Bielke&Yang completes Jewel’s 25-year journey from sketch to shelf

Picture this: Copenhagen, late 90s. Music blasting at a student party, drinks flowing and CDs scattered across a table like forgotten treasures. For Marius Brandl, studying interior and product design, that moment sparked something that wouldn’t let go for over two decades. “I remember the moment vividly, looking at the covers on the table and thinking, ‘Why isn’t there a way to showcase CD-covers as they were meant to be experienced – by listening and engaging with them at the same time?’” Brandl recalls. “A simple thought, but that one really stayed with me.” Fast forward to 2025, and Brandl’s late-night sketches have evolved into Jewel – a Norwegian-made display system that treats CD covers like the small artworks they’ve always been. Working with Oslo-based Bielke&Yang, the project represents something rare: a brand that genuinely honours both the tactile joy of physical music and the precision required to craft something truly lasting. The identity strikes an unusual balance. Rather than choosing between retro nostalgia or sleek minimalism, Bielke&Yang developed what they call “Nostalgia + Engineering” – a concept that runs through everything from the custom typeface to the recorded soundscape of clicking CD cases. Designer Håvard Bergo explains their typographic approach: “The letters are constructed based on a 16x16 grid, inspired by the CD-16. The structure is technical and rigid, but it creates a nostalgic expression that is somewhat reminiscent of the heyday of CDs.” That attention to systematic thinking extends to Jewel’s naming convention. Products follow a logical structure – CD-16, CD-09, LP-03, MC-24 – that feels both organised and flexible enough to expand as the range grows beyond CDs into vinyl and cassette formats.