Jackson Ainsworth is a Communication Design student at Billy Blue College of Design in Sydney. His third semester he chose to study at Billy Blue’s partner school on Sweden: Berghs.

- Berghs was announced school of the year in Cannes two years in a row. And as Billy Blue is fairly respected in Australia and they work with Berghs – I figured it must be a good school.

What do you study at Billy Blue?
- My program at Billy Blue is called Communication Design and basically it’s more rounded than pure Graphic Design. Design is incorporated in all elements such as typography and studio practice.

What’s it like to be away from home?
- I’m a traveler and it’s natural to be away. I learn when I’m out of my comfort zone. I learn about myself, I learn from people I meet. According to most Swedes I’ve talked to, you don’t see yourselves as very helpful – but you are!

During Jackson’s semester at Berghs, he’s taking classes with his Berghs Bachelor classmates. In the class there are Swedish students who are heading to Billy Blue (Sydney), Edith Cowan University (Perth), Academy of Arts University (San Fransisco) and School of Visual Arts (New York City) after this semester. Jackson himself is here from Sydney, and so are Kathryn Allen and Danielle Brown.

- I’m especially looking forward to taking the unit “Scandinavian Design History” with Clas von Sydow this semester.

What has been the highlight of your stay so far?
- Apart from the Way Out West Festival in Gothenburg by the end of summer, another highlight was the final product of the first week here at Berghs. 

During the first week, all full time students at Berghs are working integratedly with a brief. This year, different Swedish phenomenons were explored to find ways to market Sweden as a tourist destination.

- The first week was so good and insightful! I learnt a little bit about each Swedish tradition in my first week here and I really appreciated everyone speaking English. I’ve decided to take Swedish lessons. I want to make an effort to learn the language spoken here.

In what ways do you think you will develop as a designer while here?
- Design here in Sweden is often minimal and clever and is meeting the brief in a simple yet effective way. I’m sure I’ll learn a lot while I’m here.

Jackson is shortly moving in to his flat in Södermalm. Far from Sydney, but by the sound of it, he’s already starting to feel like home.

Pär Lager, CEO Berghs School of Communication held an inspiring seminar about the latest trends in communication, in Helsinki on August 25. The 45 attendants were also given a number of examples of successful student work based on real cases from Berghs. Refreshments and snacks was served at the seminar that took place at Ahjo Club. The audience was given a chance to ask questions about the upcoming courses in Helsinki (See Finnish web page for more information www.berghs.fi).

Pär Lager challenged the participants with one settling question: What is the most influential trend in communication? 

The week started off with a Swedish Midsummer party. The students were given a concrete task to work with during the week: to reach 50,000 people with their Swedish message so that at least 2,000 of them come to visit the country. The classes were divided into groups and each group was given a Swedish phenomenon to work with. It could be the midnight sun, paternity leave, the public access of land or the "lusse bun". Below you can see photos from the kick off week which started out with an inspirational seminar on stoytelling with Mary Lee Sjönell. On the Friday the groups presented their creative solutions – a day full of surprises.

Back from summer holidays and back to business for our second year students.

The semester’s first week is devoted to a kick off project when the second year classes Graphic Design and Advertising are working together with a given brief. Active Philanthropy and Ideo flew in to present a brief to Berghs’ students.

Michael Alberg-Seberich, Executive Partner and Felicitas von Peter, Managing Partner at Active Philanthropy came to Berghs to tell the students about the independent charitable platform.

- Active Philanthropy helps people who don’t know where to put their money. We want to contribute to a new culture of giving in Europe. People who can, shall donate more, know where their money go and how the resources can make the biggest difference possible.

The briefing was followed with an extensive workshop when the students got to employ Ideo’s methodology, processing ideas really forward. Students had to come up with innovative aspects on the use of a wallet and Jessie was pleased with the students’ effort.

- I think what the students practice the most in this workshop is to learn to design for somebody else. When you work with design you’re not only designing because of your own desire to design, but you’re designing to meet somebody else’s requirements. 

