Timothy Jacob Jensen

Timothy Jacob Jensen joined Bang & Olufsen’s team of chief designers at the age of 17. At 24, his first design was included in the design collection of The Museum of Modern Art in New York. At 28, he took over the responsibility of Jacob Jensen Design from his father. He became chief designer for Gaggenau when he was 30. At 48, he became professor at Fudan University in Shanghai and at 55, he was named Designer of Year in China.

Today, he is working out of Timothy Jacob Jensen Studios with a team of creative associates from all over the world. In 2021 together with a group of colleagues and investors he has launched Designers Trust, a digital platform which aims to connect designers all over the world with the brands that need their services for the benefit of both.

Chief designer and professor Jensen was born in 1962 to an American mother from New York and a Danish father from Copenhagen. From the age of four, he grew up in the rural surroundings of Hejlskov on the shores of the Limfjord in Jutland Denmark. From a very young age, Jensen was regarded as a prodigy by many. Having had a rebellious educational upbringing and spending only 7.5 years in school, Jensen joined his father Jacob Jensen’s design studio in 1978 and spent the next six years working there.

Jensen joined Bang & Olufsen’s chief designers, Jacob Jensen and David Lewis, at the age of 17, and at 19 he had designed his first car, named Logicar. At the age of 22, he designed the iconic Jacob Jensen classic wrist watch, which was later included in The Museum of Modern Art New York design collections. After running his own studio in Copenhagen for three years, he travelled the world and worked with Ross Littell in Como, Italy and Gerry Musset in Melbourne, Australia.

In 1990, Jensen took over the studio in Hejlskov along with the overall responsibility for all designs and initiatives created up until the end of 2018. As CEO at Jacob Jensen Design, Jensen founded the Scandinavian lifestyle brand Jacob Jensen, which grew to be represented in more than 30 countries. He became chief designer at Gaggenau at the age of 30.

At 32, he became advisor to the Cultural Affairs Committee of the Danish government and was included in the book “Who’s Who” at 34. At the age of 34, Jensen had his first daughter, Toko and at 38, a second daughter, Freja. Jensen has been a prominent international keynote speaker since the age of 40, and he was made professor at Fudan University in Shanghai at 48.

In 2011, he was appointed as Master of DeTao Masters Academy and established the Jacob Jensen Design I DeTao Shanghai studio. At the age of 51, he established Jacob Jensen Design I KMUTT Bangkok studio in collaboration with King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi. Jensen was named Designer of the Year in China in 2017 at the age of 55, and the following year he was appointed a member of the jury for the iF Design Award 2019, one of the world’s most prestigious design prizes.

At the age of 56, Jensen sold all his shares at Jacob Jensen Design and opened Timothy Jacob Jensen Studios in 2019.

In 2020 with a group colleagues and investors he laid the foundations of what became Designers Trust in March 2021. Designers Trust aims to connect the worlds designers with the brands, provide access to the world of creativity while making sure all the fine print is taken care of, allowing everyone to focus on what they do best.

It is built on the 100 years of design inheritance running in the Jensen family, and a fair-share principle model in which everyone gets the credit and remuneration that they deserve for their work.

Thanks to great colleagues, clients and partners, Jensen has gained over 75 international distinctions and awards, remaining the most awarded Danish designer heading the worlds most award-winning design family going back to his grandfather Alfred Jensen, who started the family business back in 1920.