Swedish Modern

Light-filled, minimalist, contemporary Scandinavian design has long been a source of inspiration for designers and design-lovers alike. Inspired by the legendary Swedish interior design and furniture company Svenskt Tenn—founded in 1924 by the pioneering design entrepreneur Estrid Ericson and joined ten years later by Austrian designer and architect Josef Frank—the Swedish Modern Coloring Book is a playful introduction to the philosophy and heritage of great Scandinavian design. Contrary to the rigid modernism that dominated in the 1920s and ‘30s, Ericson and Frank’s style was full of variety, fantasy, humor, and elegance. They strove to create interiors that would enchant and stimulate the people who lived in them, and together they created the eclectic, elegant, and boldly patterned interior-design style that has made Svenskt Tenn a world-renowned home design company. Line drawings to color in are integrated with full-page color reproductions of Frank’s fantastical prints and furniture pieces, the designer’s own sketches, archival photographs, and Ericson’s imaginative room and table settings. Through a creative and engaging series of compositions and short texts, the reader will not only gain insight into the creative process and design philosophy of Ericson and Frank, but will also see how their legacy is still at the heart of Svenskt Tenn, and Swedish design, today.