North by North: Scandinavian Graphic Design

What makes Scandinavian design unique? Following in the footsteps of local design surveys like Swiss Graphic Design and Narita Inspected, North by North explores the exceptional visual language and unconventional approaches of Nordic design: Designers like Kim Hiorthøy, Sweden, Acne and Ekhorn Forss display their roots in spreads, covers, layouts, logos, scribbles, posters, flyers, advertising and web design.

With more than 80 contributors from Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Finland and Sweden, the most efficient way to highlight the Nordic design codex was to structure the book by aesthetic rather than country or designer: There is an unashamed love of local vernacular and natural structures (bark, leaves, even the roughness of woven textiles), a distinctly warm, muted colour scheme, the strong 70s influence (especially prevalent in Sweden, while Norway displays a sporadic affiliation to Scandinavian Gothic – the visual equivalent to Death Metal) and a great love for abstraction and patterns. Last but not least North by North is a rich trove of illustrations with a high proportion of female participants, comprising almost half of the entries in this book.

North by North includes three prefaces by Thomas Hilland (of infamous London based ad agency Mother), Goddur and K10K as well as interviews with selected design studios. Like one of the region’s most fascinating natural phenomena, the Northern light, North by North illuminates new, original and thriving talent from across the entire range of graphic design.