Koponen + Hildén
Helsinki, Finland
Co-founder of Koponen+Hildén
Teacher at Aalto University, Lahti Design Institute
What is the motivation to work in information design?
I believe that good decisions require understanding the facts. Information design is about making the facts understandable. Therefore, information design facilitates good decisions, whether it be in government, business, or people’s daily lives.
What are you working on at the moment?
I run a small information design studio with my business partner Jonatan Hildén. We mostly create infographics and data visualizations for public sector clients and media, and train PR professionals, researchers and other experts on the basics of creating their own visualizations. We also teach information design at Aalto University.
What is a project you consider a great example of information design?
I’m a big fan of The New York Times’ graphics desk. For example, the online article “Tracking Harvey’s Destructive Path Trough Texas and Louisiana” uses data visualizations to paint a detailed picture of the havoc created by hurricane Harvey after making landfall: www.nytimes.com
What is your dream project?
My business/creative partner Jonatan Hildén and I are starting work that very well might be the dream project. With the help of a grant from Kone Foundation we are creating 40 data maps and cartograms of Finland on a wide variety of topics. The project combines journalism, data collection, wrangling and analysis, map design, and interaction design, making it a very interesting and rewarding project, and hopefully one that will have an impact on the Finnish society.