International Design Icon Gets Heavyweight Investor
HEJLSKOV, Denmark, May 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The board of Jacob Jensen Holding A/S has announced that Jobindex founder and IT billionaire Kaare Danielsen has joined Danish design house Jacob Jensen Design A/S as investor and co-owner.
Scandinavia's most award-winning design consultancy Jacob Jensen Design, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, has strengthened its organisation by welcoming the IT capacity Kaare Danielsen into the group of owners. Kaare Danielsen and Jacob Jensen Holding Chairman Lars Kolind, both of whom have invested tens of millions of Danish kroner in Jacob Jensen Design, see vast unexploited potential for the Jacob Jensen group and predict an international breakthrough.
"We see Kaare Danielsen's participation and investment as a strengthening of the entire organisation. Kaare's international business experience from Asian and US markets as well as his extensive understanding of the digital sphere will definitely contribute to the further development of the company," says Jacob Jensen Design CEO and Chief Designer Timothy Jacob Jensen.
This is not the first time Kaare Danielsen works with Jacob Jensen Design, who were responsible for the visual identity of Jobindex. He regards his investment as an opportunity to contribute with his digital know-how to create new, user-oriented designs under the Jacob Jensen Design brand:
"Many regard Jacob Jensen Design as part of Danish cultural heritage. All Danish people have held one of their designs in their hands at some point, whether it is a Queen Margrethe bowl, a carton of organic milk from the Thise Dairy, a headset from Vertu, a kitchen appliance from Gaggenau or something else. But to me the most significant quality of this company is the fact that Jacob Jensen Design were pioneers in the field of Man-Machine interface design, through the Bang and Olufsen products initially, but the concept still plays a part today."
"With my digital background and my familiarity with AI (artificial intelligence), I Iook forward to contributing to the development of user-oriented designs on an international level," states Kaare Danielsen, who, besides having founded Jobindex, also holds a PhD in computer science and has 40 years of AI experience.
Since 1958, Jacob Jensen Design has been a traditional design studio offering creative services such as industrial design, branding and graphic design. Since 1986, the company has worked with licensed partners marketing products under the brand of JACOB JENSEN. These licensed collections include telephones, electric kettles, weather stations, jewellery and watches sold in 33 countries across the world.
To utilise the untapped global potential, the board of Jacob Jensen Holding have decided to look into the possibilities of finding a strong global partner for the JACOB JENSEN business.
Jacob Jensen Holding Chairman Lars Kolind explains: "Kaare Danielsen has already managed a successful IPO, and as such brings a significant set of skills and experience to the company."
Kaare Danielsen sees vast unexploited potential for the Jacob Jensen group and predicts an international breakthrough:
"Jacob Jensen Design has already created a sound base in Asia with two firmly established, growing studios, and Timothy was named Designer of the Year in China in 2017. With a strong global partner, we will undoubtedly be able to raise the company to the level justified by its potential," says Kaare Danielsen.
Besides their Danish headquarters, Jacob Jensen Design run two other design studios based on their vision that design and education may help improve living conditions in developing countries: Jacob Jensen Design | Detao Shanghai in collaboration with Detao Master Group, and Jacob Jensen Design | KMUTT Bangkok in collaboration with King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi.
This vision is among the factors that have sparked Kaare Danielsen's interest in the company.
"Jacob Jensen Design have developed this very sympathetic blue ocean strategy of opening studios globally along with regional university partners. Here, young, local designers get the opportunity to gain real professional experience at an internationally acclaimed design studio, which will not only boost their careers but also grant them the right of reference to the products they have helped design during their training. Furthermore, they get a share in the royalties that the finished product yields, which may be quite a help to young people starting out in life. This appeals to me a great deal, and I look forward to taking part in the development of this concept," explains Kaare Danielsen.
Timothy Jacob Jensen has just returned from Mexico and a series of meetings with leading Mexican universities, and talks are also in progress with universities in the Philippines.
"Personally, I'm very happy that Kaare has joined the team and that he supports our idea of promoting Scandinavian and Northern European values and design principles while simultaneously creating opportunities for young people who do not always have the same opportunities as we do in the West. Many years ago, Dostoyevsky wrote that 'Beauty will save the world', and I actually agree quite wholeheartedly with that," finishes Timothy Jacob Jensen.
ABOUT JACOB JENSEN DESIGN
A characteristic design language with a proven and exceptionally enduring global appeal is what sets the design studio Jacob Jensen Design apart.
During the early 1960s, Danish designer Jacob Jensen merged the International and MAYA styles in a unique, ultramodern design language with maximum consumer appeal. He labelled it "Different but not Strange". Since the mid-1980s, his son, Chief Designer and CEO Timothy Jacob Jensen, has continued to refine and evolve the design style by applying it to new areas and product categories. Together the two generations have created a classic yet visionary design language that continues to influence and enrich the world through innovative designs.
Jacob Jensen Design was established in Denmark in 1958. Today, it is the most award-winning design consultancy in Scandinavia. With more than half a century's worth of experience in design, innovation, technology and communication, Jacob Jensen Design provides design and branding solutions for companies all over the world.
The first design academy, Jacob Jensen Design | Detao Shanghai, was founded in 2011 in collaboration with Detao Masters Academy under The Shanghai Institute of Visual Art at the Fudan University. In 2013, Jacob Jensen Design | KMUTT Bangkok was established in collaboration with King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT). Both sister studios offer educational programmes for design talents.
FIND OUT MORE
- View the Global Group Catalogue here
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SOURCE JACOB JENSEN DESIGN
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