April 2009

Georg Jensen Takes Danish Design to the Next Level

Scandinavian luxury lifestyle brand Georg Jensen has appointed designer Todd Bracher Creative Director of the brand and head of a new creative force consisting of the Georg Jensen internal design team, the Georg Jensen designer network and Copenhagen based design consultants OeO. 

April 30, 2009 – Today Georg Jensen announced that Todd Bracher will take the reins at Georg Jensen as Creative Director, responsible for the full range of Georg Jensen products from jewellery and watches to flatware and hollowware. Todd Bracher will take up his new position on May 1st.  Together with Georg Jensen’s in-house product development team and Georg Jensen’s unique designer network, Bracher and OeO will energize and align the future design and brand vision. 

As part of the new strategy Todd Bracher will be working together with his long-time partner Thomas Lykke and Anne-Marie Buemann from OeO, a Danish based, and strategy-driven design company with vast experience from the design industry. The new set-up allows Georg Jensen to unite the best of today’s Danish and international design competencies with a strong strategic and commercial approach to new product introductions.  

“I am thrilled and honoured to be joining Georg Jensen. To be part of this brand and to help sculpt its vision has been a long-term dream for me. Georg Jensen has a specific language and intelligence, it communicates on so many levels.  The possibilities are endless and we intend to explore them”, Todd Bracher says. 

The appointment of Todd Bracher is part of the strategy that CEO Ulrik Garde Due introduced when he joined the company from British top fashion label Burberry last year. A strategy, which is turning the traditional Danish Silversmith into a Scandinavian luxury lifestyle brand with an integrated product range. 

“Todd Bracher was an obvious choice for the position as Creative Director. He is perfectly aware of the brand’s many qualities and appreciates the craftsmanship and the unique sense of style. Yet, he has a young and fresh approach to continue the creative developments. I am convinced he will be able to take Georg Jensen to the next level”, Ulrik Garde Due says. 

Since 1904 Georg Jensen has succeeded in attracting and working with some of the most talented designers around the globe. One of these talented designers is Todd Bracher who has designed for Georg Jensen since 2004 and will now be in charge of identifying and supporting the next generation of design stars, joining such legendary artists as Georg Jensen, Arne Jacobsen and Henning Koppel. 

When, back in 1999, Todd moved to Denmark to study in Copenhagen at the Danish Design School he soon became fascinated by the Danish design tradition and shortly after launched his own beautiful sculptural furniture and home accessories for Danish and international companies such as Fritz Hansen and Zanotta. 

“The works of Georg Jensen himself, Henning Koppel and Arne Jacobsen have shaped who I am as a designer and are the very reason why I eventually moved to Denmark to look ‘behind the scenes’ at the source of these works. I discovered that the forms of the Georg Jensen collection capture the generosity and elegance that is built into the Danes and their way of life”, says Todd, who, at Georg Jensen, will be defining the brand’s future design philosophy.  

“Design is much more than creating forms and shapes. It is about the heart and mind that has produced it. For us to maintain brand coherence we must define what the heart must feel and the mind think and the rest will follow”, Todd Bracher says. 

Critics might argue that asking a foreigner to take the Georg Jensen design language into the future is not the obvious thing to do. That it would take a native Dane to understand the true essence of Georg Jensen – the tradition, the story and the role the Silversmithy has played in creating the term Danish Design. 

“The heritage is huge and the responsibility is vast. Part of Todd’s training was here in Copenhagen, which mixed with his international experience allows us to get an external point of view of Danish design with an internal understanding. For me it is bringing in the right person who in his soul understands where Georg Jensen is coming from and who has the skills, the courage and the ability to bring Georg Jensen and Danish design into the next century. To me Todd Bracher is that person,” Ulrik Garde Due states. 

Ulrik Garde Due, CEO  Todd Bracher, Creative Director

The world-renowned Danish car designer Henrik Fisker and the Rosendahl design company have launched a unique collection of watches under the name PCH.

