About a month ago, I had dinner at a small local sushi restaurant with my friend and his sister. I love to point out things, so as we sat down, I noticed the plastic cups for the tea, menu items on the wall handwritten with paper and felt markers, and the inkjet printed menus. I looked around again after we ordered and, aside from the other table of customers, there were 3 people working that night (I also like to play a game to guess how many people are working at a restaurant’s kitchen): The sushi chef, our server, and a senior man sitting near the back. I quickly concluded to my friends that I think this is a family owned restaurant, with the Dad being the cook, the daughter being the server, and perhaps grandpa sitting near the back.
Over the course of the two hours we dined there, I was curious as to why the grandpa was at the restaurant. I was observing their dynamics and kept telling my friends how cool this experience was. Grandpa would occasionally refill the soy sauce bottles, fix the blinds and furniture, and help with clearing dirty dishes off tables, then slowly walk back to his seat near the back to read his newspaper.
The entire family was polite, soft spoken, and provided great service. And although I was enjoying my experience there, my friends weren’t too impressed. They questioned why the food took longer than expected and why there was a senior grandpa doing the work when he could be relaxing at home. My friend made a comment that this was “sad”. Even though they were skeptical or uneasy about the overall family-ness of it, the whole night I was awestruck, empathetic, and enjoyed every bit of that experience. The food was excellent by the way. I always get the jumbo spicy tuna roll and dragon roll. To this day, I would go there for sushi, and whether it’s pick-up or eat-in, I’ll always love sitting inside to watch it all happen.
Now I’m no expert on a business’ standpoint of how a family-ran business should be successful, nor am I analyzing a work structure of a small family business. I wanted to share about my own particular fondness of small (and sometimes family ran) businesses. This fondness and realization came during my trip to the different cities and towns of Italy.
Almost every local business in the towns were family ran. From small Trattorias, clothing shops, fruit stores, souvenir shops, to random stores that sold clothes, watches, cameras, postcards, and had internet access. I was told that these stores would basically be there the whole time. For the owners of these small businesses, it was their life. Their life was their work. And from my perspective, those two aspects were so seamlessly knitted together. AND they enjoyed it!
I even learned that famous design firms like Alessi started through a family (Giovanni Alessi now to Alberto Alessi), passing down the business from one generation to the other. And in each generation, its owner sought new and innovative ways to help the business grow to another new level. In Tuscany, our ItaliaDesign team visited Segis Furniture and interviewed its founder and managing director, Franco Dominici. Our time there, Franco’s son was shadowing his father the entire time, I assume to learn and participate in the company’s growth in preparation for if and when his father passes the business down to him.
I recently came across a video interview about a Soda Shop in LA ran by John Nese. This guy loves his job and exudes real passion for what he does. He briefly mentions about the shop’s beginnings as a grocery store owned by his father and goes as far as to why he does not carry corporate/big name products like Pepsi.
I really appreciate the essence of a small business nowadays. Being in one myself, the “blood and sweat” put into the business’ growth is very real. It’s changed my perspective and in deciding which places I go to. There are particular restaurants/cafes, print shops, comic stores, and retail stores I would always go back to, even if I could find the exact same item cheaper (or better) somewhere else. I’m willing to give these places my business because their quality of service flows from their heart, dedication, and passion for what they do. And having that zest in attitude is 75% of the customers’ satisfaction.
That’s why at EQQY, we value working with our clients because we’ve been invited to be a part of their growth, their identity, and as a support team in watching them grow, knowing we’ve played a small part in their business. Maybe that’s why Grandpa was there at the sushi restaurant serving and doing what he was doing – he was willingly playing a role in caring for this family’s restaurant.
At EQQY, whatever on our desk right now – that’s the one. To make it the best we possibly can. Sometimes it may not be perfect, but at least we will have the satisfaction of knowing we did the best we possibly could and we may learn something from it.
So here’s a small list of companies and business we’ve working with and are worth taking notice of:
Health Dose – healthdose.com
Richards Packaging – richardspackaging.com
Nutrapure – nutrapurehealth.com
DVDNow Kiosks – dvdnow.net
Optic Foliar (in progress) – Foliar spray products
Toda Hearbal (in progress) – Natural health products
Come to think of it, EQQY DESIGNS is a family-ran business…a family from different backgrounds and experiences. In a way, our growth ties directly into the members of this “EQQY” family, their responsibilities, their wisdom, and their due participation to make all of this possible. Here’s a family photo of us before we all rocked out on PS3 to Oasis, Foo Fighters, Survivor, and The Smashing Pumpkins.
