1. Bordo Bello NYC: A Skateboard Design Show, May 13 – 17, 11:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. - Hosted by AIGA Colorado, “Bordo Bello” is the annual skateboard art show featuring the work of more than 1,000 professional designers, artists, and students, creating an exhibition of skateboard decks and simultaneously supporting charitable causes. Read more…

2. Parsons BFA Product Design Flat-Pack and Micro-Manufacturing Exhibition, May 7 – 24, 10:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. - Parsons BFA Product Design students are challenged by the Flat-Pack Studio to create a furniture than can be flat-packed in standard shipping materials from UPS; the Micro-Manufacturing Studio helps students with design, modeling, prototyping, and testing of a family of household accessories or furniture, focusing on small-scale and self-sufficient production. Learn more…

3. NYCxDesign Workshop: Sustainable Design Thinking, May 14, 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. - Led by Neil Chambers, founder/CEO of Chambers Design, Inc. and author of Urban Green: Architecture for the Future, the workshop explores how environmental issues can be affected by design, as well as what successes and priorities for the future exist. Learn more…

4. BKLYN DESIGNS 2013, May 10 – 12, 10:00 a.m – 8:00 p.m. - The BKLYN DESIGNS exhibition features a distinctive array of cutting-edge design from Brooklyn-based designers and manufacturers showcasing the “iconic Brooklyn style.” Learn more… 

5. INTRO NY, May 18 – 20, 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. - Network or just take a break at INTRO NY. The “capsule event” provides a unique environment comprised of a series of design-branded vignettes. The styled spaces allow visitors to talk shop, socialize, or just plain relax. It also includes an outdoor café by Brooklyn Roasting Company. Learn more… 

6. Cutlog NYC Art Fair, May 10 – 13, 10:00 a.m – 8:00 p.m. - After five successful years in Paris, Cutlog NYC debuts on the city’s Lower East Side. Some forty galleries and curators will showcase art, installations, talks, and more throughout the Clemente Soto Vélez Center’s classrooms, halls, and theaters. Outdoors the parking lot will be transformed into a showspace for sculpture, music, food, and films. Learn more…

*Is your cab budget a little stretched? Does the subway not show you enough of New York? See NYCxDESIGN x Bike! Download the free bike map.

Photos linked within text.

Tell us about yourself and your work: what you’re passionate about, what inspires you, and where you’re going. I focus on responsive, future-friendly, front-end design and development. This means I design and code websites that flex and adapt to the device the user is viewing them on. Progressive enhancement ensures that users visiting a site from their phone on a congested mobile network aren’t forced to download the same site assets they would see on their 30″ display at the office. Future-friendly development means writing flexible, modular code structure that is mindful of what’s next in tech.

I’m inspired by quality craft, regardless of medium. It is endearing to witness a maker who is good at what he or she is making. I’m also inspired by my city and the people who call it home. Winnipeg has an incredibly rich arts and cultural scene, especially for a city of relatively small size. In the past few years our downtown has seen some really cool architectural installations, like a huge steel/LED sculpture called “Emptyful” that’s shaped like an Erlenmeyer flask, and OMS Stage, an open-air performing arts venue that looks like it’s straight out of a science-fiction movie. When the rivers freeze in the winter, we clear the longest skating trail in the world and line it with warming huts designed in an annual architectural competition. I think there’s something to be said for the resilience and outward thinking this city embraces.

Tell us about your space. What’s your aesthetic? What do you like or dislike? My space is a bit of an audio playground, with instruments and recording gear and a life-size cardboard cutout of Raj Koothrappali from the TV show ”Big Bang Theory” (he’s camera shy). I have a flawless Fender Rhodes piano that was built in March of 1972, and will forever be the coolest thing I own.

The studio monitors on my desk sit on foam/steel wedges that isolate the speaker vibrations from my work surface. These are my go-to for listening to most music, but if I’m listening to a concert recording I’ll also bring up the mono speaker stack for a different timbre. If I’m listening to something with poor quality sound, I’ll route the audio through an old GE stereo I modded a few years ago that can plug directly into my mixer. This is kind of like the aural equivalent of taking a mediocre picture of your feet with Instagram and applying a filter to make it “better.”

The big white pillow things on my walls are broadband absorbers that help eliminate sound reflections and frequency nodes. Each panel is 4″ of rigid fiberglass insulation and an open wood frame that is wrapped in fabric and hung with picture frame wire.

My window treatment (if I can even call it that) is several layers of translucent plastic tablecloth, held in place with binder clips and magnets. It turns my basement window well into a big softbox. When rabbits hop in the garden above it’s like a shadow puppet show without the puppets.

I’m constantly exploring ergonomics, and love finding new ways to make working better. Currently my wrists rest on a water-damaged piece of hardboard from an old drawer. This sits atop a stack of dollar-store craft foam that raises the leading edge of my keyboard and trackpad so they parallel my desk. I think most people have increased fidelity in their fingers and thumbs with their wrists either parallel to their desks or relaxed forward, instead of pulled back as most keyboard designs imply. This is in part why pianists are trained not to drop their wrists while playing.

My display sits on a 3″ roll of black duct tape, the underside of which is covered by parchment paper. Parchment paper has a low coefficient of friction, so slides around my glass desk with ease.

If I could change anything about my current setup, I definitely wouldn’t be working on a black glass desk. It is an incredible pain to keep clean. I’d like to try a sit-stand desk with a wood surface and motorized legs.

You have both an Embody and an Aeron in your space. Why did you choose them, and how do they differ for you? I like them both, and they are very different. I typically start the work day in the Aeron because I love its forward tilt. It arches my back and keeps my body in attentive posture, which helps me kick-start productivity if I stayed up too late writing code or playing hockey. The Embody feels more relaxed to me, and I’m most comfortable in it slightly reclined. I usually tackle less intensive tasks in the Embody, like long-form reading or answering email. The Embody’s arm rests adjust closer to my body than the Aeron’s, which I find helpful in reducing shoulder strain.

It may seem excessive to have two high-end chairs in such close proximity, but an investment in design and comfort is easily justifiable to someone who spends as much time at a desk as I do.

Photos: Brad Cerasani

Be sure to check out the latest clue here for a chance to win an Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman!

