FORUM: Building bridges between Montréal and Helsinki
For the fifth edition of FORUM, the Bureau du design partnered with the event to support exchanges of ideas between Montréal’s and Helsinki’s graphic design communities. The gathering was particularly meaningful given that 2026 marks the 20th anniversary of Montréal being awarded UNESCO City of Design status.
As part of the collaboration, Helsinki-based graphic design studio TSTO was invited to share aspects of its practice with counterparts in the Montréal community. Founded in 2010 by Matti Kunttu and Antti Uotila, TSTO focuses on visual identity, typography and digital design, with a client roster including Finnish cultural institutions and other organizations.
Helsinki, also a UNESCO City of Design, is a natural partner for Montréal. The exchange with TSTO enabled connections between two ecosystems well known for the quality of their graphic design practices, while fostering knowledge transfer, professional networking and the emergence of new collaborations.
From chaos to clarity
The meeting was aligned with the theme chosen for FORUM 2026: Chaos. Graphic design plays a fundamental role in an era defined by accelerated technological change, the multiplication of information, as well as social, cultural and urban transformations, lending form to complexity, creating touchpoints and helping us make sense of our world.
Today, this power to organize, clarify and convey meaning extends beyond the challenges of visual communication. It can help cities achieve their sustainable development goals by promoting access to information, citizen participation and a sense of ownership of urban change. As they respond to increasingly complex challenges, designers can play their part in envisioning clearer, more inclusive and more sustainable ways of understanding and living in cities.
Through this partnership with FORUM and this meeting of Montréal and Helsinki minds, the Bureau du design helped give concrete expression to the UNESCO Cities of Design network—a organization that is more than just a label and that creates opportunities for dialogue, sharing and collaboration between communities of design practitioners.
