Marcus Andersson

Swedish Hyper Island Mobile student, specialized in HTML(5) and Interaction design

I do like ICS, but iOS ain't shabby either :)

About me

I'm a 21 year old guy from Helsingborg, Sweden. I consider myself to be a calm and open-minded person that doesn't like running over people. Curiosity is also a big part of me, I like to know a little bit of everything - especially how things work. If the weather allows it, I'd love to play a round of golf or take a trip with my longboard. During those rainy days I'm fine with just chilling out with a video game or a movie.

My main interests are the Web and everything tech. The inspiration from this site is partly taken from theverge.com, a tech-blog that I'm very fond of. I always enjoy a soccer game as well, watching it - not playing.

Right now I'm trying to improve my skill in HTML5, partly through this site. Responsive Web Design is quite the buzzword right now, but I think it's a ton of fun once you get the hang of it. I've tried my best to make viewing this site equally as good regardless of the what device you're using.

Creative Youth & Hyper Island

I picked up my interest for design and web a few years ago and I’ve continued to improve and evolve ever since, mostly on my spare time. In 2010 I started the 'agency' Creative Youth (pretentious name, I know!) with a couple of friends. During a year we made a bunch of different things, I ended up doing a lot of different Wordpress sites for clients. It was a great journey and I’ve learned a lot, most of all to work really hard if you want something.

I felt the urge to learn more and once I stumbled upon Hyper Island I applied right away. I'm glad I did.

During this very intense year I've learned the importance of user experience and wire-framing. It has been a pleasure to work with real clients instead of reading a book about it. Though, my biggest learnings are those about group dynamics and being a good team player, something that is relevant and useful anywhere and in any profession.

Internship & Future

I'm available for internship starting this autumn. Where doesn’t really matter, it’s more about finding a place with nice people and a great atmosphere. A place where I can have fun while continuing my learning.

I really enjoy the early stages of a project, the concept development and wire-framing especially. I don't mind designing, but I rather see someone else taking charge of it. Though I think I have an eye for it and can provide useful critique. I know the very basics of Objective C and Java - what works and what doesn't work. But I'm more into HTML(5). It's something about the instant visual response that I love. In short, Interaction & HTML are my strengths.

In the future I see myself working with Web in some way, but not necessarily in Mobile. On the other hand everything will probably be mobile then anyway! The things I've learned at Hyper Island are quite universal and relevant in pretty much any area.

Samtala

A communication enhancement tool for people with Aphasia, built for the iPad

Use the pre-made expressions or create your own

The Brief

We were given a mission to develop a rehabilitational tool for people with cognitive disabilities. We decided to focus on aphasia, a cognitive disability that drastically decreases one's ability speak.

The Idea

The current standard of rehabilitation of aphasics is to use a simple folder, which is a rather primitive and clunky thing. Not only is it slow and tedious to use, extending or customizing it takes a lot of time and effort. Our goal was to replace the folder with something more enjoyable, easy to use and customizable.

That's why we made Samtala. Samtala can best be described as an interactive folder that can be tailored to fit and assist any aphasic in their speaking. It features a vast library of expressions but also the ability to extend it on the go with the built in Camera. You can also use the built in tools such as the Drawing Board, Maps, Calculator or the Calendar to get your message across.

Even though Samtala is in a very early stage of development we've already got a lot of appreciation from aphasics and regional media. It's really motivating and we're working hard to make Samtala available.

My role

This project but was also the first project I've done where I couldn't relate somehow to the target group. Which made it really interesting and required a lot of research. I'm a big fan of the early stages of Idea Development, re-iterating on the wireframes and so forth and this project was all about the early stages to me. Towards the end of the project my main focus was to make a website for promoting the application as well as doing a bit of basic coding in Objective-C.

Click here to visit the Samtala site (in swedish)

Clean London

Using NFC to clean London. Designed for the Galaxy Nexus & ICS

The design, built on the new Android 4.0 / ICS Guidelines

The Brief

London is a rather dirty city. How can we make London cleaner by using mobile technology?

The Idea

We started off by thinking: How can we make recycling fun? We came up with a lot of crazy ideas but settled for the one we call Clean London. By recycling/trashing something and then swiping your NFC-enabled phone on the bin you receive a gift. A free app that would normally cost money.

Our intention is to make this beneficial to both the users, City of London and the app developers. We believe that apps would be a fitting and reasonable reward that could easily motivate people to recycle more. It doesn’t have to cost City of London a lot either, except for the cheap bins. There's also a few benefits for developers or publishers. The app stores or markets are crowded these days and and getting noticed is sometimes a matter luck. This event could be a real push for any application and it could increase publicity and also lead to a boost in sales over a longer term.

My role

We did most of the work as a group, mostly because we only had 2 weeks of time. I spent the majority of my time on creating the wireframes and the final design for Ice Cream Sandwich, which was a nice change from iOS.

Oaks

Oaks helps parents keep track, capture and store memories of their babies.

The Brief

We were given a rather open brief to create a concept that is based on solid research with an actual demand from the potential users.

The Idea

We started off by conducting quite a bit of research. We asked parents about their relations to technology, what they felt was lacking and conducted a few surveys. The question we asked ourselves was simply how can we make life easier for new parents? The solution had to be something mobile of course.

After a lot of idea generation we came up with Oaks. Oaks is an application that helps parents keep track of their babies first memories and steps. You are also able to share your golden moments with others or maybe just some relatives - you decide. After your baby turns one you'll have the opportunity to order a book featuring all the major events in your babies life so far.

My role

I had a group of eight people in this module. Size makes a lot of difference. This was also our first module with a brief so we ended up doing a lot of work as a group. With eight people it can be very frustrating and slow at times but I'm happy with the ideas and concept we developed during the first weeks. Preparing the presentation was split up among us, but on everything else we worked closely together.

Meer.li

A really great community for mobile designers, with a touch of Hyper Island

The Brief

We received no specific brief or client, instead this was a chance for us to develop an idea of our own.

The Idea

There are a lot of prominent mobile communities out there today. But they've all kind of derailed from their original purpose. Instead of showcasing a design in progress you show a small part of something complete. Often modified and blurred quite heavily. That's okay, I really like that too. But we felt the need for a site that could be incorporated in one's workflow, where you could receive instant feedback on things you're currently working on. Without having to worry about if that pixel at x:43 y:133 is razor sharp or not.

My role

So far this has been a very interesting project for me. Mostly because I've been able to focus on what I really love, the Web. Right now I'm working as a Front-End Developer bringing all the parts together and optimizing the site for all kinds of devices. Meer.li is very much in beta right now, so expect a lot of changes each time you visit. Hopefully always for the better, if not, please give me some of that precious feedback.

Visit and experience Meer.li (BETA)

www.meerli.com

In Progress

A few websites that are about to launch

Robert's Coffeewww.robertscoffee.com

A well established-coffee shop franchise in Scandinavia, like Starbucks for instance. While I'm involved in the design progress my main focus is slicing that psd up and turning it into a fully functional Wordpress site.

Rise'n'Shinewww.risenshine.se

A swedish hangover beverage packed with minerals and salts to make the day after less of a pain. The site is currently built on static html but it will most likely be ported to Wordpress later on. At least it features some 'insane' CSS3 animations for now!

Hello there, I'm Marcus

I'm currently studying Mobile Applications at Hyper Island. Web, Mobile & Interaction design are the things that I cherish the most.