When Lennartsdotter offered her designs to factories, she found them unwilling to pay for them – cooperation itself was supposed to be a sufficiently good marketing channel. "Yes, there are times when you can do that, but then you need to have excellent marketing output," she said. Looking for an economically and creatively cost-effective solution, she even tried to learn glassblowing herself – it was interesting, but left her with less time for designing.
Many designers have sent their ideas to China to obtain prototypes and go into production. "As a rule, the prototype is really beautiful, but you have to order a very large batch and a lot of it has defects. I also think about the values my designs represent and the mark they make on the environment, which is why producing in China is not the solution for me," said Lennartsdotter.
She found an interesting solution in the small locality of Limmared, where the community was looking for something new to liven up local life. Since it is the location of the oldest industrial glassblowing factory in Sweden, which was established in 1740 and currently makes bottles for Absolut Vodka, they decided that finding something related to glassblowing would be a good solution.
Lennartsdotter, who was looking for her own path, suddenly found herself in the position of the creative director and designer of Limmared Glass House. She now has a small workshop with two experienced glassblowers and a couple of apprentices, and her studio attracts up to 50,000 visitors every year. "People pay us to see how we work – there are no secrets here. And when they see how things are made, they're also more likely to buy them," said the designer. She mainly sells her products in her workshop, but she also has some distributors in Sweden. She hasn't started exporting yet, but hopes that as the skills and experience of the glassblowers grow, they will be able to produce more, the unit price will go down and she can start thinking about increasing her market.
A smart way of bringing producers and designers together
Timo Salli encourages his students to constantly make sketches and show them to as many people as possible, even if they don't have any specific clients yet. "Sometimes, an idea is in the right place, it looks trendy and an object that was initially supposed to be an art project can actually be sold," he said.
Tanja Sipilä spoke about an interesting way of bringing producers and designers together. A flat was rented during the 'We live here' project and furnished using products created by Finnish, Swedish and Icelandic designers to make it look like someone was living there. "The biggest difficulty is working with companies and teaching them to use design as a strategic tool, and arriving at a common understanding of the design process," said Sipilä. As this display of design was planned as an event, a party, then it was also attractive to large-scale producers.
Copyright
Eeva Mägi explained what designers need to keep in mind when transferring/selling their designs and ideas. "Never sign a contract that permits unrestricted use of your design everywhere and for any length of time," she emphasised.
It's necessary to remember that an idea as such is not protected for the purposes of copyright, it must be made material: either registered as a trademark or design, patented as a technical solution or protected as a copyright.
In the case of copyright, it must be possible to prove who the author of the object is. "I remember an example where a monkey took a selfie with a professional photographer's camera – so the photographer wasn't the author of the photo and couldn't ask for money for it," Mägi explained.
It's also possible to protect a design - it represents the recognisable character, uniqueness and impression of an item or image, and design cannot be defined by its technical purpose alone. "Copyright protects from copying, protected design from making a similar impression," explained Mägi.
In Estonia, design can be protected via the Patent Office, where it costs 150 euros for companies and 26 euros for individuals, and throughout Europe, where protection for five years is provided for 350 euros. Design is protected for five years and the protection can be extended in five-year intervals for 25 years. Copyright remains in force for the entire life of the author plus 70 years.
Protecting a trademark costs 145 euros in Estonia and 900 euros in Europe.
Mägi also talked about different licensing agreements. "When you sign an agreement for an exclusive licence, then you cannot use your design yourself. A non-exclusive licence means that the designer can also use their design and enter into other licensing agreements as well."
Mägi also spoke about the common practice in Estonia whereby all economic rights transfer to the employer when an employment contract is signed. She advised everyone to be careful and to specify in the contract that only the economic rights to design solutions created in relation to tasks at work belong to the employer. Personal copyright will always belong to the designer. It's also important that when a design solution is licensed to a producer, it is not done for a lump sum. "What if the product proves to be exceptionally popular?" she asked. It also pays to specify in the agreement where the product will be sold and when the agreement will expire.
Inspiration Lunches
The next Inspiration Lunch 'Tested Innovation Model: Creativity + IT' will be held from 12-14 on 14 April at the Artis cinema.
We will be talking about how IT and creativity have developed various areas and what must be kept in mind when cooperation between different sectors is initiated. Founder of Netprofile and startup coach Christina Forsgård from Finland, founder of tourism technology company Faralong Kalle Viira from Finland and founder and CEO of Heelosophy Seren Eilmann from Estonia will share their experiences.
The Inspiration Lunches are organised by the Finnish Institute, Creative Estonia and the Nordic Council of Ministers' Office in Estonia. The series of seminars started in 2013 and the overview of this year's first Inspiration Lunch was compiled by Tiiu Allikmäe from Creative Estonia.