Tour: Design for Mankind’s Erin Loechner

The Time’s recently included Erin Loechner’s blog, Design for Mankind in its roundup of the top 50 design blogs in the world. A nice pat on the back for a woman who has been blogging hard about design and art since 2006. In her spare time Loechner also tracks the progress of her own home renovation on HGTV.com. Here we talked to her about her workspace.

How long have you worked from home? And where is home? I’ve worked from home for almost five years and have called home both Los Angeles and, now, the Midwest. I currently live in Fort Wayne, IN in a house I’m renovating with my husband.

When you set up your home office what did you have to keep in mind? Were there any particular obstacles to overcome? For my home office, I really just wanted a casual environment in which I was surrounded by things I love. One important part of our office is our bench seating for guests and/or our dogs. Our pups are a huge part of our lives and I love watching them nap throughout the day.

In terms of obstacles, I have dozens and dozens of paintings and mixed media pieces I love to display. Rather than create an expensive framed gallery wall, my husband and I crafted an art shelf to hold our favorite pieces. It’s a much more affordable solution and I love that the shelf means each piece can be displayed temporarily and switched out every few months.

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Spotted: Designer and Blogger Meg Lewis

I came across Meg Lewis’s home office on Studio Sweet Studio - a new site I’ve just found thanks to Twitter. Meg and illustrator Tuesday Bassen edit the site which covers artists in their studios. Great for the nosy parker in all of us!

Meg’s set up is perfect for Lifework so I will share a few images with you here but for the full story you’ll have to head over to the site. (Yes, that is a pale blue Eames Molded Plastic Armchair with a wood dowel base). Besides running Studio Sweet Studio Meg is also a web/graphic designer and blogger at Apartment Therapy.  She shares the workspace with her domestic partner designer Brad Evans (pictured below).

Tour: Graphic Designer Linda Gavin

Berlin-based graphic designer Linda Gavin takes us on a tour of her home work space. And yes, those are Mirra chairs!

How long have you worked from home? And where is home? I have worked from home since I started on my path as a designer in 2003. I moved to Berlin with my husband in 2005 and we started working from home together.

Describe your style? How would you define your aesthetic? I like my rooms to be like a white canvas. One can quickly spot items and easily change the look of the room. So I guess my style is minimal, but with cables and stuff cluttered over it.

How do you keep your work space organized? It’s a big challenge for me to keep my work station tidy, but it helps to have more storage than items. I think about how I can improve the space all the time. We rethink and rearrange our things when there’s a bunch of new items in the office that can’t be categorized. We put everything back at its place every morning before we start working.

When you set up your home office what did you have to keep in mind? Were there any particular obstacles to overcome? We work a lot, and spend most of our time in the office, so we picked the largest and brightest room in the apartment to work. We wanted to be able to do more than just work on the computers. I’m drawing and sewing at times. My husband plays around with electronics and makes music. We got a big apartment so we would have separate rooms for work and hobbies, but we ended up moving everything into the office. We also needed space for more people to sit and work here, since some of our friends who come to visit are like us, and have to work even when they’re on vacation. We’re currently three working people, a baby and two cats sharing this space. We had to make it comfortable for everyone. There are plenty of sleeping spots for the cats, and the baby has the whole floor as a playground. We can fit up to 10 people around the table.

Is there any piece of home office furniture you covet right now? I’d like to have a Kast shelf, a small couch and a new cat tree.

What desk accessory can’t you do without? My Acrylic Partition Desk Tidy from Muji.

What would you change about your work space? We’re planning to move to another apartment about this time next year. We’ll get an open space plan and integrate the office with the living area. We can’t do that here without tearing down walls. I’d like to have a couch, more storage, a bigger plotter, swap the IKEA furniture for bigger and sturdier stuff.

What inspires you? Architecture, photography, adds, tv-shows, movies, blogs and magazines. I love reading about people and their love affairs with their homes.

