I am curious why so many people use Apple Monitors but with a regular stand instead of the VESA mount version so they could use a better support, the stand is clearly not being able to deliver the best position as people seem to use different things to rise them a little more.
Having been using different supports throughout the years, using the regular stand that come with monitors always felt like a considerable downgrade and the cost of a proper support that you attach to the desk, drill on it or drill on the wall, depending on the necessity of the space, is usually negligible.
I find it nuts that "creators" is basically synonymous with "streamers". To add insult to injury, these workspaces appear to be overwhelmingly staged.
There's nothing interesting to me about a workplace with a clinically-tidy desk and a LED ring light. I want to see metalsmiths, woodworkers, electrical engineers, etc. Even software occupations often have interesting workspace setups dictated by the nature of the job - for example, many CAD and music / video production setups are eclectic - but these ain't it.
Also noticing a lot more creators on youtube who are metalsmiths, woodworkers, electrical engineers.
Many seem to only have started the past few years, and the rest may have not been presented to me by the algorithm because the algorithm cared to keep me watching and not if I might have diverse interests.
One of the other realities is more and more people are distributed, and having communication be clearer (sound, light, video) is increasingly becoming more common in any field.
The thing that stands out to me about some of these designs is they look great, but not enough show the functionality that needed to be designed as well (organization, storage, etc).
Very interesting, thank you. For designers and similar creatives, I'm surprised that there isn't more artwork. Also, the workspaces - the desks and especially the monitor screen area - are much smaller than I expected.
Yes, indeed! The similarity across place and profession is hard to believe. Is there some other explanation other than all these people - many professional designers - making the same design choices? Maybe something to do with how they were chosen or what questions were asked or who responded?
I originally launched Workspaces on April 5, 2020 when world shifted to remote work.
The original idea was simple... interview one person a week, ask them about their setup, publish the photos and gear list.
It's now been 6+ years and 500+ interviews.
Each feature includes workspace photography, a short bio, a full gear list with links, and four interview questions. New issues go out every Saturday morning.
Oh please, what is with all of these pristine "engineer" workspaces? Every high-powered engineer I know lives in a pile of wires, boards, and monitors that evolves like a living organism.
Nice!
And also, sorry if my comment came off as mean about the site. I don't think so at all...I also don't understand why your first comment on the post went dead.
There is something very interesting about looking at workspaces. As other commenters mentioned? Does your site delve into non-computer workspaces?
not at all! was great feedback and something for me to consider honestly...
there were a handful of artists early on but it really did morph into tech-focused creators (designers, developers, founders, etc) mostly because the early audience and guests pulled it in that direction
This[0] is my personal favorite that was posted on a battlestations page. If it is staged, I think the author is pandering more to the Buffalo Bill demographic rather than tech nerds.
Or this one as an example of a YouTube programming creator who uses a teleprompter i think quite cleverly as a way to have his eyes centered on the camera/webcam https://youtu.be/IG-H5poJMvY
They’re pretty easy to keep, set a reminder to water once a week and that’s basically all you need to do. Maybe if you want to go crazy, test if the soil is dry first.
I love the idea! But echoing some comments on here, oh man if the desk-owner takes the desk-photo, you get a lot of branded mugs with the logo facing towards the camera, books neatly stacked in a pile right in the middle of the desk, or (my personal favourite) the iPhone place purposefully upside down centred on the un-scratched cutting mat just downwind from the perpendicularly oriented speed-square/stencil. [0] You never know when you might need an edgeless speed-square at a moment's notice!
NOT A DIG AT THESE PEOPLE! The spaces look great! And clearly, they own all the things listed/shown, so there's nothing disingenuous. It's just a bit of a stretch to say it's their workspace... this is the collapsed superposition of their workspace once you measure it with a photo. They took the photo, sat down, realized the pile of books is now where there arm should be and then entropy takes the wheel.
The few that don't have that manicured aesthetic, I love [1]. The books have been opened, the sticky notes are actually used, pens are in the broken mug, and fun knick-knacks are fully deployed to every flat surface EXCEPT the one you have to put your arms on. Tessa dedicated like 15 minutes to these photos then moved on with her day and got shit done. I get the same feeling from that video of Linus Torvald's "zombie shuffling desk". [2] If he spent, like 3 hours organizing and manicuring this, it could fit in on this site just fine, but he probably has other stuff to do.
Wow, these made me feel worse about my own workplace. Jokes aside, these workspaces are likely staged beforehand in my opinion. Very interesting though however!
Maybe not "messy reality", honestly my desk is a mess right now and it would be a totally apt description... but I wouldn't want to be in a category called "messy reality"!
"Brutalist" maybe... I could convince myself of that being a positive trait. The unguided wires and bare deskpad-less desktop is a desk that's honest [0] about the materials making it up.
Or simply: that's what fits my home and what I can afford.
