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!

Last week we at 76design received a notice inviting us to develop and submit a flash game to www.addictinggames.com as part of a contest with $20,000 in prizes. As we had just left a meeting in which our design team had decided we should do more ‘fun’ projects for our own amusement, this seemed like a timely opportunity. After checking out the very fine print, however, I discovered that by submitting a game to the contest you give up ALL rights of ownership to the game to www.addicitinggames.com, regardless of whether or not your game wins a prize.

In other words, under the guise of a contest, and for the modest investment of 20k, the folks at www.addictinggames.com are planning to harvest perhaps hundreds of new games, the best of which would surely show up on the popular site shortly thereafter, and likely without attribution.

What a scam! I was surprised to learn that www.addictinggames.com is owned by Atom Entertainment, whose Board of Directors includes Rob Burgess, Chairman of Macromedia (now owned by Adobe) and former Warner CEO Bob Daly. I wonder if such predatory and deceptive content development stategies are OK with them.

Yesterday I received an alert from the New Media Business Alliance warning its members about the contest. I’m posting this now to remind others to ‘read the fine print’ and (in a small way) to challenge Atom Entertainment to stop trying to sucker people into handing over their best content for free.

We’ve got another one! I am particularly pleased to welcome John Sobol to the 76design team.

John will be working with both new and existing clients to provide counsel on communications and business issues. John is well versed in leveraging the web to reach, and build relationships with, stakeholders and customers.

John has served as Co-Director of Digifest www.dx.org/digifest Canada’s leading festival of digital art, culture and design. He was the Producer of www.electroniccities.ca, an ambitious e-learning site featuring 20 profiles of new media artists and innovators, and he has worked with The Convergence Consulting Group www.convergenceonline.com,one of Canada’s leading independent Internet consulting firms.

John is truly an innovative thinker who is sure to add a whole new dimension to our team. I personally believe that the addition of John Sobol brings us that much closer to world domination. Stay tuned.