On the heels of our post celebrating 4,383 days online (that’s 12 internet years!), I want to let everyone know that we’ll be importing key posts into Dachis Group’s Collaboratory blog, and we’ll continue publishing our thoughts and work on visual thinking there. In fact, my first post went up yesterday and other XPLANE alumnus have started blogging there as well.

We won’t be transferring all 8,333 xBlog posts. So many of them are outdated and linkrotted. But we will make sure key posts redirect to their new homes on the Collaboratory and all other posts don’t 404.

It has been a wonderful, amazing, enlightening ride here at xBlog, from hand-coding it starting in 1999, to embracing the first release of WordPress .7 in 2003, to today — a world where blogs are more than commonplace — they are ubiquitous. I don’t know that I could give a better rundown than I did for last year’s 11th anniversary, so if you want a trip down xBlog’s memory lane you can read it here.

Blogging has been core to me and XPLANE for a long time and we’re not going to stop. I truly hope XPLANE’s fans and xBlog’s readers will continue to follow our work as Dachis Group. We’ll still be doing that visual thinking thing, just as we have been for all these years, only now we’ll be bringing to it many more people and businesses.

So on behalf of xBlog… so long, and thanks for all the links.

See you at the Collaboratory.

Cheers,
Bill Keaggy
November 19, 2011

This is from a PDF you can download on their site:

This is a program at a level on par with graduate studies. The intensive offers advanced students and working professionals a unique opportunity to study with faculty composed of leading designers and social entrepreneurs. In addition, weekly lectures and field trips will allow students to directly interact with a dynamic range of innovators in the field.

This is a rapidly growing area of design. This program will instill in participants the confidence, self-motivation and collaborative spirit which will be needed as they continue on to work as design activists.

Professionals, educators and advanced students in the following disciplines are invited to participate: advertising, graphic design, product design, information design, interactive design, fashion design, photography and illustration. The program is oriented towards these design disciplines but we have had architects and social entrepreneurs participate

When I was combing through dusty hard drives and ancient project folders the other week looking for that old Robonaut XPLANATiON, I found an old text file (saved in BBEdit!) called “Core values: Things we believe in.”

It came from conversations and emails with Dave Gray, XPLANE’s founder. It was shared with all employees, even back when we were just five or six people working on desks made of doors and file cabinets. I’m pretty sure it dates to 1999…

Let’s jump into Chinese philosophy for a second: “Plan for what is difficult while it is easy, do what is great while it is small. The most difficult things in the world must be done while they are still easy, the greatest things in the world must be done while they are still small. For this reason sages never do what is great, and this is why they can achieve that greatness.”

We’re still a trickle at the top of a mountain. The more things we do right at the early stages in our growth, the fewer things we’ll have to correct later on. The key to success is for everyone at XPLANE to take responsibility for working intelligently and setting a good example so everyone can truly understand what it is that makes this place special. Our goal in all of this is to make sure we have a way to grow without losing our essence as a company and as a community.

And there’s this too. We published it on our web site for many years…

Everyone at XPLANE takes personal responsibility for embodying our core values:

• Know yourself | Know your strengths and weaknesses. Be forthright and proactive about communicating them to others.
• Openness | Communicate the feelings as well as the facts.
• Teamwork | Take responsibility for tasks as a team and work together to accomplish them. This means not only within your team but any time your efforts are coordinated with other teams.
• Ask why | If you don’t understand something, ask why. Keep asking until you get it. (The whole “There are no stupid questions” thing.)
• WOW | A good job or solution isn’t enough. It’s got to be WOW.
• Celebrate differences | We all process things, think, and communicate differently. The more we seek to understand each other, the more we learn and grow and the better our communication becomes.
• Share | Share your time. Share your resources. Share your work. Share yourself.
• Do it | If you see something that needs to be done, don’t call headquarters and wait for a response. Get off your butt and do it. If you make a mistake, you’ll learn from it. But remember — think about the consequences before you act. $50 mistakes, GOOD. $20,000 mistakes, BAD.

What I love about this is that we’ve never really changed any of these core values. They are part of who we have and who we hire. Actually, this stuff isn’t posted anywhere anymore — we don’t even have to talk about it now. They just are. And we just do.

We didn’t.