I work in a tiny room and the only place a desk fits is in the corner, so I have a small corner desk that fits there, with a ultra wide monitor, but I have to keep the laptop closed because I don't have space on the desk. Also a trackball because it's too cramped for a mouse.
This is cool but it just promotes the Kinfolkification of the home. And they all look the same / nothing like how me or my colleagues's home setups look. This looks very...... youtube and #aesthetic. Which is fine and there's clearly a market for, but it should include ALL workspaces not just Creatives one which is shorthand for like "Cool guy Creators / streamers / people with Instagrams"
Pretty sure he meant that as a synonym for "samey" - as in they're all of the same archetype of "clean setup"
More about a display case / something meant to look like a workplace vs actually being one.
Oh my god you people can't enjoy anything. It's just cool workspace inspiration and a place for people to share their setups, can't we just take it for what it is?
These remind me of the various YouTube channels I have seen pop up over the last few years focusing on 3d printing and organization, usually of clean workshops or sterile computer desks.
They are usually very pretty and well edited, with impressively done voice overs. They are also usually about aesthetically organizing and displaying an exacting set of objects that can't be changed without breaking out the fulfillment.
I guess aspirational and satisfying to look at, but pretty useless in terms of actual working space organization. Should probably play "A Little to the Left" and get your pattern matching fix that way.
DAMN it's me and dude who got got by the CFPB for, everyone say it with me, telling everyone that they could get rich if they bought his magic beans! I'm way nicer than him; I don't defraud anyone!!
I dont get why people here are so livid that people like to have a tidy desk and/or tidy up before photographing their desk.
Many people also like to tidy up their home a bit before they receive guests or groom themselves before going out for the night. No reason to judge them.
From the results I can see that I am somehow living as a radically messy desk creator. Even my books are not color coordinated or nicely arranged. I will try to do better.
I enjoy some battlestation pics, but this feels like an oddly uniform collection that makes me feel like I'm looking at a stock art catalog. I'm not sure if it's a narrow demographic being interviewed, the photos themselves, the presentation, or what. It's kind of eerie.
To me these work spaces look so sanitised/artificial, bordering on being sterile.
Lot of people I know have all sorts of clutter in their workspace. A sticker from here and badge from a conference, a poster, books and notebooks lying around the table. The cluttered chaotic looking workspace has its own aesthetic, indicating a rich experience for the senses and the worker. Things where they should be for their functional aspects not only aesthetic one.
markus_zhang | a day ago
mmooss | a day ago
[OP] ryangilbert | a day ago
https://workspaces.xyz/collections/developer
rnrn | 10 hours ago
q3k | 13 hours ago
( https://computerhistory.org/blog/an-analog-life-remembering-... )
a1o | a day ago
Having been using different supports throughout the years, using the regular stand that come with monitors always felt like a considerable downgrade and the cost of a proper support that you attach to the desk, drill on it or drill on the wall, depending on the necessity of the space, is usually negligible.
shen | a day ago
skippyfish | a day ago
There's nothing interesting to me about a workplace with a clinically-tidy desk and a LED ring light. I want to see metalsmiths, woodworkers, electrical engineers, etc. Even software occupations often have interesting workspace setups dictated by the nature of the job - for example, many CAD and music / video production setups are eclectic - but these ain't it.
j45 | a day ago
Also noticing a lot more creators on youtube who are metalsmiths, woodworkers, electrical engineers.
Many seem to only have started the past few years, and the rest may have not been presented to me by the algorithm because the algorithm cared to keep me watching and not if I might have diverse interests.
One of the other realities is more and more people are distributed, and having communication be clearer (sound, light, video) is increasingly becoming more common in any field.
The thing that stands out to me about some of these designs is they look great, but not enough show the functionality that needed to be designed as well (organization, storage, etc).
[OP] ryangilbert | a day ago
I do agree that I should attempt to share more of the "messy reality" alongside the more staged photos, though.
browningstreet | a day ago
Faaak | a day ago
Mine is a real mess (partly because of ADHD, but not only)
mmooss | a day ago
[OP] ryangilbert | a day ago
mmooss | a day ago
[OP] ryangilbert | a day ago
I originally launched Workspaces on April 5, 2020 when world shifted to remote work.
The original idea was simple... interview one person a week, ask them about their setup, publish the photos and gear list.
It's now been 6+ years and 500+ interviews.
Each feature includes workspace photography, a short bio, a full gear list with links, and four interview questions. New issues go out every Saturday morning.
Would love to hear what you think!
RIMR | a day ago
SubiculumCode | a day ago
[OP] ryangilbert | a day ago
https://workspaces.xyz/p/70-alex-wilhelm https://workspaces.xyz/p/296-alex-nicolai https://workspaces.xyz/p/337-jason-levin
SubiculumCode | a day ago
There is something very interesting about looking at workspaces. As other commenters mentioned? Does your site delve into non-computer workspaces?
