1. The sharpest Christmas decorations

For design-conscious types, who are looking for something beyond the usual Christmas clichés, Denmark is the best place to be to maximize your aesthetic senses and avoid traditional designs. Welcome to a universe of simple color palettes, based on black, gray, white, and pastel colours.
Modern Christmas decorations are such an obvious idea that it is surprising it has taken so long for them to become available. They are sophisticated, sustainable, and available to all budgets, from Hay to Ferm Living. For the ultimate design experience, you can find gifts so beautifully wrapped that you won’t want to open them.

2. Inner light

As the Christmas season approaches and the sun sets at 4:00 p.m., managing light at home is a high priority for us here in Denmark. Unsurprisingly, lighting is a big business, and candles and indirect lamps are found in the corners of every home. Travel to the dark north to experience light and shadow patterns that will make you not want to leave the house.

3. A taste of Nordic Christmas

Danish kitchens are one of world’s best kept secrets. Only recently have Danish people rediscovered and come to appreciate their food traditions. Bakeries, especially, have made a come back at these latitudes. Get ready for a country where making bread and cookies together with your children is the standard for any family. Bring your own julekager as a host gift to any social gathering to show your goodwill.

4. Let your children in front of the TV

Yes, you read that right, television. There are no questions about the quality of Danish TV drama. Series, such as Borgen, The Killing, or The Bridge, are popular around the world thanks to TV management not interfering in the creative process. The same is true for children’s shows. Every December, 25 episodes of quality drama run on national TV, enthralling your children with mystery, magic some Nordic mythology and real-life conflicts. Series, such as Pagten, Tidsrejsen or Absalons Hemmelighed, showcase Danish children’s television at its best.

5. Plastic-free Christmas

Danes are not artificial, and this is apparent in the materials they use in their homes. Wood, leader, paper, and porcelain are basics in both home and Christmas decoration. Danish Christmases and porcelain have always gone hand-in-hand, since the time of Napoleon. Old brands, such as Royal Copenhagen, have rewritten their own histories and are no longer 80s cliches but high-end home accessories. An array of modern designers are bringing new life to the business, such a Anne Black, and adding Scandinavian touches to ceramics. Few countries can boast so many popular toys created by top designers, ready to fill the bottom of your Christmas tree with perfect gifts for younger children, including popular mid-century modern wooden toys.

6. Danish hygge around the table

When it comes to table manners, bring your best humor and conversations to the table, because you will be spending a lot of time there. Bringing people together is a national sport in Denmark, from Christmas dinners (julefrokost) with collegaes and office friends to family games like pakkelege. Nobody wants a boring dinner companion, but you don’t have to be ready with a speech, which is mandatory at other Danish gatherings.

7. Strolling in the frost

Due to climate change, we are still far from delivering a white Christmas in Denmark. However, you can expect some frost, and there is nothing stopping you from enjoying a cycle around a Danish city. For a more leisurely option, enjoy shopping at local stores while strolling through sidewalks and courtyards in a city were even department stores have an interesting edge.

The post 7 reasons why you should be in Denmark for Christmas appeared first on Modernist in DK.

If in the 20th century we learned to use machines, in the 21st we are learning to interact with them. And Teruyuki and Yuka Shikawa are making a game of blurring the boundaries between the physical and digital world.

The Shikawas are taking digital imagery to the next level by delivering the most accurate lighting and 3D texturing you’ve ever seen. Judge by yourself how digital got natural.

All pictures are reproduced with the kind permission of Teruyuki and Yuka.

The post Seven Mind-blowing Images Of People Who Never Existed appeared first on Modernist in DK.

The 1950s marked a dramatic shift in the way people shopped and the ways in which retail businesses presented themselves. Have a look at these shop windows. You could easily expect to see them in your favorite high-fashion or department store window today. Enjoy these amazing samples of branding by creativity that are still good for inspiration nowadays, when retail is reinventing itself by combining in-store and digital experiences.

Top picture. Design Philip Clavadetscher for Bullock’s Westwood, Los Angeles.

The post Amazing Mid-Century Shop Windows appeared first on Modernist in DK.

Here is a fine compilation from Ian Albinson for “The Art of the Title,” which takes a look of the last 100 years of title design. It is remarkable the loop in style we have experienced during the last couple of decades, where filmmakers like Tarantino have revived the styles of the ‘50s and ‘60s. Enjoy.

The post Film Titles: First Impressions Matter appeared first on Modernist in DK.

Well known for their classic porcelain collections, Arabia surprised everyone with its next line, Kilta, designed by Kai Frank. Suddenly Arabia’s well-known romantic style was replaced by new simple, and timeless tableware designs capturing the essence of clean cut Scandinavian design. No wonder it won design awards in London and Milano soon after.

Kilta was relaunched by Ittala and renamed Teema in 1981. Today this 60 years old design is one of Ittala’s best selling series. Practical, stackable and modular, Arabia is one of the many inspirations for Swedish giant IKEA products now found in homes all over the world.

Kaj Franck

Celebrating “Kaj Franck 100 Years”, stylish Finnish stamp design by Sanna Taskinem.

The collaboration between the Finnish blogger Susanna Vento and Iittala.

The post The Mug That Came From The Cold appeared first on Modernist in DK.