Your Zone Friday: It's Chriiiiiiistmaaaaaas!
Things we’ve done and things we like this week
Christmas is (almost) here, as the Black Country’s favourite glam rockers remind us – but despite the temptation to sit about scoffing mince pies, we Zoners have been as busy as ever this week.
Three things we've done
Gone continental
Our Powerade team has worked tirelessly over the past few months to prepare the German Powerade site for launch – and (what a Christmas treat for our European pals!) it went live this week.
Located our loosest clothing
This week we’ve been impressed by Delicious magazine’s recipe for a gingerbread house, and our Channel 4Food team's selection of smart recipes for using up your Christmas leftovers. Er... leftovers?
Given away 10 grand
Richard Forne has been announced as the winner of the Relentless Energy Drink sponsored Short Stories 2011 film competition for his entry Good Morning Gravity. He received a £10,000 prize and the opportunity to work with Relentless on a brand new piece for 2012. Quite the Christmas present!
Beardstrokable infogram
This week’s data makeover
Holidays are coming, as our Coca-Cola team knows only too well. And the approach of the big day set them thinking: what would Christmas Day be like at Zone's house? Here's a colourful answer to the all-important question of what you'd be watching on telly if you came round to ours on 25 December.
Zone hero of the week
Du Li is Zone’s IT support superstar. Says PR and marketing manager Hannah Gabrielle: “Du is my hero of the year for putting up with approx. 11.5 questions each day about IT just from me. He's always the very definition of patience, despite having a newborn and being utterly sleep deprived.”
Christmas pudding or Yule log?
(After brief Google image search to explain Yule log): “I’ve had that before without knowing what it was! I loved it, and I love, love, LOVE chocolate. Christmas pudding’s alright, but it has to be Yule log.”
Geek of the Week speaks
Our tech team are on a mission to shed their nerdy reputation. We chart their progress…
There are more than a few trendy social types here at Zone – and at first glance, you might not think developer Neil Cumpstey is one of them. So imagine our surprise when, this month, he created a twibbon and a selection of blogger badges for our Coca-Cola website to highlight the Designated Driver campaign. "I'm honestly not cool enough to understand what they're for," he claimed. We think he doth protest too much.
‘I made this’
Zone staff share their creative moments
This week:
Crafty Zoners Charlie Cottrell and Karen Byrne have been sharing their tips for making pretty party decorations. If you fancy trying your hand at table centres, take a look at these ideas from Delicious magazine. Alternatively, check out this clever Wallacespace video on how to create a Christmas snowflake. Karen says: “I made a whole bunch of these at the weekend with my kids. They’re awesome!”
NEWSFLASH!
Vix Young, senior UX designer at our sister agency Public Zone, has had a ‘Passionate About Design’ article published in New Design magazine. In it, she extols the virtues of personality in design and user-experience-centred work, revealing some of the products she thinks tick those important boxes. Nice work, Vix!
Three things we like
Giggling
Check out these jolly amusing Santa brand guidelines from brand language consultancy Quietroom: “We looked at what *Santa* might be if it weren’t a fat man in a red suit... If it were a biscuit, it would be a Hobnob. If it were a holiday, it would be Easter.” Ho, ho, ho.
Watching and listening
This round-up of 2011’s best TED talks from ReadWriteWeb is entertaining and inspiring in equal measure. Don't miss 'Three things I learned when my plane crashed', 'How to spot a liar' or 'The hidden beauty of pollination'.
Cringing
From the sublime to the ridiculous… and painful. This 12-minute edit of the ‘best fails’ of 2011 features collapsing wardrobes, skateboard accidents and hilarious stunts gone tragically wrong. It will amuse and horrify you.
