Heidi Vilkman’s childhood in the forests of Finland has continued to influence her life despite city-hopping from Helsinki to Edinburgh to London for about 20 years. She left Finland to study film in the United Kingdom, and her love for storytelling has evolved from film to surface design. She begins each collection she designs with a story that often connects to ancient folklore.
For Heidi, it’s not enough to make pretty designs; the motifs need to be considered and have a reason to exist. In order to do this, she deep-dives into the research and uncovers interesting details and visual symbolism. After the research stage, she hand-draws motifs, usually with pencil or ink on paper. Even though she uses various digital tools and processes in the assembly stage, hand-crafting is an essential part of the creative puzzle. Heidi sells her own products on her shop, offers services for custom illustration projects, and licenses her drawings and patterns for products.
The Forest Floor collection is her most recent work and is inspired by her Finnish childhood exploring the hidden details of a forest floor. This collection follows biophilic design principles and is rooted in the belief in the positive impact nature and the environment have on human health and wellbeing.
After many years in urban environments, Heidi realized how much she was missing the forest. So, thirteen years ago, she had an idea to build a natural cottage by hand in Finland next to her parents’ house. She decided to use only recycled and natural materials found on the land. From not knowing anything about building to eventually standing inside her hand-sculpted cottage some years later, she realized dreams really can be fulfilled! She is considering another natural build somewhere in Spain or Italy where her children live. When Heidi is not dreaming up new creative projects, you can find her dancing with friends or wild swimming with her children in Finland in some of its 180,000 lakes! Connect with Heidi here.
