Kivelä Rinne

Kivelä Rinne is a studio of two designers in Lahti. It designs lights and furniture for Finnish manufacturers and makes the prototypes in its own workshop. The site’s most important reader is a factory’s product manager, who decides whom to trust with two years of product development.

I went through twelve sites of design studios and manufacturers. The best show a beautiful product photo and the manufacturer’s name, but almost all lack dimensions, schedule and the terms of collaboration. I wanted those on this site.

On the front page the studio’s birch plywood pendant hangs from the top edge of the page. Product photo backgrounds are matched to the same grey as the page, so the products seem to be in the same room. Every product has its own page with dimensions, materials, manufacturer, price, the number of prototypes and a list of materials available. The page for manufacturers sets out the phases of collaboration with durations, the royalty and prototype prices.

1. The product manager finds what they needDimensions, materials, manufacturer and the number of prototypes are on every product page.
2. The terms of collaboration are readyPhases with durations, the royalty and prototype prices set out the contract before the first meeting.
3. The page opens even at a trade fairThe front page weighs 0.2 MB, so it loads on a phone even on a weak connection.

• Name, KR stamp, colours and typography
• Product pages as manufacturer data sheets
• Page for manufacturers with phases, royalty and prices
• A drawn room as a second route to the products

On a phone the light hangs from the top of the screen above the headline, products sit in two columns and the room scrolls sideways.