1. Ardea Personal Light – Inspired by the graceful necks of Ardea Herons, the energy-efficient Ardea Personal Light offers a flexible illumination source that can brighten every corner of your work or craft space. Find them at Herman Miller.

2. WHOLE WORLD Water – Looking for a way to help the nearly 1 billion people worldwide without access to clean water (and help the environment, too), Yves Béhar and Fuseproject reached out to the hotel industry. WHOLE WORLD Water replaces high-priced bottled water with re-usable bottles filtered on-site. 10% of the proceeds benefit global safe water programs. Learn more at Fuseproject.

3. Jawbone JAMBOX – Gone are the towering speakers that dominated your parents’ living room. Despite its relatively diminutive size, the JAMBOX’s precision drivers and dual passive bass radiators will stir your senses with remarkably clear and full sound. Find them at Jawbone.

4. Sodastream Source – Combining a distinctive design with even greater ease of use, Yves’ Source design for Sodastream dramatically enhances the home soda maker’s beauty and functionality. Choose from white, black, red, or blue. Find them at Sodastream.

5. PayPal Here – This is a new type of swipe, the portable type: the PayPal Here mobile card reader and app. Now businesses of any size can accept credit cards, PayPal, and even checks with an iPhone, iPad, or Android device – wherever you do business. Learn more at PayPal Here.

6. SAYL Chair – Uniting inventive design with low environmental impact, Yves Béhar created the SAYL. Eschewing a traditional back frame the chair allows for a new freedom of movement without any loss of support. Customize with a wide array of colors and materials. Configure yours at Herman Miller.

And speaking of SAYL Chairs, if you play the “Everywhere in Your Day” contest here, you could win one of your very own!

Photos linked within text.

1. Eames Table Contract Base Round Outdoor - Let the meeting of the round table commence with Charles and Ray’s vision for the perfect outdoor surface. Choose from a range of elegant and distinctive options including two heights, four tabletop diameters, and a choice of three marble and one granite table materials. See all the options at Herman Miller.

2. Water Jug, Menu & Pil Bredahl - Refresh your meeting’s attendants from this tall drink of water (or tea or lemonade) designed by Pil Bredahl. With its slender waist, the pitcher makes for an easy grasp and includes an ingenious top that opens just enough for fluid and not enough for ice or citrus to escape. Available from A+R.

3. Eames Aluminum Group Side Chair Outdoor - Surround an outdoor Eames Table or Nelson Pedestal Table with these perfectly adapted outdoor versions of the classic Eames Aluminum Group. Supportive Outdoor Weave material covers their lightweight aluminum frames for a truly comfortable seat that holds its own in the elements with effortless elegance. Select from four fabric colors and choose arms and a swivel or fixed base at Herman Miller.

4. Triple Dish, Morph - For a tasty intermission, offer crudités and snacks from this curvy Triple Dish design by Morph for Joseph Joseph. Three large segments for chips and vegetables surround a removable center for dips and sauces. Available in two-tone green and white or stone grey. Grasp yours at Joseph Joseph.

5. Aluminum Portable Document Holder - Windproof your meeting agenda, notes, and memos for external discussions with this classic mobile storage solution. It’s a touch of old school with a lot of convenience, in corrosion-resistant aluminum. Perfect for every team leader. Get them at Kaufmann Mercantile.

6. Nelson Pedestal Table Outdoor - Take the classic, sculpted silhouette of George Nelson’s Pedestal Table outdoors for your meeting. With three sizes to choose from, the table can act as side table, work surface, and more. Select from five different finishes for the table top. Choose yours at Herman Miller.

Photos linked within text.

Charles and architect Eero Saarinen, and then Charles and Ray together, had experimented with a single-shell form for several years before Charles and Ray submitted a design in stamped metal in the Museum of Modern Art’s 1948 “International Competition for Low-Cost Furniture Design.” Their entry received second place. Its heavy, neoprene-coated form proved costly to produce, however, so Charles and Ray turned their attention to something new: plastic. They soon found that the exciting material could mold into organic shapes and comfortably conform to the body, allowing their design to do more with less.

In 1950, it was this iteration that Herman Miller made available, marking the arrival the first mass-produced plastic chair. It did not, however, mark the end of the evolution of the seating. Since its launch, the Eames Molded Plastic Chair has continually benefited from the Eames process of exploration and refinement. Details like shock mounts, color and height options, base variations, and use of upholstery have welcomed enhancements. Manufacturing processes have been closely monitored and modified. And in the late 1980s, when new findings showed fiberglass-reinforced plastic shells to be less suitable for the environment, Herman Miller and Ray Eames discussed discontinuing the design; in the ’90s, the chairs officially ceased production. After investigating sustainable solutions, however, Herman Miller and the Eames family reissued the seat in 2000 in 100% recyclable polypropylene.

This chair, like its designers, has been on a continual journey. Now, the design takes its next step forward using 3-D veneer technology, a process that provides the additional flexibility wood veneer needs to be molded into complex curves — and take on the classic form as a single wood shell.

This new expression, the Eames Molded Wood Side Chair, honors the organic shapes, sleek lines, and honest materials of Ray and Charles’ classic work — and its introduction beautifully represents Herman Miller’s longstanding commitment to the Eames vision of continued exploration, refinement, and discovery. Find out more about the new chair here, and look for it to be available soon in the Herman Miller Store.

1. Medici Chair Outdoor, Konstantin Grcic - Reinterpreting its Adirondack Chair ancestor for a contemporary setting, the Medici Chair offers reclined outdoor comfort and relaxation under sun or moon. Spaciously accommodating and perfect as stand-alone piece or gathered around the fire. From Herman Miller.

2. Magis Spun Chair, Thomas Heatherwick - Sit and spin in this sculptural one-of-kind chair designed by Heatherwick to unite architecture, design, and sculpture into “a single practice.” Ideal for both indoor and outdoor, it’s surprisingly comfortable — and undeniably enjoyable. Choose from four colors at Herman Miller.

3. King’s Game, Fruitsuper Design - A handsome update of King’s Game or “Kubb” as it’s known in Sweden, this unique lawn game’s object is to knock over wooden blocks by throwing sticks — a mix of bowling and horseshoes. Comes in a handy go-anywhere tote and is made in the USA. Get one from Fruitsuper Design.