Tour: Jennifer Kennard of Letterology

Teacher, graphic designer and blogger Jennifer Kennard gives us a tour of her home workspace.

Tell us about the kind of work you do. How long have you worked from home? And where is home? Currently, I am a collector of stories, ideas, books and typography materials and I write about each for my online design blog, Letterology. I also teach part-time for one of the most rigorous and impressive graphic design programs in the Northwest, at Seattle Central Community College. A great deal of my time is spent working at my home in Seattle, Washington—where I can carve out various spaces for my different disciplines—preparing lesson plans, writing, researching and photographing materials for class and Letterology. With the exception of 4 years working in the design industry in Los Angeles in the 80s, I have spent much of my career as a graphic designer and illustrator in Seattle. Before LA, I shared office space in downtown Seattle with fellow designers, and then returned to Seattle and have continually worked from home since 1988 which must make me about 110 years old now.

Describe your style and how it relates to the space you work in and also the work you produce. I work in so many mediums, it is hard to describe a style. My fine art, might involve printmaking, photography, colored pencil work, paper sculpture, book arts, digital or a combination of any of these. My design work may begin with research, thumbnails drawings and hours at the computer, so I tend to run all over the house. I would say the single-most important element in all of my design work is the typography. This ingredient has to fit with the era I am trying to evoke so I research extensively and fiddle with the typography until I’m satisfied, just like most designers. I have a fairly good resource library of design materials and books I’ve been collecting for years and it is nice to have them in one place where they are accessible for the most part. I wish they were all in one room, but that isn’t going to happen. At least they are under the same roof and I’m not running between office and home.

I find the most difficult thing about working from home is balancing the work part from the living part. I love what I do, but it consumes much of my life right now. I try to take breaks to either go for a daily walk or a run or meet up with friends when I can. Some of my work is self-imposed, but the teaching consumes a tremendous amount of time. When I’m not teaching there is new software to learn, and maintenance to be performed. It’s a constant task having to be your own IT person too—or MT—a misinformation technologist in my case.

With exception of an occasional logo assignment and personal work, I have essentially chosen to take a reprieve from my artwork this past year. I’m not happy about it, but I will return to it eventually. As an experiment last October I decided to try and add at least one post a day to Letterology, and with a few exceptions, I have kept to this schedule. I can’t say how long it will continue at this pace, but I have been enjoying the process and have learned a tremendous amount about the work of so many other great designers and artists. It has been a real education on many levels.

How do you keep your work space organized? I keep a small studio office in one room for performing actual artwork; my dining room has been transformed into my production room with two printers, a scanner, copier, an iMac server, bookcases and a make-shift photo studio. These days I do all of my writing on my laptop at the kitchen table as it has the best sound system and lighting in the house. Essentially, most of my house has been transformed into an office. Organization is a continual struggle because of lack of space. I keep nicely labeled binders of ephemera and an endless file system so I can retrieve information easily and I was very fortunate to acquire a ridiculous abundance of nice wooden flat files many years ago which has been a tremendous asset for storing art papers and materials. Some people have good shoe karma. I seem to have good flat file karma.

When you set up your home office what did you have to keep in mind? Were there any particular obstacles to overcome? Since 1988, my husband and I have been living in a nice old 1913 two-and-a-half-story house overlooking a wooded ravine. It is a very rustic setting, but consequently it is dark and the electrics are not entirely upgraded yet. I can never get enough good lighting. With the exception of the living room, all the rooms are rather small, so this is why I’ve had to migrate into other parts of the house. My husband Paul, has been very gracious about my large footprint, but I am seriously considering moving my entire office into the living room now so we can reclaim the other rooms as living space again. It think it could be a fun alternative.

What desk accessory can’t you do without? I’d have to say my pink celluloid Apsco “Midget” pencil sharpener. It’s useful and the pink plastic just makes me smile.

