One Method Digital and Design

As cliché as it sounds, you could call us a ‘Jack’ of all trades. Well, perhaps more aptly put, we are a ‘Jack, Amin, Steve, Pat, Tay, Dylan’ of all trades.

I think we can all agree that the one problem with art galleries is that they don’t provide absurdly delicious /free tacos.

Consider that problem solved and meet La Carnita Ltd.

TenYears.

OneMixtape.

OneParty.

While much of the buzz around Nokia relates to their new relationship with Microsoft (more on that soon), they surprised more than a few people recently by raising the bar of what a lower-end phone can do.

When MLSE was looking for a way to get fans excited about the upcoming Raptors’ season and the rebuilding of the franchise, they knew exactly who to call.

They called us, just in case there was any doubt about that.

Yes, we’re predominantly a digital shop, however, we still love design and everything about communicating a brand – including logo design. And who are we kidding, we also love being acknowledged for it.

Quiznos USA wanted to create a Facebook experience to promote their Black Angus sandwich and reward current community members while inticing new ones.

Our solution: an angry Buckin’ Sub in serious need of taming.

When Bioré Canada came to us in search of a new digital agency, we were excited for a number of reasons. Feel free to read on if you want to see what said reasons are.

When we look for a new interactive designer, they of course need to have a killer aesthetic, a great sense of user flow and an strong understanding of languages for which they design – that’s a given. But the next question in the interview is always “So, what else do you do?”

Skype was launching their new Skype Mobile application and needed help in education the masses how to actually use Skype Mobile. We put on our marketing/educating/Skyping hats and developed some online, eLearnings.

TargetVacations.ca is a small fish in a big sea of online travel companies. They don’t have the marketing dollars for national broadcast or print campaigns. However, they do have a distinct brand personality and an early-adopting President – the perfect combination for a social media campaign.

One way to learn more about what we do and who is actually doing it (or not doing it) is to check out OneMethod on all the usual suspects of social sites.

We’re currently looking for a fulltime Design Director, someone that can lead our talented team of designers and developers as we pitch, concept, and design award winning executions.

Is that you?

OneMethod Digital + Design is looking for a rare mix of design fluency and technical acumen in this director level position.

So if you a) know what a Creative Technologist is and b) happen to be a talented one, please read on and apply.

Remember CB4? Kinda tall guy? Played baseball, or something, in Toronto a few years ago?

Well, in the summer of 2009 OneMethod had the pleasure of creating some digital shorts with the tall guy. Here are some of them.

Do you love LAMP? If so, you could be our next Web Developer. We’re currently looking for someone to join the team so if you’re interested, read on and get at us.

November is weird. Weird weather, weird mustaches, and no holidays which leads to weird workdays.

But through the weirdness, OneMethod ended up having a fairly eventful month.

Ever wanted to know what the first two weeks at OneMethod are like?

If so, you wonder about weird things, but you’re also in luck because you can now study AnthrOMpology, an intern’s anthropological study of life at OneMethod. Enjoy.

Have you tried a La Carnita taco yet?

The good folks at BlogTo have and they’ve decided that La Carnita’s signature pacific cod fish taco is amongst the best in the city.

Trying to get your foot in the door? Looking to gain some agency experience and meet all sorts of industry folk? Tired of people trying to give you money in exchange for doing stuff?

Then a OneMethod internship is definitely for you.

As a creative, sometimes you need a little inspiration to get your mojo going, which is exactly why we created The Mental Mixtape series: a collection of mixtapes designed to remix your creative juices.

Ever wonder what an NBA star does in his downtime? Wonder no more and roll with Brandon Jennings as he gives back to the hood that gave him everything.

When the good people at Fortress came to us in search of a new brand identity, we decided to break the stuffy mould of financial design and create a look and feel that matched the knowledgable, friendly and approachable people behind Fortress.

To introduce one of Nokia’s newest smartphones, we went all out and organized one of our most elaborate video shoots to date.

The result was this 60 second spot, a video that shows how the Nokia Astound brings your life to life.

As you embark on the next part of your career on our team, I’d like you to be on board with some of the guiding principles that I look for from new (and existing) members of our close-knit crew.

OneMethod is currently looking for for an Interactive Art Director / Interactive Designer to join our team and help create some award-winning work.

