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Me Naiset 47/2024
This article written by Katariina Halonen is about diversity at Finnish Police. How the police takes care of people with different backgrounds, cultures, sexual identity and gender – or do they. How it is to be woman or gay police, and is there racism. The illustration I made by building a miniature world by using different materials including cardboard, metal, and fake stone. Photos by Ninna Lindström.
Me Naiset 46/2024
This article written by Anette Kärkkäinen is about nutrition, and the problems people have with their relationship to food, and why it is so difficult to eat “neutral” nowadays without any judgement by your self or by others. It was fun to do the illustration together with photographer Mikko Hannula. I also made a small stop motion animation for the online article, which you can watch here.
Me Naiset 33/2024
This article written by Virpi Salmi is about the overload of emotions in society, how to learn to recognize them, and how to live with them in balance. I made the illustration and photos by using Fimo modelling clay, wooden pearls and cartons. It was fun :).
Me Naiset 44/2024
This article “Good night ovaries”, written by Heidi Heino is about menopause. How it affects to every woman’s life on a way or another, and can take even 10 years. It gets a problem, not only from indiviual perspective, but also from society, when the symptoms in the worse case ruin one’s work life. Luckily it is not a tabu anymore, and one can get help. Information is the key, because lot of symptoms could also be connected to some illnesses, and then get wrong treatment. I was happy to illustrate this interesting topic, and since the text has a bit humour, I also wanted to make it to the illustration, like the last egg shell fading to the sunset. Illustration is made by just using coloured cartons and scissors :). Photos by Piia Arnould.
Me Naiset 36/2023
This article written by Pauliina Grönholm is about death, and what happens in the last moment between life and death of a human. The subject is very sensitive and difficult, and I wished the same sensitiveness from the illustration too. I decided to use a small dying geranium leaf (1,5 cm tall) to symbolize the moment between, where is still life, but already death too. Tuomas Kolehmainen took this amazing beautiful photo on a light table, and I gave a small extra grey gradient on top. There was about 50 leafs in the studio, but only this little one had the right shape, a bit of a heart, a bit of a flame, a bit of a tree. When it´s size has been made about 100 times bigger from the original, it is difficult to understand it – it looks like a small universe, mysterious, poetic, just beautiful – a miracle – like life itself, and death too.
Me Naiset 03/2021
This illustration we made together with photographer Mikko Hannula for an article about the future of textile industry, written by Virpi Salmi. At the moment most of the clothes are made of polyester = plastic = oil, or cotton which is not the most ecological either. In the future clothes can be made of wood, and the whole textile cycle and recycling hopefully will work better than at the moment.For this illustration we used syrup as oil, cotton flowers and sawdust to show what materials clothes can be made of. I really enjoyed making this one :), also the layout.
Me Naiset 46/2022
This article written by Heidi Heino is about the “trends” of burial. For the illustration I made these little paper koffins, which we photoshooted with Mikko Hannula.
Me Naiset 52/2022
Super interesting illustration which I made for Me Naiset article about Trends of 2023 written by Pauliina Grönholm. I built up small sceneries from different materials which were photographed by MIkko Hannula at Sanoma Studio. For the web version we made also a small stop motion animation, just for fun :). More images you can watch here and the animation here.
Me Naiset 06/2020
This article is about the field of care, including nursery, child care, elderly care etc. The field is in crisis in Finland, because there is a lack of labor force since the salary, circumstances and valuation of the field is not so good. Very often these workers are women. We made the images for the article together with photographer Tuomas Kolehmainen by transillumination on light table. The article is written by Virpi Salmi. You can read the full article here.