And because my post was long overdue, I’d like to say Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Years on behalf of our Project Coordinator, Lan.
Stay tuned to my next post. Here’s a sneak peek.
About a month ago, I had dinner at a small local sushi restaurant with my friend and his sister. I love to point out things, so as we sat down, I noticed the plastic cups for the tea, menu items on the wall handwritten with paper and felt markers, and the inkjet printed menus. I looked around again after we ordered and, aside from the other table of customers, there were 3 people working that night (I also like to play a game to guess how many people are working at a restaurant’s kitchen): The sushi chef, our server, and a senior man sitting near the back. I quickly concluded to my friends that I think this is a family owned restaurant, with the Dad being the cook, the daughter being the server, and perhaps grandpa sitting near the back.
Over the course of the two hours we dined there, I was curious as to why the grandpa was at the restaurant. I was observing their dynamics and kept telling my friends how cool this experience was. Grandpa would occasionally refill the soy sauce bottles, fix the blinds and furniture, and help with clearing dirty dishes off tables, then slowly walk back to his seat near the back to read his newspaper.
The entire family was polite, soft spoken, and provided great service. And although I was enjoying my experience there, my friends weren’t too impressed. They questioned why the food took longer than expected and why there was a senior grandpa doing the work when he could be relaxing at home. My friend made a comment that this was “sad”. Even though they were skeptical or uneasy about the overall family-ness of it, the whole night I was awestruck, empathetic, and enjoyed every bit of that experience. The food was excellent by the way. I always get the jumbo spicy tuna roll and dragon roll. To this day, I would go there for sushi, and whether it’s pick-up or eat-in, I’ll always love sitting inside to watch it all happen.
Now I’m no expert on a business’ standpoint of how a family-ran business should be successful, nor am I analyzing a work structure of a small family business. I wanted to share about my own particular fondness of small (and sometimes family ran) businesses. This fondness and realization came during my trip to the different cities and towns of Italy.
Almost every local business in the towns were family ran. From small Trattorias, clothing shops, fruit stores, souvenir shops, to random stores that sold clothes, watches, cameras, postcards, and had internet access. I was told that these stores would basically be there the whole time. For the owners of these small businesses, it was their life. Their life was their work. And from my perspective, those two aspects were so seamlessly knitted together AND they enjoyed it!
I even learned that famous design firms like Alessi started through a family (Giovanni Alessi now to Alberto Alessi), passing down the business from one generation to the other. And in each generation, its owner sought new and innovative ways to help the business grow to another new level. In Tuscany, our ItaliaDesign team visited Segis Furniture and interviewed its founder and managing director, Franco Dominici. Our time there, Franco’s son was shadowing his father the entire time, I assume to learn and participate in the company’s growth in preparation for if and when his father passes the business down to him.
I recently came across a video interview about a Soda Shop in LA ran by John Nese. This guy loves his job and exudes real passion for what he does. He briefly mentions about the shop’s beginnings as a grocery store owned by his father and goes as far as to why he does not carry corporate/big name products like Pepsi.
I really appreciate the essence of a small business nowadays. Being in one myself, the “blood and sweat” put into the business’ growth is very real. It’s changed my perspective and in deciding which places I go to. There are particular restaurants/cafes, print shops, comic stores, and retail stores I would always go back to, even if I could find the exact same item cheaper (or better) somewhere else. I’m willing to give these places my business because their quality of service flows from their heart, dedication, and passion for what they do. And having that zest in attitude is 75% of the customers’ satisfaction.
That’s why at EQQY, we value working with our clients because we’ve been invited to be a part of their growth, their identity, and as a support team in watching them grow, knowing we’ve played a small part in their business. Maybe that’s why Grandpa was there at the sushi restaurant serving and doing what he was doing – he was willingly playing a role in caring for this family’s restaurant.
At EQQY, whatever on our desk right now – that’s the one. To make it the best we possibly can. Sometimes it may not be perfect, but at least we will have the satisfaction of knowing we did the best we possibly could and we may learn something from it.
So here’s a small list of companies and business we’ve working with and are worth taking notice of (not in any particular order):
Come to think of it, EQQY DESIGNS is a family-ran business…a family from different backgrounds and experiences. In a way, our growth ties directly into the members of this “EQQY” family, their responsibilities, their wisdom, and their due participation to make all of this possible. Here’s a family photo of us before we all rocked out on PS3 to Oasis, Foo Fighters, Survivor, and The Smashing Pumpkins.
