Jacob Jensen (29 April 1926 – 15 May 2015) was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

industrial designer Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in advance of the manufact ...

best known for his work with

Bang & Olufsen Bang & Olufsen (B&O) is a Danish high-end consumer electronics company that designs and manufactures audio products, television sets, and telephones. It was founded in 1925 by Peter Bang and Svend Olufsen, who designed a radio to work with al ...

. Jensen designed numerous popular high-end consumer products, developing a functional

minimalism In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post–World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Do ...

style that formed a prominent part of the

Danish modern Danish modern is a style of minimalist furniture and housewares from Denmark associated with the Danish design movement. In the 1920s, Kaare Klint embraced the principles of Bauhaus modernism in furniture design, creating clean, pure lines base ...

movement. In 1958 he founded the ''Jacob Jensen Design Studio.'' Jensen designed for other brands including

Alcatel Alcatel may refer to: * Alcatel, a former French telecommunications equipment company, which became Alcatel-Lucent and is now part of Nokia * Alcatel Mobile, a brand of mobile phones, tablets and wearables, formerly a joint venture between Alcatel ...

, Kirk, Boform,

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...

, International Gift Corporation, JO-JO, Labofa, Rodenstock, Rosti (Rosti Mepal), and Stentofon. His works have been featured at the Museum of Modern Art (

MoMA Moma may refer to: People * Moma Clarke (1869–1958), British journalist * Moma Marković (1912–1992), Serbian politician * Momčilo Rajin (born 1954), Serbian art and music critic, theorist and historian, artist and publisher Places ; ...

) in

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, and have received numerous design awards.

Life and career

Jacob Jensen was born in 1926 in Copenhagen. Son of Olga and Alfred Jensen, he left school after the seventh grade and completed training as an

upholsterer Upholstery is the work of providing furniture, especially seats, with padding, springs, webbing, and fabric or leather covers. The word also refers to the materials used to upholster something. ''Upholstery'' comes from the Middle English word ...

. In 1947 he began working in his father's shop where he designed chairs. In 1948 he attended the School of Arts and Crafts (

Danmarks Designskole The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Design, more commonly known as the Danish Design School ( Danish: ''Danmarks Designskole''. often abbreviated as DKDS) is an institution of higher education in Copenhagen, Denmark, offering a five-ye ...

) where he enrolled in the furniture design department. In 1952 he became the first student to graduate from the institution's Industrial Design program (founded by

Jørn Utzon Jørn Oberg Utzon, , Hon. FAIA (; 9 April 191829 November 2008) was a Danish architect. He was most notable for designing the Sydney Opera House in Australia, completed in 1973. When it was declared a World Heritage Site on 28 June 2007, Utzon ...

), which focused on mass-produced objects for everyday use. From 1952 to 1958, Jensen worked at Copenhagen studio Bernadotte & Bjørn (the first industrial design drawing office in

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) as an industrial designer. During his time there he designed various works including the Margrethe Bowl for company Rosti (Rosti Mepal), which became Jensen's first financial success. This was followed by a period in

working with

Raymond Loewy Raymond Loewy ( , ; November 5, 1893 – July 14, 1986) was a French-born American industrial designer who achieved fame for the magnitude of his design efforts across a variety of industries. He was recognized for this by ''Time'' magaz ...

. He also spent some time in

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with industrial design firm Latham, Tyler & Jensen. In 1964 he started working as a designer for

. During this time Jensen became known for designing audio components of characteristic styles that involved 2-dimensional flattened surfaces with streamlined silver and black designs. He also worked in collaboration with various other companies where he designed

wristwatch A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached ...

es,

kitchen appliance A home appliance, also referred to as a domestic appliance, an electric appliance or a household appliance, is a machine which assists in household functions such as cooking, cleaning and food preservation. Appliances are divided into three ty ...

telephone A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into el ...

chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. They may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vari ...

s, and other products. Jensen is credited with developing the B&O design style, which is still used today. Many of Jensen's designs have been included in permanent design collections at museums around the world. Jacob Jensen died on May 15, 2015, in Virksund,

