Essay: Across the Baltic Sea

Scandinavian style has conquered the world in many ways. Be it Nordic lifestyle with the Danish “hygge” or the Swedish “lagom”. A continuously growing interest for Scandinavian food. Or the design style of the North, with its clean and minimalist features that are widely admired and loved. But is there more to the style than just a current lifestyle trend? Could Nordic design be the shining example of a visual discipline that society in the world of today really needs and asks for? This essay argues that the values and characteristics of Nordic design are highly significant for contemporary and future graphic design practice and form the most appropriate design style today. The analysis consults Swedish design history and takes place within the philosophical framework of Italo Calvino’s series of Harvard lectures Six memos for the Next Millennium. The Nordic style, often honoured for its simplicity and honesty as well as its functionality, modesty and beauty, has inspired designers worldwide. This Scandinavian legacy undeniably manifests in product and interior design, yet the underlying principles and values also apply to the output of graphic design of the North. I would like to explore the relation of Nordic graphic design with the countries’ profound design history and culture. To back my analysis I am using a selected piece of design by a contemporary Swedish graphic design studio as case study. In order to retain a reasonable scope, this essay focuses on Swedish graphic design and use the country as the main example.