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We recently released 20 new digital gifts into the Facebook ecosystem.  These cute little icons are part of the  Mozilla Firefox collection that launched last year through the Free Gifts application - conceived by Zach Allia and later transitioned over to SGN.  Exchanging digital gifts has long been a popular activity on social networks, and thousands of Firefox gifts have been sent so far.  If you’re interested, the total numbers per icon are reported on a basic stats page, here (Foxkeh is #1, with over 8,000 gifts sent).  Thanks to Shervin Pishevar, Chris Henley, and Gabriel Stock from SGN for their help on this.  Happy gifting!

Firefox 3.5 is finally here! And what better way to celebrate the launch than with the brand new 3.5 t-shirt. We had a lot of fun last year with an open call for designs that led us to the official Firefox 3 shirt.  But this time around, we tried something different.  Inspired by the concept of a tag cloud, we turned to the community for help in coming up with a collection of words that best described Firefox.  We then used these words to create a stylized typographic visualization of what Firefox 3.5 is all about - highlighting some of the key features and goodness that’s baked into the browser.

The final design is not only awesome (and among my favorites), but also a unique addition to our t-shirt archive, which continues to grow as it captures snapshots in Mozilla’s history.  Special thanks to Monique Johnson, for lending her artistic talents to us once again and creating this beautiful word cloud.

The new Firefox 3.5 t-shirts are now available in the Mozilla Stores, professionally modeled and photographed by members of our very own team.  You can also download this design in different sizes as a desktop wallpaper.  Enjoy!

** Paris, Toronto, MV, Tokyo and China offices…looking good!  Silverorange has joined the fun, too.

In last month’s workshop series, Mary and I talked about the power of social media, and how it has helped us drive major initiatives (like Download Day) with incredible reach and impact.  There’s a plethora of social media tools out there, which include social networking sites, social news sites, photo and video sharing sites, blogs, etc.  At Mozilla, we actively use a subset of these tools to stay connected with our community and raise awareness around the projects that we work on.  With the upcoming release of Firefox 3.5, we hope to leverage social media once again to drum up excitement and celebrate the launch.  Here are some ways you can help:

• Update your status (or tweet) during the run up to, and day of, launch.  Promote ongoing campaigns like Fastest Firefox, or 3.5 in 35 days.  Highlight your favorite features and let everyone know when you upgrade.  For Twitter and Identi.ca, please use the hashtag: #fx35
• “Donate” your profile image, or avatar by temporarily replacing it with the Firefox logo.
• Create an event, a download-fest or party in support of the launch.
• Post pictures and videos from related activities using the tags “fx35″ & “Spread Firefox”.
• Blog!  Spread the word, and add some flair to your site with an affiliate button.
• Drive up Firefox related news stories on Digg or Reddit.

If you’re on Facebook, you can also:

• Become a fan of our Page and suggest it to your friends.
• Send a personalized digital gift.  We’ve added 20 new icons to our collection.
• Share articles, photos, and videos on your wall and across the stream.
• Help content become viral with “likes” and comments.  The more you engage, the faster it spreads.

So, regardless of what social media tool you use, there are *lots* of great ways to help generate buzz and get the word out about 3.5.  Remember that even a simple status update has the potential to spark conversations and inspire action.  I also wanted to mention that while we currently have a strong presence on Facebook, Twitter, and Orkut… we recognize the diversity of tools available across the world, and would appreciate your help in identifying the key players in your respective regions by posting them, here. (Thanks!)

Last month I hosted a Creative Workshop to help mobilize the 3.5 community launch team. The slides and video have been archived for your reference.  As you know, creative arts and graphic design are extremely powerful forms of communication.  Often times they are more effective than words alone, and can even break down language barriers to reach a larger audience.

With that in mind, we’re fortunate to have such a passionate community and creative energy around the Firefox brand - which over time, has resulted in some pretty amazing stuff.  From beautifully painted buses in India, to Firefox cookies, cakes, and my personal favorite…a Firefox pillow!  And lets not forget the 2000+ t-shirt design submissions from last year’s contest.

It’s time to tap into your creative skills again, and help promote the launch of 3.5.  A great way to do that is by creating new designs for the Community Store.  Here’s a quick summary of the guidelines to get you started:

• You may choose from a variety of SVG software or raster-based tools - Including Adobe suites and free/open-source alternatives like Inkspace and GIMP.
• Be as creative and abstract as you wish!  Take inspiration from broader concepts like community and open-source, or specific features of Firefox 3.5, like open video, speed, security, and more.
• If using the Firefox logo, please follow the style guidelines and trademark policies.
• Remove any element that you don’t want printed, including the background color layer.
• Save your final file in high resolution transparent PNG format.
• Upload your designs.  Make sure to provide your name for attribution and add descriptive tags.
• Designs are displayed in a public gallery and can be customized on different shirt styles for purchase.

