Fun times ahead
What I do after office hours
Being a designer is more than pushing pixels during work hours, at least for me. I try to challenge myself to be creative in everything I do. I like to have fun, like ridiculous — laugh until I choke type of fun. Sometimes I do something worthwhile, and then I put it here. This page is for getting to know me better, I hope you enjoy it.
Me, talking about design sprints at CocoaTalk hosted at TV4. See the talk here.
Podcast
I started the first Swedish podcast about design back in 2014, it's called Re:Design. We have released more than 50 episodes over 4 seasons. After a two year break, Linea and I are now starting it up again.
Check it out.
My logo
While I'm no brand designer, I have done my fair share of logotypes and branding in my days. I am most proud of my own little logo. It's an N shaped like a shield. My family name "Sköld" means shield in Swedish. I ordered some stickers made from my logo and put it on all my things.
Fencing
One or two times a week, I practice fencing. I also compete sometimes. I have been ranked 92nd in Sweden, which sounds impressive until you learn that there are about 120 active fencers in Sweden. The photo is taken at SAF Pokalen, a satellite competition for the Olympics. Where I lost against some of the worlds top fencers.
Writing
I have written several articles on Medium about design. My most read article has been read over 100 000 times. This led to me writing some Q&A articles for the .NET magazine and other magazines. It’s a great feeling seeing your words on printed paper.
“5 Actual Web Design Trends for 2016”
Published July 2016, viewed ~115 000 times
“Experience Slows You Down”
Published June 2013, viewed ~20 000 times
“Why drop-down lists are bad for the user experience”
Published May 2013, viewed ~35 000 times
Keynotes
I like to do as much public speaking as possible. Apart from presenting our design at work, I do some guest lectures here and there, and some keynotes at events. I would love to do more of it. The only recorded talk I have is from 2012, and it's in Swedish. "Låt inte standards stå i din vision" enjoy :)
Gaming
I currently play World of Warcraft Classic and Arena of Valor regularly. Arena of Valor is a Chinese mobile MOBA — 5 versus 5 — and while it is relatively unknown in the West, it is the most played game in the world. I play Support and currently rank at Veteran, the 2nd highest rank. Pictured is my level 60 Dwarf Holy Priest.
Failed start-up: Klirr
My brother and I tried to get a fin-tech start-up going in 2018. It was an app like Acorns catered for the Swedish market. We got accepted to the STING fin-tech accelerator program for very early-stage start-ups and won the "best pitch". We got as far as a third meeting with two of the biggest banks in Sweden, but ultimately they all passed. There is still no service like ours on the market.
Rap star :)
When I was 19 years old, I was in a rap group that had a small hit with the song 'Pappa betalar'. We now have over 2 million streams on Spotify, without releasing any new music. We toured Sweden for two summers, which was a great summer job.
Siren House DJ
I was a DJ when I was young, like everyone else in Sweden. I hosted a nightclub in Gothenburg for two summers together with some friends. I was 25 and partied four nights per week. We did all marketing, branding and DJ while making a decent earning. I pride myself in having brought the genre' siren house' to Sweden. Video of one of our better nights :)
Spotify Playlist
You have probably guessed by now that I love music. I have a playlist on Spotify that I update with new songs at least every week. I remove songs ever so often and try to keep it at 50 songs. The playlist has 160 followers — it's a perfect mix of new music of different genres.
Instagram Concept
The first 100 photos that I took on Instagram — between 2011 and 2013 — were all mirror selfies from restaurants I went to, where I hid my face with the phone. After 100, I framed the photos and then carried on as usual. Go to my Insta and scroll to the bottom.
