Norrland Atlas

Context

Norrland Atlas is a concept: a fictional mapping service for long-distance hikers in northern Scandinavia, with paper sheets, trail markers and a phone app that works offline.

Challenge

Outdoor brands tend to reach for the same imagery — mountains, sunsets, a compass rose. I wanted an identity that felt as precise and trustworthy as the maps people rely on in bad weather.

The app had to stay legible with cold hands, wet screens and a dying battery.

Direction

Everything starts from the contour line. The symbol is a stack of hand-irregular contours — a summit seen from above — with the peak marked in trail red. The same red marks routes, warnings and the current position, and nothing else.

The wordmark is set in a tall, condensed sans so it fits on narrow trail posts and map spines. Signage and interface text use a face designed for park wayfinding.

Rationale

Restricting red to “you are here” and “take care” gives it meaning on the trail. The rest of the palette comes from the landscape it maps: spruce, lichen and paper.

In the app, large type and high-contrast cards sit over a quiet map, so the next instruction is always readable at arm’s length.