David Heinemeier Hansson, partner at 37signals and creator of Ruby on Rails, instant messaged me one day in December 2010.

Hey, you want to design graphics for a race car?

Hells yeah. Initially I had a clear vision of how I wanted the design to look. I wanted to create a pixelated affect using the iconic 37signals logo (designed by Ammon Haggerty) across the body of the car. The tricky part was the color scheme. I had really no idea where to start. Here are the various colors I tried:

Actually what’s funny is I sprinted on this for 1 week after David approached me with the project. This was right around New Year’s, so I didn’t have a lot going on. After these initial designs I got swept away with other duties (like designing materials for the 37signals Suite). I dropped the ball on the car design.

I didn’t hear from David for a while. Actually, I was avoiding the subject because I didn’t really come up with any other designs. I knew the race was in March, but I didn’t really have a grasp of the timeline to create the graphics.

Then earlier this month he tweeted:

37signals car coming alive: http://yfrog.com/gzdqdphj -- thanks to @asianmack for design! 1st race in 2 weeks @ Sebring.

I was pleasantly surprised. His car graphics guy took my concept and made it a reality. The car looks great. Good luck in Sebring DHH!

Follow David and the 37signals Racing Team today at 37racing.com.

I recently designed some 37signals Thank You cards. They were printed by Rohner Letterpress in Chicago. Here’s what they look like:

It was a really fun to see a working letterpress. I have done offset printing before, but this was my first time seeing a letterpress in action. I made a fun little video of the press — heavily inspired by Steve Delahoyde’s awesome Field Notes videos. Original music by Sudara.

Update: Here’s a link to download the song Sudara made.

We sent out a batch for those kind enough to participate in our Holiday Toy Drive.

Everyone is there to support a sale
Gordon Segal, founder and former CEO of Crate and Barrel, has the belief that each person in the corporation is there to support a sale in the store. Think about that for a second. When he says each person he isn’t just talking about the stockroom and people wearing the iconic black aprons. He’s also thinking about those designers and programmers at the corporate headquarters.

I was a designer at Crate and Barrel before 37signals. In fact, I was there for 7.5 years which is like 14 internet years right? Before Crate I was working the rounds for several years at interactive agencies during the boom times of the late 90’s. I bring this up because I worked really hard to develop skills and experience to escape those minimum wage retail jobs.

A humbling experience
Human Resources said that I had to work for 2 weeks at a retail store when I was first hired as a Graphic Designer. I thought to myself, “Bullshit!” They want to pay me a to work in a retail store? I want to start designing and making all the great things I’ve been dreaming about during the interview process! Note that I wouldn’t get to see my desk at the corporate headquarters for 2 weeks either.

I started my first day as a Graphic Designer at the North and Clybourn retail store in Chicago — complete with khakis and black apron. It was an incredible and humbling experience. I was completely out of my element. My world was MacOS not walking the floor chatting with customers. If you’re ever been in a Crate and Barrel store you’ll know that they’re wonderful to browse yet terrible to find things quickly for a high maintenance customer.

During those 2 weeks in the store I worked in every department: Kitchenwares, Furniture, Basics (everyday stuff), Dinnerware, etc. I saw a customer try to return a set of glasses he actually bought from Target. I saw happy engaged couples zapping merchandise around the store to put on their gift registry. I saw a furniture salesperson make a $20,000 sale in a few minutes. I was seeing how the business was run on the front lines, in the trenches, out of my element.

On being a better Designer
When I was in college I believed that Design can change the world. I still believe that, but I’ve become more of a pragmatist. Let’s face it, most designers out there design something to sell something else.

You can be a better designer by copying someone’s style or reading design theory books. I, however, believe the best way to be a better designer is to be on the front lines, in the trenches. Graphic Design at its basest level is to communicate something visually. The best way to communicate something better is to understand what customers need or what they’re looking for.

When I was at the Crate and Barrel store helping a woman find a set of drinking glasses I had a short conversation with her about what sort of glasses she was interested in. There are so many glasses at the Crate. In this 5 minute conversation I helped her hone in on the right glasses. Making this one $9.99 sale taught me loads more than a graphic design book had ever done. I remembered this later as I designed the UI for the website.

Customer service and support
Recently we’ve really locked in our customer support workflow here at 37signals. It’s really easy for anyone to jump in and start interacting with customers — answering their questions and helping them in times of desperation. All of the designers (Jason and David too!) are starting to interact directly with our customers. I dig that.

I know that the more sales questions I answer the better designer I’ll be. I’m on the front lines and in the trenches.

Sam Stephenson asked if I could shoot a fun little video announcing Basecamp Mobile. This was on a Tuesday, and the mobile app was scheduled (at the time) to launch on Friday.

We have a Canon 5d Mark II at the office for general photo and video. Steve Delahoyde (video genius) at Coudal Partners graciously lent us his lights and light tent for the shoot. Here’s what the rig looked like (set up in our kitchen).

The direction

I wanted the video to be more about Bascamp Mobile supporting many devices rather than showing off the interface. The video had to be short and it had to tell what I thought was the most important story: You can use Basecamp on your iPhone, Android, Blackberry Torch, and Palm Pre 2.

First take

An initial idea we had was to show a hand passing a different phone across the screen: iPhone, Blackberry, Nexus One, etc. The idea that Basecamp could run on all these devices took too long to get across.

Out of focus

The better idea was to focus on the iPhone — make it seem like this is a Basecamp for iPhone spot. Then at the end we would show that Basecamp was also available on these other devices. Jason Fried had the idea to show different hands showing all of the phones.

The only problem was that the other phones were out of focus. No matter we had the idea down, we just needed to reshoot it.

Think Tank makes great photography bags. Like all manufacturers they stand by the quality of their product. However, they believe the “Lifetime warranty” is nothing more than marketing BS.

Here’s a great statement from their No Rhetoric Warranty page:

If you’re 30 years old when you purchased a bag, are you really going to return it 30 years later for repair? The only way this is possible is if the bag has stayed in your closet the majority of the time. Remember the leather cases in the 1960’s? Is anyone returning these bags for repair under the “lifetime” warranty? This is why the lifetime warranty is more of a marketing gimmick than the truth. Is it the life of the bag, or your personal life? The normal life of a bag, if it is used weekly, is four to 10 years, which is not “lifetime.” If lifetime means your personal life, when you’re dead, you won’t need the bag, unless it’s a body bag.

I found this statement refreshing. I’m not sure how big Think Tank is — how many employees or revenues. This straight-talk made them feel like a shop around the corner, and I like that.