Emotional qualities of life
Design as a connector between people and environments.
Jeremiah Tesolin
March, 2025
Photo: Marimekko: Design Colours Life, Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai
The role of design in shaping daily experiences.
Design has the power to shape how people experience their surroundings, inspiring through aesthetics and also emotional well-being. At Marimekko, this philosophy is central to everything the company is about. By integrating design into everyday experiences, we aimed to create connections between people their living environments, and each other.
This philosophy was brought to life in two key initiatives: Marimekko: Design Colours Life exhibition and Marimekko Village.
In 2012, as part of a curation team, we created Marimekko: Design Colours Life at the Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai. The exhibition explored how Marimekko’s design sensibilities translate into live experiences, highlighting the connection between aesthetics and emotional quality of life. Through immersive displays and interactive installations, the exhibition showcased the impact of colour and patterns in shaping human emotion and daily interaction.
Alongside this, Marimekko Village was launched as part of the company’s activities in the Helsinki World Design Capital. It reflected a broader vision of design as a tool for building community. Initially imagined by Marimekko’s founder Armi Ratia in 1962, Marimekko Village was a cultural vision that could steer people toward an improved quality of life. The modern evolution of Marimekko Village became a platform for collaboration, storytelling, and shared creativity. It evolved into a digital space that encouraged people to engage with Marimekko beyond products, forming a community around design-driven living.
A video that summarises this thinking is Marimekko Village, with the invitation:
“We believe happiness can be found in the everyday moments of life. And each of these moments has its own emotional quality.”
This led us to ask people around the world: What does emotional quality of life mean to you?
Five key projects connecting design to daily life.
Listed below are five key projects that are examples of an explorative approach to emotional qualities of life. These initiatives spanned exhibitions, community engagement programmes, and digital storytelling.
Photo: Wrapped in Thought (Marimekko)
1) Wrapped in thought.
We asked the question: What does emotional quality of life mean to you?
Hundreds of impressions were collected and transformed into a graphic wrapping paper design. The result was a visual representation of collective perspectives, integrating storytelling into product presentation.
Photo: Ethnographic research
2) The empowered woman study.
A research-driven initiative exploring the role of empowerment in women’s professional and personal lives. Conducted through ethnographic interviews in the United States and China, this study provided insights into how design can discover themes of independence, resilience, and identity.
Photo: Map of Marimekko, illustrated by Aino-Maija Metsola
3) A Helsinki map of Marimekko.
Created as part of the 2012 World Design Capital celebrations, this illustrated map highlighted Marimekko’s perspective on Helsinki. Featuring favourite places and local insights, it translated the company’s visual language into an interactive city guide.
Photo: Workshop in Berlin
4) Make with Marimekko.
A workshop series designed to engage with people in a creative process of craft using Marimekko fabrics. These events focused on increasing skills and knowledge while reinforcing design as an active part of everyday creativity.
Photo: Why Not Together online resource.
5) Why Not Together / Marimekko Village
A digital initiative showcasing the ways people incorporate Marimekko in their lives.
Why Not Together collected and shared user-generated content, evolving into Marimekko Village, a customer loyalty platform focused on storytelling and insights. At a time when online engagement was a relatively new thing, this approach provided a new way to build community around people and design.