We have all started at some point, almost always with the same problems and the same concerns. You sit in any chair, on any table and a computer. You buy design products, you look for tools to complement it and you open a blank document.
You develop ideas, lower your neck, curve your back, frown and after several hours of several days the whole body hurts. That's when we all come to the same conclusion: Our workspace is null to create.
That's when we search the internet and we don't really know what we're looking for. Today from Creativos, we bring some small guidelines so that you know where to look, what to look for and at what price. Something simple like a work table, chair, or comfortable sofa. In addition to the space where to carry all that material so that it is optimal.
Let's start with a seat
One of the most important things when working seated is the chair. Where we are going to spend most of our time. Since this will make it so difficult for us to settle there in the short and long term.
For this, SteelCase is one of the chairs that will adapt to you and make you feel really good. According to the president of the brand: "most of the chairs are not made to adapt to the new positions we take." SteelCase yes. Of course, its cost rises to a price that is difficult to reach for anyone in most products. But there are chairs that are more within our reach that can also be very valid.
We also talk about Drift. Chairs specialized in the 'gaming' world for those players who spend hours glued to the computer. And although it seems only for a specific use such as playing, they are very valid for designers, due to comfort and mobility. With a more affordable price.
Lean on something, don't fall!
The table on which you should lean and place all your machinery to work should not be less important. And it is that it is the one where you are going to take the form in which you feel, so you must adapt it.
When we want to practice graphic design, the truth is that it is not something very specific that we must acquire. A good table with placement for keyboard and mouse and monitor works well. In case of being portable, even easier. Of course, for me, it should have a lot of holes and drawers. Where you can order everything and keep track of your profits. But if you also practice with technical drawing, then if you have to go for something more concrete.
Tables with an inclination, focused for the height of different people and a robust material. As can be the ones offered in Asturalba:
Asturalba offers varied prices for all types of pockets. If you are a student and your pocket is limited, don't worry, Asturalba thinks about it. The RD-190 table is designed for you. To start practicing and creating your first ideas is ideal. For a price of less than 130 euros.
But it does not end there, if your goal is to find something professional and consolidated for what your job requires, there is a table that is at the top of the professional. They call it RD-110 and its cost is already higher, but it sure fits your needs.
Those two are the example of the highest and lowest category, but there are steps in between that will help you measure your table with a greater adjustment to what you really need. You just need to take a look at it.
Ergonomic sofas
It seems logical, that the sofas they have to adapt to you to make it more comfortable for you. But this is not always the case, one focuses more on the aesthetics with the place than on the total adaptation of the back. And that's why we notice it in the future.
We opt for multiple postures that we have developed over the years and that increasingly harm our neck, back and arms especially. Bad attitude, vagueness, annoyances are caused on multiple occasions by these bad actions that we carry in the back of our room.
For a designer, this is much more important. Whether you work from the same chair or from the sofa itself. And it is that when one rests, the most recurrent thing is this. And as we do, unless we really rest. From the material itself is important to the shape of it.
Key design of a sofa
Back. The sofa should be hard, but with a soft back. The kidneys must be protected by preventing the body from slipping.
Hip. It should not be lower than the knees.
Arms. The arm should rest on the armrest, which should be at the elbow, not lower.
Size. It is advisable to go to the store with the exact measurements of the place where the sofa will be placed.
For all products of this type, there are specialized websites of prestigious designers who treat furniture for people with this dedication, such as lunchstudio, GoyoEstudio.
This are basic products to design, not worth anything as you can see. But apart from that, there are very important tools that will help you balance your projects. Diaries, graphic tablets, coffee cups, cameras, etc. These are the accessories that will make your day at work easier:
Help yourself with a tablet
When we design with pencils and paper, it seems that there are no limits beyond this. But when we want to transport that to the computer, there it is already limited a bit. Not by our imagination - which sometimes seems infinite. But the freedom with which you handle your wrist is not the same as doing it with a keyboard and trackpad. For this there are graphics tablets. With very different prices, but from the cheapest it becomes useful, sometimes with amazement.