Bang & Olufsen

In 1964 Jensen started working as chief product designer for

, an established

manufacturer of high-end home electronic products. By 1970s,

had received numerous awards for its product designs. The company devised a new slogan, “We think differently,” which was meant to embody the characteristics that made

different from other companies at the time. The company's new products and slogan led to an identification of what

referred to as the ''Seven Corporate Identity Components''. These principles, which underpinned an approach to the company's product design, included ''Authenticity'', ''Autovisuality'', ''Credibility'', ''Domesticity'', ''Essentiality'', ''Individuality'', and ''Inventiveness''. Through his time at

, Jensen developed over 200 products for the company. During this time he established a minimalistic, horizontal, and severe design style that became characteristic of his product designs. His style involved using brushed

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in AmE, American and CanE, Canadian English) is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately o ...

, white and black plastic, smooth surfaces, futuristic controls, and simple shapes for products including

amplifiers An amplifier, electronic amplifier or (informally) amp is an electronic device that can increase the magnitude of a signal (a time-varying voltage or current). It may increase the power significantly, or its main effect may be to boost the ...

speakers Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

, tuners,

turntable A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

s and other products. He redesigned standard knobs and dials, replacing them with clear-plastic panels, wafer-thin push buttons, and other innovative elements. Jensen is recognized as

’s minimal design idiom, and worked with the company until 1991.

The Jacob Jensen Design Studio

In 1958 Jensen opened his own studio in

Strandgade Strandgade ( lit. "Beach Street") is one of the principal streets in the Christianshavn district of Copenhagen, Denmark. It runs along the full length of the neighbourhood, following the harbourfront, from Christian's Church in the south-west to ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. During this time Jensen designed for

. In 1966, Jacob Jensen Design moved to its present location in Hejlskov (

Limfjord The Limfjord ( common Danish: ''Limfjorden'' , in north Jutlandish dialect: ''Æ Limfjord'') is a shallow part of the sea, located in Denmark where it has been regarded as a fjord ever since Viking times. However, it now has inlets both from ...

), where he designed over 200 products. This included

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transm ...

s, and other artefacts. Jensen’s son,

Timothy Jacob Jensen Timothy Jacob Jensen (born 27 April 1962) is a Danish industrial designer. He was best known as CEO and Chief Designer of Jacob Jensen Design (Scandinavia’s oldest design studio) from 1990 to 2018. Jensen was also the founder of the Scandinavi ...

, became his father’s apprentice in 1978. In 1990, his son Timothy Jacob Jensen became chief executive and chief designer of Jacob Jensen Design, and expanded the company internationally. He left Jacob Jensen Design in 2018 and is no longer connected to the company. The studio continues to focus on industrial design, and has branches in

, China, and

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

. In 2011 Lars Kolind became Chairman of Jacob Jensen Design, and in 2018 became a majority shareholder.

Design style

Jacob Jensen is considered a prominent contributor to the mid-century

Danish Modern Danish modern is a style of minimalist furniture and housewares from Denmark associated with the Danish design movement. In the 1920s, Kaare Klint embraced the principles of Bauhaus modernism in furniture design, creating clean, pure lines base ...

movement, alongside

artists including

Mogens Koch Mogens Koch (2 March 1898 – 16 September 1992) was a Danish architect and furniture designer and, from 1950 to 1968, a professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. Early life and education Mogens Koch was Koch in the Frederiksberg ...

Arne Jacobsen Arne Emil Jacobsen, Hon. FAIA () 11 February 1902 – 24 March 1971) was a Danish architect and furniture designer. He is remembered for his contribution to architectural functionalism and for the worldwide success he enjoyed with simple wel ...

, and

Poul Henningsen Poul Henningsen (9 September 1894 – 31 January 1967) was a Danish author, critic, architect, and designer. In Denmark, where he often is referred to simply as PH, he was one of the leading figures of the cultural life of Denmark between the Worl ...