Is there any piece of home office furniture you covet right now? Two beautiful custom fir bookcases with glass doors—long and low, to fit on either side of my desk where I can put my old typewriters on top of each. A better work stool would be nice too. I have a nice old wooden one from the early 1900s which a neighbor of mine restored, but it is not that durable. Built for looks, but not for function.

What would you change about your work space? Certainly the lighting, but I am in great need of more storage as well. Because I work in so many disciplines, I have acquired a lot of tools, equipment and materials. I need most of these items accessible, but I’d like more shelving and cabinets to store them. It is my biggest organizational quandary right now.

What inspires you? Skilled craftsmanship for one. No matter what it may be—if it is well-made, well-drawn, well-printed, well-written, or well-designed from the heart—it shows. I’m inspired by so many things, but foremost, by nicely designed and printed books—old and new; well-crafted typography; mid-century pattern design; the artwork of British artists Eric Ravilious and Edward Bawden; the photography of Karl Blossfeldt; snow and ice formations; decorative hand-lettering; the packaging of dimestore toys made in Japan from the 50s and 60s; so many book designers and illustrators; my students; visual information display; animation; old office supplies; the colors of moss after a fresh rain (a Northwest thing); an alpine hike; and music. I cannot imagine working without good music.

Tour: Artist and Blogger Jason Dean

Artist and blogger Jason Dean takes us on a tour of his Orlando, Florida workspace.

How long have you worked from home? And where is home? I finally took the leap and began working from home in January after ten years of working as a graphic designer in several ad agencies and design firms, and it’s the best decision I’ve ever made! Home is Orlando, Florida, where I live with my wife and dogs, making prints and writing my blog, The Best Part.

2. Describe your style? How would you define your aesthetic? My aesthetic is utilitarian/minimal. After working in cubicles and other ineffective work environments, I’m primarily concerned with utilizing the space I have (13′x13′) to make every aspect of my workspace as functional as possible. Since my time is split between writing my blog, creating prints and fulfilling orders my space has to serve several purposes at once as an office/studio/warehouse.

How do you keep your work space organized? Tons of shelving and closet space helps keep the potential mess from creeping out, and a touch of minimalist compulsion keeps me on top of things. God forbid my pens aren’t perfectly aligned.

When you set up your home office what did you have to keep in mind? Were there any particular obstacles to overcome? Like I mentioned, my space has to serve several functions in a fairly small area. Everything was set up to make it easy to switch from working on the computer to working by hand, and even to packaging and shipping orders. The top of the metal cabinet where I store my finished prints doubles as a workspace for drawing, cutting and creating things by hand as well as a flat surface for packaging orders. My computer desk also has plenty of free space when needed to work by hand, and shipping materials are always within reach on open-air shelving above my desk.

Is there any piece of home office furniture you covet right now? Actually I think I’m pretty well set up at the moment, if anything I would add a small chair for visiting guests, perhaps an Eames molded plastic or plywood side chair?

What desk accessory can’t you do without? Music is a necessity for me, and it’s pretty amazing to have a record player on my desk, especially when listening to anything created before 1980. It just doesn’t seem right to listen to Otis Redding on a computer. My Aeron chair was also one of the first things I purchased for my home office, you don’t realize how amazing it is to have one until you’ve spent a day sitting in a cheap office chair.

What would you change about your work space? I love our wood floors, but in a perfect world I would have concrete flooring with a drain and a shop sink. Although something tells me that may affect the resale value of our home.

What inspires you? Wow. So many things. Road trips. Empty airports. Foggy mornings. Late-night walks. Quaint country towns. New places. Radiohead/old soul music. Basically anywhere I can be alone in an amazing setting with some good music is my perfect setting for creation.

Tour: Designer Brendan Dawes

Meet Brendan Dawes, the brilliant mind behind MoviePeg – a little stand that holds your iPhone at just the right angle. This is the first time I’d heard about 3D printers and I’m still not sure I quite understand how they work but I feel confident that Brendan does. And I’m looking forward to seeing what he comes up with next.

