Born in 1926 in Helsinki. Sarpaneva is one of the great personalities responsible for the world reputation of Finnish design since the 1950s. He is a master of materials as glass, porcelain, cast iron and textile as well as graphic art. Timo Sarpaneva designed the current Iittala trademark for his glass collection called I-line (I-linja) in 1956, for which he received one of his Grand Prix in Milan the following year. He has been honoured with innumerable awards and acknowledgements.