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.
Wow, this is 180 degrees from some of the other creative guests that have been featured. It just goes to show you that some of us do our best creative work in a neat and uncluttered environment.
Residential concrete floors are actually very “on trend” right now – but only if they are glazed to be more decorative. The next owner could always toss a throw rug over the drain if they didn’t like it!
Daisy McCarty
San Diego Office Furniture