Johnsen Labs is my workshop: a place to experiment, tinker and bring ideas to life. Some of them are mine. Some of them could be yours.
Trying out new tools and ideas just to see what happens. Most go nowhere. That's part of the point, and the good ones get a second look.
Small apps, tools and side projects that started as "what if…" and turned into something real, for me, for family, or for anyone who finds them useful.
Need a website, a small tool, or someone to untangle a tech problem? Clubs, small businesses and people with a good idea are welcome to get in touch.
Since 1996.
Building for the web, from the ground up.
Long before AI joined the workshop, I was building the full stack by hand. My biggest piece of work, built over 17 years: a complete subscription platform for magazines, from the web store where readers subscribed to recurring billing, Vipps and Stripe payments, e-invoicing, SMS, single sign-on and our own APIs tying it all together. Years of hard work, every line of it mine.
The big one. An end-to-end subscription platform for magazines: storefront, recurring billing, Vipps, Stripe, e-invoicing, SMS, single sign-on and custom APIs, all working as one system.
Flagship · Subscription platform
Hand-coded
The hobby that never stops. A PlayStation community with a game database from PS3 to PS5, news, reviews, trailers, screenshot galleries, full trophy lists and a feed celebrating members’ latest platinums. WordPress handles articles and logins; nearly everything else is custom-built, lately with a little AI help for new features and tuning.
Passion project · Still going
Hand-coded
An online community born in 1998 that ran for nearly 20 years and gathered over 4,000 members. Forums, rich profiles, member publishing, an online diary before blogs, meetups across Norway, IRC, a shop and much more.
Online community · Est. 1998
Hand-coded
Send a greeting written on a potato. Yes, really. Stripe payments, light and dark themes.
Just for fun
AI
A web shop with card payments.
Online store
Hand-coded
A responsive site the local pet shop could update themselves, with news, products and offers.
Website
Hand-coded
A multilingual site, including right-to-left languages.
Website
Hand-coded
Why the lion
“I once volunteered with lions in Zimbabwe. It's been part of who I am ever since.”
Walking with lions teaches you curiosity and respect in equal measure. It also teaches you that the best things happen when you step a little outside your comfort zone. That's the spirit of the lab. At home I'm a father and a creative mind, based in Bærum just outside Oslo.
Bård A. Johnsen
A website, a small tool, or something that just needs figuring out. Say hi and tell me about it.
