TP1, “Montreal’s Coolest Office Space,“ showed us around, while explaining their company’s connection to Shaolin racoons, Apaches, magic, Jedis, and our SAYL Chair (get the explanation here). (Photo: TP1)

So Design Consultants shared their bright, airy space — a converted barn in Bristol in the southwest of England. (Photo: So Design Consultants)

We stopped in our tracks when we discovered the impressive collection of SAYL Chairs that filled the lively workspace of boutique Web and business development studio Bento Box in Toronto. (Photo: Bento Box)

David Bridges, president and CEO of media arts company thelab, gave us a tour of his company’s space in NYC’s Terminal Warehouse Company Central Stores Building, formerly a railroad freight terminal and location of the infamous Tunnel nightclub. (Photo: thelab)

We took to The Neighborhood, a colorful, collaborative workspace in a refurbished a historic 19th-century building in Manchester, England. (Photo: The Neighborhood)

Architect, designer, and eco advocate Michelle Kaufmann told us about the sustainably-minded studio she created along with her team in San Francisco. (Photo: Michelle Kaufmann)

Graphic designer and painter Ricky Watts shared a memorable story of the workshop he once shared in Sebastopol, CA, with his grandfather, Arthur. (Photo: Ricky Watts)

Our Embody chair fit right into the personality-filled design of Fotobia studio, the headquarters of editorial and advertising photographer Daniel Goncalves in Jacksonville, FL. (Photo: Fotobia)

Tell us about Candy Black: How it started, what you’re passionate about, and where you’re going. Candy Black was started out of a mutual passion for interior and graphic design between myself and Katie Culley (my fiance) and to offer these services to a clientele through a niche boutique studio. We both worked for other companies, but wanted to break away and start something new and interesting.

We formed in August of 2010 and it has been a very exciting journey ever since — from branding and interiors for Vauxhall Fashion Scout at London Fashion Week and full CMS web design and build for Graduate Fashion Week (UK) to quirky bar and restaurant projects. I think, to date, we are most proud of our latest project, a homegrown, family-run surf/ride/skate/coffee shop that we did all the concepting, strategy, branding, marketing and interior/exterior design for. The project was for Katie’s family, so they trusted us to direct the project and pretty much gave us free reign, which for a designer is always nice.

What inspires you? We draw our main inspiration from different lifestyles, as that is how we like to approach our projects — putting ourselves in the clients’/users’ shoes and visualize how they would see or interact with the work.

Tell us about your workspace. Any special considerations that affected the way it’s set up? What do you like or dislike? We completely refurbished the space, which used to be an old bakery (and had been used as accounting offices before us). We totally stripped it back and introduced the black and white palette to compliment the original floor-to-ceiling white tiles. We wanted to furnish the space with pieces based on the classics, like Eames molded plastic chairs and a 70′s sofa and industrial lighting combined with modern floating shelves and design equipment. We wanted a studio that fully embraces and showcases our passion for design. I do wish we had a little coffee/kitchen area with coffee machine and vintage fridge — I’m working on it!

Tell us about those Eames molded plastic armchairs. Why did you select them? We have four black Eames molded plastic chairs with wooden legs and a white Eames molded plastic rocking chair. (We also have four white plastic chairs with wire legs at home.) I love the way they exude design. They are a statement and an iconic piece, but always work with the space.

Photos: Courtesy of Candy Black