4. Urbanfire Wood Burning, Modfire - Originally designed to match a mid-century patio and perfectly roast marshmallows, this cone-shaped, wood-burning fireplace warmly accents any patio or deck. Rolled steel with handmade shaping and detail. 48″ high. Find yours at Modfire.

5. Air-Chair (with arms), Set of 4, Jasper Morrison - Air-molding technology combines high tech with fine design to deliver this stackable, lightweight, and comfortable seating solution. Choose the arm-chair version for bit of extra comfort and distinctiveness. In a variety of colors, from Herman Miller.

6. Eames Table Contract Base Outdoor, Charles & Ray Eames - With a broad spectrum of sizes and newly developed outdoor-ready finishes, the Eameses’ classic table design wears and weathers beautifully no matter where you place it. A substantial, yet simple centerpiece to your patio or sun porch. Configure yours at Herman Miller.

Photos linked within text.

A balance of health and harmony in your workspace reduces aches and pains, increases your mental well-being, aids productivity, and can even increase creativity. Sit up straight and take notice of these six ways to a healthier new year.

1. Embody Chair, Bill Stumpf and Jeff Weber - By maintaining your physical alignment, Embody’s ergonomic support reduces pressure and stimulates blood and oxygen flow. A little extra of both goes a long way to keeping you relaxed and focus. Customize yours at Herman Miller.

2. Flavor It Water Infuser Bottle - Staying hydrated is key to your health, but it can get a little, well, dull. Freshen up your fluids with this flavor-infusing, glass water bottle. A harmonious addition to your desktop. They’re popular, find yours at Overstock or Uncommon Goods.

3. Envelop Desk, Bill Stumpf and Jeff Weber - Posture care is no longer just the dominion of your chair. Do your work seated with pin-height adjustable legs or opt for a standing posture with Envelop’s electric adjusting legs. Find both at Herman Miller.

+ Envelop Desk pairs perfectly with an Embody or Aeron Chair, too.

4. Flo Monitor Support - Flo’s adjustable monitor arm brings your display into clearer focus reducing eye strain, reducing clutter on your desktop, and encouraging healthy sitting posture. High or low, Flo puts your work right where you want it. Single and double monitor arms available at Herman Miller.

5. The Big Happy Family Kit, Urbio - Along with staying hydrated, staying oxygenated has unlimited health benefits. Add a little flora to your field of vision with The Big Happy Family Kit. Originally designed for urban gardens, the modular wall system can be used for both planting and office organization. Find yours at YLiving.

6. Flute Personal Light, Tom Newhouse - Simultaneously good for you and the environment, the LED Flute delivers affordable, high quality light, and a tiny carbon foot print. You won’t even need to replace a bulb, the LED light source has a lifespan of more than two decades. Find it at Herman Miller.

Photos linked within text.

How did you get your start? When I was a child, my mom saw me creating drum sets and playing with pots and pans. So she had me begin piano lessons at the age at three. She loved taking family photos and listening to a wide variety of music, and she and my dad gave me my first Polaroid and toy portable record player, which I took everywhere. While growing up in Uniondale, Long Island — which at the time was a West Indian suburban neighborhood — my visual and musical sense became more pronounced. I heard and saw traditional, modern, suburban, and urban black-and-white cultures. My family also traveled extensively throughout my youth. Through all the adventures, I truly enjoyed the exposure, but I really wanted to create my own art and music.

When was your studio established? What led to that point? Years ago, while working in the corporate music industry as an artist and producer, I became frustrated with the struggle to define my art by the titles that my music didn’t fit. It became a daunting task to negotiate with the gatekeepers who tried to filter my vision. I was determined to create a genre that defined my musical style and interests. I also wanted to execute all aspects of my vision. To fully navigate the creative process under my own terms, I started The People’s Republic of Sound about four years ago to showcase my work as a complete musical, visual, and technical artist. My company’s first release is the video “I Got Love” in which I wrote, sang, and mixed the song, produced and played all the instruments, and directed, filmed, edited, and designed the video. I see myself as an artist who starts with the thought, builds out the concept, and executes my total vision from beginning to end.

Tell us about your work: what you’re passionate about, what inspires you, and where you’re going. Right now I am passionate about merging moving images and music as one complete thought made by the same person. Technology now allows me that option. I don’t have to hire a video director, graphic designer, or photographer. I can produce all the things I want without any interference.

I am inspired by various sources. Museum exhibition inspires my music, be it photography, films, sculpture, art, or dance. Photography mainly influences my film work, and sometimes music inspires my photography. I’m also very much into Polaroid photography, and have two SX 70s that I love to shoot with.

Science, design, and architecture are my secret passions. How is it made, how can it be made, what are the effects on our future, our culture, and humanity — these are questions that underline my work. My favorite visual artists are Chris Ofili, Bansky, Chuck Close, and Ron Mueck. Architects and designers Ray and Charles Eames, David Adjaye, and Santiago Calatrava shape my work. In film and video, I am inspired by the moody and futuristic tones of directors Chris Cunningham, Michel Gondry, Stanley Kubrick, Spike Lee, and Ernest Dickerson. Japanese cyberpunk animation like Ghost in the Shell and Appleseed influences my style; I like how humans interact with technology. In music, my taste is so varied: Gregory Porter, Radiohead, Aphex Twin, John Mayer, The Spinners with Philippe Wynne, Prince, Wolfgang Gartner, Crosby Stills and Nash, James Taylor, Bjork, and The Gorillaz. Brazilian soul music and anything with soul moves me. I also use Pinterest as a source of inspiration to collect, tell, and define my style.

Tell us about your space. How would you define your aesthetic? What do you like or dislike about it? With my company, I’m trying to redefine a creative person — to make a boutique multimedia label based around one person. The space I live presently is not ideal. When I bought the house, my girlfriend and I had to rent out the top two floors. I was going to put a studio in the basement, but I wanted to have some natural light. At the moment this is a temporary space until I take over the floor above me; I’ll then turn it into one big visual and music studio. In the meantime, I created a small workstation much like a graphic designer’s and less like musician’s, which I’ve grown to like. Space is very challenging, because on occasion, clients come over or I need to record vocals late at night while my girlfriend is sleeping. Again, it’s temporary. I’m working on making it more modern with an organic, warm feel and a touch of cyberpunk.

