Meet Merlin. What makes their work magical.
Imagine. Code. Magic

Introducing you to one of our Dutch Digital Design partner agencies: putting them in the spotlight. Giving you a look behind the scenes. Sharing some Dutch digital design insights. Or telling you about something that they believe the world needs to know. This month it is Merlin’s turn. A Dutch creative code boutique founded by Servin Nissen, Emiel Muis and Mees Rutten. Three fast-thinking GenZ’ers (or late millennials depending on which source you use) met at the Hogeschool van Amsterdam (Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences) studying Communication and Multimedia Design. Where a joint school project for the Dutch National Maritime Museum kickstarted it all.

We chatted with Mees Rutten and Emiel Muis. Both creative front-end developers. About Merlin, their objectives and why accessibility - and ultimately user experience - is one of their main drivers, their go-to technologies, and what makes Merlin magical.

Where is Servin? He prefers to operate more in the background, but both Mees and Emiel state that Servin is a coding genius and incredible creative.

How it all started

All three dipped their toes in the world of agencies as interns and developers - including Q42 and Monks. However, they were after more: more autonomy, more decision-making and more freedom. Being able and allowed to think outside the box, and not having to work in silos. They were after a place where they could be true creative technologists, not developers or designers only.

As mentioned above, a project for the Dutch Maritime Museum started it all, and inspired them to take it to the next level. In 2018 Level30Wizards was born. Creating a website telling stories and experiences from the MS Oranje - a Dutch passenger liner and wartime hospital ship between the Dutch East Indies and the Netherlands - commissioned by the Maritime Museum. The website accompanied an exhibition called ‘MS Oranje, Koers gewijzigd’ (Changing course). Sharing stories and imagery of people who travelled on the ship after WWII.

They continued to freelance as a team for DEPT® - from Real-time 3D development for the digitalisation of Avans University of Applied Sciences’ Open Days to creating a real-time 3D web experience for the internal Inspiration Days event at Bol.

Together they collected a great portfolio, but they needed more structure and business guidance. This came in the shape of Rian Verhagen (10Nineteen, formerly Superhero Cheesecake and Born05) and renowned digital designer Robbin Cenijn. These two helped them take the next step, and create a brand that meant serious business: Merlin.

From Level30Wizards to Merlin - creative code boutique

Introducing a team of digital wizards creating magic with code. Their roadmap: imagine, code, magic. Imagine what you would like. Create it with code. Resulting in magic: a magical experience. A streamlined, interactive brand experience that you haven’t seen before.

For agencies and brands, Merlin can be a flexible layer that can be called upon for specific needs and challenges. A complete creative development team. That handles motion, development and digital architecture all in one. From concept to production.

Merlin’s objectives: 1. accessibility

‘We always look how we can create impact. How a website can add value and be useful, but also innovative and sustainable. One of our main focuses is to ensure that everything we create is accessible for everyone. Visually, physically but also semantically. We always ensure that it complies with all accessibility requirements. Because every website and application should be accessible to everyone. We intrinsically believe in this, and will always go the extra mile for this.

For example, it needs to be clear what the function of each button and link is. And we need to consider that not everyone can navigate through a website using a mouse or trackpad, but might - for example - need a specialised keyboard to do so. The average user of a website is not aware of these issues. Therefore, there are web standards and guidelines for accessibility. At Merlin, we make sure we follow those.’

How do you make sure you stay on top of this, and know what’s going on?

‘We are extremely proud to be in a group of some of the best developers in the world: OkayDevs - who build incredibly impressive work, and who are often awarded in-and outside our industry. Within this group we discuss and share knowledge. We also read and learn constantly about different ways of working to ensure that, in whatever we do, we always consider accessibility. It’s an intrinsic concern, and we don’t see this as a gap in the market, but as a necessity. Because it is worrying how little is still done about this. It should be part of building every website or application.

We feel responsible to also educate our clients, and test everything internally before it goes live to ensure all of the above is considered and included.

