321: Creative Wellbeing with Emmi Salonen
Meet today’s guest, Emmi Salonen, who is a Finnish graphic designer, creative director and educator who founded London-based Studio Emmi in 2005.
Her work centres on Positive Creativity – the idea that design can connect people, foster wellbeing and support sustainable choices. She is the author and designer of The Creative Wellbeing Handbook (BIS Publishers). Her global clients span purpose-led organisations (European Forest Institute), arts institutions (Tate Britain) and cultural bodies (British Council).
A leading advocate for creative wellbeing, Emmi developed the Creative Ecosystem model to help fellow creatives reconnect with purpose and reduce stress and burnout. She speaks internationally at academic institutions and conferences including Design Matters Tokyo, AIGA USA, TDC Brisbane and RGD DesignThinkers Toronto.
Emmi’s insights are grounded in experience and training, including Yale’s The Science of Well-Being course. She is a Happiness Facilitator and RSA Fellow, teaches a Domestika course on sustainable branding, and has contributed to the AI for Human Flourishing think tank at Harvard’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science.
In this conversation, you’ll hear about Emmi’s dual creative life: both in the bustling city of London, UK as well as the rural countryside of Portugal and how both places affect her creativity in different ways. You’ll hear about the process of not only writing, but also designing her book, The Creative Wellbeing Handbook and how she worked with the layout in unconventional ways. Emmi shares her Creative Ecosystem framework, providing a lovely and lively dissection of what’s contained within and why it matters.
This conversation was recorded in DG 8010: MDM Podcast Lab at The Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University in Fall 2026.
Let’s listen in...
https://www.creativeecosystem.org/ - the book, the manifesto and free downloads
https://www.emmi.co.uk/ - my design work
https://www.instagram.com/studioemmi/ - Instagram @StudioEmmi
About Our Guest:
Emmi Salonen is a graphic designer, creative director and educator who founded London-based Studio Emmi in 2005. Her work centres on Positive Creativity – the idea that design can connect people, foster wellbeing and support sustainable choices. She is the author and designer of The Creative Wellbeing Handbook (BIS Publishers).
Emmi developed the Creative Ecosystem model to help reduce stress and burnout. A leading advocate for creative wellbeing, she speaks internationally at academic institutions and conferences. Her insights are grounded in both experience and training, including Yale’s The Science of Well-Being course. She is a Happiness Facilitator, RSA Fellow and has contributed to the AI for Human Flourishing think tank at Harvard’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science.
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Music: Bubbles ( Lofi , Bright , Relaxed ) by HoliznaCC0 is licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal License.
Talk Paper Scissors Theme Music: Retro Quirky Upbeat Funk by Lewis Sound Production via Audio Jungle