What kind of work do you do and how much of it happens at home? And where is home? There was a time when I could easily describe myself as an interaction designer, and I still do that a lot. But I recently got into creating physical products so I think maker of things probably suits what I do a lot more. For me interaction in its widest sense is the commonality running through all the work – whether that’s an interface that encourages curious exploration such as doodlebuzz.com, the data visualisation of Cinema Redux or the packaging design on MoviePeg, the objects, if we can call them objects, have to illicit some form of emotional response from you. I’d like to think that I design objects that have the capacity to be loved.
Home is where a lot of the initial prototypes and thinking takes place. My office is more of a hackerspace come laboratory; a place where I can concentrate free from distraction or the noise of the everyday. All my personal projects were made in this space and even things like MoviePeg was first realised at home. I’d had this idea for a super simple iPhone stand after getting home late one night from London. I still have the cardboard version I made that night.

Home itself is a place called Southport, a Victorian seaside town on the north-west coast of England. I live in a Victorian town, in a Victorian house, go to work on infrastructure put in place by the Victorians and work in a building built by the Victorians, in Manchester the birthplace of the industrial revolution! They were pretty clever those Victorians and it’s amazing how much we still relay and use the things they invented. Yet with work as with everything else, things are changing – no longer does the “go to a place of work to do some work” model really work. I can’t say though I’m a big fan of total home working. I think it works for some people, but for me I have to have that social interaction that with a team of people. As someone who practices interaction design surely the best thing I can do is actually interact with other human beings?

Describe your style and how it influences the work you do and the space you work in. Random, eclectic, non-linear. I get bored quite easily so I’m always looking for new things to play with, to tear apart and to put together in new ways. So the space that I work in is a kind of extension to that. I’d love to say it was this modernist utopia of simple clean lines that is a completely considered space but it wouldn’t be the truth. Instead it’s a jumble of an old generic office desk, a Danish chair from Ebay, shelves from Ikea, and a horrible cheap shelving filled with industrial plastic bins brimming with curious electronic parts and objects that may or may not appear in a future project. One day I will start all over and build my dream space. Until then the space kind of works.

How do you keep your work space organized? I try and keep surfaces clean and clutter free as possible, and I try and keep things in compartments on the actual shelves. There’s no system as such but I can tell you where anything is at any time because the objects themselves have almost become part of the furniture. I also used to have something like eight hard drives, all stacked up on my desk, all with separate power and it was a nightmare to find files. I simplified all of them down to one hard drive – a Drobo; now it’s much simpler and, of course, uses less power. Plus it has very sexy blue lights on the front!

When you set up your home office what did you have to keep in mind? Were there any particular obstacles to overcome? Nothing springs to mind.

What is your favorite piece of workspace furniture? I think the chair I use at home. My wife Lisa found it on Ebay a few years ago and whilst I haven’t a clue who made it I do know it’s Danish – which fits well with the 60’s Bang & Olufsen hifi I bought from Ebay. I love the size of it – it’s huge – and the leather and wood, but most of all the reason I love it so much is because of what Lisa went through to find a chair she knew I would like, spending days on Ebay to get the right kind of thing. It’s an object that is impregnated with a story and means so much more to me because of that.

What desk accessory can’t you do without? The Kum Long Point pencil sharpener is a thing of wonder. I own three of them; one at home, one in my bag and one at work. Having tried various pencil sharpeners over the years, and being a bit of a pencil geek, this thing was a revelation; a beautiful piece of design that does it’s job really well, like all good design should.

What would you change about your work space? Storage. Infinite storage shelves that could constantly expand, like some kind of shelf based hard drive for my things. Think I might need to work with a particle physicist to make that one happen though. But I can dream.

