For those too cold to get their brains working, or anyone still stuck in a post xmas fug, I thought I would share this idea for a nice little memory game, made with Business Cards. You don’t have to make one right now, but it’s so quick and easy you could save it for the next time you feel like making a creative gift.

Made by Lisa (MOO’s VP of Marketing), for her niece and nephew, it’s a set of 50 cards, featuring pairs of family photos. The backs are all the same, and the game is in remembering where specific cards are, as you try to match up the pairs.

As Lisa lives a long way from the lucky recipients, this is a great way to keep in touch . A nice reminder of what you look like, and a simple way to say ‘Hey! I’m thinking of you!’

If you’re feeling camera shy, you could still make a great personalised pack by mixing and matching MOO Designer images. Either add a personal message to the reverse using the MOO templates, or by uploading a special design, as Lisa has done here.Business Cards all come with a free holder, so the game looks even more professional and is ready for easy gift wrapping.

In other news, remember Kevin Lloyd, who made Stickers from saved Dopplr destinations? He’s been tinkering with the MOO Api again, and now you can make ‘Mooplr’ MiniCards too!

Sounds like it’s time to start planning a holiday…

However, before you get stuck in to some of these quizzes, we have a few questions for you about MOO. It should only take 5 minutes and we really do appreciate the answers. It’s the same survey that was in our Boxing Day newsletter. If you did complete that, you can skip this part and get right to the end-of-year brainteasers.

Here are a speckling of quizzes we found on the interweb. If you have others that are worth sharing, please add to the comments.

1. A world news quiz from the BBC. Crackers! Our average was only 4.5 out of 10. What was your score?
2. This one is a world business quiz. It has a slight Canuck angle as it’s from the Globe & Mail (Canadian newspaper)
3. Now for the slightly more scientific quiz from the New Scientist.
4. Metro (one of the free papers in London) had a quiz that was surprisingly not that easy. Hmmm.
5. This quiz was rather funny as it was all about Tom Cruise in 2008. Sadly, I can’t find where the answers are published. If you find them online, please comment.
6. An arts and entertainment quiz by the Times.
7. Finally, here is a technology quiz from the Guardian.

Enjoy, but don’t forget our survey.

Have a Happy New Year from all of us at MOO. See you in 2009.

Cheers!

Speaking of the French, did you know that In France, New Year’s celebrations were cancelled for six years (from 1791 to 1797) because wishing people a ‘Happy new year’ was seen as being too hypocritical? In Post offices, envelopes were opened to check if they contained New Year’s cards and delinquents were severely punished. Fortunately we are a bit more relaxed now and receiving cards is still much appreciated!

So if you have French friends, clients, family, it is not too late to send them a little New Year’s card! (And if you know MOO’s address, I’ll be there in January ;)

I’m very excited to spend my first New Year’s eve in London, to show to new friends how much I have perfected my “Bottoms up” exclamation!

And if, like me, you are abroad for New Year’s eve, here is a “how to toast in other languages” mini-guide that could be useful:
Spain: Salud
China: Niennien Ju e
Denmark: Proost
France: A ta santé or chin chin
Greece: Eislgian
Argentina: Saude! Viva!
Italy: A la Salute or Cin Cin
Japan: Kampai

You’re now prepared. Well, as long as you are in one of these countries… Maybe some of you could help me to complete the “how to toast” guide for other languages. Post a comment if you know another one!

*****

Un jour de l’an à Londres

C’est bientôt Noël! Ici à Londres, les gens ont déjà envoyé leurs cartes de vœux pour Noël. Mais certains d’entre nous, Européens et Français, attendent pour envoyer leurs vœux pour la nouvelle année. J’ai quitté Paris il y a sept mois pour m’installer à Londres et je garde cette tradition Française d’envoyer mes vœux en Janvier, ainsi que celle d’embrasser mes amis à minuit!

En parlant de la France, savez-vous que nos ancêtres Français furent privés de Jour de l’an pendant six ans, entre 1791 et 1797, parce que ce jour était considéré comme un jour de fausse démonstrations, d’hypocrisie? Dans les bureaux de poste, on ouvrait les lettres pour voir si elles ne contenaient pas de vœux, et les délinquants étaient sévèrement punis. Heureusement que nous sommes un peu plus relax maintenant et que recevoir une carte de vœux reste un plaisir!