And because my post was long overdue, I’d like to say Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Years on behalf of our Project Coordinator, Lan.
During my past few years at EQQY DESIGNS, I’ve repeatedly came across a common perception that design cannot be taught. Many people assume designers somehow exhibit a natural talent to create beautiful artwork by birth. Though it may be true that some designers are more talented than others, Robin Williams was able to identify four design principles that can be used by anyone to create a good design in his book The Non-Designer’s Design Book (now in its 3rd edition).
To show how these principles work, I’ll first start off with a boring business card and apply changes using the fundamentals of each principle one by one.
Principle #1 – Proximity
Proximity is when you group related items or information together. For our business card, I’ve separated the information into 4 distinct sections: Name, Contact, Address, and Logo.
Principle #2 – Alignment
Alignment is fairly simple. Basically, try to align your information or items to create a few invisible lines. I have left aligned my Name and Contact information to create a invisible line on the left hand side. A bottom alignment can also be seen from the Contact and Address information. Since the Logo is an image that is harder to align, I’ve decided to simply enlarge & lighten it so it serves as a background element instead.
Principle #3 – Repetition
Repetition is repeating a specific element throughout your design. Up until this point, we do not have a very distinctive design element that repeats (aside form the fact that we have a uniform font). So I’ve decided to add two elements that gives the business card a more distinct character: 1) Capitalize everything, 2) Apply a unique yellow on each of my information sections.
Principle #4 – Contrast
The last principle is to enhance the visual contrast between different sections of the design. All three sections of our information, although fairly spaced out, still seems too similar and related to each other. To give it contrast, I have drastically increase the font size of the Name only. I have also placed a yellow block at the bottom half of the page and inverted the colours of the Contact and Address information. The background image is blurred to provide more emphasis to the Name.
After applying the four principles, our business card is starting to look much better. Robin Williams principles are fairly popular in the design realm and is often referred to as C.R.A.P. Personally, I tend to prefer going through them in the reverse order as stated above (the reverse CRAP…).
Of course, there are also many other factors involved when creating a great design such as Typography and Colour Palettes. Not all designers follow these four principles and it often requires an experienced one to break them. Nonetheless, these basic principles are there to serveas a guideline for beginners in their creative pursuits.
EQQY DESIGNS is thrilled to be listed in Business in Vancouver’s list of the “Biggest Web Development Companies in BC” for 2009! Business in Vancouver is an award-winning weekly local newspaper serving the Greater Vancouver since 1989.
The newspaper’s October 27-November 2, 2009 issue ranks companies by number of employees and provides details on 27 businesses.
View the complete BIV List. (subscriber number required).
With the list in mind, we are also the only web development company located in Richmond, BC to be listed on the list. We’re ecstatic to be one of the largest web development firms available in Richmond, BC.
Our entire team has worked extremely hard to make this year with a very successful year and will continue to do our best with another challenging, yet, fun-filled year in 2010!
On behalf of every one on the EQQY Team, we would like to thank you for your continued support and business!
About elements of Heroes, Lost, and Little People Big World that are beginning to irk me.
The decline of television
LOST – I liked the first season. Honestly I did. It was suspenseful, mysterious, and exciting. The plot kept thickening into a wonder cliff-hanger; then … nothing happened. The plot reorganized itself, and led to another exciting cliff-hanger. Alas, nothing significant happened either. I watched this happen a few times, before I quit watching it all-together. I can say with some confidence that most viewers of LOST, probably are.
HEROES – This is another TV series that started off with a ‘hard-to-mess-up’ plot. Like X-Men, humans were starting to develop super-powers. Add good-guys and some bad-guys, and you have a clear idea of what should happen in the end. Season one left a good impression. The bad-guy was almost defeated, and calamity was averted. Each story line after that leads to more role-reversal. Good guys are bad, and bad-guys are good. We understand that good and bad are not always black and white, but I like my story characters to be a little less like a zebra spinning in a toilet.
Most stories follow (more or less) a simple path:
The exposition, introduces the story and characters. Rising action serves to advance the plot and builds suspense. The climax is a major culmination of the story and the falling action concludes the story.
If I were to do a plot line for HEROES or LOST, it might look something like this:
The repeated plot-line works up to a point, but after that it becomes a convoluted mess of things that never really get resolved. Sometimes there is so much falling action, and so new characters introduced and discarded like candy. It’s unsatisfying. It’s insulting. It’s boring.