A love letter to Designers from XPLANE on Vimeo.

Dear future XPLANE Designer,

We may not have met yet, but I suspect you’ll receive this letter as if it’s a call from a wayward kindred spirit. See, we’ve got this magic chemistry that’s precious and rare. In short, I’m looking for you. More directly, the world needs you.

First, let me tell you that XPLANE is unlike anywhere you’ve worked before. We give respect to Design by using it as a proper noun. We’re neither an advertising agency nor a marketing group — we’re a consultative Design studio wherein Designers employ the arts of listening, strategizing, creating and presenting on a daily basis.

Now that I have your attention, please allow me a few moments to tell you why you’re so very special.

For starters, you have stunning visual chops. You have the talent, experience, and skill needed to deliver every time. Some of our best Designers on staff have advanced degrees, while others have no formal training at all. Wherever you land on the spectrum, you’re able to balance your academic credentials with an intuitive flair that leads to jaw-dropping and timeless visual Design.

This said, you know that great looking work isn’t everything; experience creation is your ultimate goal. Yes, you know the nuts and bolts of how to build interactive and print projects from the ground up, but the reason we’re interested in you is your ability to place yourself within the minds of your audience. You uncover what is interesting to them, mastermind what will surprise them, and formulate what will help them to best understand and retain what they experience.

You think like da Vinci. Everyone can draw, it’s true, but you can REALLY draw. Like, with a pencil. Or with a marker while standing in front of fifty people. You might even be able to draw with a tablet on your computer. What’s more, you can listen and draw at the same time. And chew gum. Kidding about the gum. Drawing is the start of every project we do and shepherding your Designs from inception to completion requires that you be a true renaissance man or woman to make the grade.

While I know you can find fulfillment in nearly every Design challenge, you can afford to expect a great variety. At XPLANE, you’ll work sometimes from a directional void and sometimes within strict guidelines. You won’t be making web banners because you’re an industry-agnostic multimedia ninja who is constantly asked to stretch into illustration, writing, motion, sound Design and much more. You’ll Design for varied industries and for some of the most exciting companies in the world, including many of the Fortune 100. Some currently active studio projects include mobile apps, interactive sites, touchscreen experiences, process maps, training courses, print campaigns, visual languages and animated movies. Diverse, right? Here are some examples: http://xplane.com/portfolio. Here are some more: http://youtube.com/user/xplanevisualthinking.

You’re not just a studio Designer — you travel well. We won’t keep you locked in some tower. In fact, you might be in Portland your first week, off to San Francisco for a few days, then straight to Vegas, then back to the studio. Maybe even a jaunt to Brussels. We have clients all over the world and guess what — we send our Designers to meet them at the beginning of almost every project, so make sure your passport is up to date.

You can appreciate sky-high limits. We’ll encourage you to try new things and you’ll have the freedom to be as creative as your project (and budget) allows. This means you’re a natural learner. You’re curious, even nosey. You’ll act autonomously but won’t feel alone in your endeavors. But be warned – with such freedoms, come great responsibilities. This job isn’t for the faint of heart.

Now in closing, I must ask, did you know that XPLANE was voted by our employees as one of Oregon Business Journal’s 100 best Places to Work? Yup. We’ve been working really hard to earn that title. We know that at the end of the day, it’s all about our people. They’re our most valuable asset. One more DYK — we’re also one of Oregon Business Journal’s Fastest Growing Companies for five years running. When you have great people with great talent, you attract great clients and create great work.

Now you know what we’re looking for. I can’t wait to hear your thoughts.

Much love,
XPLANE

PS: If you feel that you’re right for us, please send your résumé, portfolio and references.

How to apply

• Portland studio: http://xplane.catchthebest.com/apply/7d3e/25b2
• Amsterdam studio: http://xplane.catchthebest.com/apply/5b59/25b2
• St. Louis studio: http://xplane.catchthebest.com/apply/61d6/25b2

And good luck. We can’t wait to meet you! <3

So with graduation just around the corner and this economy being what it is, I figured it was a good time to reach out and give you a few things to think about as you apply for your next job… hopefully with us. We’re hiring.

