My CV, artist statement and most recent jewelry design works. Most have been done at Lahti university of Applied Sciences.

1. PORTFOLIO
KALLE HAKOLA

3. As a jewelry designer I create meaningful jewelry by interpreting values and
meanings into shapes. Men are a growing segment in the fashion market,
and especially the younger generations want the products they buy to be
meaningful. Unfortunately finding jewelry that meets these needs is quite
difficult. I aim to change that.
Things dont need to be complicated. When surrounded by flashy details
in this busy world, ornamental details drown in the mass while simple
constructions stand out. I like my jewelry to only have what is necessary.
My designs are based on a theme that I study thoroughly before starting
the ideation and skething. When the designs are ready for production I like
to combine traditional and modern techniques to create otherwise impos-
sible solutions.
I believe that changing attitudes and habits is easier when someone sets
an example. Rappers and other musicians are good rolemodels in wearing
jewelry, and I want to use their influence to give other people the confiden-
ce to use jewelry too.
Jewelry is a tool for self expression, and I design and create jewelry that
have values designed into them. I want my jewelry to be a natural extention
of the users personality that they carry with confidence.
Artist statement

4. C.V.
LAMK Institute of Design, 2015-2019
Bachelor in Jewelry design. Lahti, Finland.
KEA Copenhagen, 2017-2018
Exchange period, Jewelry, technology & business program. Copenhagen, Denmark
Koulutuskeskus salpaus vocational school, 2012 - 2015
Artisan goldsmith vocational education. Lahti, Finland
Vakschool Schoonhoven, Fall 2013
Exchange period, vocational jewelry education program. Schoonhoven, Netherlands
Finnish School of Watchmaking, 16.1 – 22.5.2012
Jewelry salesperson course. Espoo, Finland
Education
Kultajousi Oy, 30.5 - 4.9.2016
Jewelry store salesperson. Espoo, Finland
Timanttiset Kulta-Aika Oy, 23.5 - 5.8.2012, 8.12.2013-22.10.2015
Jewelry store salesperson. Espoo & Helsinki, Finland
Kalevalakoru Oy, Fall 2014
Internship part of vocational studies. Espoo, Finland
Ateljé Rauli Kostiainen, Spring 2013
Jeweller internship part of vocational studies. Helsinki, Finland
Goldsmith trainee, Kello & Kulta Widemark, Spring 2012
Jeweller internship part of vocational studies. Espoo, Finland
Work experience
Student union MIO ry, 2017
Vice president, Board member
LAMKO Tutor, 2015-2017
Tutor representative, Student tutor
Responsibilities Exhibitions & awards
Komuista viis + 3, 2017
Group exhibition at Habitare design fair
KEA x Swarovski Gemvision, 2018
Contest 1st place

6. Named after the opening lines on a certain finnish rap song, my thesis
at the Institute of Design was about dental hiphop-jewelry known as
Grills.
There aren’t any guides on making them, and I wanted to learn how
they are made in a way that would fit the aesthetics of the more grimy
side of hiphop.
I ended up researching the history of dental modifications, dentistry,
jewelry in hiphop and Brutalist architecture.
Brutalism served as inspiration for the design. While often mistakenly
interpreted as cold and inhumane, the style is actually more human
centered than one would expect. Community and honesty are some of
the main ideals.
It’s the same in hiphop.
Honey, I want gold teeth.

8. Omni, a gender neutral jewelry brand, was born during my
exchange period in Denmark in 2018. The goal of my group
was to promote gender equality.
Groups chose a sustainability goal set by the EU as a theme
for a brand they would create. We handled all necessary as-
pects in making a successful brand, from economy, branding
and marketing to designing, producing and selling products.
We did research to guide our design and branding. We found
that people saw geometric shapes masculine, and fluid orga-
nic shapes as feminine. We created a jewelry collection by
fusing these elements to form shapes of melting chains and
links.
Each member of the group had their own responsibilities to
focus on. My main responsibility was to work with the design,
CAD-modelling and production.
Omni Copenhagen

10. In ancient Egypt amulets were placed over different bodyparts on
mummies. The amulet affected the body part it was placed in, giving
the deceased powers in the afterlife.
Amulets inspired me to create new kinds of jewelry for men to wear
with suits. The wing-shaped handpiece could be seen as an amulet that
makes the user do honorable and noble actions, while the shield-like
tie clasp might protect the users vulnerable throat.
I made these using traditional goldsmithing techniques: the shapes
were formed by hammering and the flush-set stones were set by hand.
Both pieces have a chain mechanism that keeps them in place.
Amulets

11. TASOI pendant
I used to work in a jewelry store where a finnish rapper walked in
one day. He was looking for a large pendant, a kind that we didn’t
have. He bought some chains and left.
After he walked out the door I realized that I had just received
my artisan goldsmiths degree and that I could offer him my ser-
vices. I contacted him through social media and asked if he’d
like me to make him what he was looking for.
After some discussion and ideation, we came up with what can
be seen above: a coin-like pendant with the logo of his record
label. I made the pendant prototype seen here of sterling silver
and bead-set the stones by hand.

13. After noticing that I can just ask people if they’d like me to make
jewelry for them, I asked one of my favorite rapper If he would be
interested. He said yes.
Eevil Stöö, known for using a sound modulator to change his voice
and a skimask to hide his face, is one of the most mysterious artists
in the finnish rap scene. His music revolves around themes like ske-
letons, darkness, occultism and crime in a humorous context.
I arranged a meeting with him where I showed him some sketches.
He caught his eye on some ideas revolving around bones, so I start-
ed designin a chain with femurs.
The chain ended up showing on a few of Eevil Stöö’s music videos,
and the collaboration lead to other projects.
The Skeletons bones

15. How to make wearable music?
Producer Desto produced Eevil Stöö’s album, and I met him when ma-
king The Skeletons bones-chain. Some time afterwards he contacted
me and said he’d like me to make his new album to be sold in a wea-
rable form. I took up the challenge.
The shape of the large 3-part links on the Exoskeleton mixtape chain
came from oscillograms, visual graphs that show the evolution of the
sound pressure over time.
Each set of the large links are individual tracks on Desto’s Exoskele-
ton mixtape. Each were made reflect the atmosphere of the individual
tracks. The length of chain between the ”tracks” is directly proportio-
nate to the length of the track in relation to the whole length of the
mixtape. The music is decoded into the jewelry.
I made eight of these for sale. They were sold online bundled together
with a digital download of the album.
Desto - Exoskeleton mixtape

17. Electronic artist APEAK released his EP through record label Signal
Life, the label of producer Desto from the previous project. I was as-
ked asked to create a pendant for the new release as merchandise to
be sold together with a digital download of the album.
On the front I designed a stylized version of the Labels logo. On the
backside I put the logo of the label, the name of the artist and the EP,
and catalog number.
I made 15 pieces using CAD-modelling, 3d-printing and investment
casting. The surface behind the logo is sandblasted, and the rest of
the pendant was polished.
APEAK Desolate

19. Vain Elämää is one of the most popular finnish tv-shows where
Finlands top artists gather together in a cabin for the summer and
make cover versions of each others music.
I was contacted by advertisement company Dynamo&Sons, res-
ponsible for filming television ads for the show. First we talked
about making grillz for a rap artist, but eventually I ended up ma-
keing”brass knuckles” for Antti Tuisku, a pop artist with several
awards and chart topping albums.
The brass knuckles are 3d-printed ABS plastic, spraypainted gold.
The stones are glued rhinestones.
Vain Elämää -fistplates