Little People Big World
This show I dislike not for its content, but its miss-guided teachings. The family featured in the show is constantly asserting that they should be referred to as little people as opposed to midgets; as though midget has a negative connotation. The whole world knows that height is no measure of a person’s quality – and midget, simply describes someone who is markedly small. Trying to subvert the word used to describe it with a less technically accurate one, is detrimental to speakers of the English language, and to freedom of speech.
Acknowledge what the show is. It isn’t bad in any way to enjoy it, or create it. Just try to understand that it is what it is, and it isn’t hurting anything. It’s a freak show. Consider, the family is not unique in anyway, other than the fact that half of them are midgets. If their only defining attribute is their dwarfism, and if that’s the most significant reason for watching, then it’s essentially the same as a circus freak-show.
There really isn’t any significant intolerance towards them that any person does not encounter in some other way. They do regular family things, and live their lives. Yes it can be entertaining to watch other people regardless of situation, but everyone has their own life to worry about. If I’ve left something out, please correct me.
Every day I sit here at my desk, staring out at the window at the gorgeous mountains.. ha, I wish! Sitting here at my desk, I am oh-so “lucky” to have the new Canada Line pass by my window every 4-7 minutes (depending on what direction it’s coming from). So what’s this new skytrain thats got everyone talking about?
It’s TransLink’s new Skytrain system that connects Richmond to the Vancouver International Airport (YVR) and downtown Vancouver. This new skytrain will be put to the ultimate test come September 7th 2009 when Richmond-to-downtown-Vancouver travelling buses (including the 98 B Line, 488, 490, 491, and 496) will be discontinued. Yes, you heard me, not rerouted, but discontinued. A number of other buses (such as the 401, 402, 403, 404, 405, 410, 430, and 480) will be affected on this day as well due to a number of bus stop reroutes. However, a positive of this is that these buses will be running more frequently in order to make connections to the Canada Line stations. Commuters most likely won’t see any drastic changes until after Labour Day, September 8th 2009, when students returning to school will be joining the working crowd. Yippee..
There are quite a few advantages to having this new rapid skytrain service, but at the same time there are quite a few disadvantages as well. I’ll do some counter arguments.
“Great, better access to the airport!”
Yes, but you have to upgrade your ticket and pay for an additional zone to get there!
“The skytrain is so fast! It leaves downtown Vancouver every 4 minutes and Richmond and YVR every 7 minutes!”
Yes, it is fast, but is it more convienent now with the discontinuation of the 98 B Line, 488, 490, 491, and 496? I get they want to increase ridership but the Canada Line runs along Cambie, not Granville Street. How is it faster and more convienent for commuters who work along Granville, to now have to get off at the appropriate Canada Line station and catch a seperate bus, when before they could go directly?
“Great, rush hour traffic will be less congested!”
Yes it will, but at the same time the busses will be running more frequently.
“Great, after a night downtown, I can just catch the Canada Line home instead of paying for a cab!”
Nope, last train leaves Waterfront Station at 1:05am. When I’m having a night out downtown, my night will surely not end before the last train and my only option home will still be to call a cab, not leave shortly after midnight to catch the Canada Line. No thanks.
So after all that, the answer to the title is yet to be decided. Perhaps this will be one of those love-hate relationships, I’ll just have to wait and see!
How Do I Choose The Right Web Designer or Web Design Firm?
While you may be new to the web marketing realm or have had previous experience, it’s always a tedious and complex process trying to find the right web designer or web developer for your project. Topping the most common reasons would boil down to experience, professionalism, and of course, price.
Here are some things to consider when choosing a web designer/developer:
• Are you looking for a Web Designer, Web Developer, or both?
• Take a look at their current Web Design Portfolio for quality work
• Make note of reputable clients on their client list for references
• Preferably, find someone local who you can work closely with
• Also preferably, if possible, have an in-person meeting to ask questions
• Ask to see if they have a presentation or portfolio that you can see
What Is The Difference Between a Designer and a Developer?
• Website Designer – The website designer will create wireframes, graphics, and layout concepts for you. They help you with colour variations and the entire graphical user interface of how Internet users can navigate through your website with the best possible user experience.
• Website Developer – The website developer will take the design from the website designer and splice (split) the design and create the programming code necessary to run the website. They will take on the technical approach of developing the programming code, hosting, and mostly all other technical aspects of the website.
Sometimes, these skill sets may apply to just one person, while most of the times, it’s split among 2 people or for larger firms, split among the entire team who specializes in specific areas.
