Photographers always try to give their work a unique flair of style to stick out among others work. They also have different backgrounds and different needs and demands. To try to satisfy the customers, the camera makers are making cameras with all functions packed in a huge body. The result is a big compromise between video, still-photo, resolution and low light performance.

The goal in this project was to design a system that better meets the different needs to each individual user, for both stills and video. By introducing a new mounting standard and open software, users and manufacturers can take part and develop attachment products.

Upon order the users can choose the specifications for their needs. Just like a computer, the hardware is upgradable. You can choose which sensor and processing power you need. When the camera arrives the service center for an upgrade, the old components are recycled while the body is re-used. The camera body itself is made of extruded aluminum which is cheap to produce, light, durable and easy to recycle.

You can for example add grips, optical or electronic viewfinders, backplate with video connections, screens and flash-triggers on the sides of the camera.

Many people buy large 4×4 vehicles to feel safe and to tackle the hard winter driving coditions. This is making the ones driving smaller cars more exposed in case of accidents. Also the higher fuel consumption of large 4×4’s harms the environment. Weather conditions around the world change and become increasingly extreme and unpredictable.

Some of the problems that emerged under observation:

• Low ground clearance to overcome hinders
• Packed ice in wheel arches
• Bad vision due to amount of snow in ditches and harsh light
• Unable to get grip, especially around 0 °C
• Floating on wet snow
• Sprays pedestrians wet

This is the result of my degree work. IC is a social communication tool for seniors. It makes it easier to use video telephony, sms, mms, e-mail and social medias to stay in touch with family and friends.
According to research from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, 19% of people over 60 are depressed in Norway, mostly because of isolation and loneliness. As the number of seniors are growing, we need to work with new ways to help them stay independent to give them more joy in life and to reduce the stress on our health care.

“ How can the quality and availability of social distance communication be improved for the elderly?”

Contact with the users through interviews and observations has been the key point in this project. Their usage of products and social connections have been observed and the users have also been involved in workshops and mock-up testing to make sure the concept is shaped for the users surroundings and actual needs.

Contacts can easily be added by scanning e-mail addresses on the screens surface or talk to the intelligent voice recognition. Other data about the contacts is automatically gathered from social media sources. Pictures, drawings, poems or similar can easily be shared by scanning them on the screen while in conversation. The bi-directional screen also makes it possible to have real eye to eye contact.

This project has been chosen of The Nordic Council of Ministers to be a part of The Creative North
- an exhibition about Nordic Welfare Design in Shanghai 2010. It has also been featured at Yanko Design.

This product is for children in primary school. It is a tool children can use to play and experiment with while learning the basics of mathematics in a manner they find natural. It helps them see the relationship between mathematics in theory and in the physical environment we all live in.

“How can we make children reflect on mathematics while playing outside?”

This project was done in cooperation with Naturskolan and Umeå municipality.

• Gives a relation to density of materials.
• Includes every type of user with it’s features like easy readability by sight, feeling and alternative grips.
• The transparent plastic shows the litres and the inner mechanics of the weight, children loves to see how things work.
• The squared shape makes the “mud-cake” building and pouring easy.

With this project I tried to understand a cars complex forms and shapes. I wanted to have some fun with the clay and give the car a feel of elegance, but bring in some sportiness. I thought Fisker Automotives would fit well as a fictive client for this form study.

Magboard is the result of a cooperation with Kiruna municipality. Kiruna have large resources of magnetite and wanted to see how this mineral could be used in products. Magnetite is a stabile, black, mineral with magnetic capabilities. Magboard is a efficient presentation tool for schools and universities. Main focus in the design process on creative methods and an extensive research.

The Magboard takes advantage of a new technology called “Rainbow rust”, it is based on magnetite mixed with water.

Electromagnetic force changes the color of the fluid which can be separated in pixels on a screen.

The pen is a electromagnet that make the users able to write on the board with the color they want. The charge from the pen decides which color each pixel will show.

The board can show pictures and the content on the board can be stored in a computer or printed directly out through a WiFi-connection.

The Avalanche Risk Indicator is a device for mountain-skiers who need help to analyze the snow condition and the probability of an avalanche.

User Environment

Mountains can be very hostile. Weather conditions can change dramatically from one hour to the next. In just a few minutes a storm can roll in when the sky was perfectly clear, and in just a few hours the temperatures can drop from extremely hot temperatures to below freezing-point. With the global warming still going strong, the weather is becoming more and more extreme and unpredictable.

• By being connected to the weather-station via satellites, the user gets updated weather and avalanche risk status for the current location.
• In case of an emergency, the device can also send S.O.S message with GPS coordinates through a satellite messaging service.
• A reflector is built in to help the rescue personnel locate the user.
• Power can be generated with external antenna.

We collaborated with PEAB AB and Knauf Danogips AB to solve this problem with a new glue tool.

We, the students at Umeå Institute of Design, worked in “Hot Teams” which is a type of creative working method to provoke our innovation ability.

Some of my responsibilities in the project was organizing, sketching, building model and presenting the project for the client.

The new glue gun is easy to handle with one hand, puts the weight on the hips instead of the hand and the telescope-function saves user from back strain.

A knife to add in Festools product range.
This will be Festools competitor to Fiskars and other non-powered high quality tools.

It can stand on a flat surface to avoid damage to the blade and is easy to pick up. The rubber surface and form makes a comfortable and good grip.

This project was done without cooperation with Festool.