So if you think you can design, get in touch with us. And if you think you can dance, that’s cool too.

We here at OneMethod are big fans of How Magazine. We’re also big fans of winning awards so when both those things came together, it was like bacon-wrapped anything: awesome.

Check out our 3 winners and the magazine.

After submitting work to the W³ Awards for the first time, we learned two things: we’re still cranking out a high volume of award winning work, and we should have entered this show years ago.

This year at OneMethod we decided to give our family, friends and colleagues a very special gift: The Gift Giver’s Bad Gift Re-Gift Gift Kit.

It’s the gift that keeps on re-giving.

If you’re reading this, there is a good chance you recently won a C.R.A.P. Award. So let us start by saying,
CONGRATULATIONS!

Introducing From Scratch: the app that takes you behind the decks with the one and only DJ Starting From Scratch.

Let me take you back to the beginning of the OneMethod saga. If you are considering joining our team or even working with us, here’s a little primer on the back story of OneMethod and how we are wired as a culture and an organization.

For our second iPad app, we took on the task of creating a massive body of work that would act as a digital scrapbook for the entire career (up to date and 6 years into the future) of 5-time NBA All-Star Chris Bosh.

All Out War is an upcoming documentary about the breakdancing sub-culture.

The film and its brand were created by OneMethod’s own Rob Pilishowski and have since received a refresh from the OneMethod Team.

When Rypple (a company that’s changing the way businesses operate) wanted to know what the OneMethod philosophy was all about, we knew we were doing something right. And so, OneMethod’s CEO Amin broke it down for them in a brief outline of just where OneMethod came from and what it stands for.

Here is one of our favourite product videos, a green screen production that conceptualized the Nokia E73 Mode’s “switch mode” feature.

To generate a buzz for the OneMethod-designed AmirJohnson.com , we decided to create and distribute a viral video featuring a dunk off between the Toronto Raptor’s Young Guns.

The marketing service we offer to professional athletes is a true combination of what we love and excel in at OneMethod; award-winning design, sports, relative and effective branding, and the creation/execution of social campaigns.

After completing Chris Bosh’s iPhone app, the first iPhone application for a professional athlete, we needed a way to let the world know it was available. We ended up creating a viral video campaign that helped fill the Apple store and set off thousands of downloads.

Within OneMethod, we have a group of ‘digital socialites’ that specialize in social activation.

This group is called HobNob.

When faced with the challenge of introducing Nokia’s Ovi suite of services to consumers, we determined that the best place to start is where those actual services live: on the device.

Our end result was an interactive demo/mobile app that invites users to engage with a Nokia device and learn about Ovi in an interesting and relative way.

Here’s a short teaser we’re currently working on for the ghetto fab Mr. Adam Knights.

We are constantly on the lookout for new ways to communicate with consumers.

Hence our latest Bluetooth campaign with Nokia that we launched in the UK.

While working with Sympatico.ca and a tight time-line, we recently created the first iPad app for a Canadian portal. This app has been described as a “must have for Canadians” and is currently free on Apple’s iTunes store.

The only thing we like more than designing websites here at OneMethod is drinking beer outdoors. So when the opportunity to create a new website for Canada’s oldest independent brewery came around, it was a dream come true.

Odds are, you are not ready to witness the hit TV series Pasko Dunks. Either way though, you should check it out, tell a friend and check back soon for episode 2.

The same approach we take to designing a logo, a website or a print piece, we take to designing a space. It’s about function and form.

Just last week, the fine folks from Eye Weekly came by to check out OneMethod President and CEO Amin Todai.

At the start, they were simply interested in how and where the man works but by the end they might have been more interested in available positions at OneMethod.

OneMethod was just nominated for three Webbys – one of which was with our friends at Amoebacorp. Why is this important?

Towards the end of 2009, five OneMethod employees started to behave awkwardly as they attempted to hide something.

At the 2009 holiday party, the mystery was put to rest as the five individuals took to stage and revealed the OMB: The OneMethod Band.

If you want to get in touch with us, for any number of reasons, see below and don’t hesitate to drop us a line. If you want to touch us, that’s weird, but we won’t rule out the possibility.

