It is with great pleasure that we announce the launch of the City of Ottawa’s Light Rail website!

Many Ottawans felt as though they were left in the dark when it came to the City’s big Light Rail Transit (LRT) plans. Well folks, there is no longer any need to feel mal-informed. Thornley Fallis and 76design in collaboration with the Light Rail Implementation Team have created an “information-sharing mechanism” that arms the citizens of Ottawa with more than sufficient information relating to the project plan.

The communications efforts applied by Thornley Fallis & 76design were strategic and smart; we have received positive results on the site and its search functions, information content, structure and ease-of-use.

The website in particular has proven to be the most crucial piece of the puzzle. The website we’ve created is meant to engage the entire City; to provide all the facts our users require to fully understand the project and to provide them with a platform to communicate their feelings towards the project.

With the integration of various social media tools (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube), interested citizens are able to keep up-to-date and connect with the Light Rail Implementation Team with any questions or concerns. Any questions submitted to the team will be answered in a timely fashion; responses will then be posted on the website. The LRT website helps make a difference by providing comfort to Ottawans by reminding them that Light Rail green and it will only improve the City.

Since yesterday’s launch, the LRT project is getting great media play, print and radio; it is noted that there are happy people all around.

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 …

What does a retired General, a former Olympian and a man they call “Dog” have in common? If you said they’re all speakers available through the National Speakers Bureau, you’d win the big stuffed narwhal.

For over 35 years, the National Speakers Bureau has garnered a reputation as the source for event speakers. They are the sole agents for over 100 speakers, and they work with over a thousand others in North America and abroad.

They came to 76design with a request, upgrade their brand. This included a new logo and revamping their site. During our analysis of their brand, we felt that their existing website didn’t accurately reflect the class of speakers they had, nor did it “speak” (so punny!) to their great customer service.

76 updated their corporate logo, created a brand new site with a focus on bringing their speakers to the forefront, improving the speakers search functions, and we also created a new interactive module on the homepage. Overall, our goal was to facilitate the user experience, but also motivate potential clients to call one of their reps to assist them through the booking process. The new National Speakers Bureau site launched January, 2009.

Take a spin on NSB.com, and book yourself a speaker or two. On a personal note, I am awaiting the confirmation that Strombo is coming to my Super Bowl party. Fingers Crossed!

Conair Consumer Products Inc. (with our assistance) has recently released its newest product with a contest micro-site, driving its line of hair related products to a whole new level.

Conair, Helps You Tame The Beast

For all you lovely ladies out there who can’t seem to take control of that beast we all call “hair”, I introduce to you the Infiniti Nano Silver by Conair. Simply put, it is the #1 most effective hair straightener on the market. The person who thought of adding steam to a hair straightener is an absolute genius. Not only does it make your hair look vibrant and lustrous, removes all frizz and protects it from the humidity, it takes no time at all. Take my words and check out the website to see what other features and benefits this product has to offer, www.conairsteamstraight.com.

Aside from my obsession with this fabulous “life-saver”, you deserve a little S.O.S. too. The “Tame the Beast” website, was a concept conceived by Conair and 76design/Thornley Fallis. It is your gateway to owning one of these magnificent hair straighteners along with other Conair and John Frieda hair related products. The contest closes on December 17th so don’t wait too long, visit the site, watch some videos, enter the contest and most important…don’t forget to tell your friends. The secret needs to be unleashed so go spread the word.

ENJOY!

I know, I know – it’s not polite to brag. But please, cut us some slack here, because we really do have something exciting to brag about!

Yes, for the 3rd year straight, 76design has been made an Official Webby Honouree for the work we did conceiving, designing and building the Ottawa Public Library’s new children’s website.

This was a really innovative project and it definitely feels good to get this recognition. In case you don’t know the Webbys, they’re kind of like Oscars for the Web. We didn’t actually win a Webby – we got the equivalent of 2nd place. But considering our co-Honourees in the youth category include the likes of Disney Channel, Barbie and MTV, we figure we’re in some pretty elite company.

What’s even more amazing though, if I do say so myself, is that this is the 3rd year running that one of our sites has been a Webby Honouree. Last year it was our corporate website, and the year before it was the site we built for Maisonneuve Magazine.

76design is not a huge shop. We don’t charge as much as the big international agencies and our clients’ budgets tend to be – well – just a tad smaller than Disney’s. But the quality of our work speaks for itself. Year after year we rank alongside the world’s top interactive agencies in the toughest competition there is.

Next year we’re aiming to crack the final frontier and become an official Webby award winner. Which of our clients will benefit from that acclaim, and be the proud owner of one of the best websites in the world?

It could be you.