Active Philathropy's main target audience is those with the greatest financial and intellectual potential to create social change: entrepreneurial families in Europe that are willing to make a real commitment in financial assets, time, energy and become personally involved in their philanthropy.

By communicating new forms of giving and telling stories of pioneers, the partners aim to further activate the target audience and convince donors of more strategic and personal philanthropic engagement. 

September 9 the student groups are presenting their work to the client. 

This fall, we're launching a three day intensive course on digital that we call Digital Boot Camp. Peder Rotkirch, digital marketing consultant and Patrik Danielsson, hybrid brand consultant, founders of Join the Carnival are Program Directors for Berghs' new continuing education course.

American university Johnson & Wales University and Berghs School of Communication in Stockholm joint in a project for Ikea early this summer. The American students had 17 days to solve the problem in the brief from Ikea Restaurants: to attract more people to the home furnishing stores’ restaurants.

Ikea’s previous Digital Marketing Manager Christer Karjalainen, who wrote and delivered the brief, was keen to meet the young Americans and hear their presentation.

”I’m especially interested in getting young Americans’ perspective on the brand. It’s interesting to take part in their way of thinking”, Christer says.

Jess Grasso and Kory Blythe, both J&W students, agreed that the two countries are indeed different.

“Ikea has been around for so long in Sweden and is nothing new. In the US it’s considered new and shiny. People have a different attitude towards the brand there and Swedes and Americans are driven by different things”, Kory says.

“As Americans we want it done for us. We want to earn money and we want to do it fast. Swedes are more individualistic and want to do it themselves.”

19 students from Johnson & Wales University have been working on the brief for Ikea Restaurants.

In the campaign the students suggested solutions on how they believe the Swedish brand can their sales in the restaurants by enlightening the meatballs and the Swedishness about Ikea. Among the solutions the students suggested meatball play pool for kids, and they played with known Swedish characters, such as Alfred Nobel and Astrid Lindgren, who – obviously – had a meal of meatballs before creating their major pieces.

“Behind all great Swedish moments is a meatball” and “Simple decisions like buying a lamp are harder when you haven’t eaten” the copy read.

We asked the students whether or not they think a similar campaign would work in the US but then it would be all about the hot dog.

“Benjamin Franklin surely had a hot dog before doing his job.”

The students arrived right in time for the end year exhibition A Sustainable Plan.

“Here at Berghs you are working a lot more closely together with the other majors and you become a lot better when you’re bringing together people from different disciplines. We’ve learnt a lot here at Berghs”, the students state.

“It was really great atmosphere and good timing. It was motivating to start off with A Sustainable Plan”, Kory says.

Interactive Communication Students Dominating the International Award.

For the first time ever, a school is announced School of Year, two years in a row. 2010 Berghs is again recognized as the Future Lions School, with four of the 20 shortlisted projects and three of the five finalists being work of Berghs’ students.

James Hilton, Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer AKQA, was looking forward to celebrating with attending Berghs students and staff accordingly.

- With a record number of entries this year, and an amazing standard of work, this is a huge achievement, he says.

Swedish Association of Communication Agencies has now acknowledged who receives their scholarship for 2010. Desiré Engström, Advertising – copy student from Berghs School of Communication gets to participate in Roger Hatchuel Academy in Cannes.

– In Desiré we see a sparkling intellect and a bubbling wealth of exciting ideas. That's exactly why will be such a great representative for all like-minded students at Berghs, says Anna Laurin, Program Director for the Advertising Program at Berghs School of Communication.

The world’s first Twitter artwork has now reached Ashton Kutcher. The Interactive Communication class of Berghs School of Communication met Ashton while in LA. Not long after he posted the tweet “Why am I the last one to find out about everything .... http://brizzly.com/pic/2PE5”.

