MailChimp loves coffee. Every time someone makes a new batch, they announce the "fresh pot" in our chat room. It’s like our Bat-Signal, except that, instead of hailing Batman in a time of distress, it sends caffeine-crazed coffee drinkers scurrying to the kitchen to grab a cup before it’s gone. Its origins can be traced back to rock ‘n’ roll legend Dave Grohl’s now-classic YouTube clip.
It’s with all this in mind that I started thinking of a more analog system to alert our team to fresh pots. I’d always wanted to create a neon design while documenting that process. I wanted the sign to be aggressive-but-charming, but also bold, just like Grohl himself—the neon equivalent of him showing up and shouting, “FRESH POTS!” I started out with a pencil sketch, then met up with the good folks at The Neon Company here in Atlanta.
Once I started editing the process video I realized that it needed some original music for its soundtrack. Our hastily assembled one-off band (drums, bass, two guitars, gang vocals) wrote, recorded, and mixed a brand new song in 4 hours at Glow in the Dark Studios. Naturally, we called it “Fresh Pots!”