Hats We Wear! — work in progress

	Workstream	State	Where it stands
	Rights and licence	done	Signed.
	Card front	done	Flat colour, a colour per card, hat on its own.
●	Card back	in progress	Group colour on every back. Max: 4 (hats on navy). Brian: 1 (solid colour), slight. John Paul makes the final design.
	Card format	done	cc, 80 x 120 mm, portrait.
	Print production	done	Our existing printers. All in place.
	Price	done	39.95 EUR. The price of every coaching-card set in our range.
	Literature	done	Stays out of the product. On file with us, not in the box.
	Card selection	done	Final 60, 24 September 2026, unless someone raises a strong objection. Your notes and the team's are in the art.
	Theory	done	Two questions, four groups.
●	Method and rules	in progress	Now in the guide, pages 11 to 22: two steps every method shares, five methods for groups, two for one-to-one, and the prompts.
●	Packaging	in progress	Max: 1. Brian: 1 (also likes 2 and 5). Styles 6 to 10 are new, no votes yet. Layout is the next step.
	Name	done	Hats We Wear! — 60 Hats for coaching, training and facilitation. Your suggestion.
	Language	done	Cards carry no words. Guide in EN, DE, IT and FR.
●	Booklet	in progress	First version ready for your review: the guide, 28 pages.

1 · Card frontdone

Settled

Flat colour, a colour per card, hat on its own. No head, no figure.

Decided: a colour per card, hat on its own

Every card carries its own ground colour and the hat sits on it alone. No head, no figure. Three or four flat colours per card in total, counting the ground, and the contrast kept high enough that the hat separates from the ground at arm's length across a table.

The head silhouette lost. It made the deck look like one person wearing 50 hats, when the point is 50 hats anyone can pick up. The colour does the work the figure was doing.

Six sample cards, one or two from each of the four groups, including the baseball cap and the cycling helmet together because those are the two clusters that collide worst. The welding mask is one of the six new cards, not the old card 19.

The rules this locks in, for all 50:

Format	cc, 80 x 120 mm, portrait. Art at 1024 x 1536, ratio 1.50
Colours	3 or 4 flat colours per card, the ground counted as one
Ground	One saturated colour, edge to edge. A different one per card
Hat	Flat shapes only. No outline, no keyline, no line art, no gradient, no texture
Contrast	High. Nothing in the hat close in value to the ground
Frame	Hat centred, about 58 percent of card height, three-quarter view from slightly above
Nothing else	No head, no figure, no scene, no shadow, no text, no number on the face of the card

Five ways of doing a colour per card were tested, with and without a head. The four we did not take are on the parked page with the round-two directions.

How we got here, the six styles we put to a vote and the directions we set aside, is on the parked page.

●2 · Card backin progress

To decide

The final back design. Max picks 4, Brian leans to 1. John Paul designs it with both picks in front of him.
The four group colours have to come out of the card-front palette.

Why the back stops being blank

We dropped printing a name and a question on the back, and that stays dropped. What goes on instead is the group the card belongs to, as a colour. Four groups, four colours, on every card.

That one change buys three things:

Deal by group without hunting.	A facilitator fans the deck face down and pulls one of each colour. No reading, no sorting the deck first, no delay in front of a room.
A whole group in one move.	"Today we only play the ones that were handed to you" becomes picking up one colour. It is the difference between a method that exists in a booklet and a method someone actually runs.
A player sees their own pattern.	Turn your picked cards face down and the answer is a row of colours. Four greens and no purple is a conversation on its own.

It costs nothing extra to print, because the back runs on the same four colours as the fronts.

Who picked what

	Pick	How strong
Max	4 · Hats on navy	Picked on 18 September.
Brian	1 · Solid colour	A slight preference. No strong opinion, happy to go with the group (mail, 24 September).

Next: John Paul makes the final design from these five, with both picks in front of him. In production the hat tile in 4 uses real hats from the deck.

The five we looked at

Each option shown in all four group colours: EVERYDAY, CHARACTER, GEAR, UNIFORM. Exact renders, so the colours are the real ones. Five different mechanisms, not five versions of one. Click to see them big.

**1 · Solid colour** Brian
The whole back is the group. Loudest by a distance: a pile on a table sorts itself from across the room. The cost is that the deck looks like four products, and a face-down card announces your group before you have said anything.

