Perspective is my ongoing series of short essays, an effort to share thought leadership, not only finished work. Using everyday observations such as a teacup, a roundabout, or a prehistoric tool, I explore what design does when it is working: turning complexity into clarity, making care visible, and building systems that stay human across digital and tactile experiences, especially in an era shaped by AI.
A photograph is a framed container of reality.
A photograph is a framed container of reality.
It asks us to pause, look closer, and find meaning in what actually unfolded in front of a lens.
Design That Waits
The Greenland flag worked silently for 40 years. Designed in 1985 by Thue Christiansen, a simple disk offset on a bicolor field representing sun rising over ice, it did its job without fanfare.
From Hieroglyphs to Emojis: We've Come Full Circle
From Hieroglyphs to Emojis: We've Come Full Circle
Ancient Egyptians used 𓂀 for life, 𓊽 for power, 𓆓 for transformation. Today we use 💚 for life, 💪 for power, 🦋 for transformation.
Language shapes design thinking
I recently attended a design conference titled "Læringer fra Japan: Den omsorgsfulle arkitekturen" ("Learnings from Japan: Caring Architecture"), and one idea has stayed with me
Ichigo Ichie
I took a Japanese tea ceremony class here in Oslo this week. It is something I never actually did back in Japan.
Design as Evolution
Have you ever looked at a prehistoric arrowhead?
Not as a museum artifact, but as a design decision.
Somewhere, thousands of years ago, a human stood shaping stone with intention. Edges refined. Weight balanced. Form serving purpose.
Design is only silent when it's working
Four buses got stuck in a roundabout in Oslo recently.
Nobody was talking about roundabout design the day before.
The Pause Is the Feature
The teacup has no handle.
When it’s too hot to hold, it’s too hot to drink. When it fits comfortably in your palms, the tea is ready. Your hands are the thermometer.
Making Care Visible
Visual design has a role to play in building a planet-centric future, not through greenwashing, but by creating systems that make care visible and culturally valued.
Tools Change, Vision Endures
Tom Sandberg’s photography at the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter museum sparked an unexpected reflection on technology and art.
Cross-Training for Creativity
I used to think I needed to pick a lane. Focus. Specialize. Be the person who does one thing exceptionally well.
Against the Superflat
We’re designing ourselves into a superflat world.
There’s an inherent dance between the digital and the tactile, one I find myself constantly navigating.
The Silent Architecture
Visual design is everywhere.
Not just on screens or in brands, but woven through how we live.
Design is translation
Rethinking Visual Design
They call it making things pretty.
I call it shaping how meaning takes form
Designers as Curators, Not Machines
After my last post, a thought provoking conversation with my former professor, christopher austopchuk, stayed with me.
The 20-Year Test
One of my guiding principles as a designer comes from my professor, christopher austopchuk, who once told our class
From Creator to Curator: The Designer’s New Reality
Design has always been part of my life. My father began his career in the 1960s, when layout meant rulers, X-Acto knives, and press-on type.