Scandinavian Design became a world-famous concept and brand in the 1950s. In numerous exhibitions, publications and commercial ventures, Scandinavia was portrayed as a regional and cultural entity comprising democratic and socially responsible model states with a common aesthetic: an elegant, low-key and restrained design without decorative excesses often realized in natural materials. This purported homogeneity has been greatly exaggerated in the literature on Swedish and Scandinavian design. It was certainly a commercially successful image, but not particularly true to life.

This is observed by Lasse Brunnström in his Swedish Design History, in which he attempts to demonstrate that the history of Swedish design is far more variegated than is usually portrayed.