Design Forum Finland is maintained by the Finnish Society of Crafts and Design, which was founded in 1875. The founders were a group of influential cultural and industrial people. At first, the society maintained a school which later became owned by an independent foundation in 1989. At the end of the 1980s, a new, international name was adopted, Design Forum Finland. Operations settled down in the form of exhibitions in Finland and abroad, publicity and communications, publications, competitions and awards.