**2 · Navy with a colour bar**
Our navy carries the card, the group sits in a band along the top. Built for a hand: fan the cards and you read every group at once from the top edge alone. Works in a stack, on a table and in a hand, which no other option here does.

**3 · Diagonal split**
Navy cut against the group colour. The most graphic of the five and the one that photographs best. A diagonal is harder to trim cleanly, so a millimetre of drift at the printer shows up as a wonky line on every card.

**4 · Hats on navy** Max
The only one that looks like a card back rather than a colour swatch. Hats tiled over navy in the group colour, with the fox on a disc so the group still reads in a stack. In production the tile would use real hats from the deck. Quietest group signal of the five.

**5 · Fox knocked out**
One shape, cut out of the colour, filling the card. The most confident and the most metaFox of the five. It is also a brand mark before it is a sorting device, so the group read comes second.

One thing to watch if 4 stays: it has the quietest group signal of the five. If dealing by colour turns out to be slow in a real room, the fix is to grow the centre disc rather than change the design.

One thing to settle before this is drawn

The fronts already use a different saturated ground on every card, and the four group colours are close cousins of four of them. A green-backed card on a green front says something it does not mean. Either the four group colours come out of the front palette, or the fronts drop their four nearest shades. Our preference is the first: it costs four colours out of a palette of twenty, and it makes the back and the front one system.

3 · Card formatdone

Settled

cc, 80 x 120 mm, portrait. Art at 1024 x 1536.

Card format: from A6 to cc

Today's prototype is 152 x 101 mm, near A6. We are moving to cc, 80 x 120 mm, portrait, the format of our existing coaching-card range. All the art above is drawn at 1024 x 1536, ratio 1.50, which is that card exactly. Your drawings are mostly landscape, so every card gets reframed rather than cropped.

	A6 · today 148 x 105 mm	cc · proposed 80 x 120 mm
All 60 spread on a table, 5 mm gaps	1519 x 765 mm 10 x 7	845 x 745 mm 10 x 6
Fits a standard 1400 x 800 mm table	no, and nothing left in front of the players	yes, with room in front of each player
Held as a hand of 8 to 12	unwieldy	comfortable
Card stiffness at 400 gsm	bends with handling	high, the smaller card stays flat
Box, stock and printer	new tooling	reuses the existing range
Fit to the art	1.41, needs a crop on all 50	1.50, exactly the ratio the art is made at

The set is 60, so the table maths above is for 60. At cc it lays out 10 by 6 and fits a 1400 x 800 table with room in front of each player. At A6 it does not fit at all. Each card carries a single object on a plain ground, so it stays legible when it shrinks. A group around a table can still read a cc card from the far side, and the smaller format is stiffer and survives handling better.

4 · Card selectiondone

Sort the cards yourself

Every card in one place at brian.metafox.academy/selection. Double-click any card to see it big and leave a note. One button moves it in or out of the set. Everything you do is saved for all of us straight away, so we can stop mailing lists back and forth.

Open the card sorter

The final 60, card by card

Final as of 24 September 2026, unless someone raises a strong objection. 38 of your cards stay in, with your names on the ones we had wrong, and 22 new cards join them. 60 in total, matching the name. Your notes and the team's notes from the card sorter are in the art: star badge on the police hat, a cross on the nurse's cap, hooks and lures on the bucket hat, and the eyeshade from your list. Click any card to see it big.

SIZE

	yours	new
EVERYDAY	11	15
CHARACTER	18	16
GEAR	9	16
UNIFORM	12	13
total	50	60

READS AS

	yours	new
male	28	20
female	8	18
neutral	14	22

LIFE AREA

	yours	new
work	17	22
private	26	28
both	4	5
ceremonial	3	5

Balanced three ways: by group (15 / 16 / 16 / 13), by how the hat reads (male 20, female 18, neutral 22; your 50 read 28 / 8 / 14), and by market. The set sells in North America, Europe and Asia, so each hat has to read in all three.

"Reads as" is about how the object lands for most people, not about who is allowed to wear it. A woman wears a hard hat; the hard hat still reads neutral and the showgirl headdress still reads female.