How Do I Find a Good Web Designer/Developer and How Much Do They Usually Charge?
When choosing a designer or developer, prices may vary depending on whether you wish to work with someone local or have your project outsourced remotely. There are pros and cons for each type, however, below are a some of the questions you should think about or ask when hiring:
• Pay attention to what they are asking. Do they understand your business enough to design something that reflects you and your business?
• Take a look at their portfolio to see if their style matches your taste. Ask to see if they actually designed or developed the website, or both.
• Ask to see if they understand the fundamentals behind internet marketing and search engine optimization.
• Pay attention to see if they are working within your budget, or if they continue to suggest new features to increase the cost of your site. Make sure that you control your budget.
• Ask for references so that you can perhaps speak with some of their current and/or recent clients.
• Ask to see if they have any type of maintenance plans available as some designers do not provide maintenance to websites
• Explain to each prospective designer/developer what your deadline is and ask if they can meet it. Many good firms are generally booked a month or two ahead, therefore you may have to wait for your choice.
• Ask them about their fees and what the estimated costs are associated to the website you would like to create. You may have to discuss further details about the content and features of the website before they can provide you with an accurate quote. Prices will always vary between $15/hr to $250/hr depending on the skill and location of the designer/developer. Modern websites are generally created in a dynamic nature, therefore design firms generally do not quote on a page-per-page basis. Professional websites that take 4-6 weeks to build can range moderately between $3,000 – $6,000 or more depending on the complexity.
• Ask to them about their billing process and payment terms including deposits.
The more information you can find out about them, the more confident you will feel about your choices, good luck on your hunt!
In design, the element of space is extremely important. Space invites an aesthetic experience, whether visually or physically, by creating hierarchy, affording navigation, and achieving balance between elements to form a sense of overall unity. Although my “work” is primarily visual, I have a strong attraction – as an Interaction Designer – to the idea of Community.
How we act and react in a circumstance or surrounding directly states something about ourselves or the community setting we’re a part of. As a community, we learn patterns of behavior from others in our social and cultural group and by playing a part in fabricating social connections between people. It’s almost utopian. Every living creature needs community and everyone desires to have a part in a community – to belong, not to conform. In fact, we can see this with the sudden boom of Social Networking websites started by design firms, tech-geeks, or joe-schmo out there. However, community isn’t something to be forced or created. It’s perceived and grown to become this through thoughtfully designed environments like Urban Public Spaces.
Urban public spaces, squares, or “piazzas” are areas open to everyone, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, or socio-economic level. Because they’re open, public spaces are dynamic, allowing people to intuitively adapt to the environment the way they want in order to make it comfortable for them. By the limitlessness personal choices of engaging and accommodating to the space, real human/social experiences are present!
For my limited travel experiences, I’ve had the wonderful privilege to observe community interactions while experiencing urban public spaces. Whether Italian or Manhattan, Worker or Tourist, these spaces were filled with clusters of social activity that, to me, reflected a smaller community to its larger-scaled city. Personally, I learned about the different cultures and lifestyles that existed in that particular community. Let me share with you a few:
Italian Piazzas (3 listed below)
Peter F. Smith’s book Dynamics of Delight states that “Movement is the essential component of the aesthetic agenda”. The Street is a “visual conveyor belt”, one that bubbles with human activity and social interaction. The Italian streets most often lead to or converge into piazza squares where opportunities are given for meetings and spontaneous social activities.
The streets are no longer channels for meetings that expand, but act as pathways to a destination point awaiting community activity. The social activity that once was evenly and spontaneously spread out in the streets have now shifted and clustered together in the main piazzas. Co-existing in that space, different people end up using the same spaces for different purposes causing an intertwining of activities and creating an overall community experience.
Piazza del Duomo in Milan
This public space is defined by its building, the Duomo in Milan. During my stay in the city, when this piazza wasn’t filled with pigeons, this space was used to by FIAT to unveil the Fiat 500 model, a photoshoot for Vespa (scooters), and an orchestra performance at night. The year before used the Piazza as a venue to watch the World Cup. This shot of the Piazza distinctively shows the flow of people traffic from the streets that lead to the space. Again, I sat on the steps to watch the people interact.
Piazza del Popolo in Rome
The “Piazza of the people” was a popular meeting place with my friends during our stay in Rome. To the left, three streets (defined by twin churches) branch out from the Piazza, forming the Tridente, leading to three different parts of the city in Rome. The shot was taken from the Villa Borghese gardens, west of the Piazza, that leads to the Spanish Steps.
