Scandinavian Header Transplant

Harlot’s Web has a new header!

What do you think? I didn’t design it myself so I’m allowed to brag- and I love it! I love the thought of little old ladies reading my reviews and finding messages they didn’t realise were there.. Very cheeky!

So I owe a big fat MANGE TAK (Danish for thank you) to my good friend, Jonas for my fabulous new header. Jonas and his friend, Rasmus are from Denmark and are currently backpacking around Australia and writing a blog about their adventures which you can find here.

A touch of Scandinavian design on my blog… I feel so much more legitimate now!

But seriously. If I haven’t managed to mention it yet, I am a huge Scandophile (kind of like a pedophile but my fetish is Swedes). Just like their famous children’s stories, the designs of Scandinavia just appeal to me on an emotional level.

Let me explain. I’m going to tell you a story now but you have to promise not to judge me. Just stick with me here for a moment.

I hate the mall. I do- I really, truly, absolutely with every fibre of my being, hate the mall. It’s not that I don’t love to shop or that I’m leading a war against the consumer Powers That Be. It’s the actual mall itself that’s the problem.

The colours, the smells, the lights and the people all come together to create some sort of sensory overload for me which is truthfully a pretty stressful experience.

I mean, who decided to design a building with barely any windows, heinous fluorescent lighting and then fill the whole thing with elevator music and squealing 13-year olds?

For me, Scandinavian design is the antithesis of the mall. If the mall was Voldemort, Scandinavian design would most definitely be Harry Potter.

Where the sensory overload of the mall sends me to nervous twitches, the clean lines, neutral tones and functionality of Scandinavian design soothes me like a visual lullaby.

Let me show you.

I found these images at Willow Decor in a post with some other great photos. (Definitely recommend checking out the blog if you are craving some more Scandi loving).

Because don’t you already feel less stressed?

Anyway, the reason I bring all this up is that I think the principles of Scandinavian design- simplicity, functionality and minimalism are all pretty essential principles of blogging design.

I’ve tried as much as possible to apply these to my own blog with my categories, widgets and colour scheme.

I might love the dirt-style glitter, sparkle and technicolored pictures in children’s stories, but I don’t need them anywhere near my blogs. I don’t see this as being a niche-specific concept either- even the best image-based blogs are simple in their designs- just look at The Satorialist.

I’m not alone in my thinking either- I was reading an article not long ago by Olia Lialina that mentioned research by danah boyd on class divisions through Facebook and MySpace.

boyd says that each site allows users to reproduce what she calls the aesthetic values of their lifestyles. So it follows that users will choose the site that best allows them to do this.

She makes a comparison between Facebook and Scandinavian design, saying that where Facebook is akin to a Pottery Barn or Scandi design house, MySpace resembles ‘Las Vegas imagery.’

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Which brings me back to the mall, the glitter and the sparkles. I have never thought of my need for simplicity as a manifestation of my social class as boyd does, but simply rather of my instinctive reaction against the sorts of sensory overload I’ve described.

I haven’t seen many other children’s books blogs around so I couldn’t really say how I fit in with the rest of the cool kids but if anyone has any tips for me for how I can make my blog easier to navigate, please send them my way!

But before I leave you, I couldn’t possibly write a blog on Scandinavian design and leave out on the most beautiful Scandinavian designs of all time. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you Alexander Skarsgård…

What? You can’t say I didn’t warn you about my Scandophilia…