Since moving to Sweden I have realised that although Sweden has a very strong design culture, with a lot of truly amazing and inspirational ideas, people generally refrain from being bold and, lets say, strongly forward in their branding / advertising / printed material - pick one or a combination. (I'm trying to get close to the Swedish expression "ta för sig", which is applied to taking and/or making the most you can out of a situation without apologies or excuses.)
It's not that the capacity isn't there, because it certainly is. It is more of a cultural approach and my guess also something to do with competition. In places like London and New York, you have to be confident, bold and basically scream you message or it will pass people and their wallets by.
But in comparison Stockholm, with less than a million inhabitants, doesn't require that sort of muscle. Unless you are a new business, people are quite aware what's out there and people are loyal. The thing that captures your eye is not what shouts the loudest, it's what you know and thus recognise as a certain quality, you want know what to expect.
So in the end, a lot of advertising here looks pretty much the same. Autumn high street fashion advertising for example - we have different girls dressed in knits and scarves, one company shoots on a red background, one on a pink, one on an off white, one on a grey... all complimented with red or white company logos and an italicised serif font for the message or price.
I am finding these things highly interesting and draw similar conclusions to the Swedish approach to design as the Guardian did to our politicians in the most rencent election. We are highly trend sensitive - and like a shoal of fish that although it turns and moves quickly, all follow eachother. I'd say its probably applicable to more things within the Swedish society.
Albeit bit bluntly, the mention of the Guardian brings us back to the Observer covers - here they are:
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