Donc si vous avez de la famille, des amis ou des clients Français, il n’est pas trop tard pour leur envoyer une carte! (Je travaille a MOO, donc je serais là en janvier, au cas ou vous connaitriez l’adresse ;)

Je suis impatiente de passer mon premier réveillon de jour de l’an a Londres, pour montrer à mes amis Anglais que trinquer à leur façon n’a plus de secrets pour moi.

Et si, comme moi, vous passez le réveillon à l’étranger, voici un petit guide pour apprendre à trinquer dans différentes langues.
Espagne: Salud
Chine: Niennien Ju e
Danemark: Proost
Royaume-Unis: Cheers!
Grèce: Eislgian
Argentine: Saude! Viva!
Italie: A la Salute or Cin Cin
Japon: Kampai

Vous voila parés! Enfin presque, si vous vous rendez dans l’un des ces pays… Peut-être pourriez-vous m’aider à compléter le guide? Postez un commentaire si vous savez lever votre verre dans une autre langue!

First of all, there is no shame in handing over a Christmas present mid January, (well, maybe a bit of shame.) But try to position a belated gift as a clever way of extending the festive season into the New Year when everyone would otherwise be bored and depressed.

Secondly, most of our favourite companies sell gift certificates, which not only ensures you’re not left empty-handed and red-faced when standing round the Christmas tree, but also comes across as a lovely, thoughtful way of allowing the recipient to choose a gift that suits them perfectly.

Of course MOO sells gift certificates for some of our printed products including MiniCards, Stickers, Notecards and Postcards. But if you’ve already bought a few of those and are looking for other gift ideas, here are a few of MOO’s favourite companies to check out;

Personalised Photo Books by Blurb

Snazzy design T-shirts by Threadless

Bespoke designed Bags by Timbuk2

Our friends at Styleshake, Etsy and JPG also have lovely products to turn into gifts.

Phew. Now we don’t have to worry about Christmas gifts until about midday on the 25th.

As someone who freelanced for two years before working at MOO, I always find listening to different people’s experiences really interesting. I personally stopped freelancing as the opportunity to work with MOO came along, and it sounded like fun (it is, actually). I was also quite tired - my office was my front room, and work was always there, in the corner of the room, needing to be done. It’s quite hard to ignore freelance work sometimes, especially without the simple comfort of a physical door to block the way. People who work from home often say the same thing - getting away from work can sometimes seem impossible.

Having said that, I also enjoyed freelancing a lot. There’s nothing like working on a range of projects, with a variety of different people. Lots of opportunities presented themselves and I was lucky enough to work on some projects that exercised my brain, taught me a lot and made me some new friends along the way.

Why I am I posting this now and what’s it got to do with MOO? Well, I read this useful article by Rachel Andrew last week. She mentions only spending money on the things you really need - and that might mean you don’t need the traditional full suite of business stationery.

She’s completely right. My needs were fractionally different to hers - I found I didn’t need printed letterheads for example, as invoices etc were all sent via email. I did need something like a compliment slip though, as I would often have to send back CDs or DVDs to companies, and shoving in a post-it note always seemed a bit scrappy. As my work was largely visual it seemed sensible to use something that showed that off a bit, so my ‘compliments slips’ were postcards - with images of my work on the front and my details on the back.

I also needed business cards. I think had MOO been around at the time I’d've gone for MiniCards as they suit my personality a bit better - and my range of clients. If my client base was a little more traditional though, I’d've stuck with a more traditional size.

If you are thinking of going it alone, the full article is worth a read.

You might also find these other links handy. They’re spot on, and exactly the kind of advice I wish I’d had before I started. They’re written from the personal experience perspective - and I found them more human and more relevant than a lot of other more ‘business focussed’ articles.

Beginners guide to freelancing - Phil Gyford.
A well written, comprehensive guide to going freelance.

Lessons learnt - Cameron Moll
This also a great read - as are the other posts linked early on in the article. If you have time, scan the comments too.

I hope those links help you as much as they helped me - and if you’re going for it in the new year, good luck :)

If you’re already a freelancer, what’s the one thing you know now, you wish you’d known before? Now’s your chance to help out the newbies.

