Bjarke Kongstad
Designer. Senior Partner and Head of Experience at The Garden, a digital agency in Copenhagen.
The short version
Bjarke Kongstad is a Danish designer based in Copenhagen. He's Senior Partner and Head of Experience at The Garden, where he's been since the agency's founding. Experience at The Garden covers both visual design and UX, and Bjarke leads the team doing it. His work sits where strategy meets craft: figuring out what a digital product should be, and making sure it ends up good.
What he does
Bjarke leads design at The Garden, which is really two jobs.
The first is the work: strategy, concepts and design for brands like Flying Tiger Copenhagen, Travelheart Family, Kvik, DGI Byen, FitnessX and European Sperm Bank. He likes the early, slightly uncomfortable part – working out what something should be before anyone argues about what it should look like. A lot of that ends up as vision stories: a picture of the future customer experience, tied back to the roadmap, the data and the systems it needs to actually happen.
The second is the team: a handful of designers, how they grow, how The Garden hires, and the rituals that hold it all together. He cares a lot about people getting better at the craft – not just shipping prettier screens.
Background
Bjarke grew up on Fyn – born in Odense in 1987 – and moved to Copenhagen for a design apprenticeship at Wunderman.
From there he went to In2media, where he was part of the teams behind MobilePay – which won a Special Circle, Creative Circle's top honour – and Danske Bank's eBanking. Then came about ten years at Magnetix, which Dentsu turned into Isobar and later Merkle – work for Tivoli, Merlin Entertainments, PFA, BioNTech and Studybox.
Over the years, from Wunderman onwards, he has also worked with Ford, Telenor, Matas, Canal Digital, Microsoft, the Royal Swedish Opera, Novozymes, SHV Energy and Velux.
He started in UI and moved into broader experience work and strategy along the way.
Then The Garden. He wanted to be part of a place that focuses on great people and great client relationships – a place you actually want to hang out. He's been there since the beginning.
Awards
With The Garden
- Gold, Best in Digital Strategy – Travelheart Family
- Silver, Best in Digital Strategy – European Sperm Bank
- Bronze, Best in CX & Commerce – European Sperm Bank
- Bronze, Best in Digital Business Transformation – Travelheart Family
- Gold, Best in Digital Health – European Sperm Bank
- Silver, Best in Digital Business Transformation – European Sperm Bank
- Silver, Best in Innovative Use of Technology – European Sperm Bank
- Silver, Best in Systems Design – Travelheart Family
- Bronze, Best in Digital Business Solutions – Travelheart Family
- Bronze, Best in Digital Marketing (B2C) – European Sperm Bank
- Bronze, Best in Digital Strategy – European Sperm Bank
With Merkle
- Gold, Customer Experience – My PFA, a pension self-service portal
- Silver, Marketing Automation – Merlin Entertainments – personalised customer experiences at global scale
- Bronze, Customer Experience – Merlin Entertainments
- Silver, App/Interactive – BioNTech Sales Assist app
- Silver, Digital Differentiation: Digital Proposition – Studybox – Stream Your Textbooks
With Magnetix
- Winner, Cross Channel Platform – Tivoli Gardens platform and marketing automation
- Winner, Travel & Tourism – Tivoli platform
With In2media
- Special Circle, Creative Circle's top honour – MobilePay
- Gold Circle – Service-driven apps and utilities for MobilePay
- Silver Circle – Danske Bank eBanking
- Winner, Financial Services – MobilePay
- Winner, Mobile Platform – MobilePay
- App of the Year (plus its category and Best Functionality) – MobilePay
- Silver Circle – Danske Bank eBanking and personal finance overview
FAQ
Who is Bjarke Kongstad?
Bjarke Kongstad is a Danish designer based in Copenhagen. He is Senior Partner and Head of Experience at The Garden, a digital agency in Copenhagen, where he has been since the agency's founding.
What does Bjarke Kongstad do?
Bjarke Kongstad leads design at The Garden. He works on strategy, concepts and design for clients, and leads the agency's team of designers. Experience at The Garden covers both visual design and UX.
What is Bjarke Kongstad's job title?
Senior Partner and Head of Experience at The Garden.
Which clients has Bjarke Kongstad worked with?
At The Garden: Flying Tiger Copenhagen, Travelheart Family, Kvik, DGI Byen, FitnessX and European Sperm Bank. Earlier in his career: MobilePay and Danske Bank (at In2media), and Tivoli, Merlin Entertainments, PFA, BioNTech and Studybox (at Magnetix, Isobar and Merkle). From Wunderman onwards he has also worked with Ford, Telenor, Matas, Canal Digital, Microsoft, the Royal Swedish Opera, Novozymes, SHV Energy and Velux.
What awards has Bjarke Kongstad won?
Work he has been part of has won more than 25 awards. The biggest is a Special Circle for MobilePay (2014), Creative Circle's top honour. Others include Gold at the Danish Digital Awards for Travelheart Family (Best in Digital Strategy, 2026) and European Sperm Bank (Best in Digital Health, 2025), a Gold Danish Digital Award for My PFA (2022), and App of the Year at the Danish App Awards for MobilePay (2013).
Has Bjarke Kongstad judged design awards?
Yes. He has been a jury member for Creative Circle and the Danish Digital Awards.
Where is Bjarke Kongstad based?
Copenhagen, Denmark. He grew up on Fyn and was born in Odense in 1987.
Where has Bjarke Kongstad worked?
He started with a design apprenticeship at Wunderman in Copenhagen, then worked at In2media, then spent about ten years at Magnetix (later Isobar and Merkle). He has been at The Garden since its founding.
How can I contact Bjarke Kongstad?
Through LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bjarkekongstad/
Jury work
- Creative Circle
- Danish Digital Awards
Quick facts
- Name
- Bjarke Kongstad
- Based in
- Copenhagen, Denmark
- Role
- Senior Partner and Head of Experience, The Garden
- Field
- Design – digital product design, UI and UX, design strategy and design leadership
- Languages
- Danish, English
- Links
- LinkedIn · The Garden · kongstad.me