Quadrant	Your card	In the new set	Reads as	Life area
EVERYDAY	07 bucket hat	bucket hat with fishing hooks Brian 2026-09-24: add hooks and lure. Also answers Krissi's note that the plain shape reads Asian	male	private	renamed
EVERYDAY	11 baseball cap	baseball cap	neutral	both	kept
EVERYDAY	12 visor cap	—	male	both	out
EVERYDAY	16 fencing mask	horse rider helmet Your name. Was in GEAR: a rider picks it up	female	private	renamed, moved
EVERYDAY	20 trapper hat	trapper hat	male	private	kept
EVERYDAY	21 fur hat	straw hat Your name. The fur hat idea comes back as its own card	female	private	renamed
EVERYDAY	28 cycling helmet	cycling helmet	neutral	both	kept
EVERYDAY	31 knit cap	—	neutral	private	out
EVERYDAY	33 skate helmet	skate helmet	neutral	private	kept
EVERYDAY	34 bobble hat	bobble hat Your Bommelmütze, in English	neutral	private	kept
EVERYDAY	43 sun visor	—	neutral	private	out
EVERYDAY	—	over-ear headphones The most worn headgear of the last ten years. Focus, and a visible do-not-talk-to-me	neutral	both	new
EVERYDAY	—	wide-brim sun hat Promoted to reach 60. The strongest outline of the three sun cards.	female	private	new
EVERYDAY	—	sleep mask Added 2026-09-24 for balance. Rest, or not wanting to see.	neutral	private	new
EVERYDAY	—	earmuffs Added 2026-09-24 for balance. Warm, and not listening.	female	private	new
EVERYDAY	—	headband Added 2026-09-24 for balance. Hair out of the way, ready to go.	female	private	new
EVERYDAY	—	snorkel mask In the final selection, 2026-09-24.	neutral	private	new
EVERYDAY	—	shower cap In the final selection, 2026-09-24.	female	private	new
CHARACTER	03 bowler	—	male	private	out
CHARACTER	05 straw boater	—	male	private	out
CHARACTER	08 wizard hat	wizard hat	male	private	kept
CHARACTER	10 ear defenders	beer helmet Your name. Two cans and a straw. Was in GEAR	male	private	renamed, moved
CHARACTER	14 top hat	—	male	private	out
CHARACTER	15 tyrolean hat, badges	—	male	private	out
CHARACTER	17 fedora	—	male	private	out
CHARACTER	18 propeller beanie	propeller beanie	neutral	private	kept
CHARACTER	22 duckbill cap	cowboy hat Your name	male	private	renamed
CHARACTER	24 folded paper hat	Robin Hood hat Your name	male	private	renamed
CHARACTER	27 cat ears	cat ears	female	private	kept
CHARACTER	30 bunny ears	—	female	private	out
CHARACTER	35 pirate tricorn	pirate tricorn	male	private	kept
CHARACTER	36 cowboy hat	alpine hat Your name	male	private	renamed
CHARACTER	42 ceremonial headdress	winged viking helmet Your name. The ceremonial headdress comes back as its own card	male	private	renamed, moved
CHARACTER	46 bicorn	horned viking helmet Voted back in, 2026-09-24. Doubles the winged viking helmet on purpose.	male	private	renamed
CHARACTER	48 swim cap	—	male	private	double
CHARACTER	50 headscarf / veil	witch hat Your name. The headscarf comes back as its own card	female	private	renamed, moved
CHARACTER	—	flower crown Festival, bride, summer. The counterweight to viking, pirate and cowboy	female	private	new
CHARACTER	—	fascinator Added 2026-09-24 for balance. Races, weddings, dressing for the occasion.	female	ceremonial	new
CHARACTER	—	cloche hat Added 2026-09-24 for balance. Slot 60, the alternative to Brian's sombrero.	female	private	new
CHARACTER	—	party hat In the final selection, 2026-09-24.	neutral	private	new
CHARACTER	—	big hair bow In the final selection, 2026-09-24.	female	private	new
GEAR	01 motorcycle helmet	motorcycle helmet	male	both	kept
GEAR	02 racing helmet	construction hard hat Your name. The racing helmet was too close to 01 anyway	neutral	work	renamed
GEAR	04 painter's paper hat	knight's armour helm Your name	male	work	renamed
GEAR	25 aviation headset	aviation headset Back in. You called it the most important card in the set	neutral	work	kept
GEAR	29 miner's helmet	miner's helmet	male	work	kept
GEAR	37 doctor's head mirror	head mirror and stethoscope Your correction. Both objects on the card	neutral	work	renamed
GEAR	41 firefighter helmet	firefighter helmet	male	work	kept
GEAR	45 football helmet	football helmet	male	work	kept
GEAR	49 astronaut helmet	astronaut helmet	neutral	work	kept
GEAR	—	welding mask We thought we had it at 19. We did not	neutral	work	new
GEAR	—	hairnet Promoted to reach 60. Says "rules I did not pick" better than any card in the set.	female	work	new
GEAR	—	beekeeper's hat and veil Promoted to reach 60. A silhouette nothing else comes near.	neutral	work	new
GEAR	—	hazmat hood Promoted to reach 60. Sealed off from what you are handling.	neutral	work	new
GEAR	—	VR headset Promoted to reach 60. Handed to you, and it takes your eyes off the room.	neutral	both	new
GEAR	—	eyeshade Brian 2026-09-24: for finance-minded folks. The bookkeeper's visor.	neutral	work	new
GEAR	—	brass diving helmet In the final selection, 2026-09-24.	male	work	new
UNIFORM	06 jester's cap	pharaoh headdress Your name. A nemes	male	ceremonial	renamed
UNIFORM	09 viking helmet	jester's cap Your name. Was in CHARACTER: a court hands it to you	male	work	renamed, moved
UNIFORM	13 showgirl headdress	—	male	work	out
UNIFORM	19 welding mask	police hat Your name. Was in GEAR: a badge before it is protection	male	work	renamed, moved
UNIFORM	23 chef's toque	chef's toque	neutral	work	kept
UNIFORM	26 naval dress cap	naval dress cap	male	work	kept
UNIFORM	32 nurse's cap	nurse's cap	female	work	kept
UNIFORM	38 police cap	—	male	work	out
UNIFORM	39 crown	tiara Your name. This is also Birgit's question from the test group, answered	female	ceremonial	renamed
UNIFORM	40 pilot's cap	flight attendant cap Your name	female	work	renamed
UNIFORM	44 mortarboard	mortarboard	neutral	work	kept
UNIFORM	47 ornate crown	crown Your name	neutral	ceremonial	renamed
UNIFORM	—	showgirl headdress Your keep, freed up when 13 became the judge's wig	female	work	new
UNIFORM	—	headscarf / veil Your keep, freed up when 50 became the witch hat	female	private	new
UNIFORM	—	laurel wreath In the final selection, 2026-09-24.	neutral	ceremonial	new

