Six Estonian designers featured in ETV special

ERR reports that ETV will broadcast “Six Views on Design” on Thursday, featuring presenter Johannes Tralla’s meetings with six Estonian designers working in Estonia and internationally.

The designers demonstrate the range of graphic design, from posters and packaging to sneakers, album covers and typefaces, as well as bookbinding, teaching and publishing. The programme also examines how an art school in Amsterdam has broadened an entire generation’s understanding of graphic design and influenced design education in Estonia.

The programme was produced in cooperation with the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design.

In Berlin, Tralla meets Anton Koovit, who has created typefaces for Balenciaga and the American television sketch show Saturday Night Live. In Estonia, his lettering can be seen at the airport and on the facade of the National Library. Koovit discusses his approach to typeface design and his path to becoming a type designer.

Laura Pappa, a freelance graphic designer based in Amsterdam, designs books, websites and project spaces. She says the question of “why” is central to her work, as is understanding the author, the material and the people for whom the final result is intended. She also teaches at the Estonian Academy of Arts, encouraging students to consider questions that are not immediately seen as part of design.

One of Jan Tomson’s most important projects has been the creation of Estonia’s brand. His designs appear on Estonian identity cards and passports, as well as on Noep Distillery gin bottles and numerous album covers. Tomson teaches at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam and stresses the importance of thinking beyond established rules and looking for absurdity and other possible viewpoints alongside rationality.

Jaan Evart has designed much of the material displayed in urban spaces to promote contemporary dance and performance art. His collaboration with Kanuti Gildi Saal, a performance venue, has continued for years. Evart divides his time between Amsterdam and Tallinn and also works with artists abroad.

Ott Metusala approaches design through the lens of history and preservation, drawing attention to earlier designs and asking how they can be reinterpreted today. He is particularly interested in Estoplast products, where his grandmother also worked as a designer. While working in the bindery of the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam, Metusala has also developed a particular interest in everything connected with books.

Elisabeth Klement, a lecturer at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, explores the links between graphic design, society, identity and power. She shows how seemingly small design choices can be connected to much larger questions. Klement also runs a bookshop in Amsterdam and designs the contemporary art magazine Metropolis M.

“Six Views on Design” will air on ETV at 8 p.m. on Thursday. Johannes Tralla is the presenter, Sandra Nuut-Biasin is the idea’s author, Märten Vaher is the director, Heleri All is the editor and Kädi Rammula is the producer.