You have a SAYL chair in the office. Why did you choose it? I decided to buy a task chair because I sit a lot and my back was beginning to hurt me. I wanted to buy something that was the right price with great quality. I was used to the Aeron chair in bigger recording studios, but wanted something smaller and lighter for this small space. I was always a big Herman Miller fan. (I still have dreams about the Eames lounge chair.) I love the SAYL’s futuristic design, which is unlike any other chair on the market. It fits just like any other Herman Miller chair: supportive and comfortable, yet easy to maintain. The design fits well with my modern aesthetic — I just fell in love with it. You don’t know how much strain you are putting on your back until you get a good chair and you feel the relief. And I love that it photographs well, too.

Photos: Thomas Piper; Tie by Pomi Power

1. Bunn Phase Brew HT - With the Phase Brew HT your kitchen can be home to the same commercial coffee quality Bunn is famous for. Brew up to 8 cups directly into a vacuum insulate thermal carafe where it stays warm for hours. Its intuitive display makes brewing a snap. Get yours on Amazon.

2. Swiffer - Like the microwave, Swiffer revolutionized an age-old area of daily living. Wet and dry Swiffers offered a practical replacement for the broom and mop and in the process changed how we clean floors forever. Find Swiffer products on Amazon.

3. Preserve Toothbrush - No longer just from cleaning teeth, the Preserve Toothbrush works to keep the earth clean as well. Made from recycled plastic containers, the Preserve is meant to be mailed back at end of its brushing life where it is recycled again into plastic lumber for construction. Find it at Preserve.

4. Moen Revolution Hand Shower - Everyone likes their shower just so. Enter the Revolution Shower head, designed to offer extensive settings and unprecedented control at your fingertips. Adjust flow, strength, even the size of water droplets using the settings control situated outside the stream of water, a particularly thoughtful innovation. Learn more at Continuum.

5. Compass System - The nature of healthcare and treatment is always changing and continually evolving. Keeping pace with that evolution is the Compass System, a modular system of healthcare space components for hospitals and other facilities. The Compass was developed not just as a better healthcare product, but to provide a better healthcare experience from start to finish. Learn more at Herman Miller.

6. Nala Patient Chair - Extensive research with caregivers and hospitals informed the innovative ergonomics of the Nala Chair. Learning what worked and what didn’t in traditional patient seating, the Nala is able provide amazing support and comfort. Get details at Herman Miller.

Photos linked within text.

In this week’s “Why Design” series from Herman Miller, Don Chadwick discusses the camera and how it’s helped guide his eye, allowing him to see things differently. Chadwick’s unique view of the world has allowed him to redefine it with design.

His Aeron Chair is the perfect example. It introduced a completely new kind of task seating, eschewing traditional upholstery for form-fitting Pellicle suspension, which cools and focuses while offering unmatched ergonomic comfort and support.

Lifework draws inspiration from Chadwick’s words and work in this week’s Six Ways to Photography and Design.

1. Crumpler 6 Million Dollar Home Camera Bag - With immense capacity, this tough-as-nails carry-all-things camera bag is water resistant, has a customizable interior, and is easy on the body. Newbie or pro, you can move your gear into a new $6M home. Get it at Crumpler.

2. Impossible Instant Lab - Bridging the gap between trend-setting and cherished nostalgia is the Impossible Instant Lab for iPhone. Simply attach your iPhone and turn digital images into Polaroid-esque reality. Back this project on Kickstarter.

3. Polaroid GL10 Instant Mobile Printer - Here’s another way to turn pixels tangible. The GL10 connects to your mobile phone via Bluetooth and prints your photos, no ribbons, or cartridges required. Print up to 35 3×4 full-color photos in a single charge. Available from Polaroid.

4. Flipbac Angle Viewfinder - This clever camera accessory helps you capture that tricky angle and avoid body-contortion. Just attach the Flipbac mirrored viewfinder to your digital camera and shoot from a host of striking new angles. Check it out at Flipbac.

5. iPhone Stutter Grip - Get a handle on mobile phone photo and videography literally, with iPhone Stutter Grip. Stutter Grip adds handle and shutter/video button right where you remember it, giving your iPhone that more familiar, SLR feel. Find one at Photojojo.

6. Gorillapod, Joby - A must-have for any on-the-go shutterbug, the Gorillapod’s flexible, multi-pivoting, gripping tripod legs balance, secure, and steady your camera just about anywhere. With eight different configurations to choose from, there’s a Gorillapod for every kind of photographer. Get a grip on one at Joby.

Photos: Linked within the text.

1. Issey Miyake VUE – Offering a unique view of time’s coming and going, the VUE’s slatted dial only displays the current hour while the others, past and future, fade from view. Available from All Modern.

2. Sabi Folio Pill Traveler – The Vivacity line of medication management products offers a mix of function, aesthetics, and quality where only low quality existed before. Take this normally mundane task to an efficient, stylish new level by choosing yours at Sabi.

3. Ardea Light - A design tribute to the long-necked Ardea herons, this graceful, flexible light allows you to illuminate your space from every angle. Get the distinctive, energy-efficient Ardea at Herman Miller.

4. Peel Universal Remote – This free iPhone and Android app pairs with Peel Fruit hardware, allowing users to choose shows, search, and review their viewing habits. Available at the Apple Store.

5. Up Wristband – An innovation in health and lifestyle management, the Up wristband and app allow you to track sleeping habits, activity levels, even diet. The comfortable wristband sends data to an intuitive, easy-to-use app interface. Find it at Jawbone.

6. SAYL Chair – Inspired by suspension bridges, the SAYL’s striking, frameless back design provides extensive freedom of movement and comfort without sacrificing support. Light but strong, advanced but affordable. Customize yours at Herman Miller.

Photos: Linked within the text.

Organizing your schedule, both personal and professional, is always a challenge. Tools in the digital space let you create to do lists, communicate timelines, and keep track of your scheduling in integrated ways, but sometimes you still need physical reminders to keep you on task. By consistently color coding the different roles in your personal and professional life using both digital and physical tools, managing your lifestyle at a glance becomes much simpler.

