No Fancy Greeting Room A Guide to Developing Creative Spaces
Siena Clarke Sophie Higgins Thomas Hobbs James Pollock
Publishing, Editing and Art Direction James Pollock Siena Clarke Sophie Higgins Tom Hobbs
Typography Klinic Slab by Joe Prince Lost Type Co-op
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Please ask us before reproducing any part of this book. Views expressed are those of No Fancy Greeting Room and respective contributors.
Contents
Introduction............................................... 5 Contributors............................................. 10 Layout......................................................... 13 Sunhouse Creative Interview............ 17 Pentagram Interview............................20 Ambience...................................................21 Teapot Creative Interview..................29 Studio Moross Interview.................... 30 Insider Tips............................................... 31 Dalton Maag Interview....................... 34 Credits........................................................35
Introduction
No Fancy Greeting Area is the cashstrapped designers’ guide to developing creative spaces. It covers everything from balancing informal and formal areas to top money saving tips. We have produced a concise, informative document, a go-to manual for anybody designing a creative work environment, across industries and sectors. There is a strong social enterprise aspect to our guide as it has been developed with the intention of making the difficult process of starting up a new studio easier.
Our space evolved organically, as needed, by its inhabitants. Milton Glaser
Entering into the creative industry is not an easy thing to do in such a saturated market. But there are few things you can do to make the process a lot easier. Constructing the ideal environment to foster creativity should be an absolute basic. So we must ask ourselves… What makes us creative? And how can we nurture this. There’s so much going on in the brain when we are being creative that science is still trying to pin down exactly how it all works. But what we think we do know, is which three parts of the brain work together to help us create and come up with new ideas: The Attentional Control Network helps us focus on a particular task. It’s the one that we activate when we need to concentrate on complicated problems or pay attention to a task like reading or listening to a talk. The Imagination Network as you might have guessed, is used for things like imagining future scenarios and remembering things that happened in the past. This network helps us to construct mental images when we’re engaged in these activities. The Attentional Flexibility Network has the important role of monitoring what’s going on around us, as well as inside our brains, and switching between the Imagination Network and Attentional Control.
Understanding how important making connections are to aiding creativity should make a difference, as to what processes you can follow to try to generate new ideas. Once we have a lot of knowledge, we need to spend time making connections between it all—this is where creativity comes in.
Creativity is the act of turning new and imaginative ideas into reality. Creativity is characterised by the ability to perceive the world in new ways, to find hidden patterns, to make connections between seemingly unrelated phenomena, and to generate solutions. - Linda Naiman Many articles have thrown around suggestions about creativity and how to help you come up with new ideas. Things such as putting yourself in challenging situations, criticising your own ideas and being open to having lots of (bad) ideas in order to find just a few great ones. But there are certain factors in your working environment which you can take control of to foster these creative ideas and connections. Environmental factors like noise levels, temperature, space and lighting can make a big difference to how creative we are. Here’s what the research says about setting up your studio for optimising levels for creativity. We also took advise from existing successful design studios, to see how they function within their work environment.
“Our creativity is often determined by how actively engaged and focused we are. Sometimes our focus is dictated by the constraints, or rules, we apply to it. The more we focus, the more we create.�
Contributors
Spencer Buck, Taxi Studio Founder and creative director of a typography studio based in Clifton, Bristol.
Michael Bierut, Pentagram NYC Partner at Pentagram NYC, he is one of the world’s most critically acclaimed designers.
Anthony Hyam, Teapot Creative A design agency based in Somerset, they offer a wide range of services including Brand and Graphic design, and Web design.
Sidonie Warren & Kyle Clarke, Something Good Bristol Two designers for Something Good, based in the arts quarter, on the Christmas Steps in central Bristol.
Tom Maurice, Sunhouse Creative Tom is the founder and creative director of the growing branding company SunHouse, based in Bath.
Jason Smith, Fiasco Design Co-founder of Fiasco, specialising in branding, web design, illustration, animation and print.
Richard Bailey, Dalton Maag Senior corporate service manager for Dalton Maag. A multi-disciplined firm that focuses mainly on typeface design.
Guy Field, Studio Moross A junior designer at Studio Moross in London, started by Kate Moross.
Dan Grozonka, Brond Dan founded Brond in 2006 with his wife, Angela. Their studio is on the bottom of Whiteladies Road in Bristol.
Debbie Taylor, Hello Charlie Marketing director of Hello Charlie, a Bristol based motion graphics studio.
Layout Open Plan Design Community Formal Spaces
14 Layout
Open Plan Design From research, studio visits and our own experience as designers we have concluded that there is some real value in open plan studios/desk areas. Other than things like increased oxygen flow around a space, lack of walls offer the team a chance to interact with each other over small design issues, proofreading, idea generation in moments of difficulty etc. The studio work better as a whole, integrating ideas and elements from sharing their work with each other. Different studios have various ways of provoking this however, like the person choosing the music for each day will change, again making a bit of variety within the space and creating conversation within the workforce.
Community Studios have various ways of creating a community within their workforce. Some places have a tea rota so that everyone is forced to speak to everyone else, some bring their own mugs or photographs of their family or friends in, or some have been known to allow cats, dogs, small pets into the office to bring a more homely and relaxed vibe. Another function of having a dog in the studio is that each lunchtime someone/a group would be forced to walk the dog and get fresh air, again stimulating more endorphins within the brain, and from that more creativity!
16 Layout
Formal Spaces The need, in some people’s minds, for a formal/meeting space within a studio is sometimes overrated. Studios are creative hubs and places where ideas are made, so the idea of installing a more ‘board room’ type area within this is in its self odd. Studios that we have visited have got around the idea of not having somewhere to meet clients by finding a smart, well designed bar to take clients to, having meetings at their headquarters/offices to make them feel more at home within the partnership, meeting in public spaces (depending on the project, obviously), restaurants etc. and that has seemed to work well for these more established studios. The only vital thing for a space of this nature is that everyone present should feel comfortable, it does not need to be held within your studio space.
