Elizabeth Salonen

Elizabeth Salonen is a multidisciplinary artist-designer and founder of Mottoform. Established in Helsinki in 2005, the design studio is now based in Ontario, Canada. Salonen works in product design, ceramics, textiles, interiors, lighting and the crafting of collectible art and objects.

Salonen’s work has earned international awards and recognition, and in 2012 she was selected as Industrial Designer of the Year in Finland. Nordic influences marked by timelessness, and a desire to create objects for a conscious way of living are woven throughout her work. Her design practice is rooted in the narrative of materials, craft and techniques – designs with authenticity, merging artisan with industrial manufacturing. Her work effortlessly balances aesthetics, functionality, boldness, and reduction.

Born in Canada, Salonen studied design in the U.S. and at Aalto University in Finland and received a degree in Industrial Design from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit. Her career has taken her across Canada, U.S. and Finland, enriching her projects with a global perspective. Salonen has also contributed to the field by teaching Product Design, and MFA Color & Material Design at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit.

Early on, Salonen worked at Nike designing footwear as an intern. This was followed by a position at Ford Motor Company in Advanced Color & Material Design working on Concept Cars and Brand Stategy. In 2005 she moved to Finland and established Mottoform design studio. Her watch designs for Suunto received a Red Dot and an iF design award.

Salonen’s work has been exhibited in Canada, Detroit, Milan, New York, Finland, Frankfurt, Korea, and Sweden. Select exhibitions include “Discarded” at the Interior Design Show in Toronto in collaboration with I.M. Weiss Gallery; “Helsinki Remade,” at the International Craft Biennale in Korea; and “Offcuts, Reimagined” Lamp Sculptures at the Ford House, Detroit. In 2022 her solo show “Thread: hand-embroidered meditations on canvas” was exhibited at I.M Weiss Gallery in Detroit.

Select client work includes watches for Suunto, concept development for Iittala, art and creative direction for Bernhardt Design, fashion prints for Vimma Company, lighting for Fosto, textile designs for Vallila, as well as as collaboration with renowned restaurant Marrow Detroit— to create an eating experience merging product design and gastronomy.

Salonen’s artwork has been acquired by Mercedes Benz, and the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Her work has been published internationally in media such as Monocle, Azure, The Globe and Mail, Finnish Design Yearbooks, Design Boom, and CNN Style, among others. She has also been featured on the cover of Finland’s principal business newspaper, Kaupalehti.