Kaj Franck, born in Vyborg, Finland (1911-1989) was one of the leading figures of the  Finnish mid-century design movement creating iconic glassware and ceramics. He studied furniture design at the Central School of Industrial Design in Helsinki and went on to later become head of design at Arabia in 1945. It was here that he created ‘Kilta’ mix and match tableware as an alternative to the outdated china sets of the time. The tableware was created in a variety of colours and easily stackable and functional in line with Franck’s vision of the ‘optimal object.’ At Iittala he created the Teema tableware range and Kartio glassware that have been amongst the company’s all-time most popular products.