Everything that did not make the 60

Cut, doubled, displaced or on the bench. Click to see it big.

Quadrant	Card	Reads as	Life area
EVERYDAY	fur hat Out 2026-09-24: two testers could not read it, even after two redraws.	female	private	out
EVERYDAY	swim cap Out 2026-09-24, Max's final selection.	neutral	private	out
EVERYDAY	everyday wig Out 2026-09-24, Max's final selection.	female	both	out
EVERYDAY	rain hood, pulled up Out 2026-09-24: Brian could not tell what it is.	neutral	both	out
GEAR	surgical scrub cap Out 2026-09-24, Max's final selection.	female	work	out
UNIFORM	ceremonial headdress Out 2026-09-24: Brian, stereotypical.	male	ceremonial	out
UNIFORM	bridal veil Out 2026-09-24, Max's final selection.	female	ceremonial	out
CHARACTER	bicorn Was drawn as a tricorn and doubled 35. Redrawn with two corners on J's note, so it now stands on its own. Voted back in.	male	private	double
CHARACTER	bowler Pink. The dressy-gentleman cluster.	male	private	out
CHARACTER	top hat Pink. Same cluster.	male	private	out
CHARACTER	fedora Pink. Same cluster.	male	private	out
CHARACTER	tyrolean hat with badges Pink. Same cluster, and 36 covers alpine already.	male	private	out
CHARACTER	straw boater Unmarked. Our call: fifth member of that cluster.	male	private	out
GEAR	racing helmet Too close to 01 motorcycle helmet.	male	work	out
GEAR	ear defenders Freed when 10 became the beer helmet. Over-ear headphones covers the shape.	neutral	work	out
UNIFORM	pilot's cap Freed when 40 became the flight attendant cap. Fourth stiff peaked cap.	male	work	out
EVERYDAY	work bandana You said it is not easy to identify. Agreed.	female	both	out
EVERYDAY	hair rollers You said they read as dynamite and are not worn outside. Agreed.	female	private	out
GEAR	face shield See out, stay covered. Workshop or clinic.	neutral	work	bench
UNIFORM	nun's veil Given, social, and a whole life in one shape. Carries a charge.	female	work	bench
GEAR	call-centre headset The most relatable work object on this list. Collides with over-ear headphones.	female	work	bench
EVERYDAY	balaclava Cold, or not being seen. Carries a charge.	male	both	bench
EVERYDAY	running sweatband Effort, visible.	neutral	private	bench
EVERYDAY	head torch Light where you look. Collides with 29 miner's helmet.	neutral	both	bench
CHARACTER	umbrella hat Ridiculous and practical at once.	neutral	private	bench
GEAR	chainsaw helmet Visor plus ear defenders plus shell. Three protections at once.	male	work	bench
UNIFORM	headset microphone Card-60 candidate 2026-09-24. The presenter's and trainer's own hat, from conference stage to K-pop. Thin at card size.	neutral	work	bench
CHARACTER	mascot costume head Card-60 candidate 2026-09-24. Cheerful for others, hidden inside. Japan and Korea mascots, US sports.	neutral	work	bench
GEAR	baby bonnet Card-60 candidate 2026-09-24. Being looked after, or a new beginning.	neutral	private	bench
CHARACTER	sombrero Brian 2026-09-24: for party-minded folks. Party hat covers party, and as a costume it can read as a stereotype.	male	private	bench
GEAR	rugby scrum cap If 45 football helmet does not read outside the US, this is the swap.	male	work	bench