Google offers a great online calendar, which, tied to your Google account, lets you create multiple color-coded calendars in a weekly, daily, or monthly view. I like to use this to track my time, both professionally and personally, and have created different calendars to reflect different roles and tasks I deal with from day to day. To be able to quickly spot what I should be doing through the week, I’ve selected color codes for each calendar, often choosing a color pertinent to the task. Outside of the digital space, I bring the same color coding to life by keeping a set of colorful markers and sticky notes around, matching the colors used in my online calendars for consistency.

As a freelance designer, I often work with several different clients at once, and so I like to choose a color to represent each client (often one which matches a color used in their branding). When outlining a project on bristol board as I often do, I might use a colored marker I’ve associated with a client for headings, or quick fills in mock up sketches, to ensure I can easily spot notes for a specific project or task amongst a pile of others. In setting up a calendar to manage tasks for a specific project, I would again choose a color I can easily associate with the client for quick reference of my schedule through the day.

Outside of a professional workflow, color coding can also be useful for managing tasks around your home. For delegating chores to your kids, or for organizing between you and your significant other, have each member of your household pick a favorite color. Use these colors to create color coded Google calendars to outline and share schedules between each other. Match those colors up with sticky notes and whiteboard markers so each member can make their mark in the real world, sharing easily recognizable color coded messages with each other in a shared space.

Color can also be helpful for managing diet or exercise. Schedule your meals and fitness regiment using a bright color in your online calendar. Leave sticky notes for yourself using a matching color on the fridge or on those cookies in the cupboard for a quick reminder (via color association) of your plan for personal well-being.

Adding a splash of color to your organizational workflow helps bring an eye-catching visual component to task management, but it also helps to beautify and personalize the tools we use to organize ourselves. Maintaining consistency is key, as is choosing colors that have meaning to you in the different facets of your life. Simple associations work great, for example using green for finances or red for things that are high priority. As does picking less obvious associations — for example, you might have a favorite supermarket you like to shop at with a bright purple sign, in which case purple might work well as a color for a quick reminder to pick up a loaf of bread on the way home from work.

Remember to keep things simple; if you find a set of sticky notes that only come in a few colors, try to limit the categories used in your calendar to those colors. This will help you stick to a simple system of organization that is easy to maintain, and quick to reference using just a few bright colors to simply outline how you manage your time.

By Sean Rioux. Used in partnership with Apartment Therapy Tech.

Photos: Sean Rioux

1. Vitamix Blender - Are your smoothies getting a little rough? Is your blender’s “Pulse” a flat line? Move to the top of the food chain with the Indy Car of blenders. In business for 90 years, Vitamix products are individually tested and backed by full warranties and great customer service. Thanks to high-efficiency cooling fans, Vitamix blenders don’t burn — a common failing — so you’ll be well blended for years to come. Mix it up at Vitamix.

2. Specialized S-Works Tarmac Bike - Touted as the lightest and stiffest racing bike around, the SL4 Tarmac is made for high-performance competition. From the tour de neighborhood to the Tour de France, the SL4 handles with pinpoint agility and lighting-fast acceleration thanks to its carbon frame, Shimano D12 components, and Roval Fusée SLX wheels. It’s a world-class set of wheels. Hop on one at Specialized.

3. Mobilegs Crutches, Jeff Weber - Necessity being the mother of invention, Embody Chair designer Jeff Weber‘s broken heel led to the extensive review, assessment, and redesign of the modern crutch. The result is an assisted mobility solution that provides function, agility, and tremendous comfort to the injured. Get a leg up at Mobilegs.

4. Xanadu Surfboards – Named for their designer who started shaping surfboards at 15, Xanadu high-performance boards champion the entry, foils, rockers, and outlines that, with some “good push and a little bit of pocket” (that’s surfer wave lingo), will have you smacking the lip in no time. Drop in to Xanadu for yours.

5. Embody Chair, Bill Stumpf and Jeff Weber - High performance, not high pressure — that’s part of what makes the Embody Chair work so hard for you. By keeping support in place no matter how you move, oxygen and blood flow are stimulated, improving your body’s performance. You stay focused, alert, and energized. Take a test drive at Herman Miller.

6. Fiat 500 Abarth Performance Sports Car – Remember the Fiat commercial with J-Lo driving around “the block”? This is not that car. This is the turbocharged, 160-horsepower, MultiAir engine, bat-out-of-hell Charlie Sheen version. As Mr. Sheen himself might say, “Winning!” See more at Fiatusa.com.

Photos: Linked to their sources within text

Dematerialization is an iterative design process for reducing materials and environmental footprint while maintaining comfort, function, and durability. Here’s six ways to get more for less, literally.

1. SAYL Chair, Yves Behar - Inventive, iterative design brings us the SAYL chair, a study in eco-dematerialization. Fewer pieces and unified parts reduce weight and improve strength simultaneously delivering a better, smarter chair, that’s 93% recyclable. Grab a seat at Herman Miller.

2. D’E-Light, Philippe Starck – With no moving parts -–not even a switch -– the touch sensitive D’E-Light is a marvel of design simplicity and function. Combining highly energy efficient LED task lighting with docking for iPod, iPhone, or iPhone, the D’E-Light unites and simplifies the desktop. See the light at Flos.

3. Apple MacBook Pro – Machined from a single piece of aluminum, the MacBook Pro broke the engineering mold, beginning with less and gaining more. Its “unibody“ enclosure remains strong and robust yet feels thinner and lighter to the touch. It goes anywhere basically, from credenza to café. Go Pro at the Apple Store.

4. Ideapaint – Countless whiteboards wind up in landfills while paper is overused and under-recycled rampantly. Enter Ideapaint which can turn virtually any surface into a high-performance creative collaboration space, using fewer resources, less energy, and more ingenuity. Paint the town with your ideas here.

5. Setu Chair, Studio 7.5 - Nature-inspired, meticulously refined lines assure the Setu’s shape keeps every molecule working for you. Conforming, contoured comfort are immediately present, while less materials are required. Truly less is more. Set yourself up with one at Herman Miller.

6. Cricket Trailer - Need to get out of the office? Enter the aerodynamic, reduced-weight Cricket Trailer. Needing less gas and horsepower, thanks to its aluminum composite and wood construction, means you can tow with the car you already have. Construct the perfect modular trailer and get hitched at Cricketrailer.com.

