Jacob Jensen Design to open satellite design studio for PH students
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The Design Center of the Philippines partners with the Royal Danish Embassy in Manila and Jacob Jensen Design Studio (JJD), the leading design studio in Scandinavia, to help nurture Filipino creativity.
JJD plans to link up with one university partner to offer half-year and one-year programs for students, preferably 3rd year design students. The satellite design studio will be a learning center and workshop for exploration and innovation.
Founded in 1958 by Jacob Jensen, JJD is Scandinavia’s most award-winning design consultancy. Jensen was one of the most prominent industrial designers of the 20th century, particularly well-known for the groundbreaking design language he developed for Bang & Olufsen.
Jensen’s son Professor Timothy Jacob Jensen took over the responsibility of the design studio in 1990. JJD now operates studios in Bangkok, Shanghai, and Denmark, and has accomplished projects for Ecco, LG, Panasonic, Toshiba, Steinway Lyngdorf, Lufthansa and Volvo. The studio is represented with 21 products in the MoMA design collection.
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“We’re here to help enable young talents in this country to build great Filipino brands—that is one of the ways you can raise the living standards in any country—through Creative Education,” said JJD CEO and Chief Design Officer Timothy Jacob Jensen in a conference last 6 December 2017.
“Under this partnership, students will learn and will be mentored by the Danish designers, by Jacob Jensen specifically. They will learn new design thinking methods through this program. Right now, we’re much into crafts design so we’re looking forward to working with Jacob Jensen Design Studio in the industrial design area,” said Design Center Head of Policy and Planning Josephine Cruz.
“There’s a lot of talent here, tradition for design. For me, the Philippines is a fantastic place to be in where I can hopefully further facilitate cooperation between Danish companies and local companies, with the assistance from the Philippine authorities. Because of the visibility of Jacob Jensen in Denmark, if they come in and they set up, it would get exposure in Danish media and that would definitely inspire even more Danish companies to come here,” said Danish Ambassador to the Philippines Jan Top Christensen.
The Ambassador noted that among the priorities for development of the Royal Danish Embassy are the gaming, creative, food, fashion, construction, infrastructure, and high-tech electronics industries.
The design studio is slated to be finished in two years, depending on the number of universities that will express intent in joining the program. DTI, Design Center, the Danish Embassy, and JJD will all work closely in launching the program and its subsequent run in the country. 
Frequently Asked Questions
The primary goal of the satellite studio is to nurture Filipino creativity by providing 3rd-year design students with high-level mentorship in industrial design. By teaching Scandinavian “Design Thinking” methods, the partnership aims to help young talents build global Filipino brands, ultimately raising national living standards through creative education.
The partnership is a collaborative effort between the Design Center of the Philippines (DTI), the Royal Danish Embassy in Manila, and Jacob Jensen Design (JJD). These entities work together to link international design expertise with local universities to provide half-year and one-year specialized training programs.
“Scandi-Asian” design is a term coined by Jacob Jensen Design to describe the fusion of simple Asian symmetry with Scandinavian design traditions. A prominent example is the Toshiba WL768 flat-screen TV, which balances the minimalist, functionalist aesthetic of the North with the balanced proportions found in Asian art and architecture.
Mentorship in industrial design helps shift the local focus from traditional “crafts design” to high-tech, scalable industrial applications. Students learn to apply rigorous design methodologies to sectors such as gaming, food, fashion, infrastructure, and high-tech electronics, allowing them to compete in the global manufacturing and technology markets.
Founded in 1958, Jacob Jensen Design is Scandinavia’s most award-winning consultancy. Jacob Jensen was a pioneer of 20th-century industrial design, most famous for creating the iconic, futuristic design language for Bang & Olufsen. The studio’s prestige is solidified by the fact that 21 of its products are featured in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.
