About Design Archives

Design Archives is a national archive of Finnish design and design-related work, located in Mikkeli, Finland in the same building with the Central Archives of Finnish Business Records (Elka). The archives’ mission is to collect and preserve documents and objects related to Finnish design and design-related subjects and to offer anyone interested in design the opportunity to study the materials. Design Archives is a non-profit organization funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture.

The aim of Design Archives is to promote research and accessibility of design and to ensure that the historical knowledge of Finnish design is preserved for future information needs. The archives also aims to open up the background of creative work and to make Finnish design and the work of designers more widely known. The materials in the archives consist of original design documents and artefacts related to various fields of design. They were donated by designers, companies and organisations working in the field of design and visual communication.