Roosa Ojanen, who designed the new top sheet for MyNolla strip, tells about the inspiration behind the roosa cover.
Roosa Ojanen participated in the design competition organized by MyNolla in the fall of 2022 with a pink colored top sheet design. The winner of the competition was voted through social media voting, and the model depicting leafy vegetation in pink was voted the winner. Now the top sheet design is available to order and has been named roosa - descriptively, both by the designer herself and by the shade of the cover in Finnish.
I asked Roosa in more detail about her background as a designer, the inspiration behind the roosa cover and her hopes for her career. First of all, how did she end up participating in the MyNolla design competition?
“I ended up participating in MyNolla's design competition by chance after seeing an announcement about the competition in my Instagram feed. I hadn't come across a similar idea of a beautiful and practical extension cord box before, so I ended up researching MyNolla's pages and the competition out of interest”, Roosa says.
Roosa was not familiar with MyNolla as a brand before, but the brand's connection to nature and practicality of the design quickly began to fascinate her. Roosa started designing her own top sheet model by first getting to know MyNolla's existing selection and thinking about what kind of top sheet she would like to see in her own home. Enthusiastic about commercial agriculture, the designer had already drawn a lot of harvest-themed pictures, which is where she started when designing the cover model. The final version that ended up in the competition started, like so many things, from a simple everyday observation.
“Around the time of the competition, I often made kale chips in the oven and kept admiring the sharp appearance of fresh kale. This gave rise to the final idea for the top sheet design I sent to the competition.”
Roosa's own background as a designer is hobbyist, and she has been involved in visual arts as a hobby since she was a child. She has become widely acquainted with different techniques and has found a natural way to work with a digital drawing program. According to Roosa, the mobility, editability and versatile handprint of digital programs give drawing more opportunities. In addition, the drawing tablet and pen can easily be carried anywhere. In digital drawing, you dare to try the limits of your own expression more boldly, because an unwanted result can be easily corrected and tried again, although it is precisely those coincidences that often make the works successful.
“When I work by hand, I prefer to grab paper and scissors and work on an illustration from different colored papers. Creating a picture in this way challenges you to think about the basic shapes of things, because by cutting and gluing parts of the paper, the handprint is usually uncomplicated and clear,” Roosa shares. “I got into paper cutting when I was thinking about how I could make use of already existing print media and paper material, i.e. mainly advertisements and magazines from my own home before recycling them. So I cut a stack of magazines, sorting the pieces of paper according to color, and I still use this technique when I work. So all the paper material I use is reused.”
Roosa is enthusiastic about traveling, and the influences gained during her trips are strongly reflected in her work. The change of seasons and their different color schemes continuously inspire to create something new. In her work, Roosa wants to tell about the beauty of everyday life - just those ordinary moments that are common for others but mesmerizing from an outsider's perspective.
“The beauty of everyday things fascinates me and challenges the imagination to endless possibilities to see the specialness in everyday things, whether it's kale or an extension cord,” Roosa says. “A beautiful extension cord can remind you that everyday life doesn't have to be gray and monotonous, but that you can find visually beautiful things in surprising places.”
According to Roosa, designer's importance is visible to the end user above all as an investment that is made into the product. The designer's handprint and the time spent on the product give the end result depth, personality and also heart, which is conveyed as a finished and high-quality product. Designers consider the end user right from the first outline, and begin to design the product specifically for targeted use.
As a young designer, Roosa has been enthusiastic about many things, but above all participatory art. The most important thing is to be able to spread to others the same joy that she herself experiences while drawing. Illustrating involves technically challenging steps, the completion of which always evokes significant feelings of success. As a young designer, she appreciates the advice, guidance and feedback of those more experienced in the field, which helps her move forward in her own career. However, one thing is certain: for a designer who swears by second-hand and reuse, environmental friendliness and sustainability is a decisive factor in all future projects.
“I've gained a lot from the cooperation with MyNolla, especially experience in product design and the self-confidence to believe in what I'm doing, and I don't know if I could wish for anything more. This has been a very unique opportunity, so thank you for that! I hope that for those who end up using the top sheet I designed, it will remind them of the sweetness of daily life and the small, big joys of everyday life.”
White and black roosa power strips are now available at mynolla.com. You can order them here.