Alexander'' ( sv, Fanny och Alexander) is a 1982 period drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. The plot focuses on two siblings and their large family in Uppsala, Sweden during the first decade of the twentieth century. ...

by Ingmar Bergman in 1982. Some of his film posters were exhibited in Amos Andersson art museum in 1993 in the 25th anniversary exhibition of Jörn Donner Productions. The following museums have Ruuhinen's posters in their collection: Lahden julistetaiteen museo, Lahti, Finland, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, International Poster Museum, Warsaw, Muss d’Affiche, Paris, and the Poster Museum of

Musashino Art University or is a private university in Kodaira, Western Tokyo, founded in 1962 with roots going back to 1929. It is known as one of the leading art universities in Japan. History In October 1929, was founded. In December 1948, it became , and in ...

, Tokyo.

Calligraphy

Ruuhinen started his career in

type design Type design is the art and process of designing typefaces. This involves drawing each letterform using a consistent style. The basic concepts and design variables are described below. A typeface differs from other modes of graphic production su ...

while working for

Yle Yleisradio Oy ( Finnish, literally "General Radio Ltd." or "General Broadcast Ltd."; abbr. Yle ; sv, Rundradion Ab, italics=no), translated to English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, found ...

, the Finnish Broadcasting Company. He designed logos, titles and typography for the Yle TV1 studio before his studies in Mainosgraafikkojen koulu in 1964. In 1964 he started teaching calligraphy in a

folk high school Folk high schools (also ''Adult Education Center'', Danish: ''Folkehøjskole;'' Dutch: ''Volkshogeschool;'' Finnish: ''kansanopisto'' and ''työväenopisto'' or ''kansalaisopisto;'' German: ''Volkshochschule'' and (a few) ''Heimvolkshochschule;' ...

in Helsinki. As a youngster, Ruuhinen was interested in calligraphy and type design. While working and studying he developed his skills with book covers, ex libris, logos and monograms. In 1966 he took part in Visual Graphics Corporation's international competition for type design in the USA. Later he took part in several exhibitions of typography and calligraphy in the USA. Several museums have Ruuhinen's calligraphic works in their collections.

Awards / Prizes

*Finnish State Prize for Applied Arts, 1969, 1989 *Best Poster of the Year Award, Helsinki, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985 *Silver Medal, Poster Biennale, Brno, 1970, 1974 *Silver Medal, Poster Biennale, Warsaw, 1972 *Gold Medal, Rizzoli Advertising Competition, Milan, 1972 *Film Expo Awards, Ottawa, 1972 *Gold, silver and bronze medals 1975 and silver medal 1977 and 1979, Poster Biennial, Lahti *Communication Arts Awards, Palo Alto, 1978 *New Clio Awards, New York, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983 *Type Directors Club Awards, New York, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985 *Graphic Designers of the Year in Finland, 1985 *Special Platinum Award for Top Designer of the Year (Advertising and Graphic Design Competition), Helsinki, 1986, and about 40 awards in the same competition 1980-90 *The Bank Card of the Year in Europe, Frankfurt, 1992.Erkki Ruuhinen Design, Helsinki 1985, Publisher: Erkki Ruuhinen Oy, . * Artist Professor, 1996–2001

Sources

* Taiteen huipulta, The apex of the arts, Publisher: The Arts Council of Finland, Helsinki, 1998, , Editor: Maria Mäkelä, pages 66–67 in Finnish, pages 68–69 in English.Taiteen huipulta, The apex of the arts, Publisher: The Arts Council of Finland, Helsinki, 1998, , Author: Maria Mäkelä, pages 66-67 in Finnish, pages 68-69 in English. * Erkki Ruuhinen Design, Helsinki 1985, Publisher: Erkki Ruuhinen Oy, . * Who's Who in Graphic Art, edited by Walter Amstutz, Dübendorf 1982 Who's Who in Graphic Art, edited by Walter Amstutz, Dubendorf 1982, sivu: 312, * Articles in magazines: ** Graphis Magazine (Zürich): Erkki Ruuhinen Design, text by Richard Hayhurst, no. 255, May/June 1988, pages: 40–53. ** Articles in Idea Magazine (Tokyo): Erkki Ruuhinen, text by Richard Hayhurst, no. 209, 1988, pages: 34–39. ** Articles in Novum Gebrauchsgraphik (Munich): The Designer Erkki Ruuhinen, by Professor Dieter Urban, no. 12, 1986, pages 18–25. * Kuka Kukin On, 2001, Otava, .

References

External links

Homepage: Designer.fi

Blog: Erkkiruuhinen.fi

International Exhibition of Calligraphy: Erkki Ruuhinen Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruuhinen, Erkki 1943 births Living people People from Toivakka Finnish designers