If t-shirts don’t get you excited, feel free to express your creativity in other ways.  But whether it’s stitching, baking, singing, or planting a Firefox topiary (hint)… make sure to show it off by posting to Flickr or Youtube, using the tags “FX35″ & “Spread Firefox”.  We’re looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

Also, if you’re interested in learning more about design initiatives at Mozilla (like the Creative Collective), or our creative process… be sure to read John’s (and my) blog for the details.  You can also join the design mailing list, or follow our tweets for updates.

As we all know, Facebook has become a powerful marketing tool…with a growing network of active users, global reach, and built-in viral features that offer loads of benefits to brands.  Recognizing the untapped potential within our own fan Page, we’ve recently invested resources towards making it into a more engaging space and a stronger communication channel with the community.  To do this, we went through an in-depth study of the Facebook platform in order to better understand the ingredients of a successful Page.  Then, we developed an optimization plan that covered everything from basic tweaks (like replacing the profile image), to major enhancements (like creating custom tabs and application boxes).  You can read the project wiki for a more detailed breakdown of our efforts and ongoing progress.  We still have a lot of work to do, but the results so far have been positive, with a significant increase in total fans and level of activity on the page.

Highlights from our optimization plan:

• Joining the conversations with more frequent status updates.
• Adding photo albums and videos - the two most viral pieces of content on Facebook.  You’ll find snapshots of various community events, milestones in Mozilla’s history, collections of fan art, and other cool stuff.  The video archive includes classics like “Daredevil” and “Kuru Kuru Don“, along with new favorites.  We’ll be publishing product overviews and demos as well.
• Bulking up the Info Tab with more information about Mozilla and our mission.
• Highlighting the latest news, straight from the Mozilla blog with an RSS feed.
• Designing custom tabs and custom boxes to promote specialized content.  For example, through a custom tab we plan to offer information on how to get involved and contribute to the Mozilla project.
• Refreshing our free digital gifts collection with 20 new icons that you can send to your friends.
• Improving our SEO with a Vanity URL, which is like a domain registration within the Facebook ecosystem.  Instead of a randomly generated URL, you can now find us at www.facebook.com/firefox.
• Driving awareness around our Page and promoting it more actively through various channels like: community marketing calls, launch workshops, the First Run Page, What’s New Page, blogs, etc…
• Creating HTML badges and buttons that you can post on your websites.
• SMS-based fanning.  Text “fan Firefox” to FBOOK (32665) and become a fan of our page instantly.
• Mobile broadcasting and subscriptions to status updates.  Send a text message with the letter “f” to 32665 (FBOOK), and follow our updates on the go.

How you can help:

• Spread the word!  Click on the “suggest to friends” link right below the profile image and let your friends know that they can connect with us on Facebook.
• Help contribute content and energize the page by posting comments, fan photos, and videos.  You can also simply share our posts on your wall, which then spread through the news feeds.
• Provide feedback.  Let us know how we’re doing and ways that we can improve your experience.

It’s a well known fact that the success of Firefox has been driven by the power of our amazing community. In today’s world, social media marketing is really important as it helps to amplify word-of-mouth and spread a message more quickly.  At Mozilla, we use a variety of social media tools to stay connected with our community and find creative ways of getting them involved in everything that we do.  Among our top communication channels is Facebook, and while it’s been a relatively underutilized space for us in the past, we’ve recently taken big steps towards improving our official Fan Page and overall presence on the site.

Our efforts include posting frequent updates, and publishing more photos and videos into the stream.  Photos and videos are actually the most viral pieces of content on Facebook, and the level of response to each post has been quite compelling… with hundreds of comments and thousands of “likes” within a short period of time.  The snapshot below also shows the resulting 32% increase (roughly 116,350) in our fan base in the last few weeks alone — a combination of both organic growth and pre-existing unofficial fan pages who have now merged with ours.  And this is just scratching the surface.  We’ve got a lot more social media goodness cooking up and will be promoting the page more actively going forward.  So, consider this the first of a series of blog posts on our adventures in social media!

* Note: the metrics dashboard takes about 48 hours to refresh, our current total fan base is actually 477K+

Just yesterday I wrote about some of the ways we’re going to encourage participation within the Creative Collective, and one of them was through the concept of badges (which are digital icons awarded to members for their contributions).  Below are the first set of designs from Airbag Industries, along with a preview of how these achievements would be stamped on your portfolio.  The designs take inspiration from the simplistic feel of various video games, and the color palette of the Creative Collective logo for a striking yet playful result.  We’re really excited about these and think that they’ll be a great way to add more fun (and social capital) to the overall experience.  My personal favorite is “Pixel Charmer”.  What do you think?

(View the full-size version on Flickr.)

The Mozilla Creative Collective is our ongoing initiative to organize and build Mozilla’s visual design community. When the site goes live later this year it will be an active community hub with a network of artists that have come together for a common purpose - to share their talents with the world while helping to promote the Mozilla Project.

