Iittala Brand Guidelines: The Red ‘i’, the Aalto Vase & Finnish Glass

Iittala’s heritage mark is a red ‘i’ — a glassblowing pipe with molten glass.

For decades, Iittala’s signature was one of design’s most charming logos: a lowercase red “i” inside a red roundel, designed by Timo Sarpaneva in 1956 for his coloured-glass “i-line” range (it won a Grand Prix at the 1957 Milan Triennale). The circle-and-i is often read as a glassblowing pipe with a blob of molten glass on top — a perfect emblem for a glassworks. An important currency note: Iittala rebranded in 2024 and retired the red “i,” moving to a new identity built around a “fire yellow” colour (a molten-glass reference) and a bespoke serif wordmark named “Aino” (after Aino Aalto), with “II”/“TT” ligatures made to look like glass. So the red “i” is best treated as the beloved heritage mark, not the current one. (Honest caveats: no official public hex is documented for either the heritage red or the new fire yellow, so treat any values as approximate; and don’t attach a named typeface to the old red-“i” era — only the 2024 wordmark, “Aino,” is documented.)

The products are the heart of the brand, and several are canonical. The Aalto Vase (also called the Savoy Vase), designed by Alvar Aalto in 1936 and named for Helsinki’s Savoy Restaurant, is made by Iittala — a key fact (it’s an Iittala glass product, not an Artek piece). Kaj Franck, Iittala’s most influential designer, created the Kilta tableware (1952), re-engineered and relaunched as Teema in 1981, and the Kartio glassware (late 1950s); Tapio Wirkkala designed the ice-textured Ultima Thule glassware (1968, famously used by Finnair) and the 1940s Kantarelli vase; and Oiva Toikka created the Kastehelmi “dewdrop” glass (1964) and the art-glass Birds by Toikka series (from the early 1970s).

Iittala was founded in 1881 as a glassworks in the village of Iittala, Finland (the first glass was made that November), by the Swedish glassblower Peter Magnus Abrahamsson, with the first glassblowers coming from Sweden. Its design philosophy is quietly radical: timeless Finnish functionalism, modular mix-and-match coloured glass, and Kaj Franck’s ethic against “throwawayism” — everyday objects designed to be combinable and to last a lifetime. Today Iittala is part of the Finnish Fiskars Group (Fiskars acquired it in 2007); after a 2025 reorganisation it sits within Fiskars’ homeware grouping alongside Royal Copenhagen, Wedgwood, Waterford and Georg Jensen.

Iittala lives in red (and now fire yellow). Click a swatch to copy the hex.

Iittala’s heritage colour is the warm signal red of the Sarpaneva “i” — a friendly, confident mark that stood for the brand for nearly seventy years. Since the 2024 rebrand, the brand’s colour is “fire yellow,” a molten-glass reference that ties the identity back to the heat of the glassworks. Both colours draw on the same idea — the glowing glass at the moment of making — so the palette, old or new, is rooted in the craft. It’s a warm, optimistic, distinctly Nordic sensibility. The honest caveat: Iittala publishes no official public hex for either the heritage red or the fire yellow, so the values here are approximations of that spirit rather than confirmed brand values.

The lesson is colour tied to the making. Whether red or fire yellow, Iittala’s brand colour references molten glass — the essence of a glassworks — which keeps the identity authentic even through a rebrand. For designers, it’s a reminder that grounding your colour in your craft gives it staying power and meaning. The takeaways: root brand colour in your process (molten glass → red, then fire yellow); let even a rebrand keep that underlying idea for continuity; and treat specific hexes as approximate when no official value is published.

The voice is a heritage serif — timeless and Finnish.

Iittala’s heritage serif voice suits a 140-year-old glassworks. Classic, timeless serif letterforms read as enduring and considered — exactly right for a brand whose whole philosophy is longevity and “against throwawayism.” The 2024 rebrand made this explicit, introducing a bespoke serif wordmark, “Aino” (named after Aino Aalto), whose “II” and “TT” ligatures are drawn to evoke glass — a lovely detail that ties the type directly to the product. A serif also gives Iittala a warmth and craft-heritage feel that a cold modern sans wouldn’t, matching the hand-made character of its coloured glass. (The honest note: only the 2024 “Aino” wordmark is a documented typeface; the heritage red-“i” era’s wordmark isn’t tied to a named font.) The type behaves like the brand: timeless, warm and rooted in craft — glass turned into letterforms.

Iittala built a brand on objects made to last a lifetime.

Iittala is a lesson in a brand built on longevity and meaning. Its whole identity — from Kaj Franck’s philosophy “against throwawayism” to its canon of timeless designs (the Aalto Vase, Teema, Ultima Thule, the Toikka birds) — argues that everyday objects should be beautiful, combinable and made to last a lifetime, not discarded. That ethic gives the brand unusual depth: an Iittala glass or bowl isn’t a disposable product but a considered, enduring object, often passed down. Even the logo carried the theme — a red “i” evoking molten glass — and the 2024 rebrand kept that idea alive in “fire yellow.” It’s design as a quiet argument for permanence over disposability.

For designers and brand-builders, Iittala offers a distinctive takeaway: a clear design philosophy can anchor a brand for over a century. The lessons: build the brand on a genuine ethic (timeless, combinable, anti-throwaway objects) and let it guide everything; commission timeless designs from great designers (Aalto, Franck, Wirkkala, Toikka) that stay in production for generations; and root your identity in the craft (molten glass → the red “i,” then fire yellow). It’s also a reminder to keep the facts precise — the red “i” is Timo Sarpaneva’s 1956 mark, retired in the 2024 rebrand (to fire yellow and the “Aino” wordmark); the Aalto Vase is an Iittala product (1936); Iittala was founded in 1881 in the village of Iittala; and it’s part of Fiskars Group, alongside Georg Jensen. Iittala turned “made to last” into a brand — proof that a clear philosophy can outlive any logo.

Keep Iittala’s identity on hand — save it to a board in the Made Good inspiration library.