Gris Interverti

2016

*yellow colorway photoshopped by OP

1997

Danish industrial designer Jacob Jensen was born April 29, 1926 (d. 2015). He is a chief exponent of Danish Modern design style, and his work for Bang & Olufsen, the Danish high-end hi-fi component manufacturer is iconic.

Jacob Jensen designed hundreds of products during his career (200 for B&O alone), among them the Margrethe bowl for Rosti (1954) and the Kirk push-button telephones (mid-1970s) which I have had the pleasure of using on an almost daily basis for a large part of my life. More exotic Jacob Jensen designs include the Jensen-One car and the Logicar pick-up truck.

I never owned B&O hi-fi components, but the Beogram 4000 turntable is one of the most elegant I’ve ever seen. Jensen designed it in 1972, and it embodies his design motto: “Different but not strange”… Its design boils down to brushed aluminum, white and black plastic, smooth surfaces, futuristic controls, and simple shapes.

Jacob Jensen had a solo exhibition at MoMA New York in 1978 and 17 of his B&O designs are in their permanent collection. His Jacob Jensen Design Studio is still in operation and managed by his son.