Piazza del Campo in Siena
The Piazza del Campo is use twice a year for the Palio di Siena – a horse race between ten of the seventeen Contrde/Neighborhoods in the town. On other days, this space is filled with clusters of activity: anything from from local meetups, tourist gatherings, and meals. The piazza was used by street acrobats, children groups, and our hacky sac pass-time on the day I spent in Siena.
La Défense in Paris
My first and second day in Paris I spent and went back to having lunch on the steps under the Arc La Défense in the biggest modern business district in Europe. Around me were tourists, shoppers, pigeons, and businessmen all looking forward to the space in-front of us and the path that lead towards the Arc de Triomphe.
Union Square Park in New York
This space was surrounded by restaurants, department stores, metro entrances, and theaters. Certainly a rare occasion of green space in New York, a small market was setup in the park by the locals on the weekend I was there. Union Square Park also provided cool shade and free wireless Internet to satisfy the online connectivity craving in me.
On my list to visit:
Times Square TKTS booth in New York (Photos by Paul Rivera / ArchPhoto)
Ticket booth for New York Musicals with a red staircase for a roof. Resembling Rome’s Spanish Steps or any other piazza steps, the new TKTS Booth, designed by Perkins Eastman created a space that allows for interaction in the heart of the busiest part of NYC. I’ve yet to see this, but I would love to sit at the top step and watch as the city and its inhabitants move in the day.
HighLine (elevated urban park) in New York (First Photo by Stephen Wilkes)
The Highline was originally constructed in the 1930’s in the meatpacking district of Chelsea in New York to lift freight trains off of city streets. Since its abandonment in the 80’s, the HighLine went into decay and was reclaimed by nature of native grasses and a narrow boardwalk. HighLine park was redesigned as an elevated park – built on top of an old rail system – and was open to the New York public just last month. It’s changed the way people walk around the West Chelsea corridor and see things from a new perspective, especially at a height nobody is used to.
Although my examples were all urban public spaces, it only shows that the aesthetics of any and every space that we have can be used to encourage functions of social interaction that hopefully and eventually build community experiences.
With an election gone by recently, and especially with a bit of hubbub over the B.C. Single Transferable Vote electoral reform, I was thinking about how to improve the way we govern ourselves. My idea spawned from the idea of: “What if politicians simply became obsolete?”
But, who would decide what needs to be done?, you might ask. We the people could decide; everyone could vote on every issue. If that’s not democracy in its purest form, then I don’t know what is. However, like all of my first ideas, it’s got some minor problems, and a few major problems.
One of the first questions was “How do you determine who votes?” Well, the Canadian government, like most governments already keeps a registry of eligible voters. So we can reuse that system.
The second was how can it be possible for everyone to vote all the time? A single election takes months to organize, and although bureaucrats seemingly move at a snail’s pace, they are hard at work (uh, most of the time…) This is where computers fit in. Computers can do most of the work.While my idea is not fully formed, but here’s the gist of it:
It’s feasible that we could implement some automated polling stations, or even a website. Sort of like Diebold’s electronic voting systems, except in a secure and open-source kind of way. The system could generate a password for every person on the registered voters list. This password could be emailed, or sent via regular mail to citizens. Citizens would then enter their password to the system, which would then record their vote. That’s the gist of the idea (I’ve left out some irrelevant technical ponderings for brevity).
It’s quite important to note that I wouldn’t suggest this for every issue. Obviously we’d need to filter out the very unpopular ideas, so that there would be no pollution of the voting system so that we aren’t asked to vote on how many cats the crazy-cat-lady is allowed to own.
So as unpopular as they are, politicians would still be required to maintain order.
Why should you care? Maybe most people won’t care for 90% of the issues, but take the controversial and ongoing “War on Terrorism” in Afghanistan for example. People will always sit on either side of the issue, but whatever you opinion is, I think it is too important of a decision for any entity to decide without the majority support of its people.
With some careful moderation, a system like this could ensure that every last citizen of a country could have some small sway in the future of their countries destination.
As mentioned in my profile, I often find myself immerse in the world of economic theory during my spare time. As nerdy as it may sound, economic theories can (or at least attempt to) explain a few things about human behavior. One of the most interesting theories I find in the world of social economics is John Nash’s Game Theory.
It may come to a surprise that Game Theory is not a strategy to pick up girls as seen on the movie A Beautiful Mind. It is actually trying to explain the behavioral relationships between two parties. Each party will have two choices, which alternatively will affect the result of the other party’s choice. For example, Game Theory can be applied to general workplace environment where there is an Employer and an Employee.