The job posting
We put a lot of thought into what we say in our job postings. We do this in the hope that you’ll read through the qualifications and only apply if you meet our criteria. So please make sure that your skills and experience fit well with what we do. We take complex, messy information and make it understandable. You do too? Great! Let’s talk. No? I’ll just push the button under my desk that makes the trap door open.

Cover letters
This may come as a shock to you but I barely read these. It’s not that I think you shouldn’t write them. It’s just that they are all so unimaginative and repetitive that I’ve become numb. So when you write, show your personality and be succinct. I’ll probably just skim through looking for your website links anyway (more on that in a minute). Also, make sure that you spell our name right. It’s not Explane or X-plane. It’s not even Xplane. It’s XPLANE. Mind the details. The work we do is filled with important little details.

Résumés
Some call this their Curriculum Vitae (CV) whereas I like to think of it as Page One of Your Portfolio. This is my first impression of you. If I see bad typography, misspelled words or a lame layout, the record player screeches — and the party is over. This one-page encapsulation of your experience, schooling and personal information should look as good as it reads — so put some effort into it and make it shine. This is basically a design project so when you put it together, dear designer, please use a designer’s tool. MS Word is not a design tool.

Web presence
In this day and age you better have your own URL with samples of your work. A personal profile in a few other places is even better: Flickr, Twitter, art blog… something! When I look at your portfolio, I’m looking for thinking and execution, so show your process, not just some thumbnails. The thinking behind a project is often more revealing than the finished piece. Because what I’m really looking for is your potential — how you work, not just what you’ve done.

Interviews
If you are asked to come in for an interview, please have a solid understanding of what XPLANE does. When I ask, “What attracted you to XPLANE?” Have an answer other than, “I saw the want ad and your company seemed cool.” That’s pretty much a death knell for your chances, although you won’t know it from my expression. And make sure that the samples you show are as relevant as possible to the work we do. I’m looking to see examples of information design and storytelling, not watercolors of your cat.

Reality
You’ve chosen a fun, fast-paced, fantastic profession in which to make your living — but it might take a little time to get going. Have patience, work all your angles and make stuff for anybody that needs it… charities, bands, lost cat flyers, whatever. Don’t get taken advantage of, but take the creative experience and run with it. Network all you can and use your down time to experiment and learn even more.

School may be over but your education has just begun.

• http://vimeo.com/18880751
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mrtu4MmthE

For the most part, the video was created with markers, whiteboards, sticky notes, paper and other “low-tech” tools commonly used in Gamestorming.

Written by XPLANE founder and business design mastermind, Dave Gray, XPLANE consultant James Macanufo and Sunni Brown of Bright Spot Information Design, Gamestorming is a collection of 80 games to help teams break down barriers, communicate better, and generate new ideas, insights, and strategies.

Drawing largely from the visual thinking techniques that have made XPLANE famous over the years, Gamestorming is for anyone who wants to engage a group in collaborative, creative thinking. The book is for sale now on Barnes & Noble, O’Reilly Media and Amazon where it is ranked 4.8 out of 5 stars, is the number one book for etiquite in business life, and number two for running meetings and presentations and for business as related to computers and the Internet. For more information check out the Gamestorming blog at www.gogamestorm.com.

Enjoy!

PS: There’s a free Gamestorming webinar on January 26 — sign up now!

There were plenty of high profile people at the Economist event in March, but hands down the best session was a simple interview with Ed Catmull, the president of Pixar.

Martin Giles from the Economist did the interview, and did an excellent job letting Catmull cover some excellent territory…

Interesting, related to the talk I gave on The Myths of Innovation at the same event, how little he used the word innovation (I don’t think he says it once).

Dave is the founder and president of XPLANE:

I’m a project guy. As an artist, entrepreneur, educator and amateur philosopher, I always have a number of projects going, both personal and professional. Sometimes they go somewhere, sometimes I get bored and abandon them. One of the beauties of the internet is that even abandoned projects continue to exist and can be picked up or reenergized at any moment. Here’s the definitive list of projects that I am working on or have worked on in the past (A work in progress). The list is alphabetical because I don’t work on these projects in any kind of linear way. They are like a busy kitchen: there is always something simmering, something boiling, something set aside to cool for awhile, something in the deep freeze, and something being served. In fact I am still working on this list. If you see something with no explanation it’s because I haven’t finished writing the description yet :)

Here are a few things we learned…”