Calendar contest by AYY & TOKYO

Will the next Design Calendar be your handiwork?

Aalto University Student Union and Arts and Design Students TOKYO ry are announcing the design contest for the Design Calendar for the academic year 2019–2020.  TOKYO ry, the association for Aalto University Arts and Design Students, has published an annual design calendar since 1975. In the academic year 2019–2020, the calendar will be executed for the second time together with AYY and distributed to all Aalto University students. The designer of the calendar will be chosen with a traditional contest from among the students.

The previous contest was won by Master’s-level Interior Design student Reetta Vartiala. For the upcoming academic year, the calendar will be made for the time period of 1 Aug 2019–30 Sept 2020. The contest starts on 1 Jan 2019, and its deadline is on Thursday 31 January 2019 at 4 pm!

 

Contest rules:

1. Contest duration and right of participation

The contest period runs from 1 Jan 2019 to 31 Jan 2019 at 4 pm.

All Aalto University students have a right to participate in the contest. Preparing a calendar design requires fluent skills in Finnish or English.

2. Submission of proposals

Contest proposals must be handed in at AYY’s Service Office (Otakaari 11) by Thursday 31 January 2019 at 4 pm. To ensure anonymity, the proposals should be accompanied by a working title and a sealed envelope labelled with an alias, containing the name(s) of the designer(s) and their contact details. The proposal must be attached onto white cardboard or board.

3. Design framework

The proposal must contain at least the following designs:

• calendar cover
• weekly spread with space for possible adverts on the bottom
• Student Union information pages
• possible project calendar
• suggestion for materials

The calendar is pocket-sized, at most A6-sized, i.e. approx. 105 x 148 mm. Flexibility will be determined based on the final design and the printer to be decided later. Calendar pages must be presented in their actual size.

Colour: There are four-colour advertisements and information sections at the beginning and end of the calendar. The calendar proper and part of the information section are bicolour.

Print run: 8000

Language: Finnish, English and Swedish (festive dates and info pages). Main language can be English, but trilingualism is a plus.

4. Choosing the winner

The winner will be chosen by a calendar panel appointed by AYY and TOKYO. The panel consists of representatives of AYY and TOKYO as well as a specialist member on visual communication design. Panel members cannot participate in the competition themselves. The panel will give feedback on the submitted works and choose the winner.

5. Winner’s commission

The winner(s) will be commissioned with the final design for the 2019–2020 calendar. The final design work will take place in early 2019. The designer(s) will be paid a remuneration of 1800€ for their work.

6. Content of the design work

The design work includes making print-ready files in cooperation with AYY’s Communications. If necessary, AYY offers work facilities on the Otaniemi campus. When preparing the final design, the commissioning party’s requirements regarding the calendar’s usability and printing costs must be taken into account. Other terms for the work will be settled when making the contract.

7. Other

Marking the national holidays must be considered in the design. Qualities to be considered in the design include ease of use, sustainability, clarity and accessibility (e.g. dyslexia), individuality and eco-friendliness. Based on experience, other good features in a calendar include ample writing space, paper that suits various pen types and durable cover material. However, these are not regular features in all calendars.

 

Please note that the panel will favour the following issues when assessing the designs:

♡ Does the calendar reflect both the Arts students’ TOKYO and all of Aalto? The calendar must look and feel like TOKYO, Finland’s biggest and most beautiful art student association, as much as the entire Aalto community.

♡ How does your calendar continue the TOKYO design calendar family? You can view a part of TOKYO’s calendar cavalcade from past years in the TOKYO Space in Otaniemi. There are past calendars from both TOKYO and AYY on display there.

♡ What does the calendar look like? How does it work? The panel also values the presentation-technical quality of the proposal. Present your proposal with sensible rhythm, preferably with signs and a visual model. Introduce the materials, paper types, fonts and colours you have used. Names alone tell the panel nothing: include samples in your presentation. Avoid graphic-designer jargon.

♡ What is special about the calendar? Ensure that the panel is aware of the new and cool features of your calendar. Write clarifying descriptions of how the calendar works. Give short and sweet reasons for your solutions.

