This foundational research endeavour seeks insight into how design finds influence beyond the immediate ecologies of design ideas and practice that give rise to distinctive concepts, approaches, solutions. This preliminary stage of inquiry has primarily entailed desk research, engaging with extensive secondary literature on the influence of Nordic ‘mid-century modernism’ in product design and architecture, and the resurgence of interest in it over the last two decades. Following recent scholarship that situates, for instance, Danish and Finnish design in a historical context of multilateral mutual influences (including German and Japanese), it seeks an understanding of the role of intermediaries, design media, exhibitions, commercial actors and personal networks. Through studying deeply this extensive literature, leading contemporary scholars and relevant communities of researchers have been identified, and I am endeavouring to engage, over time, with them to seek advice on the most promising lines of complementary research inquiry. I have developed and submitted a paper proposal to the Europe-based Design History Society, to be held in Istanbul in September 2025. It is anticipated that through gaining insights into the historical mechanisms of influence that led to the dissemination of Nordic design internationally, comparison with the contemporary means of influence can be undertaken, including with an eye to the impacts of digital media and increased international mobility. Such a historical perspective might also allow us to contrast the initial means by which Nordic design found influence abroad with how that particular ‘‘mid-century modernism’ has become such a ‘retro’ trend in recent times.