Hanna Malinen

This week we have challenged graphic designer and illustrator Hanna Malinen to choose 11 items that represents her and her life in the past, present and future!

One item that represents my childhood: Fir My childhood home was surrounded by a thick and dark pine tree forest. In daylight I loved exploring the near woods by myself, playing with rocks and sticks, being astounded by the layers of moss. After the sunset the forest showed its scary face too, but in reality it was just my imagination at play."

One item that represents my nationality: Rye Bread "Only after living abroad I’ve understood there is nothing like Finnish rye bread. After numerous attempts to find a delicious one from grocery stores here in Berlin, I had to give up eating bread. There is just something missing. Maybe Finnish people are a bit like the rye bread themselves, covered with a crispy crust that needs a little time and effort to get through."

One item that represents my biggest passion: Clay

"I think I could say making ceramics is my biggest passion. There is just something almost miraculous in the process. You can build any shape out of a mixture of rocks, minerals and water, and after a week of drying and two high temperature firings it turns into rock hard object. A lot of people say they got so much into ceramics because of the therapeutic or meditative effect of it, and I have to agree. Nothing puts my mind off more effectively than working with clay. It also teaches you patience and acceptance of failure very effectively."

One item that represents my highest ambition in life: A backpack "At the beginning of 2019 I sold almost everything I used to own and moved to Berlin, Germany. During the process I sometimes second-guessed myself, but right now I feel like it was the best decision in my life and I am more satisfied with my lifestyle than I’ve ever been. Ever since I’ve tried to keep my surroundings as minimalistic as possible and nowadays I get my satisfaction from getting rid of unnecessary things. It gives you a feeling of lightness and freedom. I try to maintain this approach to life and keep on exploring."

One item that represents my current mood: The dark moon face emoji "I feel like I am that emoji. Full of dark thoughts but still optimistic about life."

Images by Santeri Palkivaara & Hanna Malinen

One item that represents my favourite person: Camembert cheese "I don’t necessarily like to put people in order, but I guess I would still go for my boyfriend in this one. Let's just say that he brought cheese back into my life, haha."

One item that represents my style: Second-hand floral printed shirts from the ’80s "I buy almost all my clothes second hand. They are obviously of much better quality and also more stylish to my eye than those that fast fashion brands have to offer. I love all things a granny would wear, but at the same time I dream about a closet full of black uniforms for each day of the week."

One item that represents my greatest fear: A factory farm

"Obviously climate change is something that scares me the most. I wish we could find more sustainable solutions and stop seeing nature and other species only as a resource for humans. We need a complete shift of perspective and a major change to our eating and consuming habits. If I need to find something positive about COVID-19 at least it taught us it is actually possible to break out of old patterns."

One item that represents my profession: Alphabets

"I am a graphic designer by profession, and it is all about visualising information and creating impressions. I think a good font choice is almost half of the whole visualisation. I sometimes spend way too much time picking the right one and drive myself crazy by doing that. I am challenging myself to create my own font family one day."

One item that represents this year: A bicycle

"It’s been a rough year to all of us, and it has brought so many unexpected changes, some of which have turned out to be positive in the end. I quit using public transport at the beginning of this year when corona news hit, and started cycling everywhere. Even the distances that used to feel too challenging for daily cycling have begun to feel comfortable by now. I feel lucky that I’ve been able to spend this weird year in this city that offers so much to explore."

One item that represents me: Scales

"I am quite a bit into astrology, and my sun sign is libra. I don’t read daily horoscopes or commercial stuff like that, but I find astrology a tool to gain a better understanding of the behaviour of myself and the others. I do relate a lot to the description of my sun sign. I tend to see all the different aspects of each situation so I might end up being very indecisive, especially on mundane matters. My partner is the same sun sign so we have a hard time picking a restaurant or a movie together."