Oot niin ihana (You are so lovely) takes the baby book to the next level as it is designed for all kinds of families from single parents to adoptive families. The whole development has been done tightly together with consumers to meet all of the expectations and needs.
The idea of a completely new baby book emerged when graphic designer Aino Nieminen could find nothing but extremely traditional baby books. Not only the content was traditional “mum” and “dad” type but also the look was far from a more fresh and modern visual style.
“Single parent and adoption families, families with twins and families with two mums or dads, for example, have existed side by side forever with the nuclear family. Still, there are no baby books for these families”, Aino ponders.
But was there a need for a modern baby book? Aino posted the question to Facebook and was encouraged by her friends, soon she created a separate web page and an Instagram account for the idea. Quickly it became clear that the lack of a neutral baby book bothered many, Aino received thousands of comments, stories and suggestions what the book should contain.
”One single mum wrote me that she became incredibly sad while searching a baby book for her child. All the pages stressed the word Dad,” Aino gives an example, “baby book should be the last thing you get sad for,” Aino thinks.
“Adoption families didn’t have anything to write for the page “Mom’s pregnancy”. Therefore, in Oot niin ihana, there’s a page saying Odotus (The wait), which suits for all.”
Of course, also the traditional headlines, such as what the baby likes to eat and do, were wanted and ended up in the baby book too.
The baby book is entirely designed and manufactured in Finland. The whole development has been done tightly with consumers to meet all of the expectations and needs. Aino also discussed on the baby books price with her customers. She felt that opening the pricing structure and showing the amount of work while doing the book explained where the price comes from.
The book is designed so that own content and own additional pages can be added later. The multi-functioning binder structure also allows to change the page order or add your own content, the binder has magnetic clogging mechanism to keep it in shape and the beautiful box that comes within can be used for the book but also to retain other baby’s memories such as first clothes or drawings.
The project was successful, and Aino wants to keep doing product development together with her customers. Already postcards have been made this way and the next bigger project Aino has on mind is a combination of a calendar, a diary and a notebook. But first, she must find out is there a real need for her idea. If you think so, let her know.
