Tomorrow is the official Moomin day. In our office, we spend days like these making new Moomin apps, so a little status update would be in order.

Our next interactive Moomin storybook is written and illustrated by Riina and Sami Kaarla. That should give you some kind of idea on what’s coming next. Riina and Sami have already published several similar printed Moomin books for little children. And their next Moomin...

It’s summer and we spend all our days inside in the office when you’re outside reading Moomin book apps. Basically it’s a great deal, but July is the typical holiday season in Finland and our office is going on full speed. What we do here is we listen to summer hits and try to make some new App Store hits.

Spinfy is a young startup company so we have to work a little bit harder to get the results we want. That’s why we don’t take days off. Ever. It’s the drive to succeed that keeps us in the office, and the fact...

I’ve been reading a lot of Moomin books lately. I find it hard to understand why some people consider Tove Jansson’s stories as melancholic and depressing. Even in the biggest trouble, she always finds a silver lining on every cloud. For me, Moomin books are full of humor. Tove’s characters are many times silly, so it’s quite surprising when they suddenly say something really deep and philosophical about life. Something that is very simple, but yet so true.

The silliness is one part that makes Moomin characters...

Today’s world can be described as a world of timetables, constant hurry and a need for ever-improved performance. Usually the success in life means recognized achievements at work and in hobbies. Downshifting trend has started from the thought that happiness doesn’t necessarily require big salary and huge accomplishments. Money is not considered to be the key to happiness, but the relationships that you have with your family and friends are.

When you think about it, the real downshifters of all time are the...

Big brands connect companies together. Think about the upcoming Olympics for example. Everyone wants to be a part of that. In Finland, Moomin is that kind of brand. I’m sure you’re all well aware of Iittala’s Moomin mugs. And there are hundreds of other items with Moomins on them. The Moomin sells here in Finland and it’s a sign of high quality. There’s no doubt that your children will get a better night sleep with Finlayson’s Moomin pillow cases. Am I right?

We’ve been lucky to work with the Moomins. I’ve...

My blog post on how to come up with a brand slogan stirred a lot of discussion at LinkedIn a few weeks ago. It took me by a surprise that so many people were interested in our brand slogan and that it created that much of controversy.

Some people liked our Stories at Your Fingertips slogan a lot. It was depicted as simple, playful and to the point. Then there were those brand professionals who told that we had done every possible thing...

It’s nice to notice there’s a really vibrant startup community here in Oulu, Finland. I was aware of that long before I attended the various meetings they have but not before I started to work at Spinfy I've paid attention to what’s really happening in the local startup scene.

Last Friday I gave a speech at ValoStartup technology seminar. There were some technical problems at first but I didn’t let that disturb me. I told about the journey from a children’s picture book into an interactive storybook. In half an...

I attended the Moomin licensee meeting in Ekensdal near Stockholm on Tuesday. There were about 100 Moomin licensees invited to hear what’s happening in 2014 when it’s the 100th anniversary of Tove Jansson’s birth.  In two years we will be celebrating the art and life of Tove Jansson in numerous ways.

Tove Jansson did more than just Moomins. She is one of the few artists who could both draw and write, so she became as successful a writer as an artist. She herself had such an adventurous life, so it’s easy to...

We had a meeting with our ad agency this morning. Among other things, we wrapped up our new brand slogan – finally. This has been a long process and we were supposed to have it done before the Bologna Children’s Book Fair. Yes, the fair was in March and now it’s May already. But you just cannot make any rushed decisions only to notice you chose a wrong slogan to describe your precious brand.

Slogan is a short verbal expression that helps crystallize the brand in a few words. Its function is to differentiate...

Hello, my name is Suvi Rahkolin, and I’m the most recent addition to the Spinfy team. I’m working here as a Marketing Assistant. In this blog post I’m telling you about my exciting weekend at the Child Fair Helsinki which gathered around 53 400 visitors during the three days. I represented Spinfy at the Fazer stand where Moomin himself made an appearance once in an hour. The atmosphere there was quite unique: rarely I have a chance to meet so many children in one weekend.

My task at the Child Fair was to...