Bestform

Bestform was a design agency operating in Jyväskylä in 1986 – 2015. Their branch of business included industrial design, product development, product graphics design and modelling. Bestform was founded by industrial designer Markku Lehtinen (1949-2015), whose company engaged in the design of furniture, electrical and electronic products, various machinery and equipment, and corporate identities.

Markku Lehtinen graduated as an industrial designer from the University of Art and Design in 1978. He started working as a designer during his studies in 1975 at SR-Design. Back then he designed fuel gauges, modems, and bus chassis. After graduation, Lehtinen joined GWS , where his work included product development and design of shop furniture and retail design. Since 1986, Markku Lehtinen worked as an entrepreneur in his own design studio, Bestform .

He has lectured and promoted design in many places in Finland and abroad. He taught design for example at the Jyväskylä Institute of Technology and lectured and consulted companies in Mexico. He also worked as a consultant for the TE Centre’s Design Start development programme in Central Finland and as a project manager for Design Forum Finland.

Bestform ‘s archive contains project documents, drawings, and photographs from various design projects from Markku Lehtinen’s career. The archive also contains material on Lehtinen’s teaching and consultancy work. Here you can see the Bestform Ltd archive catalogue and digitised materials.