The name PCH is a story in itself. The real name of the road is California State Route 1, but the section that follows the Pacific along one of the most beautiful stretches of coastline in the world is also known as the Pacific Coast Highway. But to Danish car designer Henrik Fisker, PCH is more than the deep blue sea and the wild mountains – it’s a real feeling: the feeling of sitting in one of his unique custom-made luxury cars, just floating along the Pacific Coast Highway somewhere between the water, the sky and the cliffs, surrounded by a solid piece of technology.

“That’s the feeling I’d like to pass on to anyone who comes into contact with the watch,” said Henrik Fisker recently when he presented the PCH watches at the Danish Design Center in Copenhagen. “The feeling of sublime technology and quality through and through. Time, design and speed brought together in a watch that does so much more than tell the time.”

BMW and Aston Martin
Henrik Fisker achieved international fame as the designer of the BMW Z8 and the Aston Marin DB9. Today, he is also known around the world for the Tramonto and Latigo, individual custom-built luxury cars created by the designer and his partner at their company, Fisker Coachbuild, in California. The new PCH watches, created by Fisker in collaboration with the Rosendahl design company, will spread his fame even further because they mirror the design features that are so unique to Henrik Fisker.

At the launch of the PCH watches, Henrik Fisker talked about his relationship to great styling. “It took almost as long to design the Rosendahl watches as it took to come up with the shape of the Aston Martin. Which wasn’t actually as long as many people probably think! Great design is akin to quick decisions that you have the courage to stick with. The fact that it takes a lot of time and hard work to see the project through afterwards is a different matter…”

Fisker’s distinctive style is clearly evident in the two PCH watches. Both are available in two versions – brushed stainless steel and gun-metal coloured stainless steel. It is a relatively large watch, but still very elegant thanks to the upper part of the casing with its raised dial that appears to be floating.

The Fisker style
“I’ve always travelled extensively, and one of the problems I’ve found being away from home is the time difference and remembering not to call my wife at four in the morning. That’s why I’ve added an extra ring of numbers around the dial – I think the PCH is the only watch in the world with this feature. It’s extremely practical, and it looks great…”

When Henrik Fisker sells his amazing coachbuilt cars, customers are happy to pay millions for their sublime quality and timeless appeal. They seldom question the vehicle’s technical performance – they simply expect it to be perfect. And it is.

The same goes for Fisker and Rosendahl’s new PCH watches. You don’t need to ask whether the quality of the Swiss movement is OK because it simply is, and the style speaks for itself. And you’re welcome to ask the price – the watches range from EUR 2.190,- to EUR 2.405,-.

In the late 1980s, Flemming Bo Hansen designed one of the simplest and most elegant digital watches the world has ever seen. It stood out distinctly from other digital watches on the market. After decades of attention to modern styling, we now present the WATCH with the designer’s original, simple interface in new digital and analogue versions – all true to the original, celebrated model.

Award-winning designer Flemming Bo Hansen’s WATCH range is designed according to a principle of simplicity and clean lines. Everything superfluous has been eliminated, and what is left is a watch in its purest conceivable form. Nothing superfluous, nothing lacking.

WATCH is created according to the proportions of the Golden Ratio. The concept refers to the ratio of two sizes that, from antiquity, mathematicians and scientists as well as artists have regarded as harmonious. These proportions are found in nature, such as in our DNA and in the spiral of the conch, but also in architecture and paintings all over the world.

From Tokyo to New York, Flemming Bo Hansen’s watches and face have become famous. Years of working in the two metropolises characterise his styling with a clearly preserved respect for Danish design tradition.

It is no coincidence that WATCH is the basic cornerstone of Rosendahl’s WATCH collection and is represented in the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

There are four watches in Rosendahl’s and Flemming Bo Hansen’s WATCH collection 2007: Two gents’ watches and two ladies’ watches in digital and analogue versions respectively. The price of the gents’ and ladies’ watch is EUR 349,-.