What inspires you? Right now the proliferation of personal 3D printers such as the Thing-O-Matic from Makerbot. I have this machine on my desk, I design something on the computer, press a button and kapow! There is the object that a few minutes ago was just pixels on a screen now being held in my hand. The possibilities of such things completely blow my mind; imagine a future were you can jump on the web, buy and download an object it and have it print out in front of you – no postage, no fulfillment, no packaging just delivered to you instantly. I’ve even designed and printed my own modular desk tidy system for my pencils that I use everyday. Why buy one when I can design one that was perfect for my needs and print it out? Of course it makes duplication and piracy really easy, in fact I know that our MoviePeg product already exists in a copied form on a 3D printing site. But those are things we’ll just need to work out as we move forward with this incredible technology. But here’s the thing – only a short while ago personal 3D printers were a pipe-dream, yet here we are today and I have one sat on my desk, at home. Who knows what will come about, next year, next week, tomorrow.

Inspiration: Illustrator Julia Pott

Julia Pott is a freelance illustrator and animator with a penchant for creatures – all sorts of wonderful creatures. Her whimsical work graces not just posters, CD covers and magazines, it also appears on a line of totes and t-shirts. We caught up with Julia in her Hackney flat and studio.

How long have you worked from home? I have been working from home since I graduated from Kingston in 2007. Home changes a lot though. At the moment I work from my house in Hackney but I have had a few homely work places in London and New York.

Describe your style? How would you define your aesthetic? I like to work mainly with mildly ridiculous anthropomorphic animals and their awkward relationships. I use them as a way of working out my own experiences with loved ones and enemies.

How do you keep your work space organized? Every few weeks or so I go a bit crazy with how many pencil sharpenings and pieces of random paper are accumulating all over the place and I have a huge reorganization. I have a few items on my desk that work both functionally and aesthetically, like pretty mugs for pens and tiny painted suitcases for receipts and staples. That way everything is hidden away but still accesible.

When you set up your home office what did you have to keep in mind? Were there any particular obstacles to overcome? I need to have a light box handy as I work as both an animator and illustrator so I managed to get a great desk from Ikea which has a built in light box which is a great space saver. As I also run an online shop out of my home studio I have a lot of storage for t-shirts, tote bags and prints, and try and make them as unobtrusive as possible.

Is there any piece of home office furniture you covet right now? As I’m becoming a bit of a slouchy old lady I really want one of those desk chairs that you sort of kneel on to help keep your back straight. They’re oddly expensive though!

What desk accessory can’t you do without? My giant mug of pens. I also just bought a huge wall planner from Crispin Finn which I love. It makes me feel very smugly organized.

What would you change about your work space? I think I would love to add an extra desk to keep my sewing machine and cutting board on. I would also love to have a desktop computer to work from instead of my laptop. As I am moving to New York next October I’ve been trying not to ‘nest’ too much in London and have forbidden myself from buying too much artwork or desk accessories. I know I want my New York studio to have wood floor and a lot of natural light through big windows. I want to have lots of art on the walls and antiques and trinkets around the studio for inspiration.

What inspires you? It changes from month to month. At the moment I love Pendleton patterns, Native American prints, landscape photography, Priit Parn’s animations and Looney Tunes. I find myself drawing a lot of elephants, wild boars and yeti’s at the moment too.

Inspiration: Len Kendall

When he’s not working as the digital guy at public relations firm GolinHarris Len Kendall is busy blogging, contributing to GOOD and getting other people to blog at the3six5 project – a daily dose of writing he runs with with co-founder Daniel Honigman.

How long have you worked from home? And where is home? I live and work in the lovely city of Chicago. I grew up here and am not quite sure I’ll ever leave. Some might say that’s unadventurous, but truly this city has so much to offer. I’ve worked from home to some degree ever since college. I’ve dabbled in the world of freelancing before where my home office served as my full time location for work, but now it’s a place I spend my evenings working on my personal side projects.