Andrea Joseph is one such illustrator. Working from her overcrowded desk (shown above) she’s just finished over 300 hours worth of drawings, filling an entire Moleskine sketchbook. A total of 53 pieces, there’s a huge mix of work, from beautiful buttons…

to service station classics..

The very final page of the masterpiece even contains 9 little MiniCards, featuring Andrea’s own work.

If you’d like to take advantage of her talent, and fill up your own book (in less than 300 hours), you can print a mix of her artwork with MOO. (I can never decide if I like the buttons or the tapes best, they make really cute Stickers)

In other ‘finishing news’, yesterday we said our tearful goodbyes to Iain, our suspiciously cheerful project manager. After two years he’s heading off to pastures new - miles away, in an agency near London Bridge.

Ever calm and cheerful, even in the face of looming deadlines, stressed developers and the design team (usually me) refusing any possible request he might make, he was a ray of sunshine around the MOO office. It’s fitting then, that he loves us and leaves us, as he rides off into the sunset…

Good luck, fella. You’ll be missed.

One of our other favourite photographers, Robyn, has recently used the templates herself… and look how cute the cards are!

More to the point - look how great they work when packged as a gift for clients:

Robyn has used the reverse of each card as a little contact form for playdates. Each pack of 100 MiniCards serves as a gift for 5 different clients (the parents of the photogenic babies) - each client receiving 20 cards. It’s a great idea - what parent wouldn’t be happy to receive such a gift?

We’ve been a fan of the way Robyn packages her client work, ever since spotting these stickers last year:

She uses them to seal envelopes and add an extra touch to gift certificates:

If you’re looking for packaging inspiration, check out her fantastic Flickr set - full of ideas, and of course, all beautifully photographed!

The first thing that we think deserves a mention is a brilliant idea called the Disposable Memory Project. It’s a simple but totally addictive idea. A team of these guys have traveled round the world, leaving behind disposable cameras as they go, in the hope they’ll be picked up, passed on, and eventually return home full of photographs.

If you find a camera (yes, it can be you), take a few photos where you’re standing and then let them know where you are by registering on their website, so they can track its story around the world.
Pass on the camera to someone else, maybe a friend, maybe a stranger, and tell them what to do: take a few photographs, visit the site, then pass it on. it’s that simple really.

They even help you to set up and track your own camera, and explain how to create your camera bags!

And guess what? The postcards you’ll find inside the bags, the “Please! Pick me-up” ones, have been made with MOO! (They also made Stickers but you’ll have to get a pack to see those!)

The second exciting piece of news is that the ‘Limited Edition JPG Holiday Photo Contest Holiday Cards’, (phew!) are now on sale. A couple of weeks ago we ran a contest with JPG to find 5 beautiful winter photographs. This lovely pack of wintry images is available now, with $4 of each pack going to support our nominated charity, The WSPA.

Congratulations to Istvan Hernadi, Biljana Vujicic, John McCabe, Chris Whitney and Martino Roselli, for their 5 beautiful and festive images.

Beautiful Business Cards being lovingly packed

Rory and Dan wearing cosy Christmas hats with Santa sacks full of MOO Christmas cards & more!

To make sure you get your orders in on time, it’s worth having a quick look at our shipping deadlines below;

Please also be aware that over the holiday period (24th Dec - 2nd Jan), orders may take a little longer than usual to ship. Just like you, both Little and Big MOO need a few cheeky days off to gather their thoughts, read their Holiday Cards and sip some Eggnog.

In light of the biggest shopping day of the year (for us Americans - yes, there are a few of us in MOO studios), after you’ve done all your shopping, we know there’s a mountain of wrapping you’ll have to do! It’s really my favorite part of the holidays. I have oodles of paper, and ribbon and ornaments that I’ve collected over the last 10 years! Not sure about the rest of you, but I really do appreciate a nicely wrapped gift. It makes it more special somehow.

To help get your presents to that next level, we spotted these super cute tags made out of MiniCards on Etsy from SimplyEmbellish:

For more DIY inspirations, check out This Young House, they designed their own gift tags, and then also did an interesting tiling project with MiniCards :

Here is proof from NestDecorating that your wrapping can be simple and impactful:

For more ideas on how to you can make your package stand out from the others under the tree, have a look at our creative wrapping page!

Happy Wrapping!
Joy