Sweden hopes to project a new image with its official font

Plenty of countries have national birds, national anthems, national dishes — but a national font? There Sweden is all on its own.

Yes, Sweden recently introduced its own font, called Sweden Sans. The idea is that the new national font will replace the many fragmented styles that government agencies currently use. Sweden-sans

“It’s modern, yet designed to be long lasting,” says Mattias Svensson, a creative director at Soderhavet, the design firm that created Sweden Sans. “In that way you can find maybe some inspiration in traditional Scandanavian design, which is clean, clear and open.”

Svensson has some pretty high hopes for the font, saying it’s meant to “raise awareness and interest, and to build trust in Sweden.” He’s hoping the font will capture people’s attention leading them, eventually, to associate it closely with his country “and realize this is Sweden communicating.”

Stefan Hattenbach, the type designer who worked with Soderhavet, describes Sweden Sans as a “very slick typeface. I would say … It looks very geometric and modern.” He says the design was partly inspired by old Swedish signs that were popular in the 1950s and ’60s.

Read more: KUOW

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