The project started as a platform for the students in the Interactive Communication class where they, apart from presenting their portfolios, chose to demonstrate their uniqueness by exploring how the digital logics make relations and networks replacing money as currency. This comes clear as ever in the Don’t Tell Ashton-project.

By re-tweeting the message "I'm on the worlds first artwork made by Twitter users. Just #donttellashton", the tweeter’s profile picture appeared on the artwork. The Twitter-user’s number of followers on Twitter determined the size of the picture. The only person with enough followers on Twitter to conquer the entire artwork was, at the time, Ashton Kutcher, hence the project name.

Nobody did tell Ashton and the artwork was filled within three days. The project reached over three million people in 144 countries.

During the end year exhibition A Sustainable Plan at the end of May Berghs Print No2 was launched. The print is meant to convey a taste of everything that is a part of our world. People, thoughts, ideas, knowledge, project and inspiration. Not to mention – a first guide to the education programs and courses at Berghs School of Communication. The theme of the print is sustainability. The print is written in Swedish. 

Meet Robert Bau, a man of many tasks and a clear goal: to raise awareness of why Design Management is such a decisive aspect of business value. Robert teaches at Berghs School of Communication.

Robert Bau was raised in the US, has lived many years in Sweden, and now commutes between Stockholm and London where he resides in bucolic surroundings just outside of town. For several years Bau worked as an in-house consultant and project manager, but in 2005 he became an independent strategist by launching his company Mind Your Table Manners. Today, in addition to working 25% for Ergonomidesign, Sweden’s leading ergonomic design agency. Bau spends his time consulting, coaching, lecturing and writing for a broad range of clients. He is a senior branding-, innovation and design strategist, a business coach for creative agencies, and a mentor to creative entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial creatives. Since 2006 he also teaches at Berghs, an assignment particularly close to his heart: ”I teach too at Hyper Island, Konstfack, Södertörn College, The Business & Design Lab in Gothenburg, The Design College in Umeå, and at conferences all over Europe, but my heart beats especially for Berghs.”

”My calling is to be a kind of Ambassador of Design, and I think of it as a bit like being a language teacher. My courses attract business developers, architects and talented people of all stripes who know how to speak but now wish to really master the language. The courses should result in smart design, but for me the process itself is even more important. Actually, the very word ’design’ tends to send out misleading signals, since it’s not primarily a matter of just creating a pretty surface or fancy function. In my mind design is about providing strategic assistance to help companies cut costs, become more efficient, and increase productivity through employing intelligent design, designers and design thinking. It’s about processes that are well thought through, not about making fetching sketches. Design is pure business value, plain and simple.”

Design Management is the name of a ten-day course spaced over 10-12 weeks at Berghs School of Communication in Stockholm, which includes lectures, workshops, shorter assignments and longer projects, plus guest lecturers from the industry. The course has a three-pronged focus:

• Branding, meaning how to help companies build their brands through a strategic application of design, designers and design thinking, and by overall stressing the connection between brand and design.
• Innovation, meaning how smart design can contribute to the branding process, and how strategic innovation can assist companies in numerous ways.
• Management, meaning a strategy to streamline functions, cut costs and increase productivity by using design, designers and design thinking. What is the connection between design and productivity? What is the unique contribution of design to increased efficiency and sustainability?

”My task is to get the students to take the next , best step in developing their own professional ventures, and I find it incredibly rewarding to help them in this regard. And I know that by thus turning the students too into new Ambassadors of Design, I help strengthen the industry. For myself, teaching is a great opportunity to structure my own thoughts and to test them on others. My course becomes a dynamic feedback loop with colleagues from many different fields, and this also helps me to become a better consultant. During this past spring semester I have seen all of Berghs explore the issue of sustainability, which was the theme for the school’s Final Exhibition. The three great sustainability aspects within design right now are: Eco-Iconic, Eco-Embedded and Eco-Boosters,” adds Robert Bau just as the photographer arrives to take his picture for this article. As he hurries off we’ve learned for sure that design equals business value, it’s as simple as that!