How the 60 were chosen

1	What people pick in play. Your notes on the cards players choose most (aviation headset, police hat, cat ears, astronaut, head mirror) kept those in against single out-votes.
2	Can you tell what it is? Cards that two readers could not name were redrawn or taken out (fur hat, rain hood).
3	No doubles and no stereotypes. Racing helmet, head torch, chainsaw helmet and pilot's cap duplicated other cards. The ceremonial headdress and the balaclava came out on your notes.
4	Balance. Four groups, male, female and neutral, work and private life, and readable in North America, Europe and Asia.

5 · Theorydone

Settled

Two questions, four groups. The sorting stands.

Two questions about any hat

What is its function? Every hat has one. Some are technical: a welding mask stops sparks, a toque keeps hair out of the food, a miner's lamp lights a tunnel. Some are social: a crown signals authority, a nurse's cap signals who to approach, bunny ears signal the register of the evening. Signalling is a function in its own right, not the absence of one. Coaches will recognise the split. It is the same distinction as task orientation and people orientation.

Was it chosen or given? Some hats a person picks up. Others are conferred: awarded, issued, required, inherited.

The two questions together sort every hat into one of four groups.

GIVENCHOSEN

EVERYDAY15

chosen · technical function

07bucket hat with fishing hooks
11baseball cap
16horse rider helmet
20trapper hat
21straw hat
28cycling helmet
33skate helmet
34bobble hat
over-ear headphones new
wide-brim sun hat new
sleep mask new
earmuffs new
headband new
snorkel mask new
shower cap new

CHARACTER16

chosen · social function

08wizard hat
10beer helmet
18propeller beanie
22cowboy hat
24Robin Hood hat
27cat ears
35pirate tricorn
36alpine hat
42winged viking helmet
46horned viking helmet
50witch hat
flower crown new
fascinator new
cloche hat new
party hat new
big hair bow new

GEAR16

given · technical function

01motorcycle helmet
02construction hard hat
04knight's armour helm
25aviation headset
29miner's helmet
37head mirror and stethoscope
41firefighter helmet
45football helmet
49astronaut helmet
welding mask new
hairnet new
beekeeper's hat and veil new
hazmat hood new
VR headset new
eyeshade new
brass diving helmet new

UNIFORM13

given · social function

06pharaoh headdress
09jester's cap
19police hat
23chef's toque
26naval dress cap
32nurse's cap
39tiara
40flight attendant cap
44mortarboard
47crown
showgirl headdress new
headscarf / veil new
laurel wreath new

TECHNICAL FUNCTIONSOCIAL FUNCTION

The grid is the final 60. Cards marked new are not in your prototype. The card-by-card comparison is in section 3.

6 · Literaturedone

Settled

None of the reading goes into the box.

Stays out of the product

Decided: none of the reading goes into the box. No citations on the cards, none in the booklet, no bibliography. A coach opening this deck does not need a reading list, and a name on a card starts an argument about the name instead of the hat.

