Carl Hagerling · Design leader & CDO · Lund, Sweden
20 years building products, brands, and digital experiences. Leading and hands-on.
I'm a designer and creative director based in Lund, Sweden. I've built and led design for IKEA, Volvo, Tesla, Facebook, The Graph, and Edge & Node.
I’m a creative leader who cares deeply about my work and the experience it creates for users—focusing not just on function, but on how it feels. I bring a high level of care and ownership to what I do, which has often led me to work across multiple user touchpoints, bridging product design with brand and marketing design to create cohesive, high-quality experiences.
I thrive in strong team environments built on trust, low ego, and clear ownership, and I’m energized by complex problems paired with short deadlines. I believe users should guide product decisions, not dictate them. Users are like water—they take the shortest path to reach their goal. Our job is to shape that path so it’s clear, intentional, and effective.
My experience is that the shipped user experience reflects how a company operates internally, which is why, as an executive, I focus not only on design execution but also on driving initiatives to improve processes, culture, and hiring so teams can do their best work.
I believe in leading by doing—staying close to execution to keep my knowledge and taste sharp, qualities I see as essential both when leading design teams and when using AI as part of the creative process. I’m a doer who values shipping meaningful work over talking about it.
Always pushing — early in my career that meant a lot of design competitions, where the work picked up Awarded “excellent business idea” by Almi, Accepted to Minc incubator, Nominee, German design award, and Winner, Good design award along the way.
Expertise
Product Design•Brand & Marketing•Design Systems•Executive Leadership•Industrial Design
Location
Lund, Sweden • Available worldwide
Roles
Designer•Creative Director•Design Leader
Languages
Swedish native • English fluent
A few projects worth a closer look.
Tools I'm vibe-coding.
Knokk
macOS + iOS
All your messengers and email in one window.
Zlurp
macOS
Batch optimize images, videos, and PDFs.
Battleship
Web
Wager & Play.
FirePoop
Web
Don't get burned.
Klipp
macOS
Take a screenshot. Drag a URL. Your images live in Notion, accessible from anywhere.
Klott
Web
A minimal writing surface that lives in your browser. No accounts, no setup — just open and write.
PrepSheet
Web
Free personalised emergency preparedness sheet.