Sometimes, to keep myself sane during long work days, I tend to doodle and draw — it’s just what I do and have done since a wee lad.
I was going through some old notebooks and found a few characatures of some co-workers I sketched.
More to come …

For the second year in a row some coworkers and I have decided to be thrifty with our holiday gift exchange by designing and creating personalized CDs filled with music that we think the other person will like.

It started off with a hat, tiny pieces of paper, and the Christmas Party. It was then that we drew the name of our sucker, err, recipient. The hardest part, in my opinion, is trying to figure out what the giftee will like on their CD. There are several people in the office who are extremely transparent with their choice of music, but then there are others who never leave their iPod alone long enough to take a peek.

We’re lucky enough to be a tight knit crew, so the CDs always seem to have a personal touch that ends up being a big success. Our collection of disc cover designs this year included favourite fonts, colours, even condiments (images, and believe it or not, actual fresh pepper).

For the past few hours it’s been pretty quiet in the office except for the headphones of everyone listening to their CDs. Well, that and the munching of Brett‘s mom’s delicious cookies.

Campaign design by our very own Ben Watts.

A strange yet mysterious veil falls gently over the 76design office in Ottawa every year in the month of November. It is a veil but more accurately it is a mustache – many mustaches. Yes, Mustaches!

We grow mustaches not only for the style and sophistication but for a truly greater purpose – the enhanced visual appeal is just the icing on the cake. We are growing for Mustaches for Kids (M4K) to raise money for Make a Wish Eastern Ontario. Our mustaches make wishes come true – read more on how the helped some local kids in need of a wish.

M4K has grown and matured within the walls of 76design. Legend has it that M4K was in fact brought to Ottawa and nurtured to greatness by the shameless dedication of 76designers. Over the years we’ve seen many a stache. Including our fearless leader, Joseph Thornley, who is growing with us yet again – and matching any donation to him. But all fun aside, we’re proud to have contributed to M4K and Make a Wish.

M4K is now in its 5th year in Ottawa and we’ve raised a combined amount of $50,000. Last year we raised $20,000 and this year, with over 100 growers, we are aiming at $25,000.

Help us make our mustaches worth more than they look. You don’t need a mustache to help.

Our skunkworks Twitter applications are complete!  Over the past eight Friday afternoons our team has been working feverishly on experimental design & development projects using the Twitter API.  Why?  To learn and explore!  The web is a constantly changing landscape, and to be on top of our game it is necessary to research and explore. Not to mention, we are a creative and ingenious bunch who crave experimental projects to work on.

Skunk works or skunkworks is widely used in business, engineering, and technical fields to describe a group within an organization given a high degree of autonomy and unhampered by bureaucracy, tasked with working on advanced or secret projects.
- Skunkworks definition on Wikipedia

76design’s Skunkworks Recipe:

76design donates time each week (usually Friday afternoon), and the team donates an open mind, fresh creative ideas, energy, and finally a working demo. The projects are intended to encourage exploration, therefore the skunkworks recipe itself is iterative and malleable. Through skunkworks we will be testing new approaches to web dev with the hope of integrating the findings into our daily work. That said, the following was a guideline for our first project, but we expect this recipe to change over time.

Week 0: Preparation of project Theme & Constraints
Constraint breeds design. Therefore we present the team with a challenge while leaving plenty of room for creativity. The challenge also centers the  experimentation around a particular area of interest. For this project the Theme was Twitter, and the main constraint was the web application had to use the Twitter API.

Week 1: Brainstorming & Team Selection
The team gathered for a single large brainstorming session where everyone threw ideas at the whiteboard.  This generated a large quantity of ideas, and encouraged the team to be creative, critical, constructive, and considerate.  Following the brainstorm we broke into teams of 2 and selected the concepts we wanted to experiment with for the next few weeks.

Week 2: Research, Concept Refinement & Work plan
Now that the team has had a full week with their concept, they refine it into a concrete plan. Week 2 is all about editing  the ideas & features down into a reasonable plan which can actually be accomplished within the short time line. This exercise involves documenting each task’s level of effort and priority. At the end of the project the teams are asked to compare the outcome to their initial plan.

Week 3, 4, & 5: Design, Code & Test
These weeks are all dedicated to designing and coding the project. The teams check in briefly every week to discuss their progress and help each other with challenges. Inevitably, unforeseen issues or fresh ideas will cause the plans to change, therefore the teams are encouraged to work iteratively using agile methodologies. Teams are graded on their ability to define project scope and manage scope change.

