About

Bjørn Akselsen

Icehouse is mostly me. And the many people I work for, with and collaborate on important, sometimes not even visible changes. Started in Atlanta many years ago, today’s working model is less location-based, crossing borders and disciplines, often with little physical presence. Since I’m the only “full-time” person, let me give you some background.

As a graphic designer and teacher, my greatest asset is being multidisciplinary. You could say I’m specialized in being a generalist. I tackle projects on and off the screen, from hand-coded HTML/CSS pages to CMS/Drupal-based sites, interactive forms, visual identity, book design, and more. I have worked with clients as diverse as the Captain Planet Foundation (Turner Broadcasting), the Greenwich Workshop Press, and Yale University.

My work has given me the ability to steward projects from conception to launch. Many projects have been featured in books (from London to Tokyo) and received awards from various organizations, such as HOW’s International Design Annual and a gold prize for best coffee table book by The Independent Book Publisher’s Awards. I also co-authored an acclaimed book on interactive PDFs, published by Adobe Press, in addition to my design practice.

In addition to my design practice, I teach as an online adjunct professor for Quinnipiac University’s (Hamden, Connecticut, USA) Master of Science in Interactive Media and Communications program. Courses range from graphic/web design, UX/UI Principles of User Experience Design, Ideation, Prototyping and Testing, to Visual Thinking.

These days, I work in Oslo, Norway, and New Haven, Connecticut/USA, serving clients such as Yale University and teaching online.