TOMI
CREATIVE

Name: Tomi Creative
Address: Helsinki, FI

DESIGN STUDIO+

DESIGN RESEARCH

HELSINKI,

FINLAND

DESIGN BEYOND ARTEFACTS

Design is not just about giving form to artefacts. Tomi Creative operates in the fields of systemic design and transition design. We use participatory design methods to guide and facilitate systemic change into desirable futures.

The founder, Tomi Rantanen, is a designer/researcher, developing transition arenas from their governance and policy-making focus to facilitate gender equality efforts. The transition arena process invites a set of stakeholders to collaboratively design future visions, concrete trajectories and a set of immediate actions to realise the vision.

Tomi is an expert in gender equality and equity challenges in music. He has conducted academic research in these fields and appeared on TV and at industry events to talk about these matters. Moreover, Tomi has had a 15-year-long career as a touring DJ and graphic designer in music.

Tomi is a member of the NODUS Sustainable Design Research Group at Aalto University (Finland) and a board member of the activist music research association Suoni (Finland).

Contact now for guest lectures, workshops, keynotes, panel discussions, book chapters and articles.

SELECTED
WORK

This report presents an equality transition agenda for the Finnish music industry. It outlines some of the central problems in the Finnish music industry and presents a co-created 2040 vision, transition pathways and suggested future actions. The report was developed as an outcome of the Equal Futures in Music 2026 Transition Arena.

AN EQUAL MUSIC INDUSTRY IN FINLAND BY 2040

Equal Futures in Music is a practice-based and solution-focused doctoral research project that has two aims: 1) to develop a transition agenda and solutions to the Finnish music industry's gender equality challenges together with industry stakeholders, and 2) to redesign transition arenas as a participatory and transition design method to fit feminist transition projects.

EQUAL FUTURES IN MUSIC

A 7-month project with a Zambian social enterprise, which aims to tackle many societal challenges – including malnutrional diets and deforestation. The project utilised participatory design methods and a research-through-design approach.

AALTO GLOBAL IMPACT

Logo design for Mikael Gabriel's record label Tasoi Records. Home to artists such as PastoriPike, Kingfish, Boyat, Diison, Django and others.

TASOI RECORDS

Tomi's alter ego, DJ Misterhustla, has been deejaying in clubs all over Finland, but also in Namibia, South Africa, Spain and Estonia. He has represented the DJ equipment manufacturer RANE in Nordic countries and the DJcity community.

With over 1000 events played, he has opened up the stage for the likes of The Game, GZA, YG, Kid Ink, Tinashe, Gyptian, Yemi Alade and more. One of the most memorable moments was playing at Virgil Abloh's ready-to-wear collection launch party at the Louis Vuitton Helsinki store.

DJ MISTERHUSTLA