History

In 1871, the Craft School (School of Arts, Design and Architecture) was founded, and from 1887, it was located in the Ateneum, which was completed in the same year. The students graduated from the school as decorative painters. In the beginning, applied graphic arts were mainly made by freelance artists. The art of drawing, in other words, applied graphic arts, evolved under the shelter of the art of painting and became independent only in the 1930s. The high price of the art of painting on the art market led to graphic artists seeking work in advertising and publications, making caricatures, illustrating books, creating advertising material and posters.

Artists who made advertisements and illustrations had long been planning to establish their own association to promote their professional interests and raise the profile of the art form. Suomen Piirtäjäliitto (Grafia) was founded at a meeting, which was chaired by the artist Albert Gebhard and held at a restaurant in Kunsthalle Helsinki, Taidehallin klubi.

• Suomen Piirtäjäliitto Finlands Tecknarförbund was founded on 22 May 1933.
• renamed as Suomen Taidepiirtäjäinliitto Finlands Tecknarförbund in 1942
• renamed as Suomen Taidepiirtäjäinliitto Grafia Tecknarförbund in 1963
• renamed as Graafisen suunnittelun ammattilaisten järjestö Grafia ry, Föreningen för grafisk design Grafia rf, Association of Professional Graphic Designers in Finland Grafia in 1971
• Since 2013, it has been known as Visuaalisen viestinnän suunnittelijoiden järjestö Grafia ry, the Association of Visual Communication Designers in Finland Grafia.

Historical events

In 1945, Suomen Taidepiirtäijäinliitto established a collection of drawings, which is now housed in the Lahti Museum of Visual Arts Malva.

In 1949, the first Rudolf Koivu Prize was awarded. Initially, the prize was awarded by the Rudolf Koivu Foundation. In 1983–1986, the prize was awarded by Grafia together with Nuorisokirjailijat ry (the association of the authors of young adult literature) and in 1986–1996, by the Finnish Book Foundation. In 1997, the prize was returned to Grafia.

In 1963, Grafia created and minted the Albert Gebhard Medal to honour the life’s work of the association’s founder and first chairperson, the painter and graphic artist Albert Gebhard.

Grafia is a founding member of ico-D (The International Council of Design). ico-D (formerly Icograda) was founded in 1963.

In 1963, the publication Suomalaista käyttögrafiikkaa – Finnish Graphic Design was published by WSOY. In 1966, Suomen piirustustaide Lauréuksesta Ekelundiin – Finnish Drawings from Lauréus to Ekelund and in 1967, Suomen piirustustaide Schaumanista Rantaseen – Finnish Drawings from Schauman to Rantanen were published by Grafia.

In 1975, the Lahti International Poster Biennial was created by Grafia and the Lahti Poster Museum as cooperation partners.

The Vuoden Huiput event was created in 1980, and the event included right from the start the competition, the annual, the exhibition and the awards gala.

In 1985, the Graphic Designer of the Year Award was established.

In 1987, the Mikkeli Illustration Triennial was established by Grafia and Mikkeli Art Museum as cooperation partners.

In 2006, the first Helsinki Design Hub seminar was organised in cooperation with Ornamo Art and Design Finland. That same year, the organisations also joined forces to organise the first Designers event.

In 2017, the Vuoden Huiput Festival was created in conjunction with the Vuoden Huiput competition. The event arose from the need to bring designers together to discuss creative design and be inspired by presentations from top international designers. In 2020, the festival was separated from the Vuoden Huiput competition and the name was changed to Huiput Creative Festival.

In 2018, Grafia’s 85th year of operation was celebrated by publishing the first history of the organization’s history, “Logo isommalla! Grafia 1933–2018”, written by Satu Jaatinen. The history was published at Grafia’s 85th anniversary at the Design Museum, where the Lorem ipsum Exhibition related to the anniversary was also on display. It was curated by Arja Karhumaa and Kia Beilinson. The anniversary year was also joined by a Logo isommalla! Make the logo bigger! website, which delved into the decades of visual communication design.

Grafia’s long-awaited exhibition and event space Luonnos was opened in 2023. The space was acquired in December 2022 in the building next to Grafia’s office at Uudenmaankatu 13 in Helsinki. The first exhibition at Grafia’s creative space Luonnos was “Muotoja luonnosta – Forms from Nature”, opened in March 2023. It featured projects funded by Grafia on the theme nature.