Hi, my name is Per-Johan Norbro, but my friends call me PJ. I am the father of two sons, living and working in Sigtuna, a small town 40 km north of Stockholm. I was raised in a family of designers and artists, and – with the exception for a year of military service, a bachelor degree in economics and marketing and a few years at Apple – I have been in this business for almost three decades. I did my first digital designjobb in 1987 and have since then seen the rise of digital media, starting with desktop publishing, moving on to the web, social media and apps. I love puzzles and my greatest talent is my ability to break down a large and more complicated context, piecing it together to form a new, simpler and more understandable context. I use this ability on everything I do, from managing projects to writing copy and designing art work.
I consider myself to be a generalist, someone who has the bigger picture in mind rather than all the details. As a person I am pragmatic and solution oriented, and I will go a long way to get what I believe is the best possible solution for a particular project or client. I enjoy working with people who challenge me and deliver the unexpected, and if someone convinces me of a better idea or solution, I am the first person to change my mind. When confronted with something new or unfamiliar, I always try to find the people best suited for the project or get the necessary knowledge myself. My curiosity and drive to always find and deliver the best possible solutions, has made me learn and understand many new things. I have also been fortunate enough to work with some really talented people, both co-workers and clients, and they have taught me more than any school I have ever attended.
I have managed both domestic and international clients such as Ahlgrens (Läkerol), Apple (consumer & education market), Beijer Byggmaterial (building materials), Colgate Palmolive (Ajax & Klorin), Goldwell (hairstyling products), RM Estate (commercial properties). As a designer and copywriter I worked with brands like Apple, Champis (beverages), Flexit (ventilation), Hotell Norrtull, IHUS (real estate), Inagården (healthcare services), MyDay (experience gifts), Nordby Shoppingcenter (shopping mall), Opticom (research), Primus (outdoor equipment), vmware (business software).
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Here are a few samples of my work:
This is the second ad in a series of testimonial ads we did for Apple entitled ”Learning for life”. The objective was to convince teachers, schools and other educational institutions that Apple was the best choice for both students and teachers. It was also my first real copy job. The copywriter originally assigned for the project got prevented in the last minute, and rather than postponing all the interviews I decided do the job myself.
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My first and latest logo design, separated by almost 3 decades. The first one I did for Opticom Research and the second one I did for Live it experience gifts and their new line of retail products.
Early in my career I worked a lot with package design and sales promotion. This is a sample of a series of package designs I did for MyDay experience gifts.
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”Your turn to choose” was series of ads i did for Apple when the new iMac was launched, both as copywriter and Art Director. These ads ran in Dagens Industri.
”Breakfast is ready, let’s do lunch at the top” is a series of ads and promotion material I did for Primus. An interesting brand with many stories to tell, from the first summit of Mount Everest, to making heating and cooking available in third world countries. My love for the outdoor life made it extra interesting to work with Primus.
With vmware I ran my first e-mail campaigns, using landing pages and follow up e-mails combined with printed reminders. Forced me to take a crash course in designing HTML e-mails. Also my debut doing copy in english.
Rebranding and trying to capture the spirit of a newly renovated Hotell was both fun and challenging.
Nordby Shoppingcenter is one of my latest and perhaps greatest challenges. Together with my partner, Geir Jobraaten, we have been involved since the start over 10 years ago and have worked consistently to build one of Scandinavias most successful shopping malls, developing new ideas and systems, creating a steady flow of newly updated content, engaging visitors both on the website as well as in social media. We recently redesigned the whole website to satisfy a growing mobile audience reaching almost 70% of all visits.