Scandinavia for Beginners
An illustrated booklet that introduces Nordic life, thinking and feeling through 22 short topics, from fika and hygge to Bergman and the Northern Lights.
The brief
Create a publication from scratch: the content, the illustrations and the layout. I chose a subject I love: the Scandinavian countries, and what their everyday life, way of thinking and attitude to life are like.
My role
I wrote and edited the content, drew all the illustrations and hand-lettered titles, and designed the layout and the patterned endpapers.
Concept
Every topic gets its own spread: a full-page illustration on one side, a short, readable text on the other. The book opens with “Från början” (from the beginning) and closes with “Slut!” (the end), in Swedish, as a small wink to the reader.
Visual language
A tight palette keeps 22 very different topics together: soft pink, mint, deep navy and a dark Nordic red. Every title is hand-lettered in a loose, friendly script, and every illustration is flat and simple, so a spread about Viking runes sits naturally next to one about Swedish coffee breaks.
Some topics also get an all-over pattern of small icons, drawn in the same palette, and a pattern covers the endpapers too.
- Blush
#FAD2C8 - Mint
#82BEB4 - Navy
#141432 - Nordic red
#961414
Illustrations and a pattern from the booklet
Spreads
A selection of the 22 topics: hygge, fika, lagom, the welfare states, Nordic design and minimalism, Bergman, the Northern Lights, Vikings, inventions, holidays, music and more.
Spreads from the booklet
Printed and bound
In print, the patterned endpapers and the dark red cover make it feel like a small keepsake rather than a school assignment.
The printed booklet
Reflection
This was my first complete publication, and it taught me how much a consistent system matters in editorial design: a fixed palette, one lettering style and one illustration approach let 22 different stories feel like one book.