Portraits {of by} IxD1

How do you convey another person through various shared media, in a time-based and reflective process? This is the task that was recently given to first year Master students in the Interaction Design program at Umeå Institute of Design. We welcome you to explore the result below, and read more about the methodology here. More

That's so funny
Portrait of Miguel Peres

Despite his aggressive appearance, Miguel Peres has been such a humourous conversationist. When being asked about how he tackled the stress at work, he shows a patient and open-minded attitude. There's always something bigger than youself... says Miguel. Like most of the Brazilians, He can joke about every bad situation. His favourite sport is biking instead of football. You seldom find the end of the conversation with him once the word 'bike' is mentioned. Moving to Umeå with his lovely wife, the couple seems well-adapted and ready to enjoy the new living style.

Carol Tang

Author

Miguel

São Paolo, Brazil

Qui est Alexis? A portrait.

A proud Quebecer, born in 1988 north of the US border in Montreal he is a man of many languages. Already fluent in French and English, he is conversational in German and Spanish with his sights now set on Swedish. In short, he has a talent for learning new languages, something not considered being far away from his interests within music, computers and programming. Searching for a greater purpose in application of skills and balancing both artistic and technical values, Alexis accepted the challenge of becoming an Interaction Designer at Umeå Institute of Design.

Linus Persson
Author

Alexis

Montréal, Québec

A quest complete

Linus Persson, a seasoned veteran at the Umeå Institute of Design, is now starting his fourth year at the school. After searching for his right vocation, Linus decided that his perseverance, endurance, vision and focus would be best put to use at the Umeå Institute of Design studying Industrial Design and Interaction Design.

Alexis Morin
Author

Linus

Sävast, Sweden

Sharon Williams

With a background that mixes the vibrancy of Panamanian tradition with Spanish passion, Sharon Williams has come 'full swing' in her self-expression since growing up as the only young African-American girl in her class of 30 students in Spain. Currently a master's student at the Umeå Institute of Design, Sharon obviously has direction in her life. Not until her immersion in this culturally diverse education setting, does she claim her own true expression surfaced. The Sharon you would meet today has a sophisticated and trendy style and her essence appears: soulful, confident, and fun.

Jess Myra
Author

Sharon

Barcelona, Spain

Masha is warm.

This was the first impression I had of her. She expressed her presence through subtle touch and gestures, and conveyed her ideas creatively with vivid imageries. In the interview, she showed a sense of groundedness in her desire to find logic in design. But I also discovered that she has a free-spirited and imaginative side that comes with her unique and innate artistic ability. Masha said she has been drawing ever since the age she recollects memory. In interaction design, she would like to like to combine her artistic ability and creativity with a systematic and logical design process.

Vivian Lo
Author

Maria

Minsk, Belarus

Jessica Myra was born in Nova Scotia (Canada). Its nature and people left an important footprint on who she is now, and it's absence makes her realize how much it means to her.

The values of loyalty and honesty are essential for Jessica; and she expects them in return; "say what you mean" in her own words.

Jessica claims she moves by curiosity, and that she needs a creative outlet in her life. That wanting to see more and feel more stimulated, made her move to Umeå (Sweden); satisfying her restless self in the pursue of success in everything she does. So love, be curious, challenge yourself, and mean it!

Jess

Nova Scotia,
Canada

Clayton Cook

“When you eat pizza everyday, you want fish.”

After more than ten years of professional work as a graphic designer, Clayton Cook left his comforts of Brooklyn to pursue an MA in Interaction Design at the Umeå Institute of Design, northern Sweden. Through interaction, he hopes to be more involved in the systems and logic behind design and technicalities of information design. A world traveler and wilderness lover at heart, he is embarking on an adventure in a foreign city with endless possibilities in search of himself, happiness and change.

Lynn Bui
Author

Clayton

New York, USA

Vivian Wai Ying Lo was born and raised in Hong Kong, studied in England and lived for a long time in the USA. Having spent equal parts of her lifetime in Asian and European societies, she became a perfect guide to the two world’s frontier area. She is warm and passionate about her home city, therefore her motto shall always be: I love Hong Kong!

Vivian has a background in engineering and industrial design. However, she has a very strong and confident graphical taste and attitude, which makes her works outstanding. Now she is studying at Umea Institute of Design Interaction Design program to master in bringing rich and captivating experiences to users of her future designs.

Maryia Ziankevich
Author

Vivian

Hong Kong

Be yourself but don't treat her as an idiot. If you follow this briefly advice, you will probably go along very well with 'Lo'. Born in Hong Kong, Tang Ka Lo, or simply Carol, is a 28 years student in the Master of Interaction Design at Umeå University, Sweden.

Miguel Peres
Author

Carol

Hong Kong

Lynn's family moved to the United States from Vietnam. She graduated with a degree in marketing and finance. The idea to change the direction of her life came in the winter of 2007 when she got into a serious snowboarding accident. The recovery was slow. On many occasions she found herself creating custom tools to help her in awkward circumstances.

Creating these tools inspired her to become an industrial designer. Today, Lynn says she is interested in interaction design and specifically service design to help reduce the gap in world inequalities.

Harry Clayton Cook
Author

Lynn

Seattle, USA