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Associate Professor
Head of Program. Visual Game & Media Design / Associate Professor
Institute of Design and Visual Interaction
Jakob Ion Wille
My research explores why and how we, as humans, design universes and fictional worlds and not least, how we use them to explore possible futures and tell deeper and more engaging stories.
Books
How to Create a Universe
How to Create a Universe helps you create and understand the universes that you love from books, films, TV series and games. Through ideas, reflections, illustrations, conversations, theories and first-hand examples, the book takes the mystery out of universe building and provides new knowledge for understanding and designing content for fictional universes.
“While to the uninitiated ‘world building’ may sound like a cutting edge branch of theoretical physics, it is in fact a vital skill for anyone entering the creative arts or humanities today. Readers are choosing works based on the richness of their worlds. Writers and designers are being commissioned to build expansive worlds which can provide the basis for transmedia franchises…. For all of these purposes, ‘How to Create a Universe’ is essential reading – the best source for applied and actionable insights on world building as a design process, engaging with many of the top thinkers and doers in this space.”
—Henry Jenkins, Media scholar and provost Professor of Communication, Journalism and Cinema Arts at University of Southern California
“The book serves as an indispensable guide for those eager to craft fictional worlds for film, television, computer games and new media. Authored with expertise and humor, How to Create a Universe introduces innovative and original methods in the realm of universe-building. It also bridges the gap between traditional approaches and the demands of modern storytelling. As the entertainment industry evolves, so do the tools and techniques required to captivate audiences.”
—Prof. Dr. Stanislav Semerdjiev, Screenwriter & Executive Director, The World Association of Cinema, Audiovisual and Media Schools (CILECT)
“If you think of world-building as some arcane craft, this book will convince you otherwise. Its accessible writing and unpretentious, down-to-earth design make complex ideas easy to work with. Packed with excellent examples from beloved universes and interviews with real-world creators, it’s not just analytical – it’s hands-on and inspiring.”
—Susana Tosca, Professor, Media Studies, Dr. University of Southern Denmark
Production design - fra proces til udtry
Når vi ser film, tv-serier, computerspil og andre audiovisuelle medier, husker vi oftest fortællingen, men kun i særlige tilfælde det miljø, univers og visuelle udtryk, som omgiver fortællingen. Alt det omgivende kaldes med et samlende begreb production design. Production design bygger verdener og er altså allestedsnærværende i billedet, men bliver ofte ubevidst registeret som baggrund og overset.
Production design - fra proces til udtryk præsenterer en ny analysemodel til at forstå og undersøge production design som både en kreativ designproces og som et designudtryk. Bogen er baseret på interviews med en række fremtrædende, danske production designere, som i denne anledning giver dyb indsigt i deres arbejde og adgang til deres arbejds- og researchmaterialer. Bogen demonstrerer, hvordan et tæt samspil mellem akademiske mediestudier og mediebranchen kan bidrage til at styrke og forny arbejdet med production design.
Film as Design rethinks how we understand and create imagery in film and television.
Where traditional film theory places design beneath narrative and cinematography this research argues for a richer and more central role for design in cinematic storytelling.
The thesis introduces the concept of cinematic design‑incarnations, a new framework that expands how we analyse, discuss, and understand design in moving images. This perspective not only sharpens the vocabulary around cinematic design but also reframes how films and series are conceived and produced. It highlights the creative influence of production designers and art directors, showing them as key shapers of the fictional world.
Grounded in a formalist and poetic view of the cinematic image, the research treats design as intentional artistic decision‑making visible on screen. At the same time, it looks behind the scenes at design processes and production structures, challenging conventional assumptions about how cinematic fiction comes into being.