Photos: Linked to their sources within text

This simple, straightforward design illustrating a quote by Charles Eames comes from the CAMP creative studio in southern California. Download it here.

The graphic design team from the watch company Fossil created this nod to vintage lettering in its series of free wallpapers on fossil.com. Download it here.

Three tones of grey make up this quiet wallpaper, aptly named “Space by Nané.” Download it here.

Maraid Design’s cosmic wallpaper offering is from the vintage book “Odhams Encyclopaedia for Children.” Download it here.

This striking wallpaper celebrates Helvetica, the font chosen for the then-new Herman Miller logo in 1960 (the look lasted for almost 40 years). Download it here.

Don your desktop with bold lines and a small burst of personality courtesy of kikki.K, an Australian stationery store. Download it here.

How could we resist? With its declaration of love for mid-century modern design icons like the Nelson Marshmallow Sofa, the Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman, the Noguchi Table, and the Eames Molded Plastic Rocker, this wallpaper at Lush Pad admittedly wins our hearts. Download it here.

Want more desktop wallpaper ideas? Check out these other stories from Lifework:

1. Distraction-Free Desktop

2. New Desktop Wallpapers

3. Free Desktop Wallpapers

4. Pantone Desktop Wallpaper

Images: Linked to their sources

Wunderlist HD: While the built-in “Reminders” app on Apple’s iOS mobile operating system is great, it doesn’t sync across non-iOS devices, which can be a bit difficult if you work on a combined Android and iOS team. Wunderlist solves that problem. The thing we love most about the app (in addition to the design, of course) is the ability to share tasks and lists via email, which is an easy way to remind colleagues of any work that needs to be done. Free

Evernote: There is a reason why everyone talks about Evernote so much: it works really well to help you get more things done. The app provides an easily searchable way to organize notes and files, sync them across devices (and platforms), and share them with colleagues. Free

QuickOffice HD: Pretty much the grand dame of office apps that work on both Android tablets and the iPad. And while the price is a bit steep at almost twenty dollars, remember what you’re getting: a very robust Microsoft Office editing suite that works seamlessly on cloud services. $19.99

SyncSpace Shared Whiteboard: We’re just going to come out and say it: shared whiteboards are cool. Being able to sketch together with team members is very useful whether you’re all in the same conference room or across the globe. What sets this app apart from the rest is that the drawing space is zoomable. Collaborative in real time, it works across platforms. Free

What apps help you get work done?

Photos: Joelle Alcaidinho / Apartment Therapy Tech.

1. This look at the offices of Ray and Charles Eames at OfficeSnapshots.com.

2. The 6 Things You Need To Look For in a Home Office Chair from Apartment Therapy (well said!).

3. Stylish laptop cases and bags at Design*Sponge.

4. A sneak peek of the forthcoming Domino special issue from Curbed.

5. We toured this home designed by architect Christopher Polly on Contemporist in Sydney….

6. …then headed southward to check out the peaceful Marion Bay House in Tasmania (via Habitus Living).

7. Charmed by this paperweight found by Ideas to Steal.

8. Getting around to reading “Get To Work By Meeting Procrastination Head-On” from Fast Company.

9. The Minds of Modern Mathematics iPad app in honor of Ray Eames’ centennial.

10. And as the makers of Eames molded plastic chairs, we have to agree with Dwell: Color makes people happy.

Photo: Mirra Chair from Herman Miller

Work+
Working in an environment slightly out of your comfort zone can offer a certain focus, so Work+ helps to find cafes for those who require a humble place to go with their laptops/tablets. Enter info you need such as Wi-Fi, support for large groups, dog-friendly, pleasant ambiance, and radius, and Work+ will find options near you. User reviews from such spots are available based on how much work was achieved. Free

My Writing Spot
How many small pockets of time in the day come and go that could be spent working on that big writing project? My Writing Spot is a lightweight word processor that encourages the use of every moment of the day for writing. There is an autosave system that connects to the web app as well as word count, portrait/landscape mode, and built-in dictionary/thesaurus. Also available on Android. $3

Locale
Sometimes the best way to get to work is to protect yourself from yourself. Locale is a location-based app that changes your Android devices settings based on location. Wi-Fi, wallpaper, alert, and sound are just a few things that can be set to certain profiles when you’re at work, en route, at a cafe, or at home. Each can be configured automatically or customized individually to create custom work conditions to avoid being disturbed. $4

Txt Message Away
One of the biggest distractions is social interaction. Txt Message Away cleverly blocks incoming texts and sends a custom text back to the sender to let them know you’re busy so it doesn’t look like they are being ignored. Settings are available to efficiently minimize the amount of SMSs being sent out for those who don’t have text plans. $2

SuperTimer
The Pomodoro Technique is a productivity method that utilizes the power of time management. By working for 25 minutes continuously and following up with a five-minute break (each half hour being one “Pomodoro”), you can cut straight to the chase and get some work done. When utilized hand in hand with the Pomodoro Technique, the SuperTimers countdown timer function is a sleek tool to have. The app also features lap time and a stopwatch. Free

MagikMail
MagikMail takes away the mystery of an answering service and brings a visual interface to your smartphone voicemail inbox. Everything can be managed from deleting messages, recording a new greeting, playing a message in any order, and, best of all, transcribed messages so you can read voicemails in text form. $2

Photo: Via Uncrate featuring iPhone case by Material6

By Jason Rodway. Used in partnership with Apartment Therapy Tech.

1. “The Magic of Doing One Thing at a Time” from Harvard Business Review.

2. In related news: CBS News offered up these 8 ways to focus when working from home.

3. This iPhone case with a built-in charger found by Design You Trust could be a lifesaver.

4. Spotted by California Home Design: Birds and Eames stationery printed on post-consumer recycled paper by Screech Owl Design.

5. Inspiring green roof design on the 10 sustainable works of architecture at The Coolist.

6. Great to see Jamie Derriger’s home office (and her Aeron) over at Design Milk.

7. Casually browsing the Herman Miller Flickr pool.

8. The Things Organized Neatly Tumblr (mentioned by Poppin).

9. A nice reminder that the glass of water on your desk should probably be from the tap, not a bottle (via Co.Design, in celebration of World Water Day).

10. Looking forward to Mad Men‘s debut on Sunday? We can’t wait to spy a few Herman Miller set pieces. And in the meantime, we’re flipping through this week’s nostalgic issue of Newsweek (so smart).