Describe your style? How would you define your aesthetic? My style is chaos. What you see is probably the cleanest my desk has been in months (thanks a lot for making me have to clean…). I like lots of screens, and lots of items on my desk to both distract and inspire me. In a perfect world, I’d have a few more monitors, and a much more comfortable chair. I’ve been holding out for a SAYL actually, and I think I’ll be pulling the trigger soon.

How do you keep your work space organized? I try to maintain organization by recycling, or in rare cases disposing of, items I don’t need. Some people tend to hold onto things in fear that they’ll realize later they needed them. I on the other hand like to live dangerously and play Russian roulette with my document saving decisions.

When you set up your home office what did you have to keep in mind? Were there any particular obstacles to overcome? The space I had to work with was rather small. My office is part of my living room space and I didn’t want it to overwhelm the space overall. I ended up buying a simple IKEA desk which was large enough to house my computers and also give me enough space for writing and drawing off to the side. I do have a small drawer that’s part of my work space, but I rarely use. I find that having more storage, also means unnecessary accumulation.

Is there any piece of home office furniture you covet right now? My first job didn’t pay well, but it did mean I got to sit in a Herman Miller Aeron chair. Ever since then, I’ve missed it.

What desk accessory can’t you do without? Part desk accessory, part peripheral, I couldn’t live without my Wacom Bamboo tablet. Sometimes I just can’t express myself words and I feel the need to doodle. The electronic pen/tablet has been an excellent, low-cost creative tool (one of Len’s sketches for GOOD‘s create a doodle project).

What would you change about your work space? I do enjoy being able to watch television (Purdue Basketball and Bears Football) while I’m cranking out some work. In a perfect world, my apartment would be laid out in a way that would allow me to be in the direct line of site of my television OR I suppose an elaborate system of mirrors could accomplish the same thing. In the meantime, I do on occasion move my “workspace” over to my couch.

What inspires you? I’ve always been driven to create things that I can go out into the world and see. Whether it’s writing, advertising, art, or other projects, the process of making something and seeing other’s reaction to it (good or bad) has inspired me to continue that behavior.

Best of Lifework: Publishers Charlotte and Peter Fiell

Ex-Taschen editors Charlotte and Peter Fiell established Fiell’s publishing in July 2008 with the aim of “publishing beautiful, content-rich illustrated books across a range of interesting and pertinent subject areas. Some of the books we author ourselves, and some we commission from other authors whom we respect and trust.” I found them through two of their beautifully designed books: The Little Book of Shocking Eco Facts and The Little Book of Global Facts (which arrived at my house today, thank you Doug! It’s a very inspiring little book that I highly recommend). I hope you enjoy their London-based home office.

How long have you worked from home? And where is home? We have worked from our home in West London for the last 15 years and I think it has worked really well because we have always had separate offices – probably we would have driven each other mad otherwise. Working from home has its pros and cons, but definitely one of the greatest advantages is being on hand if you have children…it was great when our daughters were small as we could fit work around them rather than the other way round.

Describe your style? How would you define your aesthetic? Our look is definitely eclectic – a mix of contemporary office furnishings with “furniture classics” from the 50s, 60s and 70s….Charles Eames, Pierre Paulin, Vico Magistretti, Charles Pollock. We think it is really important to work in a pleasant space so we try to make our workspaces as un-officey as possible by having art on the walls and lots of interesting objects from our personal design study collection.

How do you keep your home office organized? Peter manages to keep a pretty tidy office, but unfortunately my desk is a mess of stacked paper as is my computer desktop….when it gets too bad I have to have a ruthless spring clean….which is very therapeutic.

When you put together your home office what did you keep in mind? It was important for us to create workspaces that had lots of book shelves and filing capacity, but also we made the conscious decision not to use desks or office chairs that looked too corporate.

Is there any piece of home office furniture you covet? An antique plan chest would actually be a really useful piece of furniture for us, but unfortunately we don’t have the room to accommodate one!