[OP] ryangilbert | a day ago
there were a handful of artists early on but it really did morph into tech-focused creators (designers, developers, founders, etc) mostly because the early audience and guests pulled it in that direction
cj | a day ago
Why are these not on the homepage...
[OP] ryangilbert | a day ago
3eb7988a1663 | 18 hours ago
[0] https://imgur.com/a/h44Uzw0
cheesecakegood | 15 hours ago
darth_avocado | 23 hours ago
nxc18 | 22 hours ago
BorisMelnik | a day ago
[OP] ryangilbert | a day ago
I should try to add this soon.
graypegg | a day ago
NOT A DIG AT THESE PEOPLE! The spaces look great! And clearly, they own all the things listed/shown, so there's nothing disingenuous. It's just a bit of a stretch to say it's their workspace... this is the collapsed superposition of their workspace once you measure it with a photo. They took the photo, sat down, realized the pile of books is now where there arm should be and then entropy takes the wheel.
The few that don't have that manicured aesthetic, I love [1]. The books have been opened, the sticky notes are actually used, pens are in the broken mug, and fun knick-knacks are fully deployed to every flat surface EXCEPT the one you have to put your arms on. Tessa dedicated like 15 minutes to these photos then moved on with her day and got shit done. I get the same feeling from that video of Linus Torvald's "zombie shuffling desk". [2] If he spent, like 3 hours organizing and manicuring this, it could fit in on this site just fine, but he probably has other stuff to do.
[0] https://workspaces.xyz/p/507-lubos-volkov
[1] https://workspaces.xyz/p/218-tessa-brown
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYUZAF3ePFE
fastasucan | a day ago
This whole comment reads as a dig against these people. They like to have it tidy/or they like to tidy up before photographing their desk.
tsxng44 | a day ago
[OP] ryangilbert | a day ago
I will try to add some "messy reality" ones as well going forward!
graypegg | a day ago
"Brutalist" maybe... I could convince myself of that being a positive trait. The unguided wires and bare deskpad-less desktop is a desk that's honest [0] about the materials making it up.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brutalist_architecture#:~:text...
KellyCriterion | a day ago
I have a 50 bucks IKEA table with scrathed surface, a screen from 2008 and a chair for 10 bucks I bought from the last companies shut down.
And no, this is not fancy :-D :-D but it does the job :)
MSKJ | a day ago
klez | a day ago
I work in a tiny room and the only place a desk fits is in the corner, so I have a small corner desk that fits there, with a ultra wide monitor, but I have to keep the laptop closed because I don't have space on the desk. Also a trackball because it's too cramped for a mouse.
ericzawo | a day ago
nickt | a day ago
burnto | a day ago
NetOpWibby | 23 hours ago
VTimofeenko | 23 hours ago
Pardon my ignorance, but what is this referring to?
ffsm8 | 19 hours ago
adammarples | 12 hours ago
Pedro_Ribeiro | 21 hours ago
anentropic | a day ago
[OP] ryangilbert | a day ago
metalliqaz | a day ago
[OP] ryangilbert | a day ago
KomoD | 22 hours ago
I scrolled through 8 pages, and I couldn't find a single one that was even just a little messy.
[OP] ryangilbert | 21 hours ago
this is on page 1: https://workspaces.xyz/p/528-sabina-cabrera
thih9 | a day ago
[1]: https://workspaces.xyz/p/526-viktor-vlahek-ekaeoq
lrc | a day ago
blobdole | a day ago
They are usually very pretty and well edited, with impressively done voice overs. They are also usually about aesthetically organizing and displaying an exacting set of objects that can't be changed without breaking out the fulfillment.
I guess aspirational and satisfying to look at, but pretty useless in terms of actual working space organization. Should probably play "A Little to the Left" and get your pattern matching fix that way.
1-more | a day ago
[OP] ryangilbert | a day ago
https://workspaces.xyz/p/148-austen-allred
1-more | 19 hours ago
metalliqaz | a day ago
[OP] ryangilbert | a day ago
fastasucan | a day ago
Many people also like to tidy up their home a bit before they receive guests or groom themselves before going out for the night. No reason to judge them.
[OP] ryangilbert | 23 hours ago
Papazsazsa | a day ago
https://theselby.com/
https://www.freundevonfreunden.com/
https://www.worldofinteriors.com/
https://www.instagram.com/apartamentomagazine
aetherspawn | 23 hours ago
paulorlando | 23 hours ago
Biganon | 23 hours ago
Fuck this fake life, I'm out
chickensong | 19 hours ago
the-mitr | 17 hours ago
Lot of people I know have all sorts of clutter in their workspace. A sticker from here and badge from a conference, a poster, books and notebooks lying around the table. The cluttered chaotic looking workspace has its own aesthetic, indicating a rich experience for the senses and the worker. Things where they should be for their functional aspects not only aesthetic one.