♡ Is your proposal completely thought-through? Lead the panel’s imagination by submitting a firm proposal. The proposal is not the finished calendar, but present it as if it were.

♡ Can you take the project all the way to completion? Your knowledge of graphic design and ability to take the calendar from proposal to finished product must be apparent from your proposal. This does not mean that you have to be a graphic designer, but the work requires knowledge and experience of the technicalities of printing. Submit your proposal on time: being late suggests that the calendar itself will be late as well.

More information is available from AYY’s Communications Specialist Henna Palonen (henna.palonen@ayy.fi).

You can read more about the calendar and its history on the TOKYO website (https://tokyo.fi/tapahtumat/kalenterikilpailu/?lang=en).

 

Free your creative powers and produce the world’s best calendar design!

Kirsi Veijola, familiar from the Housing Services customer service desk, has transferred into the position of Housing Specialist. From now on, her job includes, for example, duties related to living comfortability, residential democracy and the development of communal living. Her shoes in the front line of customer services are filled by Saila Rappumäki, familiar from Student Services.

AYY wants to put some effort on communal living. Living comfortability and residential democracy have been highlighted strongly in the Operational Plan and the Real Estate Strategy. These themes now also gain their own employee when Kirsi Veijola, who previously acted as Housing Secretary, transfers to the position of Housing Specialist and tackles exactly these topics.

Kirsi is enjoying her new position from the start. “It is lovely that working hours have been resourced for these important themes. I will have the opportunity to really tackle and dedicate time to matters regarding the comfortability of living, for example.”

The new job also has tangible effects on Kirsi’s working day. “I will no longer be seen at the Housing Services customer service desk. I will miss customer service but, at the same time, it is nice that my work is no longer so tied to the Service Office opening hours. My physical work station has also relocated.”

First on Kirsi’s to-do list is supporting the Castle Wardens and developing their operations. From now on, she wants to be the Castle Wardens’ point of contact and chief support who will assist in taking care of this volunteer duty that is significant to the community. She plans to attend house meetings as and when possible and requested. “We also have a ton of other material from feedback and ideas gathered along the years so, thankfully, I do not have to start with an empty desk. In addition, we will be taking advantage of the ITP course results. New tools can surely also be found in the community pedagogy studies that I will take up alongside work from January onwards.”

As the biggest needs for change in AYY’s Housing Services in the future, Kirsi names e.g. changes to living choices in the regulations as well as promoting communal living. “Right now, residential communities are established by chance or by friends looking for an apartment together. At the moment, however, it is not possible to apply for a big shared apartment with single rooms, for example, as a group,” describes Kirsi. “The biggest challenge in communal living is probably sharing the common areas with strangers with different cleanliness standards. It would be important to have a clear process for telling AYY about problems in the common areas. At the same time, the residents must be able to count on the notification having been received and, when necessary, something also being done about it.”

When asked for wishes and tips for residents, Kirsi answers immediately: “Join the activities. Take part in the house meetings. House meetings are the right place for making a change. Through them, you can easily achieve tangible improvements to your living!”

Kirsi’s place at the Housing Services’ customer service desk is taken by Saila Rappumäki, familiar from Member Services.

“I’ve been interested in housing matters for a while now. Before my work in Student Services, I held the position of Emergency Housing Coordinator, and Housing Services have also been included in my current contract. Now that I got the chance, I decided to move to Housing Services entirely.”

Saila’s induction to the new position has started well. She had already done some Housing Services tasks in the past. For example, she has approved applications for apartments, made apartment offers, signed rental agreements and answered the occasional email. Now, she has had the chance to get to know the Housing Regulations and the law on residential apartments’ rent in more detail.

Saila thinks it might be difficult to let go of her old work at first, what with overhearing Student Service matters discussed all day. She is, however, excited about her new duties. “In a way, the work in Housing Services is more challenging and multidimensional than in Student Services. More things need to be adapted here, and that is the aspect that interests and motivates me.”

Kirsi has started her transfer into the Housing Specialist position in late autumn. Saila will be fully transferred to Housing Services from the beginning of 2019.