- Quite often only the environmental issues are brought forward in the discussion about sustainable design. At this years Designboost event we would like to broaden the view. We think it is important to turn things upside down. Sometimes left is actually right, says David Carlson, one of the founders behind Designboost.

- We believe in knowledge exchange. The more you give, the more you get. Our goal is that Designboost will be characterised by new insight, new thoughts and preferably laughter, or as we put it; right, aha, haha, says Peer Eriksson, one of the Designboost founders.
The ten last speakers are:

Jody Turner http://www.cultureoffuture.com/ Culture of Future provides visually flavourful conversation, inspirational POV and leading edge trend language encompassing tech to retail, generations to culture and design to sustainability.  Founder and CEO, Jody Turner, is a “Trend Hunter” or “Meaning Hunter” and travels globally to present ideas on the future of culture and design.

Sean Pillot de Chenecey http://www.captaincrikey.com/ Sean Pillot de Chenecey works with research and brand development. He injects vitality and creativity into consumer insight and brand positioning. Before starting the company Sean spent ten years with cutting-edge agencies. He is often quoted on brand/consumer issues by the media and writes for a range of business and consumer publications.

Tim Power http://www.tim-power.com/
Tim Power, architect and designer based in Milan. For the past decade the office of Tim Power has worked on a variety of projects including furniture, lighting, interiors and architecture for a large international client base. Recently, with the participation of Slow Food and Boffi, he has conducted a program at the I.E.D. on researching and designing self sufficient kitchen units.

Olof Kolte http://www.olofkoltedesign.com/ Civil Engineer KTH, Stockholm 1990, Master of Art RCA, London 1998, has worked as Civil Engineer in France, Mexico, and Latvia, own design practice in London 1998-2000 and in Malmö, Sweden since 2000, part time lecturer at Industrial Design LTH since 2001 Kevin Low http://www.small-projects.com/ Kevin Low runs smallprojects which is a company that conceptualizes, designs and builds things; primarily architecture and utility design. Kevin studied closely with the Aga Khan Foundation and over various periods, has been professionally involved in writing, environmental sculpture, illustration, teaching and copyrighting.

Oliver Ike http://www.ikebranco.ch/
Oliver Ike founded Ikepod Watch company in 1986 and worked as its CEO until 2003. Today manager & contributing writer of Ikebranco productions, a company operating in the field of interior and architecture photography and publishing. He has various consulting mandates in the watch business and as well new projects in the pipeline in the field of watches.

Jonas Bylund http://www.syntes-studio.com Jonas Bylund is the co-founder and Creative Director of Syntes Studio, a product design and branding agency based in Stockholm. Syntes Studios work spans from strategy, product design, packaging and graphic design and the client list include British mobile communications leader O2, H&M, L’oreal and Estee Lauder. He is regularly lecturing at various conferences around the world.

Mårten Claesson http://www.claesson-koivisto-rune.se/
Mårten Claesson is one of the designers and architects of Claesson Koivisto Rune. They have been working with everything from interiors, culture house in Japan to products and furniture design. Their assigners include Asplund, Offecct, Boffi and Cappellini. Mårten Claesson is a regular lecturer and has spoken all around the world.

Ewa Kumlin + Kerstin Sylwan http://www.svenskform.se/, http://www.kerstinsylwan.se/ Ewa Kumlin is managing director at Svensk Form which is missioned by the Governement to promote Swedish Design in Sweden and abroad and to run the official meeting place for design in Sweden. Kerstin Sylwan works as a designer with a deep interest for sustainable development. She is also founder of the project “Saving the planet in style.
The other fifteen speakers that have been announced earlier are: Satyendra Pakhale, Jennifer Leonard, Eero Koivisto, Kristina Dryza, Brent Richards, Stephen Burks, Mathilda Tham, Ilkka Suppanen, Katarina Graffman + Ida Hult, Kristina Börjesson, Jens Martin Skibsted, Nina Jobs, John-Michael Ekeblad, Björn Jeffery and Thomas Sandell.

