My first project: Louise Hvenegaard
Published: 08.02.23
Author: Rasmus Vestergaard
Pearlfisher and Bold Scandinavia. Pentawards, Dieline and Creative Circle. Lakrids by Bülow, Love Ocean, Interflora, B&O Play, Botanistry. Sorry for name-dropping, but it is quite the CV Louise Hvenegaard can present after almost 8 years in the industry.
But where did it all start? What was the first commercial project she worked on? Nordic Brief sat down with the newly-turned freelance Design Director & Strategist for a Q&A about Louise’s first project.
Nordic Brief
What was your first commercial project?
Louise Hvenegaard
My first commercial project was to create the packaging design for B&O Play. At the time, I was an intern at Pearlfisher London, and it was my first packaging project on a commercial scale.
Nordic Brief
How did it come about?
Louise Hvenegaard
I was put on the team because I was Danish and inherently understood Scandinavian/Danish design culture. It was also really amazing to work on such an iconic danish brand as my first commercial project.
Nordic Brief
How did it go?
Louise Hvenegaard
The project was really amazing because, at the time, a lot of tech brands had adopted “the apple way” — just putting the product on the packaging on some sort of background — so their key insight was to “feel the music before pressing play” — we wanted to create something that celebrated the Scandinavian lifestyle, and making tech products something as desirable as the cover of a Kinfolk magazine. It was truly exciting to work with creative brand strategy for the first time, and really feel how it gave direction and a clear path for the creative brief.
Nordic Brief
Looking back, what have you learned since? What would you have done differently?
Louise Hvenegaard
Honestly, and this might sound annoying, I wouldn’t change anything. It was an amazing process and project that became sold in with very little changes to the initial design concept. It was a very smooth ride in that sense. And I also think this project is especially special to me because it was the first time I really saw all that packaging design can be and do. How much it can communicate and how creative it can be. It was the project that made me fall in love with packaging design, branding and working with consumer brands.
Nordic Brief
What advice would you give to young designers embarking on their first commercial project?
Louise Hvenegaard
Working closely with a team that has done it before. Take an internship abroad or at an interesting agency that you look up to, and watch closely how they create the guardrails for a creative process. In my case, it felt very safe and exciting to work with a team that was well-established, had a clear way of doing things, and then just learning from that kind of very structured creative process.