For example, when building a website for Kim Kardashian and Jay Sammons’ consumer investment firm SKKY, it was absolutely mandatory we considered every level of accessibility and all internet accessibility regulations that exist in the US. For the user, of course, but also with regards to the high exposure of someone like Kim Kardashian who is likely to be sued if the rules are not complied with. Every design element of the website had to go under the microscope with regards to accessibility. And that is exactly what we did, because it is how we work anyway.’

Merlin’s objectives: 2. quality assurance

‘Everything we create needs to be pixel-perfect. This is mandatory in everything we build, and for any device. The experience for all users needs to be right. We will continue to tweak, in order to keep adding value. Until we are over the Merlin-threshold, which is 120% instead of 100%.

A great example of this is the Dior end-of-year campaign - a 3D WebAR experience. We developed a system that would automatically test each mobile device when running the campaign, ensuring that it would run smoothly. If needed, the amount of glitters would be reduced in order for the application to run smoothly again. This system works across a wide range of mobile devices, also ranging in age. For example, from iPhone 8 until 15. This automatic scalability didn’t just mean a smoother experience for all users, it also meant more users.

WebAR is still in its infancy. We feel it is our duty to keep exploring and innovating, in order to offer all users the best experience.’

Merlin’s objectives: 3. Innovation

How is Merlin able to keep innovating?

‘For all our clients we offer a prototype process - a short burst of digital creation where we test and deliver something within two weeks. Throughout this process we learn a lot. We also organise a ‘Creative Day’ every month where we try and explore new technologies. We follow people who work on browser technology, so we are knowledgeable about new technology before it hits the market. As mentioned, we also gather and share a lot of knowledge through the OkayDev community. And we do, of course, have our own passion projects.

Our aim is to build immersive brand experiences that users will never forget. We will avoid at all costs that what we create, will become ordinary. Our experiences need to stand out, and, therefore, we always want to add value through innovation. Using the latest technologies if appropriate.

For example, using AI. For Heineken Asia we created an interactive campaign that was honing in the long hours people work over there - sometimes 16 hours per day! The campaign was called ‘A friend stuck in the office, is a ghost at the bar’. Based on the idea that you might be ghosted by a friend when he/she is stuck in the office working late, whilst a group of you are having a drink in a bar. With Merlin's tool, you can send them a video that is generated on the fly, transforming your friend into an animated green ghost, using their photograph, telling them that they're missed. We used AI on different levels: 1. Through machine learning the application ensured that the image supplied wasn’t offensive, 2. AI ensured that the eye/chin ratio from the head cut-out would be to scale, 3. an animated message was then sent to the ‘ghost’ friend. The added value for both Heineken and the friend? A free Heineken beer in a bar of your choice. A smart activation campaign.’

Merlin’s objectives: 4. technologies

‘We always use the latest technologies that work best for the purpose of an experience, not just for the sake of using the most innovative or popular technology. So, technologies that we use a lot are, of course, HTML, JavaScript and CSS, WebGL for 3D animation and graphics, and frameworks like Svelte, React and Vue. We explore for each project what is the most appropriate. We feel there are no technological boundaries. Because of our wide knowledge base and intrinsic curiosity. For example, because we know how to programme, we got our heads around Python AI very quickly.

We never go for a quick fix. We are always looking for better, and to create an experience that is bespoke for that particular brand and its users.’

Merlin’s objectives: 5. animation

‘Obviously all of our objectives matter to us greatly, but, like accessibility, animation matters to us a lot. For us, it creates the magic. It adds value to a brand experience. It gives users a sense of direction, plus it makes the experience more interesting. Users will want to spend more time with the brand. Movement invites users to explore more, to keep looking. And animation isn't just restricted to visuals and graphics, but can also be used in text.’

To summarise, Merlin in a sentence or two...

‘We are a flexible group of hybrid creatives that create immersive brand experiences. We are at the cutting edge, or intersection where creative and technology meet. We always want to take that one step further, dig a little deeper.

We do not think or work in silos. We look at the overall production process - from concept to execution. Ensuring that concept and technology work well together at the highest level.

We work like a professional sports team: bringing out the best, together - with a common goal: making digital magic.’