“We don’t work from technology. We always work from the idea.” Creative Director of Design, Kresten Bjørn Krab-Bjerre, explains how human experience always guides the development of new Bang & Olufsen products.
An alchemy of craftsmanship, design and sound
“It’s a bit like your children… You would never have a favorite child, would you? Or at least you would never admit it!” Kresten is passionate about the products he develops with his team at Bang & Olufsen headquarters in Struer, Denmark. And it’s never just a product for him, “it’s more like we want to create an experience.”
His voice is his main tool
Kresten is a great talker. In fact, speaking is one of the things he does most at work. “My main tool is actually my voice,” says Kresten, describing his central role in the creative process that leads to a new Bang & Olufsen product. For him, much of the creative act lies in facilitating communication among many imaginative voices and opinions. “My responsibility here is to be the link between the designers and engineers at Bang & Olufsen,” he explains, negotiating between the desire for innovation and minimalism in design and the desire for powerful, precise sound. .
But no matter how ambitious, creative or unconventional a design idea may seem, there is a visionary spirit within the various teams at Struer that has been present since the company’s founding in 1925. “We are a bit spoiled when you work for Bang & Olufsen,” says Kresten, “because our engineers are always determined, they always say yes.”
Products and collaboration
Creating a product at Bang & Olufsen is a bit like alchemy – a creative collaboration transforming the elements of sound, design and craftsmanship into a whole greater than the sum of its parts. It’s people like Kresten and his team who fuel this innovation and imaginative vision, ensuring that Bang & Olufsen continues to push creative boundaries. But for all the rational design thinking and rigorous research and development, there’s still something intuitive and emotional at the heart of it all: “There’s this visceral feeling that we’re on the path to something new. ‘extraordinary and works really well,’ says Kresten.