Week 6: Present working demo to the entire team
The projects are now ready for a functional demonstration, and everyone gathers in the boardroom for a short 5 minute presentation and Q&A period for each project.

Week 7: Followup
The teams will write a reflective blog post about their project which includes an overview, the challenges faced, the outcome, and the potential next steps for their project.  Teams will also share the insights they gained from the skunkworks experience.  Furthermore, teams will post relevant information to our company wiki for future use. The Teams are free to continue the projects if they wish, or publish them online as they are.

So stay tuned. The first round of skunkworks twitter applications are complete and we will be posting the team’s project followups over the next week or so.

A couple weeks ago I was randomly inspired to do something kind for my fellow colleagues. Not having any actual hypothesis in mind, I referred to it as a “social experiment”, hoping it would yield some sort of result or impact – and that it did.

I filled a small white bowl from our kitchen with jujubes and placed it at the end of my desk. I felt good about it. As people started coming into my office, they would notice the candy, be pleasantly surprised and indulge.  Making them happy, made me even happier and gave me incentive to continue to fill up my bowl (at this point, the bowl was being emptied after about 5 – 6 hours).

People were showing up in my office for no apparent reason, making up all kinds of excuses to be there, all the while, feeding like vultures from the bowl.  In true Pavlovian fashion, the mere sound of a bag opening or treats filling up the bowl, would create a response from the team (at this point the bowl was being emptied after about 2 – 3 hours).

The happier people were, the more excited I was to go out of my way to get more rubbery-textured confectioneries into that bowl the next day. Every day I would fill the bowl with something different – jujubes, pistachios, Clodhoppers, chocolate covered almonds, swedish berries, M&M’s (by the time the M&M’s hit the bowl, it took 20 minutes to empty).

Then, somewhere between the chocolate covered almonds and swedish berries, something started to happen. People started verbalizing preferences and complaining. Several “facts” about free candy and nuts began to emerge; apparently pistachios are “too much work” and chocolate covered almonds are “boring”. The more complaints I received, the less incentive I felt to fill up that stupid little white bowl.

As I stopped filling it up, the expectation for the candy became apparent. People were actually getting upset that there wasn’t anything in the bowl.

“Oh, the bowl is empty again?”
“Where the f&*% is the candy??”
“I’m not very happy about this empty candy bowl situation.”

In hopes of cutting down on the comments, I ended up taking the bowl out of my office altogether.

So, my theory is this – the candy bowl is just like life:

Unexpected pleasantries = satisfaction
Expected pleasantries = dissatisfaction

So the next time life hands you a gummie bear, just eat the friggin’ thing and be happy!

Have you ever wondered what 76design would do if there were no rules? no boundaries? Nothing in the way? What would we come up with? Would it be capable of flying? Would the result rival silly putty on the coolness scale? or perhaps pogs?

Well we wondered. We decided to take the first step towards answering that question with the first ever 76design Aural Design Poster showdown.

here is a snippet of the original project brief

“Take a Song, Listen to it, Design!…” “…Pitcher of booze for non-delivery is standard penalty.”

But where to begin? What song would provide suitable poster fodder? Well, according to one Steve Lounsbury, Brain of J by Pearl Jam would do the trick. And by golly – I dare say he was right. Well done Steve old chum.

Sure, its a “design” project…but this project was not meant for designers alone. No, this project was for all. Designers, developers, account managers, and project managers alike. With only a few abstaining from participation (and 1 poor sap that failed to meet the 2 week deadline) it was a full team endeavour. Fun? Probably. The results? You be the judge.

[nggallery id=2]

And 2 of our developers took the opportunity to create their submissions in processing – 1 of whom also decided to give us a glimpse at “the making of”. Enjoy.

You may be familiar with the Italian clothing brand Diesel. Trendy, cool, hip stuff. And generally very creative campaigns highlighting their edgy brand. (For example, their logo is a guy with a Mohawk and their slogan is “Only the Brave”).

I recently visited the Diesel website and sent them this email via their customer service page:

“Hi. About 10 years ago I purchased a pair of silver Diesel glasses. I have worn them ever since. They are not only the best glasses I have ever owned but probably the best value of anything I have ever bought. They have endured despite the arrival of my two kids, who grabbed and flung them around more times than I can remember. I also love the look. You can see a picture of me wearing them if you search my name – JOHN SOBOL on Facebook. (I’m the guy with the flower on his head!
But I am not just writing to praise your glasses but to ask whether or not you still have any pairs like mine kicking around anywhere in storage. Mine are on their last legs and I haven’t found anything like them in any of the many stores I’ve been to. I would be very happy to buy a pair, or a few pairs from you, if you can locate any. Thanks.”

