Brand Creative Director Anna Thurfjell (formerly of Svenska Dagbladet) gives a first look at News without Noise and presents her findings on how to build trust in AI-curated news through design at SND47 Berkeley.
Date: April 24, 2026
Location: Logan Media Center, North Gate Hall, UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism
The 47th Edition of the Society for News Design’s Creative Competition, SND47, takes place April 20–24 with a week of events. The week closes with workshops in Singapore and Berkeley. This session will take place at the Berkeley workshop.
About the session
Creative Director Anna Thurfjell has “something news” to share related to designing for a rapidly changing media landscape — where trust matters more than ever.
The inside story
One day Thurfjell got a call to shape an entirely new product in collaboration with Taufiq Rahim of 2040 Ventures in New York. The project, called News without Noise, aims to redesign how readers in North America consume news through a daily briefing that is curated by combining cutting-edge AI technology and human oversight. The platform is set to launch in 2026.
The case study
How do you design news with trust in the AI era? That became a key question — and an obsession — for Thurfjell. She will share the research, methods and key findings shaping the design of News without Noise, a journey that took her back to when the first American newspaper was born. Thurfjell will also give a first look at the new platform.
The debate: AI and news design
Discussion: What ethical considerations do you make in terms of taking and then working on an AI news design project.
Take aways
- How to design news brands with trust
- Visual historical timeline of American news brands.
- Keys to creating news design for AI-based news media
About the speaker
Anna Thurfjell is a Brand Creative Director who loves type, news and brand design. She lives in Copenhagen with her family and black cat. She is passionate about biking, music and the writing of Haruki Murakami.
Thurfjell was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1975. She received an MA from Konstfack University in 2000. She served as the creative director of Svenska Dagbladet (Sweden) from 2003 to 2013, where she directed the custom typeface Sueca in collaboration with Feliciano Type in 2009.
Today she runs her award-winning design studio, which has helped some of Northern Europe‘s most loved news organizations adapt to the evolving media landscape. Her skill is in developing brand visual identities and news design for media brands by strengthening their graphic and visual design DNA on all touch points. Her clients include Aftonbladet (Sweden), Berlingske (Denmark), Aftenposten (Norway), and Helsingin Sanomat (Finland).
Thurfjell’s designs have won multiple awards, including Best in Show and World’s Best Designed by SND. Thurfjell has previously given 11 talks in Europe and the United States. She is honored to serve as a judge for SND’s 2026 Creative Competition in the San Francisco Bay Area in California.
SND47 Berkeley is sponsored by American City Business Journals, the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, and the San Francisco Chronicle.
