Visit Finland

Visual identity, website design

Client project (Accenture Song)

2019

The new cadence of travel is more deliberate, introspective, and soulful. Empowered by over 5 million people living in the happiest country in the world, Finns have a special gift they can share with the world.

Tourists are increasingly using the web as a source of travel inspiration and information. Visit Finland, operated by the Finnish Tourism Board, set a goal of making the country the top choice for mindful travellers. Environmental factors and conscious travelling – driven by well-being – are becoming more and more significant in travel.

We created a brand experience heavily rooted in senses that translates the unique gifts Finland, the happiest country in the world, can share with tourists. A co-creative design process and a scalable visual identity optimised for the digital environment fuel the new version of visitfinland.com – all completed in 1.5 years. The site has welcomed you through 9 languages, 3 B2B sites, and 5 campaign pages.

Scope of work
: Destination rebranding, Brand audit, Brand foundation , Visual identity, Content strategy, Web analytics, Digital design, UX/UI design, Design system, Web development

STARTING POINT

Creating an inspiring and functional digital brand experience to attract mindful travellers

More and more tourists are using the web as a source of inspiration and information. This has increased the demand for a stronger and more interesting digital presence, leading Visit Finland, operated by the Finnish Tourism Board, to partner with us to co-create a differentiated digital brand experience aimed at attracting mindful travellers worldwide. The aim is for visitors to dream of Finland, get inspired by it, and plan their stay.

The new cadence of travel is more deliberate, introspective, and soulful. In addition to environmental factors, conscious travel is increasingly driven by well-being considerations. Empowered by over 5 million people living in the happiest country in the world, we explored the special gifts that Finns can share with the world and translated them into a brand experience heavily rooted in the senses. Whether you encounter Visit Finland in physical or digital environments, it is a sincere invitation for you as our guests to experience the first flavour of Finnish hospitality.

STRATEGY

Co-creation, stakeholder interviews, extensive research fueled by real data, and user feedback

The design of the customer-oriented digital brand experience was shaped through design research methods, user interviews, and co-creation workshops. In the end, over 150 internal and external stakeholders, as well as international travellers from target markets, participated to ensure their voices were reflected.

As the epitome of insightful research, six traveller mindsets were created based on 50 qualitative interviews with key stakeholders and 100 in-depth interviews with international travellers. Providing a comprehensive understanding of travellers, they shed light on new possibilities for better supporting customers with the client's experience offering and helping them to understand how to interact and engage with them.

Based on multiple co-creation workshops with Visit Finland employees and international stakeholders, we have developed a shared vision together. Finland has a personality full of contrasts, which can be seen in its creative and caring mindset that manifests itself as cool and credible.

The new strategy with six guiding principles was investigated: Stay real, Trigger emotions, Be bold, Be adaptable, Be accessible, and Be sustainable. They provide inspiration and direction for meaningful encounters between the user and Visit Finland. Each value has been a critical guideline in both design and content streams to build a scalable and adaptable identity for the digital environment.

Also, in content design, a holistic information architecture has been reimagined, and the new navigation has been validated through user testing and interviews. A modular and smooth flow of content shows dedication to navigational simplicity.

CREATIVE SOLUTION

From static to dynamic, an adaptable brand experience as Finnish happiness and nature welcome you

Visual identity rooted in Finnish happiness and nature

Built on the extensive amount of insight research, interviews and co-creation workshops, happiness as sensory experiences became the main differentiating concept. We explored visually translating one sense to another, such as dynamic facets of nature into an animated logo, the sound of Finland into colours, and natural texture into tactile patterns.