Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Julie is an American designer who received a degree in architecture, and then worked as a custom woodworker for 12 years. She taught furniture design, design history, and woodworking courses at universities and craft schools before moving to Finland in 2009 to get her masters degree in furniture design from Aalto University. In 2015, she founded Helsinki-based product design office Studio Tolvanen, together with her husband Mika Tolvanen. Studio Tolvanen designs products ranging from small everyday objects to furniture collections from their studio and workshop on the island of Lauttasaari in Helsinki, Finland. They design for international brands in Europe, North America, and Asia.
She has received the Good Design Award from Chicago Athenaeum, the Interior Products award from the Association of Interior Design Editors of Finland, and her glass work has been exhibited at the Finnish Glass Museum.

www.studiotolvanen.com