John has been covering the design process of the logo, and more recently the first round of website designs (which look amazing by the way).  But I’d like to delve a little deeper and reveal some of the specific features we’ve been cooking up for the site.

Of course, building a successful online community from scratch takes a lot of work and planning.  To attract members and encourage active participation, you need to offer incentives for people to join and unique benefits that they can derive through their membership over time.  In other words, it’s important to offer heaps of social capital. Social capital reflects the value of social networks through things like: new connections; exposure to highly influential people; access to resources, ideas and talent; opportunities to grow your reputation; public displays of your accomplishments; etc.

Taking all of this into consideration, we’ve spent a lot of time thinking of ways members of the Creative Collective can accrue social capital (while also making their experience as fun as possible).  For example, artists will be able to establish their presence through a detailed profile page which will host information about them along with a gallery of their work.  They’ll “follow” and connect with their favorite artists, or download source files of their favorite submissions.  They’ll also be able to take advantage of other social features such as “likes”, commenting, sharing and more.

Another way we’re going to encourage participation is through the concept of badges.  Badges are digital icons that will be awarded to members for different levels of contributions, and will be publicly displayed on their profiles for all to see.  There are many ways you’ll be able to contribute to the Creative Collective….by submitting original designs or remixes, participating in design challenges, providing commentary on other people’s work, and so on.  Each of these are positive actions that deserve recognition, and will be rewarded with a digital badge of honor.  Here is what we have so far (big thanks to the team at Airbag for coming up with these awesome names):

• Hero of the Collective - Winner of 10 design challenges
• Champion of the Collective - Design challenge winner
• Fellow of the Arts - Participated in 25 design challenges
• Minister of Design - Placed in the top 5 of a design challenge
• Pixel Charmer - Work has received 25 likes
• Mix Master D - Remixed 25 designs
• The Producer - Has had a design remixed 10 times
• The Critic - Writes a comment on 25 designs
• Founder - A limited edition badge for those who create an account within the first week of launch

And that’s just a sneak peek.  Stay tuned for more updates on the Mozilla Creative Collective…ways you can participate and build up your social capital.

According to a recent study published in the journal of Applied Cognitive Psychology, doodling may actually help improve your memory.  The basic premise is that doodling serves as a simple secondary task, a slight distraction to prevent your mind from wandering off into daydreams, while reserving the bulk of your mental resources for the primary task.  This means that you have a higher level of concentration and can retain more information than you would otherwise.  I found this article particularly interesting because growing up, I always littered the margins of my textbooks, notebooks, and any other paper product that lay near by, with an array of doodled art.  Sketching in general has always been a therapeutic process for me, and apparently it’s also good for my brain.

One of the most prolific doodlers I know, is actually our very own John Slater.  If you’ve ever sat with him through a conference call, a meeting, or even casual conversation, you might notice that he sheds pages of  doodles while giving you his undivided attention.   Aside from observing his artistic talent and unbound creativity, I’ve always been rather intrigued by the concepts that he sketches.  Personally, I sense a recurring theme of “heads”.  A rich futuristic universe of unique characters and obscure shapes that both inspire and raise concerns at the same time.  If you see any of these mysterious doodles laying around, I suggest you save them as they may be worth a lot one day.

Have you noticed that the Community Store’s favicon is animated?  I made it using Favicon.cc, a web-based paint application and image converter that lets you create custom icons for your website.  It’s one of the better, and more feature-rich generators I’ve found online - with a variety of editing tools that are easy and fun to use.  You can even publish your work under an open license and share it with others.  The Store’s favicon is simple in design.  It takes cues from the site’s visual theme and is animated across 93 frames, pixel by pixel:

Personally, I find animated icons to be really cool, and befitting of a creative space like the Community Store. But you don’t see too many of them out there and that’s because most are considered to be distracting, if not plain annoying. Just imagine trying to read an article while something is flickering in your periphery.  Or if you’re like me and have an average of 20 tabs open per session, then imagine each of those carrying an animated icon dancing for your attention.  So, although small and neatly tucked away in your chrome, they definitely have the potential to become disruptive.

But depending on the nature of your website, and if it’s done tastefully, I actually think an animated favicon can add a unique flair and help set you apart.  What’s important is making the animation simple and subtle.  Try to have smooth transitions between each frame and avoid endless loop cycles.  Tease the user with a short sequence, and let them hit refresh if they want to see it again.  These were all the considerations we took into account when creating the Store’s favicon.

I admit, I’ve become somewhat fascinated (maybe a little obsessed) with favicons ever since I worked on this, and it’s partly because I’ve always been a fan of art in miniature sizes.  It’s just amazing how much detail can be communicated in a tiny 16×16 pixel box!  And if you don’t share this enthusiasm with me yet, one look at the most inspiring repository of favicons and you’ll surely be hooked.