445 King Street West, Suite 201 >> We’ve Moved!
Toronto, ON M5V 1K4
ideas@onemethod.com
416.649.0180

The gang over at Buzz-Beast just launched a new series entitled “The Way I Work.”

They kicked it off with a day-in-the life look at OneMethod’s President and Chief Creative Officer Amin Todai. Check it out.

Well, we finally got our 2009/2010 demo reel in order (figuratively and literally). It’s a collection of interactive work, motion graphics, some 3D goodness, print design, advertising and a little branding too.

2009 was a big year for OneMethod. It included a bunch of firsts (mobile apps, generative art, retail design, and even a documentary) and definitely set up a huge 2010.

Here are some of our milestones from the year:

Each year, we showase the work we’re proud of from that year – and we put it in a reel. This is the work from 2008, including interactive, print design, branding and advertising.

We consider ourselves idea junkies here at OneMethod. We treat every single project, regardless of scale, with the same creative drive.

OneMethod does not have a hierarchal structure per se (hierarchal: a word I can spell but not pronounce) . However, we do have a few individuals who, due to their experience, talent and tenure, have proven invaluable to our work, our clients and our overall success.

Every year, agencies battle it out to see who can come up with the funniest holiday card. And each year, OneMethod develops a holiday card/campaign/gift idea that may not always be funny, but is always rooted in a strong, conceptual idea, one that will demonstrate OneMethod’s abilities and creativity, and something that will no doubt bring a smile to our clients’ face.

One’s ‘identity’ is more than just the physical make up of a person. It includes their soul – their personality. These same attributes make up a brand.

Below are just a few examples of some of the brands we’ve created.

Print design is the purest form of art and communication, no? Through tasteful design, communication becomes clear, memorable, break-through and everlasting.

That means package designs that pop off shelves, posters that break-through, and product manual that are inviting and easy to understand.

An interactive ‘experience’ is truly when the development of the site, game, e-learning or banner is experiential.

If you can create an ‘experiential’ experience, all the buzz words will follow: engagement, relevancy, dialogue and uniques.

What isn’t social these days?

But the key to social marketing is not just to allow people to join a Facebook group or follow a Twitter account, but to integrate your social world into your existing marketing campaigns and programs

You’d imagine working with Nokia for more than eight years, we’d have developed a knack or mobile marketing.

It’s an area that is ever-changing, and we’re ever-changing right along with it.

We’ve made a concerted effort to attract multi-talented designers (and account people come to think of it).

This has helped us develop a robust Motion Graphics portfolio.

At the heart of any great campaign/site/app/logo is the idea. It’s the insightful nugget of relevancy that will make consumers think immediately of themselves and their lives – and make us creatives wish we’d thought of it.

It’s sort of like climbing a mountain; once you’ve reached that ‘ah ha!’ moment, it’s all downhill from there.

A notebook that references a notebook that’s already referencing a notebook is either sheer brilliance or utter stupidity. Either way, this beautifully hand drawn Apple II inspired notebook is more than a pleasure to look at.

When it comes to awards in our industry, a lot of non-our-industry folks think we go after them to pat ourselves on the back – well that’s just not the case, at least not entirely.

The award is more to confirm the patting we’re all ready doing.

Nokia wanted to do something different for the launch of the Nokia Nuron device.

In addition to creating a microsite and product lunch video, we designed and developed mobile demos for the device in retail.

Admittedly, we flirt with ‘above the line’ advertising media (magazine, newpaper, radio, etc.). Where we um, do the opposite of ‘flirt with’…is in the area of advertising that falls ‘below the line’ – where you least expect it but perhaps where it is most effective.

In case you never decide to call us, feel free to have a listen to our current outgoing message.

These days, the average child owns more iPhones than baseball cards. And with that exciting/sad/made-up fact in mind, OneMethod created FanApp, which is in some ways the baseball card of this generation but in many more ways, so much more.

Last year was a huge year for mobile applications, and OneMethod was quick to get in on the action.

Introducing NerdAlert2000 and LoveDetector2000, both available at the iTunes app store.

First Ink is DVD featuring NBA all-star Chris Bosh as he navigates the most important offseason of his career.

The DVD includes a documentary, comedic shorts, interviews + more and was created entirely by OneMethod.

When you’re forced to wait for a meeting at an unfamiliar agency, what would you rather do, read some hip industry magazine or meet the entire staff while playing a classic game? (If you would go for the magazine, we have those too).