Me Naiset 31/2023
This article written by Virpi Salmi is about the phenomena of having a cottage (“mökki”) in Finland, and how it doesn’t fit to everybody. Often a cottage can be a work camp with endless uncomfortable daily duties with fixing, cleaning etc… I made the illustration and layout for the article by searching old archive photos from Finna, making them to Polaroid look-a-like, and building small miniature settings around them including classical Finnish cottage objects, like game “Mölkky” and even mouse shit :). I love this kind of works. Also the text is great, and the pictures have a side story, a small cottage game with different tasks. Photos were taken by Panu Pälviä at Sanoma studio. Close up images you can watch here.
Me Naiset 40/2023
This article “To which class you belong to?” written by Anette Kärkkäinen is about society classes in Finland, and how much they can affect to the directions of each ones life, even indirectly. The photos we made on purpose with full of cliches, to underline the classic prejudice of people. Settings made by me, photos by Mikko Hannula.
Me Naiset 18/2024
This article “When fun died” written by Heidi Heino is about our ability to have fun nowadays. Can we still have fun or are we going towards more puritan life without fun. Or is fun just changing, and nowadays fun is different than what fun was 25 years ago or before. I made the illustration by building up again small scenerys. In the old living room photo I used my aunts old doll house furniture from early 1950’s to get authentic feeling. Photos by Mikko Hannula. Original old images from 1960’s by Matti Mäntynen/Helsingin kaupunginmuseo (Finna), newer party original images from Getty Images.
Me Naiset 41/2024
This article written by Virpi Salmi is about women, look and aging, and how society makes pressure in women’s life to look younger and fresher, even old. The mirror photos were taken by Anna Huovinen, and the images inside the mirrors are from Getty Images. I created the visual idea and layout.
Me Naiset 13/2023
This article written by Sanna Kajander-Ruuth is about things what we thought were impossible, but turned to be real later. I made the illustration with collage style. First spread has topics from past, including WTC attack 2001, Finland’s Eurovison win by Lordi 2006, clone of Dolly sheep 1996 and sink of Estonia 1994. Second spread is about present including War in Ukraina, Finland’s join to Nato and Corona pandemic. The third spread is about future, which we still can not know. Will humas wake up mammoths alive again, will we have flying cars and conquer Mars or have a first gay president in Finland? This article illustration included lot of research and I really enjoyed it. Original photos: Shutterstock, Lehtikuva and Sanoma archive (Bo Stranden, Aleksi Koskinen, Erkki Raskinen, Ivan Bessedin).
Me Naiset 5/2023
This article written by Pauliina Grönholm is about home mothers, their solutions to combine family life and even work, and what the society thinks about that. I made the illustration and layout by building up small sceneries, which were photographed by Anna Huovinen at Sanoma studio. I really loved this work :).
Me Naiset 15/2023
This article by Virpi Salmi is about buying car. How to make the decision, what to consider, electric or gas etc. I built up the illustration by using Shutterstock image prints of stores and parking areas, and adding small toy cars and miniature people into the landscapes. Photos were taken by Panu Pälviä. I think the end result came quite good.
Me Naiset 11/2023
This article by Pauliina Grönholm is about the parliamentary election of Finland. It answers to questions which political party or person one could elect, and how to choose the right candidate. Pictures are taken by Mikko Hannula. The whole article with video too you can watch here.
Me Naiset 18/2022
This article written by Päivi Lehtomurto is about young women’s poverty in Finland. The article won a honorary award in March 2023 by European Anti Poverty Network (EAPN). I was happy to be part of the team of this article about very important topic. Photos by Anna Huovinen. The whole article you can read here.
Me Naiset 45/2021
This is an article by Sanna Kajander-Ruuth about how our relationship to USA has changed, and how the country itself has changed in the last 40 years. I made the illustration by collage technique, original images Lehtikuva and Shutterstock. From here you can read the whole article.
Me Naiset 48/2021
This article written by Virpi Salmi is about the money of Finland: how it is shared, who gets it and who not. The idea was to show literally the different hands of different professions, money pile getting smaller and smaller, and in the end child’s hands. Why are the women dominated fields in the social caring so much less paid than engineers with same amount of education? In the end it is all about values of the society. Images by Mikko Hannula.