We started, therefore, where we always do: with a checklist. The goal was to create a comprehensive listing of everything needed to make an outside “office” as suitable as an indoor one. It began, of course, with the obvious (mobile or home Wi-Fi, laptop, notebook/pen combo). But a few hours and a hundred Google searches later, the list got long—and out of control (noise-reducing headphones! Anti-glare filters! Laptop cooling pads! Paperweights!). Overwhelmed and suddenly intimidated by the idea of our laptop being subjected for even a mere moment to the springtime sunshine, we turned to Joey Roth for a reality check. The industrial designer knows a thing or two about taking work outside, spending a lot of his time designing projects in the bamboo-lined backyard of his Los Angeles home.

“Working outside is more about leaving things behind than acquiring new tools,” he tells us. “It’s easy to mistake tools for ideas, and leaving your normal workspace helps to make the distinction. When I can, I leave my laptop inside and take only a pen, notebook, and cup of tea or coffee with me. The less I take, the more I tend to accomplish.”

Like a majority of us, though, a computer and a connection are still a necessity for Roth. He explains, “90% of my work requires a computer, however, so a laptop with substantial battery life is useful.” And the workspace setup that holds that laptop will vary. On most days, you’ll find him using a weatherproof chair and a simple table created from an old door. But the yard itself works just as well. “I also enjoy working on the ground,” he says.

For Roth, working outside acts as a source of inspiration. “I can get distracted when working, but I get distracted by the right things outside. The movement of bamboo leaves in a breeze inspires me more than the sound of my fridge.” What’s more, he says the benefits of working so close to nature can even perhaps help create better work.

“Work that’s inspired by nature has a chance of being good; work that’s inspired by other work is probably following a trend.”

Consider the checklist ditched. We’ll see you outside.

See new chairs and tables from the Herman Miller Collection Outdoor.

Photos: Joey Roth

1. NNTR (No Need To Respond) – Add “NNTR” to the end of purely informational emails so that people know there is No Need To Respond. This will help cut down on all those “cool” and “thanks” emails you get every day.

2. EOM (End of Message) – If your message is short enough, put the whole thing in the subject followed by EOM (end of message) so people know they can just delete it without spending the time opening it or saving it for later.

3. 3SR (3 Sentence Rule) – Try really, really hard to keep emails under three sentences. If you need to write something longer than that, maybe email isn’t the best way to communicate those ideas.

Get more tips on Apartment Therapy Tech.

Photo: Delson or Sherman via hermanmiller.com

1. SF Girl By Bay’s coverage of this Norwegian home (check out how its small workspace, above, incorporates a Magis Chair_One).

2. LA Times’ look at Lisa Ling’s new Santa Monica house.

3. Solo, an easy-on-the-eyes project management tool for “the modern freelancer” (via Design You Trust).

4. Pippa Lord’s photo collection of home-office inspiration at sousstyle.com.

5. Dwell’s “Coolest Homes for Artists & Art Collectors” article and slideshow.

6. This amenity pouch by the Eames Office for American Airlines makes us want to travel even more. (via NOTCOT).

7. The Poppin blog’s roundup of business card resources.

8. The Instagram feed for Shades Detroit Graffiti (congrats on the new Embody Chair).

9. Did you spot the Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman in Apple’s video for the new iPad?

10. Apartment Therapy Tech’s friendly reminder of the things that are important. (So take a break outside after you finish reading this, won’t you?)

Photo: Trine Thorsen for Elle Decoration

What do you listen to while you work? I’ve been a music fiend most of my life and have always been interested in multiple genres and styles of music. It definitely depends on my mood. Lately, I’ve been drawn to sounds that have a sense of repetition, space, and contrapuntal patterns, so have been listening to stuff like Bach’s “Art of the Fugue,” lots of Glen Gould recordings, and Steve Reich’s “Tehillim” and “Music for 18 Musicians,” and all kinds of dub from the ’70s. It probably reflects my need for clarity and focus away from the constant overload of information processing. There’s also a nice parallel to how my own work has become more reductive over the last couple of years dealing with the relationships and tensions between color, shape, line, and space….this also reflects my own deepening interest in architecture and the many ways to understand the built space through paths, edges, nodes, and shifting interrelations. I guess I can really geek out about all this, but it merely shows how much music seeps into all my activities.

How do you listen? For the gearheads, I usually plug the iPod into a Parasound Pre-amp and a NAD 2100 Power Amp connected to KEF bookshelf speakers. Most of the time, though, I like just zoning out to headphones.

Do you have any favorite music websites/providers? Well, it seems like just about everybody has switched over to Spotify by now. It is a pretty effective way to dig through an artist’s back catalog or discover new sounds. However, there’s nothing that compares to the old days of spending hours flipping through record bins and that incredibly tactile quality of discovering LPs that were conduits to new sounds, experiences, entire worlds.

Does music influence your work? Music is an intrinsic part of my life. It has an innate ability to tap directly into the conscious and unconscious and seeps into everything I do. So yes, my artwork many times becomes a visual representation of the music I’m drawn to. It’s no accident that my current passion for dub is feeding and informing all my new pieces.

Who influences your musical taste? Having grown up with a father who was a concert violist meant that music was a vital part from my earliest memories. I pretty much only listened to classical music until I was about eight years old, so that gave me a deep understanding not only of composers and genres, but also of how music could sound–its tone, texture, colors, depth.

I was also lucky to come of age in Southern California in the early 80s, where I very much felt like an outsider, but happened to stumble into hardcore punk and the nascent skate/surf culture. This was a million miles away from my very innocent classical upbringing, but listening to bands with a distinct and propulsive energy offered a very blunt, fast, and direct appeal to resist and break away from the status quo around me. That left a taste for sounds and artists that roamed the fringes and margins and required time and energy to discover…before everything was at our fingertips and could be Googled in seconds. Ever since then, there’s been one door after another that’s blown it open for me with new sounds and all-consuming passions such as Brian Eno, Astor Piazzola, Tropicalia, Nick Drake, kraut rock, and many more. Looking back, it’s been a long and rewarding musical journey and I still jones for the thrill of finding a band that brings something new to the table.