The next day I got this response:

John,

Carlotta
Diesel Customer Care

It is not possible to reply directly to this message.

Now I know Carlotta was just doing her job as she’s been told to do it (assuming Carlotta is not simply an automated reply function, which I suspect she may be) but considering the unusual (for me, anyway) degree of loyalty I expressed to Diesel in my email, this response amounts to a complete kiss-off. How disappointing. I mean, if you are going to bother having a “Customer Care Centre” you should at least show that in some small way you do actually care about your customers. Unfortunately for me, Diesel apparently doesn’t.

We work in an open concept work space, the lack of privacy is a negative agreed, but it really facilitates the expression of opinions — whether they are requested or not. The thing about spouting your opinions within your peer group, you best be ready to hear how much your thoughts sink or soar.

In the middle of our ‘pit’, we installed a ginormous whiteboard, it’s intended for brainstorming sessions, working out silky smooth code, drawing obscene doodles and other collaborative exercises. Now every week, starting last week, it will also house the 76 Top Five. What is the 76 Top Five? I am glad you asked. A theme is picked, and people (participation is optional) list their all-time top five (usually under a barrage of comments such as, ‘Are you serious?’ and ‘Nice choice pointdexter‘).

Think of this whiteboard as a window into the plethora of personalities who fill out the 76design corps.

So without further ado…

Week 1 Theme: Cinema

Brett:

1. Donnie Darko
2. Gimme Shelter
3. Almost Famous
4. 28 Days Later
5. High Fidelity

Jeff:

1. Goodfellas
2. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
3. And Now For Something Completely Different
4. Rollerball
5. Cable Guy

Jordan:

1. Shawshank Redemption
2. Dumb and Dumber
3. True Lies
4. Pulp Fiction
5. Ocean’s Eleven

Julie:

1. Blue Velvet
2. Kill Bill Vol.2
3. Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amelie Poulain
4. Lost in Translation
5. Adaptation

John:

1. Seven Samurai
2. The Night of the Hunter
3. Rhapsody in August
4. The Last Picture Show
5. Kill Bill 1 & 2

Rob:

1. Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
2. Fubar
3. American History X
4. Forrest Gump
5. Pulp Fiction

Dom:

1. Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
2. Il Buono, il brutto, il cattivo
3. Nuovo Cinema Paradiso
4. Rushmore
5. Jing wu men

Tune in next week for…76 Top Five: Music Videos!

Yes, you have read correctly. A few of us here at 76 are participating in Mustaches for Kids: Ottawa Chapter – a fundraiser and mustache growing contest.

Over the past five years, Mustaches for Kids has spread across the United States and Canada, a steady expansion that is not unlike the measured, deliberate growth of a Mustache. Mustaches for Kids has enjoyed the efforts of an impressive number of Growers who, collectively, have raised over $150,000 for the Make-A-Wish foundation.

We are just over half way through this year’s campaign, and I have to say, we all have sweet, sweet ‘staches. Thanks to all who have participated, donated and who are making this year a big success.

This Friday we’re all going to go out and celebrate the past month. It’s been quite the November! Everyone’s had a few late nights, some Saturdays and even the odd Sunday! No one’s really in bad shape, though (except, of course, Steve and his broken leg). We’ve all got high spirits and good attitudes, which as the new guy I have to say is a huge surprise. I’ve seen teams tear themselves apart after a month like the one we’ve had here. It’s easy to get really stressed out and start biting at each other’s throat. People start snapping at each other for the strangest thing (“Who the $^*& ate the last donut!!” – Actual former co-worker at 2am) None of that here. There must be something in the vents…(or is it beer in the fridge?)

On top of being busier than a one-armed paper-hanger (what does that mean, anyway?), we also had to move offices this month! Our new offices are crazy huge. Highlights include a nice large boardroom, front reception area, and a great open space where all of us 76designers are seated (check out the photo). We’re trying to come up with some cool ideas to fill the space – I suggest plasma TV with Guitar Hero.

So if you’re wondering why there’s only been two blog posts in the last three weeks…now you know!