So in the spirit of tradition, the riddle obviously had to be based on animated GIFs, but we wanted to do something entirely different from changing file names or guessing Twitter handles. You see, at SmashingMag, we cherish the idea of lasting traditions-be it monthly desktop wallpapers, editorial newsletters or those weird mystery riddles. One of the ideas was to play with the letters and the way they would be displayed. During an intensive, unscheduled, battery-recharge brainstorming session, we came up with a number of interesting ideas, all thoroughly written down, tagged and ready for use. (Image source: jentilley)Īs the conversation continued-still sipping those Zürich cappucinos-I caught glimpses of one of the older animated GIFs looping on my screen, and before I knew it, the conversation was all about mysteries, riddles and mischievous animated GIFs. The letters scattered all over the GIFs were inspired by muffin crumbs scattered all over a plate. It was a fast-paced, inspiring discussion about life stories, experiences, biggest failures and creative endeavours. In the end, as the charger issue was successfully resolved, I found myself sitting behind a large wooden desk, immersed in a profound discussion with a charming, smart math student from Switzerland, and an eager, seasoned engineer from Turkey. Desperately looking for a charger, I sparked a number of awkward conversations with surprisingly unsurprised, friendly strangers around me. So it’s understandable that a vibrant animated GIF might raise some interest, questions, or perhaps the reasonable concern of friendly strangers. Letters Scattered All Over The Place, Like Muffin CrumbsĪnimations have a way of drawing attention to themselves. In fact, this is exactly how the idea for the new Smashing Riddle was born-in a coffee shop in Zürich, Switzerland-and yes, it was indeed that cinnamon muffin that made all the difference in the end.
Some are more responsive than others, and before you know it, you don’t just have a full battery, but you’ve made a couple of new, surprisingly interesting acquaintances.Īs it turns out, forgetting your power adapter is not only a great way to meet fantastic people but also a great strategy to come up with original ideas.
So you end up looking around and chatting up with strangers asking for help. Well, perhaps you’ve got your power adapter with you but, of course, it isn’t the right one for foreign power sockets. We’ve all been there, haven’t we? You find yourself in a coffee shop abroad, sipping cappuccino and chomping a muffin as you realize that your laptop’s battery charge is just about to crush your creative session to dust.