Me Naiset 45/2022
This article by Anette Kärkkäinen is about rapes in Finland. About 50 000 women and girl in Finland face sexual harassment, but only a bit more than 5 000 go to police, which is a problem. I made the illustration and photographer Piia Arnould took the images. This article is part of Me Naiset theme week “Why the law doesn´t work?”. You can read the full article here.
Me Naiset 17/2020
This article by Virpi Salmi is about the forecast of Finland, when the birthrate is going so much down, that soon we have only old people around and no kids, or very few only. In the illustration I wanted to make it dramatic by cutting the kids of from the pictures. Luckily the forecasts can also fail, and the future might be brighter. Original pictures are from Getty Images, photographed by Piia Arnould.
Me Naiset 37/2021
This article by Virpi Salmi is about alcohol problems, when does it get to a problem, and how to get or not get professional help for that. The idea of the illustration was this little bit shaking feeling of being drunken. The photos were taken by Tuomas Kolehmainen on a light table in Sanoma studio. Later I used them by using multiply layers.
Me Naiset 14/2020
I made the visuals and layout for this Virpi Salmi’s article about why women don’t study maths. Photos were taken by Ninna Lindström and Riina Peuhu.
Me Naiset 33/2020
This article by Jenni Kleemola is about Finnish health care. People who have money can have easier access to private health care, while others with less money have more difficulties to get time for doctor. Sometimes one has to choose between food and teeth. I made the illustration by using modeling clay and transparent foil which was great fun. The photos were taken by Anna Huovinen in Sanoma studio. In layout I decided to use different colour in the little stories by our readers. This illustration was selected to Mikkeli’s Illustration Triennale 2023. See the pictures closer here.
Me Naiset 12/2020
This article is about woman going to driving school again at 40´s, with lot of fears. My colleague Essi Myllyoja has written the article, I did the illustration and layout for it and Juha Salminen and I took the photos. This was lot of fun! The whole article you can read here, and also see a small stop motion animation I made for it here. Big thanks also for my friend Jenni, who borrowed these pink gloves for us, and all the kids who gave the cars :).
Me Naiset 21/2022
This article by Wilma Ruohisto is about the “body fashion” in Western Culture since Hellenistic art (starting 323 BC) until today. The work included, beside the layout making, lot of research and picture search, but was super interesting. Images by MVPhotos, Getty Images, Shutterstock, Sanoma arkisto and Finna/Sotamuseo.
Me Naiset 5/2022
This article by Anette Kärkkäinen is about women’s sexuality, and how we have understood it maybe wrong. We decided to take images of flowers to illustrate the layered sexuality of a woman, and orgasm. Images are taken by Mikko Hannula, layout by me.
Me Naiset 37/2020
This article by Virpi Salmi is about addictive horoscopes. We had a brainstorm with photographer Mikko Hannula about the illustration, and decided to try something new for us. I painted everything with colours which are shining only in uv light. Luckily it worked out very well also in photos, specially online – in print the colours got a bit weaker. I have to say that this is one of my top 5 work assignments. I loved to have my hands on real stuff :). Watch the pictures bigger in here.
Me Naiset 3/2022
This article written by Heidi Heino is about burn out, and the history of us getting tired at work and life. I made the collages, original images from Getty Images and Shutterstock.
Me Naiset 35/2021
This article written by Heidi Heino is about the future of using hemp.
Me Naiset 5/2021
This article written by Moona Laakso is about phenomena called BII = Breast Implant Illness, which several people with breast implants are suffering. I made the illustration, photos were taken by Piia Arnould.
Me Naiset 24/2020
This article by Virpi Salmi is about how the X Generation failed in many ways, by celebrating life without much duties, while Millenials try to safe the world which the Boomers built for us. The photo collage I made by collecting the icons of X-Generation from Finland and world. I am myself also one the last ones of X Generation, born in the end of 1979, so this task was also personally “touching” for me ;), and specially fun and nostalgic!