Let’s assume the following:
Employer values productivity and will have two choices to make:
1. To monitor an employee and prevent any shirking
2. Not to monitor and trust the employee’s own work ethics
Employee values leisure time and will have two choices to make:
1. To slack off or shirk
2. To work hard and be productive
Each party will receive different levels of utility (or benefits) depending on what they value most. Assume the Employer will gain utility when work is being completed, but will lose some utility by spending time to monitor. On the other hand, the Employee will gain more utility if he slacks off compared to working hard.
Base on this, we can construct a Game Theory matrix:
[ Employer , Employee ]
Shirk
Work Hard
Not to Monitor
[ 0 , 70 ]
[ 70 , 50 ]
Monitor
[ 40 , 50 ]
[ 50 , 30 ]
note: first number is the utility of the Employer, second being the Employee’s
Top Left [0 , 70]
The Employer is the ultimate looser here. Though he/she gains some free time by not needing to monitor the employee, this gain is quickly offset by the shirking, unproductive Employee. The Employee is the winner here as he/she is able to slack off without the Employer knowing.
Top right [70 , 50]
The Employer gains the most utility here as the Employee is productive and no monitoring costs are needed. The Employee on the other hand does not gain as much utility compared to shirking, but is more relaxed as the employer is not behind his/her back.
Bottom left [40 , 50]
The Employer losses some time monitoring the employee, nonetheless, is able to ensure a certain level of productivity. The Employee will try to find time to shirk, but for most of the post part, will be working.
Bottom right [50 , 30]
Ultimately the same case as the last example, but Employer gains more with a hard working Employee. The Employee on the other hand is not only working hard, bus is also receiving pressure from the Employer.
Assume we start from the optimal situation for the Employer where the Employee works hard, and the Employer does not monitor. In this situation, there will be a tendency for Employees to choose to shirk because they can gain more utility by doing so. Once the Employee chooses to shirk, the Employer will gain no utility and will counter this strategy by monitoring the Employees. From that point on, no party can gain more utility by choosing a different strategy; this is what we call the Nash Equilibrium (regardless of where you start, you will always end up here).
The entire concept of utility is controversial as the values differ from person to person, nonetheless, it gives us a way to analyze human behavior. There are many variables at the disposal of the Employer to alter the matrix (eg. Hiring employees that love their job, commission based pay, etc.). This blog entry is not justifying the monitoring behavior of Employers nor approving shirking actions of Employees, but providing insight into the dynamics of a workplace in its simplest form. In a complex business environment, a creative Employer will be able to establish a corporate culture that results in the optimal situation even when both parties chooses the strategy that maximizes their own utility.
Recently, this has been the fortunate case of ours as we continue to thank all of our loyal existing and new clients. We’ve recently signed onto a few new projects, including:
• RIMEX – Rim and Wheel Manufacturer
• Richards Packaging – The Packaging Solution
• Canada Work Bank – Creating Employment Solutions Nationwide
• PrivatEquityPartners
• Visual Effects Association of British Columbia
• Visual Effects Management – Web Application Software
With great projects, comes great responsibilities. We’ve further expanded and hired 3 new employee’s to help relieve the demand for EQQY. We have a lot of projects in the works, both internal and external that will woweveryone within the year.
However, to maintain our level of professionalism, we must also allow everyone to relieve some stress – here comes our most important employee of the year:
Within the first two weeks, it took its first beating and we had a man down situation. One of our key players lost its lower half of the body. Luckily, however; we were able to find a replacement which turned out to be a Super Goalie. It is slightly bigger than other players and definitely meaner. Take a look:
Replaced Goalie on both sides:
So now with two Super Goalies, it’s just a matter of time before they break some other player in half!
Type is absolutely everywhere — anything that can be read is type — street signs, websites, magazines, cell phones, newspapers, t-shirts, restaurant menus, you name it. Type is something that many people never think about but is all around us. Notice the font used for this text? It’s Verdana, a font created by designer Matthew Carter, for Microsoft in 1996.
Fonts, or typefaces, used to be chiseled on metal blocks and printed with the letterpress. They have come a long way since then. Now, typefaces are digitized and everyone can pick a font from a drop down menu when typing an email.
However, type is about much more than just picking fonts. There is a functional aspect. Clear, readable fonts are important for everyday life because they help determine the speed of obtaining information. The way letters and words are placed in relation to each other takes a big part in this as well. Road signs are good examples in showing the importance of type in the everyday.
