Moi Helsinki
It’s been some time since I last entered the country at HEL – Helsinki airport. And unfortunately I don’t really have time to admire all the new achievements there since I have to catch a train to the east. My schedule is tight.
After the baggage claim I am as usually surrounded by a crowd of meeters awaiting their relatives & friends. Not expecting anyone waiting for me there I want to elegantly and swiftly elbow my way out. But wait a second: There is a friend there, high above all the others. It’s the Kafka handwriting font Mister K greeting everybody with a loveable “Moi Helsinki” (Hi Helsinki). Instantly my priorities change. It will have to be a later train. I absolutely must check out the first bar in Finland using Mister K as its keynote speaker!
They give you a really homely welcome here. Besides friendly typefaces and funny illustrations they have a relaxed Scandinavian interior – and the seductive aroma of freshly ground coffee together with that of korvapuusti cinnamon rolls. It doesn’t take long that I get the feeling you might not only miss trains but also planes here.
But who is Mister K’s partner telling amusing anecdotes on the beer coasters and not so amusing prices in the menu? It is Belta Bold, a trendy font of handwritten caps by Antipixel from Buenos Aires. Probably nobody would have combined typefaces like this a few years ago. But the times they are a-changin’, and there is enough contrast between the two of them to make a good Finnish–Argentinean pair. – And would anyone miss grotesques or antiquas in a place like this anyway?
I’m sure to be here more often in future – doing less photographing – and letting more coasters wander into my pockets. With more than 8 € for a beer I guess that’s justified – just as the 5-star rating Moi Helsinki got by its visitors.
A look at the technical side of Moi.
The menu – gold on cardboard.