The lecture part of Designboost will take place Thursday October 18th at Europaporten conference centre in Malmö, Sweden.

DVD 2 is Bang & Olufsen’s solution for DVD playback, recording and permanent archiving. It supports a broad range of media formats, and the picture quality is among the best. It supports the TV programme guide Guide Plus+, which makes it possible to programme a recording directly from the information on the TV screen. Recordings are made to the built-in hard disc, and the built-in tuner supports simultaneous recording and playback of the same TV programme.

Designer David Lewis has emphasised its affinity with the modular home cinema solutions from Bang & Olufsen by introducing a design that matches other components in the system. The front, top and sides are made of brushed aluminium which is divided by a groove for status information with the stand-by indicator on the front.

The loading of the DVD is done by pressing lightly on the upper part of the front aluminium bar, which opens outwards and down, revealing the loader that quietly slides out. Behind this bar you find sockets for connection of additional equipment, such as a digital camera or video camera.
- Ease-of-use and long-term storage of your favourite programmes have been guiding principles behind DVD 2, states Product Manager Torben Kyed.
Playback, archiving and browsing the programme guide is all done with the Bang & Olufsen remote control.

But DVD 2 is more than a DVD player. The Guide Plus+ programme guide presents TV programming information for the coming days, and using your Bang & Olufsen remote control you can quickly browse through programmeinformation, as well as set timed recordings without having to enter the channel and time information yourself.

The built-in hard disc recorder takes care of your temporary recordings by recording TV programmes from the built-in tuner, which in turn makes it possible to record one TV programme while watching another.

DVD 2 delivers high-end picture quality via its High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) output. When connected to the Bang & Olufsen top TV engine, BeoSystem 3, it gives you outstanding sharpness and true-to-life colour rendition of digital video for your home cinema experiences.

The KOPPEL collection pays homage to the original understated design by Danish designer Henning Koppel. The KOPPEL in black was part of the original collection created in 1978. The signature feature of the KOPPEL in black is the white dots, in place of numerals and the white hands which naturally illuminate against a black dial. The inversed elegance of the KOPPEL in black, coupled with the pure simplicity of the original KOPPEL with white face and black dots, ensures that the KOPPEL collection gives the wearer the versatility to create the correct expression with their attire.

The men’s range includes a 38mm dial with date in stainless steel with black calfskin strap. The women’s KOPPEL watch has a 32mm dial with date and is available in a stainless steel version. The KOPPEL in black is also available in a pendant/pocket watch version. Worn by women and men alike, the watch makes a fashionable pendant-inspired accessory and can even serve as a modern pocket watch inspired by the early 20th century vintage fob watches. The pendant pocket watch is attached to a black cord with steel fastener and mechanism to adjust the length of the cord. The KOPPEL black version will be available in June, 2007

About Georg Jensen
Founded in Denmark in 1904, Georg Jensen now has over 100 stores in 12 countries. Starting life as a Silversmithy which created exclusive silver hollowware and jewellery, Georg Jensen now applies its superior craftsmanship to a wide range of gold, silver, platinum and diamond jewellery, watches, cutlery, hollowware as well as design items for the home and office. Its pure, elegant, Scandinavian design style is favoured by millions around the world and is often quoted as one of Denmark’s most recognised brands.

About Henning Koppel
Henning Koppel has been described as a distinguishing exponent of the development Danish design since the mid-fifties. He was, like Georg Jensen himself, originally educated as a sculptor, but made his mark very strongly as a designer. His work is characteristic for its understated, organic, fluid expression. Many of Henning Koppel’s iconic works are found in Georg Jensen’s Hollowware range with Fish Tray no. 1026 and Pitcher no. 992 recognised as design icons of the last 100 years.