Me Naiset 01/2020
This article’s illustration we made together with Kaisa Viljanen (text) and Tuomas Kolehmainen (photos). Kaisa and me carried our bio waste bags and rotten foods from home for the photos. The article is about how much people throw away food, which could have been still edible, if stored right and planned well. You can read the full article here.
Me Naiset 35/2019
I made this illustration to article about hunting an good quality second hand black sweater, but also in a bigger scale textile and clothing industry. Text by Jenni Kleemola, photos by Mikko Hannula. Read the full story here.
Me Naiset 31/2019
I build up the small sceneries for Barbie’s 60th Birthday party. The article is written by Virpi Salmi and photos were taken by Johanna Jarva at Sanoma studio. Read the full story here.
Me Naiset 43/2019
This illustration was a bit spooky. I made it to article about True Crime, written by Virpi Salmi. Original photos from Shutterstock.
Me Naiset 22/2021
This article written by Sanna Kajander-Ruuth, is about exhibitionists and dickpics, and women’s (usually girls) experience about them. We made the visuals together with photographer Mikko Hannula.
Me Naiset 23/2021
This article by Mari Uusivirta is about 101 books, written by a woman, which everyone should read. I made the illustration with collage technique. Original photos from Sanoma archive, Lehtikuva, MVPhotos and Shutterstock.
Me Naiset 42/2021
This article by Anna Wilkman is about autofiction as phenomena in literature. I made the two illustrations as book covers, where I used photo montage technique with writers pictures (real/fictive). In covers are Laura Malmivaara and Karl Ove Knausgård, who have both written autofictive books. Original photos by Outi Pyhäranta/HS/Sanoma-Arkisto, Nina Rangöy/Lehtikuva and Shutterstock.
Me Naiset 17/2021
This article written by Kaisa Viljanen is about antidepressants – in good and bad – specially that it might be difficult to stop using them because of side effects. I made the visuals, photos by Tuomas Kolehmainen.
Me Naiset 36/2020
I made the visuals and drawings for an article by Maria Jyrkäs about hunting happiness. Photos were taken by Piia Arnould in Sanoma studio.
Me Naiset 26/2022
This article written by Kaisa Viitanen is dreaming about lively neighborhood. I made the illustrations and main photos for the article. Small photos on the left upper corner on last spread are taken by Minna Kurjenluoma.
Me Naiset 10/2021
This article written by Virpi Salmi is about Finnish tennis culture, where women and girls are leaving, because of equality problems. I made the illustration and layout for it. Original images from Getty Images and Shutterstock.
Me Naiset 33/2020
This article by Virpi Salmi is about online fleamarkets and how people make call offs, or just disappear from already made deals. I made the illustration with imaginary conversations around sold objects. Images from Shutterstock.
Me Naiset 19/2020
This article written by Heidi Heino is about “Black Swans”, unexpected events which changed the world. I made the illustration and layout for it. Original images from Shutterstock.
Me Naiset 45/2019
I this illustration for article about reality tv people in Finland. Text by Virpi Salmi. Original photos by Sanoma and Shutterstock.
Me Naiset 13/2020
This article is about new coming of traditional Finnish folk culture, like national dresses and dancing. The article is written by Heidi Heino, photos by Panu Pälviä, Juha Salminen and #tuunaamunperinne Instagram.
Me Naiset 50/2019
This layout I made for Virpi Salmi’s article about group dynamics and work relationships.
Me Naiset 25/2020
This article written by Virpi Salmi is about Finnish women’s clothing myths and expectations, about how one should dress and how not. This has of course created lot of bad self confidence since history, but hopefully in the future everyone can dress how ever they feel the best themselves. Images from Getty Images, speaking bubbles and layout by me.
Me Naiset 32/2019
I made the starting headline and layout for the feature article about Collage Club Helsinki. Photos by Susanna Kekkonen.