The reading stays where it belongs, on file with us. It is there so we can answer a hard question in a sales call, defend the sorting to a training school, or write a conference proposal. Not so a buyer can check our homework.

On file: Bogatyrev 1937, Stone 1962, Joseph and Alex 1972, Linton 1936, and the sources that argue against us. Kept in the effort folder, not in the product.

●7 · Method and rulesin progress

To decide

Anything wrong or missing in the methods? Check-in, a hat for someone else and role crafting come from your notes.
Do the shortened prompts on pages 21 and 22 still work for you?

The methods moved into the guide (pages 11 to 22) and were rewritten there. Please comment on them in the guide.

Open the guide (PDF)

●8 · Packagingin progress

To decide

Whose name goes on the front, and whose on the back.

Who picked what

	Pick	Also likes
Max	1 · Scattered hats	—
Brian	1 · Scattered hats	2 · One hat, big, and 5 · Stacked tower (mail, 24 September).

Both of you pick 1. Styles 6 to 10 are new since then, and nobody has voted on them yet.

Packaging: ten styles

Portrait cc box, two parts, lift-off lid, shot the way the emoli set is shot so the two can be compared directly: box, printed guide, and a fan of cards. All ten carry the name Hats We Wear! and the subtitle. The type here is indicative, not set: the real layout comes next, against the emoli artwork, with the metaFox fox, the card count and the back-panel copy in place. Click any image to see it big.

**1 · Scattered hats** MaxBrian
The emoli formula. Small hats loose across a cream box, empty space in the middle for the name. Sits in the range without a second look, and buyers who own one metaFox set will recognise it immediately. The safest of the five and the least memorable.

**2 · One hat, big** Brian likes
One hat filling a navy box. Strongest of the five at three metres and on a marketplace thumbnail. The risk is that the whole product then reads as being about chefs, so the hero hat has to be chosen carefully or rotated across print runs.

**3 · Colour grid**
Six colour blocks, one hat each. The box shows you what is inside, because a colour per card is exactly what the deck is. The lid line cuts the grid, which looks deliberate when the box is closed and untidy when it is open.

**4 · Quiet, tone on tone**
One colour, the hat only a shift in value. The most grown-up of the five and the best fit for a corporate or therapy buyer. It also hides the product: nothing on the shelf tells you this is 60 colourful cards.

**5 · Stacked tower** Brian likes
Hats stacked up the box, one on the next. Says "many hats, one person" without a word of copy, which is the deck's whole idea. The tall stack fits a portrait box better than any other idea here, and the lid cuts the tower in a way that reads as part of the joke.

Five more, each a different idea

Round two, 24 September. The hats in the card fans below are placeholders from the image model. Only the box design counts.

**6 · Hat rack**
A row of pegs with five hats hanging on it, like a hallway at home. Says "hats you take off and put on". Navy, so it sits well next to the other sets.

**7 · Die-cut window**
A hat-shaped hole in the lid shows the top card inside. The one design here that changes the box itself, so it costs more to make. Change the top card and the window shows a different hat.

**8 · Type as the picture**
The name is the design, with one small party hat on the H. Easy to read from far away and on a small online picture. Only a little of the deck shows.

**9 · Shadow swap**
A cap that throws the shadow of a crown: the hat you wear and the hat you would like to wear. Shows the idea of the deck with no words.

**10 · Hatbox**
Stripes, a ribbon and a shop label, like an old hat-shop box. Looks like a gift on a shelf. No hat on the box at all.

Watch in the layout for style 1: the title sits in the middle of the scatter, so the hats have to move further out than in this render. If not, the name competes with the artwork.

Next step: the exact layout against the emoli artwork in the shared Drive folder.

9 · Namedone

Settled

The set is called Hats We Wear! — 60 Hats for coaching, training and facilitation. Title case, and We because the deck is mostly played with teams.

Chosen: Hats We Wear! — 60 Hats for coaching, training and facilitation. Brian's suggestion: title case, and We because the deck is mostly played with teams. The twenty we looked at before stay below for the record.

Twenty names

Ranked. The range next door is "My Purpose", "Speak Up", "What Really Matters!", "How do you feel?", so short and plain beats clever, and a question is on-format.

