Syrup Helsinki to Become Kokoro and Moi

Syrup Helsinki to Become Kokoro & Moi

Design agency Syrup Helsinki is changing its name. The new name, Kokoro & Moi, will be in use as of 4 January 2008. There are two acquisitions behind the name change: Syrup Helsinki's parent company, the New York-based Syrup LLC, has been acquired by the international digital agency network LBI International AB, and Syrup Helsinki founders Teemu Suviala and Antti Hinkula have acquired the whole share capital of Syrup Oy.

"We had two options: either transfer to work for a big international chain and relocate to Amsterdam or New York or establish an agency that collaborates closely with this chain but remains wholly independent. We chose the independent path," says Teemu Suviala. "This new ownership arrangement allows us to operate more flexibly in our markets in the United States, Europe and Japan. It also ensures that our design competence remains at the disposal of all our clients."

The design agency Kokoro & Moi specialises in brand, corporate and product identities, creative direction, art direction, graphic design and consultancy. Their innovative expertise covers both traditional and digital channels. The agency's large international clientele represents commercial players from multinationals to start-ups, as well as various cultural and public institutions. Amos Anderson Art Museum, Blyk, City of Helsinki, Design Forum Finland, Jaiku, Lycra, New York Magazine, Nokia and Toyota are just a few examples of Kokoro & Moi clients.

Currently, Kokoro & Moi has several projects under way in various competence areas. There is a major identity and product design case being implemented in the US for the toy company Mammoth Toys. Product and graphic design projects are under way for the Japanese companies Escalator Records, Lisn / Shoyeido Corporation and Uniqlo. As for Finnish clients, a new type of product and service concept is being created for Vallila Interior and for clothing retailer Jim & Jill, Kokoro & Moi is revamping the look of the company's stores.

"We will continue to be known for our open-mindedness and superior expertise, ranging from the smallest detail to comprehensive concepts," says Antti Hinkula, and continues: "With brand strategies, we trust in the power of originality and great design."

The quality of Teemu Suviala's and Antti Hinkula's design has been recognised, for example, with the Young Designer of the Year 2005 Prize and numerous international positions of trust. Alongside stylish and lasting brand identities, expectations for the agency's work include fresh, startling and subversive designs skillfully using the entire modern media palette as expressive tools, from product and spatial design to music videos, mobile media and internet.

In spring 2008, the French publishing house Pyramyd will be issuing a 120-page book on the agency for their Design & Designer series. The latest projects of the agency have also been featured in several design books published in autumn 2007: Kelvin - Colour Today (Die Gestalten Verlag, GER), Logo A Lot (Bug News Network, JPN), One Hundred at 360° - Graphic Design's New Global Generation (Laurence King Publishing, UK), Serialize (Die Gestalten Verlag, GER) and Two Faced (IdN, Hong Kong).

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