Theo Rosendorf, Design Consultant at Matador, on how he uses Basecamp to work with his publisher:
My agency, Matador, has been using Basecamp for years because clients just take to it so easily. So when I set out to write The Typographic Desk Reference (TDR), it was obvious I’d end up using Basecamp for it in some way. The TDR is a dictionary of concise entries on type. It has over a thousand facts on typography, all organized and cross-referenced.
The working process with the publisher was simple. We used to-dos for edits and then messages for PDF reviews — rinse and repeat. Once we had a rhythm going, the multiple rounds of edits were done in no time. I can’t imagine orchestrating reference book collaboration without being able to pinpoint attention to the smallest details as Basecamp does. We actually started editing the TDR on Basecamp just after to-do commenting was added. This enabled us to dig deep on the details.
Typography is a craft of details and Basecamp gets right to the details. I was pleased to see most of the special characters (e.g. Ӝ ӝ Ӟ ӟ) in the book rendered just fine in the to-dos and messages. Inline Greek and Cyrillic didn’t seem to be an issue either. All handy features to have around.
We hope to start translating the TDR to German soon and we’ll definitely use Basecamp for it. As everyone knows, Basecamp goes everywhere: Atlanta to Berlin or wherever else it’s needed. Similar to a well designed typeface, Basecamp works tirelessly but quietly in the background, often across borders but always immediately accessible. It’s usually a thankless job which makes it all the more admirable.
Do you use a 37signals product in an interesting way? Let us know.