The VICE collection, created by Swiss designer Nicolas Barth Nussbaumer, combines the classic strength utility and functionality of a steel bracelet watch with the design elegance and simplicity of Georg Jensen’s design language. “The VICE watch’s bezel and back case lock the body of the watch in a tight embrace – a vice like position. The steel bracelet also emulates this form giving the watch a sturdy, powerful appearance” explains Nussbaumer.

The aesthetic appeal of the watch lies in the small details of the watch face. The minute markings are embedded within a sub-layer of the face while the hours illuminate in silver. The dial of the VICE watch is available in both black and silver versions. The date is displayed at 3 o’clock and the watch is water resistant to 10ATM. The steel bracelet is secured using a butterfly-lock. The VICE collection has been created for men and women and available in both a 40mm and 34mm version.

For the watch connoisseur VICE will be launched in the Autumn 2007 in an automatic version. Importantly, this steel bracelet watch will be the first automatic movement watch to be added to the Georg Jensen collection for many years. The watch dial of this version has a more vintage expression in its design and will be available in 40mm black or silver versions.

About Georg Jensen
Founded in Denmark in 1904, Georg Jensen now has over 100 stores in 12 countries. Starting life as a Silversmithy which created exclusive silver hollowware and jewellery, Georg Jensen now applies its superior craftsmanship to a wide range of gold, silver, platinum and diamond jewellery, watches, cutlery, hollowware as well as design items for the home and office. Its pure, elegant, Scandinavian design style is favoured by millions around the world and is often quoted as one of Denmark’s most recognised brands.

About Nicolas Barth Nussbaumer
After specialising in jewellery and watch design at the Art & Design School in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Swiss born designer, Nicolas Barth Nussbaumer has worked with some of the heavy weights of the luxury industry, designing watches, jewellery and furniture. The CONCAVE watch launched in 2006 was his first collaboration with Georg Jensen.

You could call it a young and street-smart concept that can easily be moved around and placed high or low, on walls, in cabinets, turned or tilted, matching any interior you may have. BeoVision 8 is a flat-screen television that appeals to the contemporary lifestyle where a switched-on television is an indispensable part of everyday life. It is a television that does not have to be placed in the living room, but also fits perfectly in the kitchen, the bedroom, or the children’s playroom. It is a television that is not too fashionable to be used anywhere at any time.

Performance optimised for daily use
BeoVision 8 has been optimized for daily and casual use. Focus is on simplicity and ease of use, and no unnecessary functions have been included. All choices in relation to the performance of the television have been evaluated against the casual user pattern. But both BeoLink functionality and extra video connections can be included with a convenient plug-and-play module.

Excellent picture quality with the latest in LCD technology
The BeoVision 8 screen is based on a new and progressive display technology. A high-glare surface is what the new element is about. “This is particularly relevant when you watch TV during the daytime. It results in a considerable improvement of the screen’s contrast conditions: black is blacker, both when the screen is on and when it is off”, explains Business Manager Rie Pripsø.

Surprisingly good sound from a small cabinet
With BeoVision 8, Bang & Olufsen has once again achieved very good sound in very little space. During the entire process, the good sound quality has been an important parameter. And as this is a casual TV product switched on all day, much focus has been on speech reproduction. With this TV, the viewer will get the feeling that the sound is coming out of the screen. For instance when the news comes on, the newsreader’s voice will seem to be coming from his or her mouth rather than the loudspeaker underneath.

It has been extremely challenging to get the loudspeaker cabinet to hold all the speaker components in its slim design. And so it has been necessary to make the most of the space inside the loudspeaker cabinet to ensure uncompromised synergy between design and sound quality.
BeoVision 8 is a genuine Bang & Olufsen TV when it comes to craftsmanship and performance – the synthesis between design and function remains intact as in all Bang & Olufsen products.