Recent art direction for SVT’s new show “Semester med Garplind” — in which Christopher Garplind goes on vacation with a rotating cast of well-known Swedes.

The graphic direction draws heavily on my own vacation memories: passport stamps, postcards, baggage tags, café ashtrays, logos on ice-cream napkins that somehow absorb nothing (why?!), travel stickers on dented Rimowa suitcases, and the perfectly imperfect bar and restaurant signs of Southern Europe.

I’ve included my initial moodboard as well, so you can follow some of the thinking behind the visual language. A happy discovery along the way was how easily a classic postal stamp could be transformed into a sun and waves. 

And then, slapped on top at the end, is the destination ‘sticker’—paying no attention to the rest of the artwork, much like the mismatched decals on a well-traveled suitcase.

Graphis design by Hugo Sundkvist.

Watch all episodes here