What do you listen to while you work?
Recently, I have realized I work best with music that is nearly instrumental but with a slight peppering of vocals which do not take center stage.

I like that it doesn’t demand my attention, which is ideal for concentration. Also it follows the approach to my own work. Most of my work is wrapped around a subtle narrative which is sort of abstract, and I liken that to vocals which are abstract but still add to the song.

How do you listen?
I use Spotify on my iMac while I work. I have music playing from the moment I start to the moment I finish. It’s very integral to the work.

Do you have any favorite music websites/providers?
I like Pitchfork and Stereogum. There is a lot I don’t like about those sites, but they are good for finding new music. Soundcloud is really awesome, and I use Spotify all the time.

Does music influence your work?
Majorly. I couldn’t over-exaggerate this if I tried. Three or four years ago I started to dig a littler deeper into my personal work.

Music is probably the art form that moves me the most. I started keeping track of music that I deeply responded to, and I created a little playlist that I call “Soundtrack to My Work.” Then I would try to approach creating visual work that felt the same way as this music. All of my NOD project and most all of my personal work in the past three years has been made this way.

A lot of this music is vocally abstract and sort of whimsical with a twist of melancholy, and I think you can see that in the work.

Where do you find music recommendations? Who influences your musical taste?
I have been doing a lot of music-focused editorial illustration for the fashion company Aritzia. They have introduced me to some fantastic new music lately. I look through my favorite new bands related artists on Spotify too. I would say that if my peers on Twitter bring up a band a few times, I’ll usually go check it out.

If your work was a song or a musician, what or who would it be?
If my work was a song, I would want it to be this little one minute piano piece called “Row” that Jon Brion made for the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It’s so beautiful. I can listen to it on repeat. I think it feels exactly like the work I try to create, sad but hopeful, childlike but sophisticated.

Ideal place to sit and listen to your playlist is sitting in an Eames Lounge Chair oiled santos palisander veneer and black MCL leather. This playlist is for nighttime, hence the dark-colored chair. Preferably listened to in a warm climate, windows down, alone, leaning back, relaxed, and lost in the music.

Andy’s Playlist:
1. Row, Jon Brion
2. Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, Ryuichi Sakamoto
3. Rain Smell, Baths
4. Garden 1, Teen Daze
5. Undo, The 1975
6. The Great Estates, Freelance Whales
7. Cleam, Mister Lies
8. Want U 2 Know, Different Sleep
9. Accordian, Madvillain
10. Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst, Kendrick Lamar

Photos: Andy J. Miller

A cheery potted plant and a grouping of plastic dolls share the desk with everyday supplies in the office of Berlin-based graphic designer Linda Gavin. (Photo: Linda Gavin)

Design studio One by Four‘s collection of cameras share the bookshelf with a poster print and a smile in South Florida. (Photo: One by Four)

Even a pencil/pen holder gets the artistic treatment in the home office of Morgan Satterfield, teacher, artist, gallery manager, and creator of the blog The Brick House. (Photo: Morgan Satterfield)

A shelf in the home office of graphic designer and illustrator Treasure Frey hosts a motley crew in Los Angeles. (Photo: Treasure Frey)

Leslie Roeder and John Eric Byers of Goodjoy Design complement their collection of Eames pieces (an Eames Aluminum Group Management Chair, Eames Hang-It-All, and vintage Eames molded plastic chairs among others) with this colorful collection of random items. (Photo: Goodjoy Design)

Flat files in the home office of freelance illustrator and graphic designer Jim Mezei become an ideal surface to showcase an eclectic mix of paper prints, wood objects, writing instruments, and vessels. (Photo: Jim Mezei)

Top photo: Christopher David Ryan

Part of this fundraising effort includes an artful offering: four original, limited-edition prints inspired by the geometry and understated simplicity of Charles and Ray’s designs. Each hand-numbered print is available for just $75, and all proceeds will support the projects of the Eames Foundation. Additionally, the prints are tax deductible, and Herman Miller has helped create an “Authenticity Fund” to provide matching donations for each purchase.

It’s not a bad price for helping share the Eameses’ philosophy for future generations to come (and to own a piece of the Eames legacy). Find out specifics on the restoration project, buy the prints, and see a delightfully inspiring timeline now at eameshouse250.org.

Photos: eameshouse250.org

What do you listen to while you work? There’s usually a jam going…it depends on the day. I don’t limit myself to just one genre. You might hear A Tribe Called Quest playing right after some rockabilly track, usually surrounded by electronic music.

How do you listen? In the studio, I sync my iTunes through my TV and play it through the speakers.

Do you have any favorite music websites/providers? I usually listen to Pandora Radio. It has a wide range of music on its station select. Sometimes I also just turn on my iTunes and listen to a genius playlist.

Does music influence your work? I am a product of hip hop, I’ll say that outright. But different genres have definitely influenced me as a human being throughout my life – and that’s the only way to influence my work. My work is a direct translation of my expression, so whichever music has influenced me is definitely evident in my work. Plus, the correlation between hip hop and graffiti is pretty clear. If you look through my work and watch it progress, you can see the intention behind each spray seem to change. Chances are I was listening to something different with each one.