The best known and most marketed brand in this sector is: Wacom. It offers several categories of Graphics Tablets that can be used for various jobs. The simplest is the Intuos table. Intuos has little to explain, and it is that it is a tablet with a pen, adapted to the wrist. Connected by means of a plugin to the computer and which is compatible with all kinds of applications for a price of € 80.
But if what you want is to feel powerful, Cintiq is your board. 27 ″ high touch power monitor where you will feel the path you make. A pressure sensor pen for better tracing. Of course, the price we already know that it will be much more expensive, due to its quality. A job of more than 2000 euros.
Write it all down
Not everything is inside the computer. If at any time you need to go out, rest, dream ... Don't forget to take something very important out of your work room -apart from your clothes-. An agenda. This agenda will allow you to write down everything that goes through your head. For this reason, it is also important that you integrate post it for specific annotations, etc.
Organize your ideas
For those who like notes, square your agenda, write down ideas quickly and in a dirty way. Perhaps an agenda is not enough and they need something of a larger size. If you work with a computer, having a chalk board is not useful because it is detrimental to the ventilation of computers. White boards are used for this. With pens.
If you can, a camera
Many times we think that the design is focused on a work table and a rather static place. But it's not like that. Jobs that require imagination must have a changing workplace, that is, everything you see around you will serve you when you have to work.
That is why a camera is important to get out of the place and discover new shapes, colors and themes. There are all kinds of cameras on the market and all - or almost all - serve what we want. We do not need a super professional camera as we are not entirely dedicated to it.
Although if we want to learn and we can afford it, we can also choose them. Here are some examples:
instax mini 8
FujiFilm has created a Polaroid camera with a funny and modern design. Something like a mixture of the polaroids of before with the touch of now. In multiple colors like blue, yellow or newly added colors like raspberry or grape.
An unprofessional but easy to use camera. Their photos are revealed instantly and you will have the physical proof of it.
EOS 1200D
A semi-professional camera that will give you the feeling of being a photographer. Something simple, a management of the F or ISO number that will make you change the lens aperture, to handle the light that enters your camera or the noise of the photograph. Something more complex right?
Nothing that cannot be learned. Many pages can help you with it, but surely you will know how to do it.
More professionals
From here, there are cameras and cameras of this type such as the 700D to the 5D through a 60D if we talk about Canon. We can also see nikon, pentax or any brand. There are fights between users fighting for which is better or worse. As for everything.
Prices range from € 400 to € 2000 depending on your budget and what you want to invest in these products. Each person will require one or the other, here you choose.
Lighting your room is important
Help yourself with natural lighting, a spacious room and large spaces. It is one of the essential parts to start your work, since with the wrong light you cannot work as comfortable and you get tired more easily.
Therefore, having plenty of natural light makes you more creative. Of course, if you can't afford that luxury and your room is rather dark, don't settle for just any type of light.
In the first place, that it is LED, so that it does not tire the eyes and that the lighting is not with a strong tonality. LedBox works with this type of lighting, but surely you will also find good products on Amazon or any other store.
Everything that we have been reviewing in this article deals with what surrounds your workspace. As you will have seen at no time do we deal with the hardware and software issue to carry out all your work, something that sometimes seems important but is not as important as the space around you.
A good computer, with 16 gigabytes of RAM, SSD hard drives, a motherboard and an i7 processor and all the best in hardware is always important when handling tools like photoshop, illustrator or autoCAD, also powerful software.
But ideas do not arise only from the tools you have with you, or from the money you spend. Many designers obtain their work from a low budget and with low cost tools. What is around your head is more important.
The lighting so as not to tire your eyes, the back position so as not to focus your energy on the pain caused by the many hours of sitting and the little habits to develop everything.
As a small conclusion
A small appreciation is that - almost all of us set our goal for our comfort is broadband, in the power of the computer and in the latest software. But nevertheless the most important tool is the mind. And to take care of it, you have to create a more efficient atmosphere around it with which it can work and be more productive.
As I always say, surely many of you already knew about it and if you know other brands, other ideas, it would be good to be able to help the creative community to know all the tools to develop ideas with the knowledge of all users.