OUR STORY

Johanna: Suddenly life just seemed too short to not be making the most out of it. I’d found Emil, the love of my life (or maybe he found me) and I had gladly left the days of studying at a design school behind me. Surely I wasn’t finished with myself, I believe we never are (cause then we’d be dead I guess) but I was in a good place with something inside wanting to approach the surface. This life we where living, me and Emil, with love, making things, traveling, surfing, painting and all the magic that came with it, in some way I wanted to share that with the world around me. Of course there are duties in life that have to be done, bills to pay and all that kind of stuff which could take up this whole about page. BUT in between all that most of us are blessed with a great deal of time to make FUN stuff. So why wouldn’t we? Why wouldn’t I? It seemed even more fun though to have someone to do it with, and right by my side I had this amazing person who believed in me and also liked making fun stuff and who, on top of all the other things, was a true believer in cherishing the day and making the most out of it. So I asked him, “Why don’t we start this company and make fun stuff?”

Emil: And I went: - Hey that’s so cool! As a man of many interests I’m always up for an adventure!
Having worked as a writer, director and producer with numerous feature film box office success and at the same time being a devoted painter, and an obsessed scribbler, I saw the opportunity of combining my passions (storytelling and symbols) in Tropical Scandinavia. And doing it with Johanna who I love and also love to hang out with made it even more exiting.

Sharing an interest in mysticism and the things that are hidden behind the apparent, we formed this grand idea of making objects charged with good intentions. Like modern totems, yantras or other magic symbols that over centuries have reminded humanity to strive for our greatest potential or support us through tough times.

Having spent my twenties engaged in soul-searching with yoga and vipassana meditation I knew that what we focus on will determine our experiences. Or rather how we interpret our experiences is a consequence of what we focus on which determines our emotions. Well well… We’ve all heard about the almost full or empty glass right? 

Being a curious man I always wondered how this was possible. And after twenty years extensive reading and studying my own body and psyche with yoga and meditation I came across the reticular activating system (RAS). The function of our RAS is to filter a small percentage of all the information that our senses are bombarding us with so that we can focus on something that make sense of the outside world. But the consequence is that we constantly find what we are focusing on since our RAS is helping us to find what we are looking for. Have you ever had the feeling of learning something new and suddenly seeing new things around you?

So knowing myself and my own limitations, I surely understood the importance of surrounding myself with good people and good intentions to be able to take responsibility for my own joy and passion. And the vision of creating objects that could remind and empower us (and hopefully many more) of doing the same thing suddenly came alive while me and Johanna was shooting ideas why we should give our time and devotion to Tropical Scandinavia.

Tropical Scandinavia is modern totems created with good intentions as reminders and inspiration of the possibility to become more today than what we were yesterday. Because we truly believe in growing and learning as a key to happiness. And being more gives us (and hopefully you) the ability to give more. 

Pretty big aspirations for a some quirky design right? But hey, we also like not taking life so seriously, pretty things, solid handicraft, neon colors, posing animals, palm trees, surfing, traveling, a glass of wine and a good laugh with friends somewhere around our beautiful globe… so enjoy and don't forget to protect the fun!

We are based in Hammenhög in the very south of Sweden, but with our hearts pretty much all over the world, especially where the surf is up. If you happen to be in the neighborhood, come by, have a coffee, see our stuff, hit us with a collab idea or find the perfect rug to bring home. No joke, we actually like meeting new people even if we’re Swedish, promise.