Where do you find music recommendations? Who influences your musical taste? Nothing better than the grapevine, especially in a city like Detroit. New artists with their own slew of influences are always popping off.

What song or artist best represents the work you create? I would choose Pat Matheny “Sill Life Talking” as simply the best representation of my daily mood.

Ideal place to sit and listen to your playlist: I’d have to say my Herman Miller Embody Chair is the perfect place…that chair is perfect. I love the white exoskeleton on mine, and the rest of the chair is all black. It’s really a throne, but in a modern way, really sleek and stealth-like. A lot like my work.

ANTONIO’S PLAYLIST:

1. Mea Culpa, Enigma
2. Music For A Found Harmonium, The Penguin Cafè Orchestra
3. Red Sand, Balthazar Featuring Thanos Giouletzis
4. Anni Rose, Tulku
5. Akwaba, Tya
6. Rising In Love, Govi
7. Dance (A$$), Big Sean
8. Beautiful, Stevy Mahy
9. Pokinoi, Cirque Du Soleil
10. John (feat. Rick Ross), Lil Wayne

Photos: Antonio Agee; first and sixth photos by Brian Kelly.

1. Travellious reviews the GRID-IT in their Test Labs, giving us this awesome grid of tech travel essentials.
2. French blog Le Journal du Geek shows off this camera-ready composition.
3. Oh Gizmo! gets hands-on with the Cocoon laptop bag, packing tech gear into its built-in GRID-IT system.
4. And the WiFi Edge blog shows us how even wireless network supplies can look sharp in a tidy little grid.

Interested in grabbing your own GRID-IT? Check out our write-up, then head to Cocoon Innovations and snag one for $9.99 to $49.99.

By Taryn Fiol.

“Herman Miller’s former President and CEO Max DePree once advised us all to “make room for people who have unusual and creative gifts.” Enter ArtPrize—the international art show and competition based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Grand Rapids is a burgeoning city that is making its mark among design and innovation circles. It also happens to be minutes away from our Zeeland headquarters.

ArtPrize provides us a fantastic opportunity to support creativity within our local community. In fact, we’ll be sponsoring a central resource center for ArtPrize called The Hub, which is located downtown in the Old Federal Building. From September 22 to October 10, The Hub will host a visitor center, voter registration area, artist lounge, and volunteer offices—all furnished with our products.

ArtPrize and its prize money—totaling $449,000—have proven to attract a tremendous amount of talent and votes, but they also attract a community excited about art and its city. It’s a great event and we’re thrilled to be a part of it.

Morgan Satterfield is many things – a teacher, artist, gallery manager, blogger, thrifty shopper and the owner of a house – she is also very funny. Her blog The Brick House chronicles the renovation of the Hemet, CA home she and her husband share with their dog Iggy. (Hemet is near Palm Springs…as Morgan says, Google it).

What sort of work do you do and how does that impact the space you work in?  My day job is teaching fine art and managing a gallery at a private high school for the arts. I’ve been working in contemporary art galleries for the last five years and those big white walls have rubbed their magic into my design sensibilities, especially when it comes to my work space. I’ve got to have my obligatory iMac, white walls, sculptural objects, art (of course) and clean open white space. When I’m not at school or painting I also run a blog called The Brick House that’s all about buying our first home and it’s slow and budget friendly renovation in a sleepy retirement community in Southern California. Most of my blogging for The Brick House is done at home in our office. I don’t need much equipment to run the blog, just a home, a camera and a computer. Also, the balls to put it all on the internet.

How long have you been in your current work space and what size is it? I’ve been in this space for about two years. The desk is an original built-in constructed in the 1950′s and is almost twelve feet long when you add together the two sections of the L-shape. It has tons of storage and is a spacial beast that takes up about half of the room.

Do you have any tips on how to organize a work space? Oh no, I just stick everything in drawers and hope nobody opens them. I like everything in view to be beautiful or functional while all the other crap needs to be hidden away. Built-in storage is great for this, if you opened the doors you’d be horrified at the mess but a casual glance gives the impression that I’m super clean and very organized. It’s all an illusion.

What are some of the pitfalls of blogging from home? It sucks up a lot of time. Time I could be using to organizing my drawers.

What do you most enjoy about working from home? All my content and material are right here. All I have to do is look around and go “hey that’s ugly, lets fix it” and bam – blog content. Plus my dog [that's Iggy below] and the fridge are here, so that makes it awesome. Oh, and I can wear my pajamas. I’m doing it right now.

Do you have a desk accessory you can’t work without? My iMac. It’s amazing.

How big a role does technology play in your work? Huge. HUGE. Super huge. Without technology there would be no blog. The Brick House wouldn’t have every frivilous detail documented and posted on the internet for international perusal and judgement without my digital camera, computer and Photoshop. I use technology for my classes and in the gallery constantly. Computers, cameras, projectors and the internet are indespensible when it comes to almost everything we do. Super dependancy, even in something as analog as a painting class. Digital technology is a tool that is increasingly embedded in the structure of working and education.

I just got a new Mac mouse and it’s incredible – is there anything you’re loving right now? I want a new Mac mouse desperately, the scrolling ball on my old Mac mouse sucks. Just so awful. I recently got my first iPhone and I think we are in a romantic relationship. Now I finally know what all the fuss was about.