Stylogeny combining minä perhonen × Scandinavian Functionalism

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Style combination · Pairs well

minä perhonen × Scandinavian Functionalism

Calm upholstery and interiors carry embroidered pattern without noise.

From the research on minä perhonen (Hand-Drawn Textile Graphics, Akira Minagawa)

Mix them and make something minä perhonen Scandinavian Functionalism

Kinminä perhonen × Scandinavian Functionalism
A sample layout drawn from the recipe: shapes from minä perhonen, their arrangement from minä perhonen, the finish from minä perhonen. Not a real work, and not an image of either style.

01

What each style brings

Each part of the design comes from the style with the stronger say in it, and each style gives at least two.

minä perhonen (Hand-Drawn Textile Graphics, Akira Minagawa) Scandinavian Functionalism

Type from Scandinavian Functionalism
Colour from Scandinavian Functionalism
Form from minä perhonen
Composition from minä perhonen
Surface from minä perhonen

02

The type

Open fonts standing in for each style’s own type, which is often hand-drawn or commercial.

Display · Scandinavian Functionalism

Kin

Jost, standing in for Futura

Text · minä perhonen

A Tokyo label's textile graphics in which small hand-drawn birds, butterflies, forests and rings are repeated in loose, quiet rows, often embroidered so the stitching stays visible. It takes up the Nordic everyday ideal of Finnish bold print but reverses its scale: small embroidered hand marks, delicate and densely repeated, against one huge flat screen-printed motif in strong colour. The lineage from Finnish bold print is loose; the craft is Japanese and hand-made.

Zen Maru Gothic; minä perhonen used Lowercase sans-serif wordmark and No signature typeface; the pattern, not the type, carries the style

03

The colours

The ground and leading colours come from Scandinavian Functionalism, with a counter-accent from minä perhonen. The ink reads on the ground at 4.5:1 or more.

minä perhonen (Hand-Drawn Textile Graphics, Akira Minagawa) Scandinavian Functionalism

  • #f6f3ec ground · 36%
  • #1f2a37 ink · 14%
  • #e3b53a accent · 18%
  • #c98f86 accent · 14%
  • #a63a2a accent · 10%
  • #d9cfc0 accent · 8%

As CSS

:root {
  --ground: #f6f3ec;
  --ink: #1f2a37;
  --accent-1: #e3b53a;
  --accent-2: #c98f86;
  --accent-3: #a63a2a;
  --accent-4: #d9cfc0;
  --font-display: "Jost", sans-serif;
  --font-text: "Zen Maru Gothic", sans-serif;
}

04

The two styles

An all-over pattern on a textured cream background combines small figures in sage-green dresses, dark blue birds, pink butterflies, leafy stems, flowers, and dotted green rings. Small blue lettering near the upper right reads “mori day.” 1995–present · East Asia, Northern Europe minä perhonen (Hand-Drawn Textile Graphics, Akira Minagawa) A Tokyo label's textile graphics in which small hand-drawn birds, butterflies, forests and rings are repeated in loose, quiet rows, often embroidered so the stitching stays visible. It takes up the Nordic everyday ideal of Finnish bold print but reverses its scale: small embroidered hand marks, delicate and densely repeated, against one huge flat screen-printed motif in strong colour. The lineage from Finnish bold print is loose; the craft is Japanese and hand-made. A rust-red cat sleeps curled beside a leafy green plant in a yellow pot on a cream background. Large dark lettering reads “Quiet Days” at upper left, with a yellow circle above the plant. 1930–present · Northern Europe Scandinavian Functionalism Nordic functionalism (funkis) arrived in graphic form with Sigurd Lewerentz's posters and winged emblem for the 1930 Stockholm Exhibition. It adapted Bauhaus rationalism to a social-democratic ideal of beautiful everyday things for everyone. Its graphic language is modernism with warmth: clear sans-serif or humane serif type, generous space, friendly simplified symbols and colours taken from nature, applied to public services, consumer goods and national identities.

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More combinations

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