Design | The ceramist who made the mug compared to Iittala says: The company knew about the similarity of the mugs before the publication

Iittala was contacted by a ceramist from Helsinki Johanna Ojasen a few weeks before the company released a tableware series, the mug of which has been suspected to be a copy of Ojanen's mug.

Ojanen tells HS about it in his statement via email. He also commented on the matter by phone.

Iittala's reform In recent days, the mugs of the Play tableware series announced during the holidays have been criticized for being too similar to the mugs that Ojanen has been making for a long time. Ojanen has been making the mugs he designed in Suomenlinna at the Pot Viapori ceramics studio since 2011. Ojanen's mugs have been sold, for example, in Artek's store.

Ojanen tells about the contact he received from Iittala a few weeks ago.

“They had noticed a cup in Artek's store that was disturbingly similar to the one in their new, upcoming Play series. It should be mentioned that the cups I made for Artek are in the colors they wanted and are monochromatic. Iittala's concern about the excessive similarity of the cups had already arisen from these Artek products, which are therefore not two-colored and pastel-colored,” Ojanen writes.

“Iittala was thus fully aware of the remarkable similarity of the cups even before the announcement. And according to what they said, the designer was also aware of that.”

Ojanen writes that he visited Iittala's headquarters to look at the cups of the new Play series at Iittala's request. He says that his conclusion from the meeting was that the products are very similar despite small differences in details and may cause confusion among consumers.

Ojanen tells HS over the phone that he has received several inquiries about whether Iittala's Play mug was designed by him. Ojanen says that inquiries have come from colleagues, among other things.

“The meeting with Iittala was held in a good spirit and it ended with the statement of Iittala's representative that they will return to the matter. I interpreted the conversation to mean that Iittala wanted to find a mutually satisfactory solution. So far, Iittala has not returned to the matter”, Ojanen's statement continues.

Iittalan Play mug designer Aleksi Kuokka denied on Wednesday in his Facebook post that he was aware of Ojanen's mug during his design process.

Ojanen does not take a position on whether he believes there were conscious or unconscious influences in the design of the Play mug. He wishes that Iittala would have looked after the design phase to see if a similar mug already exists.

“Instead, Iittala hides behind universal forms and coincidences. And still leaves the designer alone to take on the staggering big mecca and social media heist.”

Ojanen writes in his statement that he has been making mugs for over 10 years. He says that it has been featured in Finnish interior design magazines and design sales events over the years. According to him, mugs have also been sold in Artek's Okra, Lokal and B34 stores.

Ojanen tells HS over the phone that he hopes to get in touch and have a conversation with Iittala. He does not specify exactly what kind of compensation he would like, but for example a public acknowledgment that Iittala was aware of the similarity of the mugs would be a start.

“But they are apparently of the opinion that there is not enough similarity between them,” he states.

HS asked Iittala to respond to Ojanen's statement on Thursday afternoon. The Fiskars Group, which owns Iittala, commented on the issue by email. The company's message is very similar to HS's the answer received on Tuesday:

“As a design company, we value design very much and it is a central part of the core of the Iittala brand. Our design process includes the validation of our products by our own and external experts who specialize in intellectual property rights. This is also how we have worked with the Play collection.

The shape of a mug is a universal, everyday object of which there are countless variations. For this reason, different mug designs often have similar elements that can be found widely in mug designs around the world. Thus, similarities can also be found in Iittala's PLAY mug and other mug models. Designer Aleksi Kuokka has also commented on the issue on his own Facebook account.

In general, we regularly hold various discussions with designers or other stakeholders. We respect the confidentiality of these discussions, so we will not comment on them or their details.”