What is a desk accessory you can’t do without? Our Folle stapler it is just a beautiful yet functional object, Fiskars scissors are pretty great too…

What would you change about your own workspace? More space for more book shelves!

What do you most love about your space? Looking out through the window into the jungle-like garden which is planted with enormous palm trees.

What inspires you? We love the research that lies behind our books, especially when we make historical discoveries and, of course, working with other creative people such as the authors, editors and graphic designers is also highly inspiring.

Best of Lifework: Jeff Carvalho of Selectism

Jeff Carvalho edits Selectism, a men’s lifestyle blog that started up in 2007. In an interview with Wallpaper magazine Jeff talks about the beginnings of Selectism. “David Fischer of the streetwear website, Highsnobiety, wanted to build a new property focused on more transitory menswear for that individual looking for a mix of street centric fashion and traditional menswear. By March of 2008, Selectism was running full-time to fill that content void.” And fill the void it did. Selectism turned out to be one of the strongest, and certainly best designed, online men’s destination. Here Jeff shares his workspace with us.

How long have you worked from home? And where is home? I started working from a home office in the Summer 2007 when I began full-time work on Selectism.com (a men’s lifestyle and fashion blog) and consult work. My workspace was inside a loft which was directly across the street from Boston’s Fenway Park. 88 to 90 days out of the year, ball park traffic – both human and vehicle – ruled. In 2009, I moved outside of Harvard Square on the Cambridge side of the Charles River for a bit of relief. I haven’t left yet.

Describe your style? My style is pretty simple. I prefer a very clean workspace which holds only the essentials. My desk and desktop are as bare as I can keep them, which can be a struggle at times.

How do you keep your office organized? I’m thinking here of the physical space but also your computer. Are there any particular programs you find really useful? At the end of each day, I do my best to reorganize it back into order. There is something about bringing my workspace back to order which actually keeps me focused when I sit down first thing in the morning. It is a bit habitual. Many friends tell me that workspace clutter is how they manage their day. I’m just not one of those people. I have to be organized (on both desktops) to stay focused. I also rely heavily on email filters and labels for both task management and assignment. I use Simplenote for lists but plan on moving to something more robust like Things sooner rather than later.

When you were setting up your home office what did you keep in mind? Well to be honest, the space I am in on this side of the Charles was initially supposed to be temporary. For this reason, most of office is still in storage. Everything from books, music, ephemera, and artwork are packed away. As I need a reference piece, I’ll dig through the boxes and take only what I need, which keeps the room pretty bare – in a positive way. There are lessons learned from this office which I’ll take with me to my next space. Natural light was the most important requirement. In the loft, I only had light during the early morning. Today light flows from two sides of the room, but both indirect rather than coming from windows directly in front of my desk. Also, a desk under-mounted USB hub makes plugging in devices fast and easy. I highly recommend diy’ing your own.

Is there any piece of home office furniture you particularly enjoy? I’ve had a Herman Miller Aeron chair for over 10 years now. It has been the one constant in my workspace since 1999 when I purchased it. While other parts of my workspace turn over often (think swapping iMacs every 16 months), the Aeron has always remained. Every three months or so, I work out of our Berlin office for a few weeks and their chairs are difficult. I miss the comfort of the Aeron immediately.

What is a desk accessory you can’t do without? The (massive) custom amplifier on my desk. I plug a pair of Sennheiser 595 headphones into it. That’s the amplifier’s only function – a headphone amp. It serves its single purpose role better than most devices on my desk.

What would you change about your own workspace? Maybe a bigger desk and some shelving so I can pull the books and magazines out of storage.

What do you most love about your space? Being able to look outside my windows and see green grass and sunlight.

What inspires you? Music inspires me every day as does the “hand made” movement which you can find at craft fairs like Renegade. It is inspiring to see what work people develop in this area – from printing, to accessories. It is incredibly impressive.