Flowery

There are various bike rental places in Barcelona. My personal favourite, from a Cycle Chic perspective, are these bicycles. They come decked out with flowers on the baskets - a century-old traditional in established bicycle cultures. Lovely.

City Hall Square Copenhagen

City Hall Square. The heart of the city. More than 30,000 bicycles roll past each day and over 200,000 pedestrians cross the square in the same period. Including loads of tourists. Many of whom are always amazed to see so many regular people on bicycles. Like this chap.

Ride 'em. Walk 'em. Whatever you like.

A flash of pink on the boulevard.

This guy two-wheeled his three-wheeler across the square. Just because. Cool.

Mads Berg's Iconic Cycling Girl Illustrations

Copenhagen 10, 2010

It's official. Mads Berg now ranks as Cycle Chic's favourite Danish illustrator. We love pretty much everything he does, but we go just a little bit weaker at the knees when we regard his timeless illustrations of that iconic cultural figure - The Cycling Girl. She's as old as the bicycle itself and yet Mads Berg succeeds in reinventing her and adding new layers to the long history of Cycling Girl graphic design. And that's saying something, considering the wealth of material over the past century.

The illustration above is classic Copenhagen and features another icon - the Christiania cargo bike.

Bornholm 10, 2010. Poster/cover illustration for the island of Bornholm.
Here's an illustration for tourism on the Danish island of Bornholm - the Sunshine Island.

A38 Dairies/Arla, campaign illustrations, 2007
We've blogged about this illustration before here on Cycle Chic. A campaign for a yoghurt.

Illustration for packaging on KIMs crisps, 2003.
This is an illustration for some crisps from 2003.


Our new affection for Mads Berg doesn't mean we're giving up on one of the masters of Danish graphic design, Hans Bendix. His post-war posters are still iconic and relevant today. These two examples are tourism posters from the late 1940's.

Check out Mads Berg's website. It's a treasure trove of graphic design. And here's a link to his online shop.

Thanks to Eneko for the link.

Copenhagen - We Love Bikes

Check out this new promotional video for Copenhagen! We Love Bikes!

Wayfinding

You can either ask for help with your wayfinding.

Or try to figure it out for yourself.

Copenhagen's Life-Sized Nordic Cool

Here's a piece I wrote for The Guardian a couple of years ago. Appropriate, perhaps, now the the world is descending on our fair city.

Copenhagen is an aesthetic capital that is content with its laid-back, cool attitude and rather unimpressed with the delusions of grandeur suffered by other European cities. The city centre is a charming labyrinth of cosy streets peppered with trendy cafes and boutiques. The surrounding neighbourhoods are relaxed areas where the Copenhagener can be seen in its natural environment.

What the city lacks in Eiffel Towers and Big Bens it makes up for with its curious mix of historic buildings and ultra-modern design. In the summer months, flocks of bewildered tourists from the armada of cruise ships (Copenhagen is the third-busiest cruise destination in the world) can be seen wandering about wondering what it is they should be looking at.

At least they can wander without worry, as much of the city centre is designated as pedestrian areas with "Strøget" being the crown in the work. The street stretches from the Town Hall Square to Nyhavn on the harbour. Wandering about a city has rarely been easier or more desirable.

With the strength of other European currencies the city is hardly as expensive as it once was. Shopping for designer items is a treat and done while taking in striking modern architecture like the new opera house or the Black Diamond building, both on the harbour. Design is often regarded as Denmark's greatest cultural export so they put a bit of elbow grease into it. The best way to get around is on a bike. The city boasts one of the world's most developed network of bike infrastructure and you won’t be alone: 37% of Copenhageners cycle to work or school every day and 55% of all trips in the city are by bicycle.

If "big is better" is your thing, then Copenhagen will disappoint. Upon seeing the Little Mermaid statue on her rock on the harbour generations of puzzled tourists have uttered the same remark: "But she’s so SMALL!" Upon hearing this a Copenhagener will merely shrug and remark, "She’s life-size". All with a crooked smile and a twinkle in the eye,

Which would be an ideal motto for Copenhagen. Life-size. An ego to match any other capital but an ego which is wrapped up in a Nordic coolness that makes any visit to the city a calming, groovy and aesthetically appealing experience.