Kitty And Buck: Creative Workspace Inspiration

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Creative Workspace Inspiration

inspiring office space from Design Love Fest

Welcome to my new series "Work Your Way". It's all about inspiring each other and sharing knowledge to help us all work better and smarter. Since I started working from home, I've been thinking of ways to optimize my workspace. It's been a little haphazard as I've been based all over the place, from various offices to my own desk. I'm now on a 2 month contract working from home, so it's about time I organised my workspace properly! I've been peeping at some beautiful creative spaces online and dreaming about what I can concoct at home.

The most important things about you home workspace are:

Comfort - making sure you have a proper chair that won't send you to the chiropractor every few weeks! I'm even considering setting up a standing desk. It's the way of the future
Light - I'm a night owl so I am not great at this one. But making sure you have adequate light for the task at hand. While natural light is ideal, adequate soft lighting is also good.
Space - Ideally I need a spot for my laptop, extra monitor (a must for animation! The laptop screen is way too small), Wacom tablet and a notepad. It's important to have all of your everyday tools at hand, easily accesible but not cluttering up your space.
Storage - I'm sure like most of you, I do way too many things. Even for a single job I might need to draw and scan storyboards, characters or lettering. I might need to set up a little photo studio, cut out paper, fabric, and many more things! To keep my workspace pared down to the everyday essentials, I need a good storage system for extra stationary, fabric and other supplies. Easily accessible, but tidy and out of the way when not in use.
Inspiration - staring at a white wall will probably squash any creative ideas you might have had. Create an inspiration board, where you can pin anything you collect for inspiration, photos, magazine clippings and business cards. Sometimes the greatest ideas sprout from an unexpected glimpse at your collection of tidbits.

Here's some more beautiful working environments for you to enjoy. I'd love to know your tips on having a successful space to work from, six months in and I'm starting to know what I want (and need!)