This is the weekend edition of TheMarioBlog and will be updated as needed. The next blog post is Monday, June 4.

Our Constantin (Consti) Eberle, who has worked closely with me on a variety of projects since 2014, has accepted a job as the new creative art director of Norway’s Aftenposten in Oslo. Consti will start there in the fall.

While I am not at all surprised that the people of Aftenposten have had the foresight to engage Consti—one of the most talented art directors with whom I ever had the honor of working—, I was, indeed, surprised that Consti would move from Berlin, where he was working full time for Axel Springer Corporate Solutions where he was designing corporate products (print & digital) for such brands like Lufthansa and Nestlé.

Consti and I were part of the Aftenposten team that led to the transformation of the Norwegian daily, along with a refresh of its design. It was during that time that Consti’s talent and abilities became obvious to editor-in-chief and publisher, Espen Egil Hansen.

Espen obviously did not forget the magic of Consti and approached him for this new and exciting position.

Consti has said yes.

“Consti is the man”

I asked Espen about the “recruiting” of the great Consti:

To get Consti to Aftenposten is a major scoop! I consider him to be one of the leading designers in the business and both our readers and our newsroom will gain from his experience, ideas and great energy.

Espen added:

Consti worked on Mario Garcia’s team during the redesign of Aftenposten in 2014 and I think everyone participating in that process look back with a smile on their face. We not only did a much needed modernization of the newspaper but laid out principles of how to connect the digital and print offerings through design. There was so much energy in that process and I think we all felt that we had started something that should be continued.

Like Espen, I agree that one of Consti’s strong qualities is that he is a designer who understands visual storytelling for both print and digital:

Design in the time of the algorithm is something different than what it was in the time of print. We went from having one daily front page to having one million. In going forward I want to build on our historic strenghts as a trusted brand but without being afraid to experiment and develop our products. Also i want someone that can work through other people – we need to raise the awareness of how important visuality is in modern communication. Not many ADs can handle such a complexity. I believe Consti is the man.

Here are some questions for Consti

Consti, you and I worked together with the wonderful transformation of Aftenposten in Oslo. What are your best memories of that experience?

My best memories on this project – next with the grand opportunity of working on your side, Mario – was the chance of working with so gifted, talented, creative, modest, and wonderful personalities at Aftenposten who were very open and not afraid about change. I wouldn´t say it was the opposite, but they were curious about the next steps, taking their brand on another level with a man on their side, who coordinated this beautiful orchestra: His name was and still is Espen Egil Hansen, the editor in chief and the CEO of Aftenposten .

I never met somebody next to you, Mario, who is able to lift the energy in a room in seconds, who is not afraid of turning old and probably well working concepts 180 degrees, just to prove and challenge them. In this polarity of concepts, Espen found a glim of the answers of the next new step or direction for Aftenposten’s transformation. It felt never like hard work, working with him and his Team, cause we all enjoyed the gift of being part of the process and the Team. Teammembers with bright eyes. Eyes and the energy of kids, not judging the first big, new, crazy elephant in the room. We discussed, challenged and rejected ideas but some of the crazy ones found their way into the new products. With you Mario and with Espen and his Team coming to a final result, was really a road trip. We went to crowded places, places no one discovered before us and you never knew, where you end up at the end of the day. But because of all these little and bigger journeys, we were able to draw the perfect map. I never met such an engaged and passionated editor in chief before, who was able to took his whole team to this trip.

What was the one final push that made you decide to leave Germany and to go to Aftenposten?

After 10 years working for different news companies and news brands I had the opportunity in 2014 – working for Garcia Media – being part of the redesign-team of the Aftenposten newspaper. I always met wonderful and super talented people all over the world, but the bravest visions for the future of their Brand (Print and Digital) had the Editor in Chief and the team of Aftenposten. I always could follow the steps they took, even if it was something new. So I realized that we have the same common sense, the same compass in our hands or the same „language“ we speak, and this is why I really love to work with the people at Aftenposten. That is why I believe in this Company, in the people and the next and new steps I will take together with the very passionate, playful, innovative team.

For Axel Springer Corporate Solutions I have/had the opportunity to create corporate products (print & digital) for brands like Lufthansa, BASF, BOSCH, Roche, Nestlé, Siemens, Vattenfall and many more. Every Company needs individual solutions and every Company has its own way to tackle their challenges. But know I really want to work for just one brand again and I am really looking forward to work for a news media company again. The products and the content for Lufthansa for example we create at Axel Springer are very important for the people who are working in this company or are connected with this brand. But know I feel it’s time to go back to my roots – working for a news company again – working on products and the visual storytelling for content that concerns everyone.

How do you see the future of design across platforms?

Creating a strong brand is the key. In times where news companies have a big diversity of channels (newspapers, magazines, supplements, websites, apps, social media, TV, radio, event formats), you need to tight them together. Dancing with your eyes over dozens of different products at the newsstand or the hundreds of news on your Facebook-Channel it’s getting more and more important to make your brand visible – especially in times of fake news and paid content platforms. In times like these, it’s not enough just to sell the best content on earth, you need to give them a beautiful packaging with a big label of the sender.

For our blog post on original Aftenposten redesign:

https://www.garciamedia.com/blog/norways_aftenposten_a_total_rethink_for_the_digital_age/