If your work was a song or a musician, what or who would it be? At my most self-absorbed, I would want a work of pure genius such as John Coltrane’s “Stellar Regions” to represent my work. But at the end of the day, I just want something breezy with a nice propulsive kick that talks about that old black magic, such as Nina Simone’s “My Baby Just Cares for Me.”

Ideal place to sit and listen to your Playlist: George Nelson’s Coconut Chair. I can just imagine its sleek, elegant contours enveloping me in its comfort and making me have sweet dreams of mid-century utopias.

LEO’S PLAYLIST

1. Surprise Hotel, Fool’s Gold
2. My Mistakes, Eleanor Friedberger
3. Sound and Vision, David Bowie
4. Order of the Golden Dawn, Daedelus
5. Moonshake, CAN
6. Cancao de Amor, Caetano Veloso
7. Let’s Stick Together, Roxy Music
8. Marquee Moon, Television
9. Ja Sei Namorar, Tribalistas
10. Soon I’ll Be Loving You Again, Marvin Gaye
11. L’Hôtel Particulier, Serge Gainsbourg
12. Jah Is Coming in Dub, King Tubby

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Photos: Leonardo Bravo

1. BaseStation for iPhone4 We appreciate how this wooden stand even incorporates the phone’s charge/sync cable into its surprising design. Get it: Rakuten

2. Leather iPad Case Protect your iPad with a classic cover made in Wisconsin from hand-cut and hand-dyed vegetable-tanned leather. Get it: Jepsen Leather Goods

3. iWALK Rechargeable Mobile Battery Pack for Apple iPhone & iPod A personal favorite. Throw this rechargeable Lithium-ion battery in your bag and your iPhone and iPod will never loose their juice again. Get it: Amazon

4. Hacoa iPad Stand When you prefer your iPad stand a bit natural. Get it: mono-la.com

5. Magnus iPad 2 Stand This deceivingly simple piece uses a strong magnets and rubberized feet to hold your tablet steady. (It’s a bit like magic.) Get it: tenonedesign.com

6. Empty Memory USB Sticks According to designers Yoo-Kyung Shin and Hanhsi Chen,”Each design contains a physical emptiness in its sculptural form, giving the metaphor that you can fill the space with your own memory.” Get it: Logical Art

Photos: Linked to sources within the numbered text

1. Chairsmith, a blog find from Jamie Latendresse of this week’s Ideal Live/Work Space.

2. Everything at ghostlyferns.com.

3. This colorful interview with Eames Demetrios, grandson of Charles and Ray Eames, on Ace Hotel’s blog.

4. Should you? “Be Free, Lance: Should I Freelance?” via Studio Sweet Studio.

5. “10 Steps to a Home Office You’ll Love” from Apartment Therapy.

6. A peek into the secret lives of hired guns by Susannah Breslin for Inc.

7. This over-the-top home office at biscade.com. (We spy an Embody Chair.)

8. Bloomberg Businessweek’s “Who Should Take a Home-Office Tax Deduction?”

9. The latest issue of Edition29 ARCHITECTURE for iPad (we’re particularly fans of the Summerhill Residence in Kenwood, CA and the Lake Lugano house in Switzerland).

10. Did you celebrate Modernism Week in Palm Springs? There’s still time–events will be held through February 26. Get details here.

What do you listen to while you work? Rock, alternative, blues, jazz, hip hop, and TED Talks.

How do you listen? Headphones or Bose SoundDock.

Do you have any favorite music websites/providers? I often stream KEXP Seattle and WTMD Baltimore.

Does music influence your work? Absolutely—in particular, a poster I designed for the Society of Design promoting the visit of designer Armin Vit. I designed it while listening to “Mad Flava” by Fatboy Slim and made that claim on the poster itself.

Where do you find music recommendations? Who influences your musical taste? In addition to tagging everything I hear and like with Shazam, I frequently visit BASE, Stereogum, KEXP Seattle, WTMD Baltimore, and Pitchfork. My music taste is a reflection of the previously mentioned, as well as many live concerts and my friends.

If your work was a song, what would it be? “Will Do” by TV On The Radio.

GREG’S PLAYLIST

1. Amsterdam, PB&J
2. Vicious, Lou Reed
3. Polite Dance, The Bird & The Bee
4. Bankrobber, The Clash
5. Low Rider, WAR
6. Two Against One (featuring Jack White), Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi
7. Rhinestone Eyes, The Gorillaz
8. One Love, Massive Attack
9. House of Cards, Radiohead
10. The Ghost Inside, Broken Bells
11. The Seed (2.0), The Roots
12. Ruby Soho, Rancid
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Photos: Greg Bennett

1. The ongoing “Creative Spaces” feature at confessionsofadesigngeek.com.

2. Houzz’s look at the Nelson Coconut Chair, “a stylish slice of modern cushiness.”

3. Design Milk on the importance of plants in the Pacific Palisades home of Charles and Ray Eames.

4. Glimpses of this organized home office (and its Finnish office supplies) at Weekday Carnival.

5. The premiere issue of The Roger magazine and its mission to showcase creative workspaces.

6. Apartment Therapy’s transformation of a home office belonging to two engineers in need of a more functional space.

7. This smart toolkit covered on fastcodesign.com that rethinks the standard pencil cup.

8. “How America became a nation of freelancers” at The Guardian.

9. The colors and pattern in the home of Wolfgang Joop at The Selby.

10. Deskography.org, where you can “show the world where you work.”

Read the charming story behind the Nelson finds and see more of the tour at Apartment Therapy Tech.

Photos: Chris Perez

1. Treehugger for their “Most Beautiful Street in the World” post.

2. Apartment Therapy for this home office tour.

3. Design*Sponge’s wonderful wrap up of home office spaces.

4. Design Milk for their Designer DeskTop Wallpaper series.

5. MujiUSA has some very sleek minimal designs for the home office including these acrylic organizers.

6. Luludi for their cool way of incorporating plants into the home office – hang them on the wall.

7. Cleverhands shop on Etsy has a interesting alternative to the pencil case – check it out here. Good for home office workers on the go.

8. Vienna-based designers Less & More create beautiful wooden desk organizers. You can see them here on the US-Supermarket site.

9. Design Notes funny post on a new game – “Six Degrees of Cranbrook”.

10. Desire to Inspire‘s post on a cool Toronto office.