If you’ve ever set foot in OneMethod’s offices, you know it’s a special space. If you haven’t had the chance, please stop by whenever you’re in the neighborhood.

Either way, check out the new book Where We Work, featuring OneMethod and many other of the world’s most inspiring work spaces.

We had a big giant wall at the office and didn’t know what to do with it. Then we thought, ‘Why not design a giant mural with pink flamingos, a roller coaster, a volcano and a dude with have a skull, and us?!’ Voila!

Wefeelfine.org harvests (their word, not mine) human feelings from a large number of weblogs. Every few minutes, the system searches the world’s newly posted blog entries for occurrences of the phrases “I feel” and “I am feeling”.

We recently completed a training manual for Nokia in which we mimicked the look and feel of a GQ magazine cover (ours was dubbed “NQ”).

It was an interesting typographic exercise in dissecting a multitude of covers and determining the various fonts used, and one that led me to the discovery of a great font; Gotham.

They say you can’t really know someone until you walk in their shoes. Well, consider this video our shoes. It’s a quick look at the neighbourhood we work in, the office we often live in, and the very people who do all the working and the living – we (Rob) also had nothing to do over the weekend and wanted to try out some new equipment.

Our friends at Amoebacorp came to use with an awesome idea for the new Pop Shoppe website. We immediately said ‘Ya, we’re in’ and helped bring their characters and the Pop Shoppe world to life.

Welcome to the world of Pop Shoppe!

We started working with Jason from TargetVacations.ca about two years ago and continue to today. Our first endeavour was to rebrand and reposition the company through a positioning statement and tagline grounded in their fundamental travel beliefs. We then redesigned their logo to echo those same fundamental principals.

FolkwayMusic, a guitar retailer and repair shop in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, has been working with us for almost five years now, developing true-to-brand advertising.

MSN Autos wanted people to see how awesome their content was. To do that, we created an online contest where users had to search through MSN Autos content to find missing car parts and build a car, which became their entry into the contest.

A microsite for MSN Canada to help promote their new @live.ca email address.

The brief was ‘simplicty’. What could be more simple than a pleasantville-esque town with it’s townsfolk talking about how great an @live.ca email address is?!

Hoopdreams is a community basketball league that’s run like the pros (e.g. player stats, referees, etc.).

What we love about this site is that every aspect of the site communicates ‘professional basketball’, from the pre-loader (a 24 second shot-clock), the hardwood, the banners hanging from the rafters – even the scoreclock up in dreamland.

How does Wrigley enter the cinnamon gum category and steal the number one position away from the leader? With a feet-on-the-street sampling program and UGC based online contest that align themselves perfectly with the mass campaign.

Nokia needed an opening video for an important presentation to a national retailer.

The video exceeded expectations, continues to be a powerful tool for Nokia and earned OneMethod an award at the 2009 Webbys.

For our third FanApp, we hooked up with a World Series Champion and a current member of the New York Yankees.

Introducing the Nick Swisher iPhone application, taking you on the field, in the dugout and behind the scenes with one of the MLB’s premier players.

A review of the book How to Catch the Big Idea by Ralf Langwost and John Hegarty.

It was around this time that OneMethod started to kick into overdrive.

This next post will give you a little background on the early days of OneMethod.

What I’m gonna take you through here, is the very beginnings of how OneMethod came to be, or how I grew from a kid to a kid with a company.

Part deux in the OneMethod Saga

This is actually the prequel to the OneMethod saga, so if you don’t give a shit, you might want to skip this one. And just to be clear, there will be no Fred Savage or Darth-whatever references.

you found this video? It’s awesome. Just some outtakes from our ‘we are your friends’ video. Hope you like it.

Introducing one of OneMethod’s brilliant designers, Mr. Dylbot himself.

!ATTENTION! is a super quality pop punk band that just so happens to feature OneMethod’s own Scott Pasko.

Nobody really knows Where Tay Flies (wtf), but in searching for such an answer, this photo and wiki entry were stumbled upon.

We know you’ve seen the show. the question is, have you seen the gear? because even though you’ll never, ever, dunk like him, you can now dress, drink coffee and operate your computer’s mouse like PASKO.

Behold Phife.