. Using influences from

’s ''consumer-friendly'' designs and his experience designing for

, Jensen merged ''International design'' (an architectural design from the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

) and the ''Maya principle'' (Most Advanced Yet Acceptable). He labeled this design language “Different but not strange.” Jensen applied this design language to brands including

, Kirk,

, JO-JO, Labofa, Stentofon. Jensen's maxim was that household objects deserve the same attention as luxurious of high-end consumer gadgets.

Working method

Jensen described his approach to design as analogous to: “constructing a fountain pen, writing a poem, producing a play or designing a locomotive, all demand the same components, the same ingredients: perspective, creativity, new ideas, understanding and first and foremost, the ability to rework, almost infinitely, over and over. That ‘over and over’ is for me the cruelest torture.” “The only way I can work,” he continued, “is to make 30-40 models before I find the right one. The question is, when do you find the right one? My method is, when I have reached a point where I think, O.K., that’s it, there it is, I put the model on a table in the living room, illuminate it, and otherwise spend the evening as usual, and go to bed. The next morning I go in and look at it, knowing with 100 percent certainty that I have 6-7 seconds to see and decide whether it’s right or wrong.” “If I look at it longer, I automatically compensate. ‘Oh, it’s not too high,’ and ‘It’s not so bad.’ There are only those 6–7 seconds; then I make some notes as to what's wrong. Finished. After breakfast, I make the changes. That's the only way I know.”

MoMA exhibition

In 1978, New York’s Museum of Modern Art (

) featured a full exhibition on Jacob Jensen’s designs for

. The exhibition was titled “Bang & Olufsen—Design for Sound by Jacob Jensen”, and featured 28 audio artefacts. Critic

Paul Goldberger Paul Goldberger (born in 1950) is an American author, architecture critic and lecturer. He is known for his "Sky Line" column in ''The New Yorker''. Biography Shortly after starting as a reporter at ''The New York Times'' in 1972, he was assign ...

described the exhibition in the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

as “among the most beautiful mass-produced objects ever made available in the United States.” 17 of Jensen's works have remained part of the museum's permanent collection.

Works

Jacob Jensen's most renowned works include Beolit radio (1970), Beogram 4000 (1972) and Beomaster 1900, BeoVox 2500 speakers (designed for

). Other well-known works include office chairs (designed for Labofa A/S), Margrethe Bowl, Kirk 76E telephone,

kitchen appliances A home appliance, also referred to as a domestic appliance, an electric appliance or a household appliance, is a machine which assists in household functions such as cooking, cleaning and food preservation. Appliances are divided into three ty ...

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and s ...

sculptures Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

designs, the Jensen-One cars for Max Rene Ltd., and loudspeakers for Dantax A/S.

Awards

* Chair Bronze medal by HRH King Frederik IX of Denmark (1949) * IF. Industrie Forum Design Awards (various from 1966 – 1991) * ND Norsk Design (various from 1969 - 1991) * Japan Grand Prize (1976) * Fortune Award (1977) * I.D.S.A. Award (1978) *

Thorvald Bindesbøll Medal The Thorvald Bindesbøll Medal ( da, Thorvald Bindesbøll Medaljen) is an award granted annually by the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts for excellence in the fields of applied art and industrial design. The medal was established in 1979 in connec ...

(1983) * International Design Award (1985) * Good Design Award (various from 1985 - 1990) * ID Industrial Design (various from 1972 - 1996) * Knighted with the Knights Cross of the Order of Dannebrog (1996) * Foreign Ministry's list inclusion of “Great Danes” (1999) * The Prince Eugen Medal awarded by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and Queen Sylvia (2006) * Lifelong honorary grant from the Danish Arts Foundation (2008)

References

External links

* http://jacobjensendesign.com/

External links

Jacob Jensen Holding
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jensen, Jacob 1926 births 2015 deaths Danish furniture designers Danish industrial designers Designers from Copenhagen Recipients of the Prince Eugen Medal Burials at Vestre Cemetery, Copenhagen

Life and career

Bang & Olufsen

The Jacob Jensen Design Studio

Design style

Working method

MoMA exhibition

Works

Awards

See also

References

External links

External links