Aside from the functional aspect, type also works subconsciously, sometimes on an emotional level. In other words, different fonts have different effects on readers, though they may not realize it. An article in a newspaper set in Times New Roman is perceived very differently than if it is set in, say, Comic Sans.
Part of the reason why the font, Helvetica, is such a popular choice for company logos is because of its functionality and neutral quality. Helvetica is carefully designed with precise shapes and spaces, so that letters work well beside one another, making it legible from any distance. Using Helvetica for an advertisement will almost automatically make it seem trustworthy and reliable, because it is so clear in the way it communicates. However, if everything is in Helvetica, the world will be very dull because it is so neutral and lacking in personality.
To conclude, I am not saying everyone should be crazy about fonts and letters, but people should realize that type is all around us, affecting how we express ourselves and take in information. It is the visual form of how we communicate. Or as Ellen Lupton writes in Thinking With Type, “Typography is what language looks like.”
By the way, never use Comic Sans for anything! maybe with the exception of comics.
With technology adhering to Moore’s law (the theory that computer speeds will double every 24 months) thus far, it’s easy to lose track of things very easily. Whether we like it or not, our futures are invariably going to be intertwined with computers.
When automobiles were the latest innovation, it was quite some time before knowledge of their inner workings become common knowledge. Even today, the world of internal combustion engines is not a common study. Still, we all know enough on the subject.
Present day, computers are still magic-boxes to many. I believe this is for many reasons, the main two points being: the darned technology changes so fast, once you learn one thing, it’s already obsolete! Secondly, what goes on inside a computer is much less tangible than, an engine for example. If you open a computer case, you will never be able to decipher what is going on just from examination, and so it remains mysterious.
A video was recently released on YouTube, and it is a fantastic introduction to the world of bits n’ bytes. It shows what’s happening in the microscopic world, using macroscopic toy trains and Lego blocks.
So, if you have eight minutes to spare, consider watching this video:
Recently, one of our developers left for Russia to attend his very own romantic wedding. Unfortunately, we could not fly the entire team there to participate in this special day, but our designers came up with a quick present for him.
This is just to let him know that we wish him the best and we will wait for his safe return (so we can pile more work on him – hint, hint). Artem, if you are able to read this entry, Dominic has a present for you:
While Artem was away, we had to fill his position.
Close-up of Artem's temporary replacement.
Best wishes from the entire Eqqy Designs team and hope you have a safe return!
PS. His temporary replacement doesn’t seem to like to go home.
In 2007, I had the opportunity to go to Italy to study Italian Design. Our team prepared for this study by researching several “masters of design” and I chose to present about Enzo Mari.
In my research, I was not only inspired by Mari’s ideas of thinking, but his perspective that design plays a role in giving a better quality of life through its relationship with the user.
Mari views design quality as a constantly moving target, defined by culture, history, fashion, technology, and social forces. Instead of subscribing to the idea of solving a problem of peoples’ needs, he asks himself what the “work” is. He refers to these problems as projects, which need newly discovered methods every time. Mari believed that with the design of each project, there should be beauty to the form, but efficiency in function as well.
After learning so much about Mari’s design approach and process, my own approach to projects working as a creative director and designer at Eqqy Designs should be no less. In fact, Mari sees design as a process that matures and evolves with each project. In the same way, working with our clients, every design is to be defined by their own model of an idea, taking a vague question and bringing it to a clear, concise, and creative response.
Through Mari’s inspiration, it’s apparent that in design, and everything else, the journey is more important than the end result. For it’s from the process that the final idea gets its form and meaning. The path is the goal.
Ever since the move to the new Richmond office this year, weird stuff has begun to appear around the work area. This post, and followed by many in the future, will be documenting these seemingly useless items and how they have found their little place at EQQY DESIGNS.
This entry will be dedicated to the Giant Smarties (see pic below).
I was actually the one that brought in The Giant Smarties to the office. It started with a weekend shopping at Save-On-Foods where I noticed the odd shaped Smarties package in the junk food aisle. Without thinking, I quickly grabbed it and put it in my shopping cart expecting to enjoy some toonie sized Smarties chocolates. I popped the can open and all I see were small packs of regular sized smarties…
Lesson learned: Read the packaging before buying
So aside from the normal enjoyment of eating a lot of regular sized Smarties, this item is now used as a presentation pointer.
Branding, Design, Food & Others, Team Eqqy
Dominic
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