Every inch of the wall above the desk in the home office of interior designer Laura Clayton Baker contains photos, magazine pages, postcards, and random pieces of artwork. (Photo: Laura Clayton Baker)

The Portland, OR, space of illustrator, teacher, and book author Kate Bingaman-Burt displays an eclectic mix of drawings, art, posters, paper cut-outs, and plants. (Photo: Kate Bingaman-Burt)

Art, books, and neat stacks of papers make up the Venice, CA-based home office of Scott Flora and Jerinne Neils, co-founders of wall graphics company Blik. (Photo: Blik)

The workspace occupied by Brian Haines, Alejandra Abad, Natasha Maria Fernandez-Fountain, and Bruno Torquato — otherwise known as design studio and collaborative One by Four — has walls and windows filled with creativity and color. (Photo: One by Four)

Materials and tools for art, design, and illustration projects take over the work surfaces at Logical Art, a creative design studio in London founded by Yoo-kyung Shin and Hanhsi Chen. (Photo: Logical Art)

Photo of Ray Eames’ desk via eamesoffice.com.

What do you listen to while you work? Scott: I love ambient and experimental stuff with layered, digital beats and sounds. Some friends get stressed by a strong percussive-driven rhythm, but I used to be a drummer and DJ (Chicago House mostly) and it relaxes and motivates me. I like to find new bands and music all the time, and although I listen to older stuff, I prefer to keep it fresh—I’m always looking for something I haven’t heard. I have Brian Eno, Plastikman, New Order, Black Uhuru, Jazzanova, Kraftwerk, Autechre, and old-school rap rotating through my Pandora stations as I write this and I find stuff I haven’t heard all the time. Pandora limits me to 100 channels, but if I could have 1000 I’d fill it—quickly. Jerinne: Scott has an aversion to headphones and since we have adjoining offices, I tend to listen to whatever he’s playing—usually ambient, house, or techno. When he’s away or has his music turned down, I can get away with listening to my own music, KCRW or KEXP in the mornings, but usually indie rock.

How do you listen? Scott: My desktop Creature speakers. And sometimes, if I really need to concentrate, I use Apple earbuds. Jerinne: Headphones, but only in one ear so I can take calls or talk to people in the office. I also got a Jambox for Christmas, which is a fun way to listen, too.

Do you have any favorite music websites/providers? Scott: Soundcloud is great to explore stuff that producers make in their basement and just upload, and I love my Pandora One app. I surf through Mixriot and listen to Groove Salad, Proton Radio, KCRW, and KEXP in Seattle. I’m a Sirius radio subscriber and I like college radio (KXLU, Loyola Marymount’s broadcast in LA, rocks). Jerinne: Pandora. Proton Radio—I like to listen to Transitions with John Digweed.

Does music influence your work? Scott: Absolutely and it always has; it’s actually hard for me to work without it. I listen to a variety of music types throughout the day depending on what I’m doing. If I’m designing, I generally like something a little more up-tempo, I like a DJ from Rotterdam named Eelke Kleijn and a British producer named Gilles Peterson—both do podcasts. If I’m working on a proposal or business stuff, I like Jason Bentley’s show on KCRW a lot and KEXP. Our office is a member of both stations and we just completed a large custom interior and exterior wall installation for KCRW studios. Jerinne: I’m mostly Operations, so I don’t need music to help inspire me to design or create something. But it does influence me in that I feel more productive and focused when I’m listening to it and generally just more relaxed.

Where do you find music recommendations? Who influences your musical taste? Scott: Jerinne and friends definitely influence, but I also love to discover new stuff on my own; not a lot of people I know like exactly what I like. I tool through Soundcloud and like to sift through sites like Bleep and Warp Records. Jason Bentley and Gilles Peterson play a lot of stuff I connect with and I start with the bands I hear from them and then explore further. Jerinne: I’m not really influenced by anyone or anything, I just play what I like, which is pretty eclectic. Scott gives me recommendations; he introduced me to Pandora and Proton radio. I listen to Sirius XMU and then buy what I like and when I buy a song or album on iTunes, I do check out the “Listeners Also Bought” recommendations. I’ve discovered new stuff this way.

What song or artist best represents the work you create? Scott: I love Brian Eno and how he works like both a scientist and an artist. He’s constantly pushing boundaries and exploring what is new and he operates on so many levels. My mind works that way; I often pull from my background in research and science to study and explore what we do at BLIK. Jerinne: Can it be a radio station? KCRW is a great independent radio station with eclectic programming and in a way that best describes Blik and what we do. We’re very independent and aren’t influenced by others; we work with a variety of interesting established and up-and-coming artists and designers so our designs vary, which is good because we have decals that appeal to all tastes.

SCOTT’S PLAYLIST

Music for Airports (Album), Brian Eno

Age of Consent, New Order

Breathe, A Place to Bury Strangers

Just Like Honey, Jesus and Mary Chain

Nil, Autechre

Safe from Harm, Massive Attack

Little Pleasures, Tokimonsta

Paid in Full, Erik B. and Rakim

Time Space Transmat, Juan Atkins

Xtal, Aphex Twin

Jerinne’s Playlist

La Esquina, Federico Aubele

Under the Milky Way, The Church

I Wanna Be Your Lover, Prince

First Cool Hive, Moby

Rocket Man, My Morning Jacket

Love the Way You Lie, Eminen

You Hear Colours, CFCF

Black Metallic, Catherine Wheel

Photojournalist, Small Black

Blood Red Sentimental Blues, Cotton Jones

For Today, Jessica Lea Mayfield

Codex, Radiohead

Images courtesy BLIK