	Name	Why
1	Whose Hat?	The whole theory in two words. Chosen or given, asked out loud. Question format, like half the range.
2	Many Hats	People already say this about themselves. Nothing to explain, and it survives translation into every market we sell in.
3	Does It Fit?	Hats fit or they do not. So do roles. The coaching question and the object are the same sentence.
4	Which Hat?	Plainest possible. Slightly weaker than "Whose", which carries the given-or-chosen idea too.
5	Hat Check	The cloakroom and the self-check at once. Reads better in English than in German.
6	The Hat I Wear	First person, warm, matches "My Beliefs" and "My Purpose".
7	Under the Hat	Points at the person rather than the role. Good for the therapy buyer.
8	Given or Chosen	The axis as the name. Honest and a little dry.
9	Hats I Didn't Choose	Names the insight directly. Long, and it commits the deck to one half of itself.
10	Two Hats	The idiom for doing two jobs at once. Might read as a two-card product.
11	Roles We Wear	Says what it is with no metaphor left. Safe, forgettable.
12	Take Off Your Hat	An instruction, and a good one. Slightly aggressive on a shelf.
13	Hat Rack	Where all your roles hang when you are not wearing them. Nice object, weak as a title.
14	Caps and Crowns	Shows the range of the deck in three words. Sounds like a history book.
15	What Hat Today?	A morning question. Warm, and it works as a daily-practice deck.
16	Swap Hats	The move the deck actually teaches. Reads as a game, not a tool.
17	My Hats	Bluntly on-format with the range. Almost too plain.
18	Pick a Hat	The first instruction of every round. Not a title so much as a rule.
19	The Wrong Hat	Straight from the founding line. Negative on a box front.
20	Wear It Well	Warmest of the twenty and the least specific.

Deliberately not on the list: anything with a number in it, because the card count has moved twice already; and anything using "Thinking Hats", because that is de Bono's and it is a different model.

10 · Languagedone

Settled

Guide in EN, DE, IT and FR. The cards carry no words at all.

One deck, every market

Nothing is printed on a card. No name, no number, no prompt. That makes the 60 cards themselves language-free, so one print run serves every market and there is no German edition and English edition to keep in step. That is worth more than it sounds: it halves the stock, it removes the worst reprint risk.

Only the guide carries language, and it is short by design, so four languages make a booklet and not a brick. EN, DE and IT are set.

EN, DE, IT and FR. French covers France, the Belgian and Swiss buyers who already order from us, and Quebec at no extra cost. Four languages in a short guide is a booklet, not a brick.

What this settles beyond the guide: no French card edition is ever needed, because there is nothing on a card to translate. One print run, one stock line, one reprint.

11 · Pricedone

Settled

39.95 EUR.

39.95 EUR

Not a guess. It is the shelf price of every coaching-card set in our range: "My Purpose", "Speak Up", "My Beliefs", "How do you feel?" and "What do you need?" are all 39.95. Sitting on the same number keeps the range legible and keeps this deck off the discount end of it.

Around 45 USD. Your notes had 30 to 40 dollars and your testers said anywhere from 20 to 99, so 39.95 sits inside what they told you. The cc format and the shared box are what make that number work with a printed guide in the box.

●12 · Bookletin progress

To decide

Pages 23 and 24: is your bio correct, and may we use your photo and logo from lizardbrain.com?
Which email should the guide show: hello@lizardbrain.com only, or yours too?
One booklet in four languages, or four booklets.

The guide, first version for your review

70 x 110 mm, 28 pages, the same format and layout as our other in-box guides. It sits in the box with the cards.

Open the guide (PDF)

What is in it

Pages
1-10	Cover, about the deck, the two questions, the four groups (one page each), why cards, card anatomy.
11-13	How every method works: step 1, hand out the cards; step 2, talk it through.
14-18	Methods for groups: the hat round, colour sorting, check-in, a hat for someone else, role crafting.
19-20	Methods for one-to-one: the hats in your life, wear/want/expect.
21-22	Prompts, taken from your five prompt sets and shortened.
23-24	About you and about Lizard Brain, written from lizardbrain.com, with your photo and logo from there.
25-28	metaFox pages and the back cover.

●13 · Open questionsin progress

Answered: the card selection, the name (Hats We Wear!), the packaging (style 1), the back (group colour, final design by John Paul), the look over 60 (all 60 drawn), the drawn style over photography, and colour-coding the groups (on the back only, never on the front). One question is still open.

How useful is the sorting to you? You have run this with real groups and we have not. Does the four-way split describe what you actually see people pick? And could it become part of how the exercises are framed, rather than only a way of organising the deck?