A few questions : Sunhouse Creative Tom Maurice
How is your studio arranged? There are lines of desks filling the lower floor, then an open sort of gallery upstairs with table football, ping pong and snooker and a little kitchen for everyone to eat and make food in. There’s a drinks fridge and fruit there every day to get people eating properly and their bodies and minds at full capacity. There are 3 small side rooms also; one a conference room for big brand meetings, one a small beanbag type place and another that we are in the process of turning into a hunting lodge/library. Where did the inspiration for the layout of the studio come from? When we moved into the studio, quite recently, it was already laid out like this on the ground floor, all we did was remove some of the divides between desks, so that there was more of a ‘team’ feel, and replace some of the furniture with something more homely and comfortable. What was the top priority when designing the space? I guess the top priority was making everyone feel comfortable and at ease with
the space. It is really important to us, and for the creatives, to feel relaxed, then the ideas come more willingly and the creativity itself is more outgoing. Do you feel more creative in the studio or at home? I feel much more creative at the studio, when I get home I sort of turn off and relax, but when I get into the studio in the morning. Maybe it’s because I’ve been working in studios all my life, but I get all excited, try to get ‘limbered up’ and ready to make some unusual decisions and have outside the box ideas. Is your desk messy/tidy? And do you find this helps? My desk, personally, is very tidy. I like having a clean space to work within, however all the mood boards, mind-maps that I used to have cluttering my desk are all online now, on Pinterest boards, etc. so my actual physical working space is incredibly neat. We do have rooms dedicated to working things through and cluttering, cutting, sticking, trying something new, so generally we are quite clean workers.
Do you have a professional preference for the way you work? And do they vary within your team/studio? Yeh, there are a few ‘formulas’ for working that we use within this studio, but they all work in a similar way. The most popular is to go to a ‘brand immersion’ meeting with the client (if it’s the first job we’ve done for them) and get to grips with the form the client wants, then go away and brainstorm, look at Pinterest boards and past examples, get lost in the job, then go back to the brand and produce something that fits with the clients ideas. Generally we work on projects individually (mostly to save money and time), so there are no clashes in the different ways people work. Do you play music/noise in the studio? Yes, we play music all day every day, and rotate who is the DJ, so we get a fairly eclectic range of music. Sometimes we can see a physical difference in the work produced depending on the music style played which is quite interesting!
Do you create new experiences for the studio? Like ‘team building’ When we first started up we didn’t do anything like that outside of the office, we just chatted in the tea breaks and went for the occasional walk in our lunch hours, but now that we have moved to a more central location in town we go on office outings quite a lot, the office has become much more sociable and we go to pubs, restaurants, clubs all together and it’s spurred our creativity I think. What are the views like? Is there a favourite desk because of this? The view isn’t really that interesting, it’s more the huge window letting in the natural light that people really enjoy. So the desks upstairs in the chill out/kitchen area are often taken up when people get bogged down or stuck in a rut. How would you arrange/stage a client meeting? Or does it depend on the client? We generally go to the client’s office and they structure the meeting. There is always a facilitator and an agenda, otherwise we
all get carried away on tangents and the meeting goes on forever, with nothing getting done. Sometimes the client will have exercises prepared for us, to get us thinking in the mindset of a certain brand i.e. what would this brand be if it was a car? What would it be if it were a house? A celebrity? What would your ideal location be? Town/ City/Village/London? This is a great location for us, it’s near Bath station and it’s big enough for all of us (20), with lots of natural light, this is something we have found to be key. With regards to clients finding us, it’s mostly through recommendations or through the internet, and one of our oldest and largest companies we work with didn’t even realise we weren’t based in London until the other day! Has the space evolved since you moved in? It’s not really the space that has evolved; it’s more that we’ve found new ways of using it. For instance the back wall of the studio sits behind a row of desks and wasn’t used for anything before, then we discovered ‘static plastic’ (like a flipchart, but its clear plastic
so you just rip it off and statically it sticks to the walls) and it became the mood board for general ideas and nice paper stocks, good layouts, etc. How many cups of tea/coffee do you drink a day? Normally it’s about 6. Is that too much do you think? What is different about the things that happen/that people do in your studio? We are all friends. I think that’s important. If people aren’t getting along then it changes the whole vibe of the studio and how people create their work. Being able to go for drinks and dinner in town after work has had such a positive effect on the team and makes them feel more at home when they’re working.
A few questions : Pentagram Michael Bierut
O
ur office in New York occupies a fourstory building facing a park. It is 100 years old and was built as a bank. Before we moved in it was a dress shop and then (briefly) a nightclub. It has a very idiosyncratic layout with multiple interlocking levels and that, more than anything else, determined how we use the space. There are no private offices. The eight partners of the firm sit at adjacent desks between the first and second floors. Designers for four of the teams sit on those two floors. The designers on the other four teams sit on the fourth floor. All designers sit in an open plan arrangement at communal desks. We use the third floor as our lunchroom and for meetings of various sizes. There are three conference rooms and a lunchroom that can be reconfigured. All the open space (as well as the tradition of communal lunches three days a week) all are meant to help everyone both collaborate and, more importantly, enjoy each others’ company.
There is no fancy greeting area for clients. We feel strongly that anyone walking in the front door should immediately see that this is a place where work is getting done. None of the partners like having meetings that involve a lot of Post-It Notes, so there are few spaces that encourage this kind of thing. The biggest change since we moved in 20 years ago is size. We were 30 people then. We are nearly 100 now.
Ambiance Lighting Sound Temperature
L
ight, sound, heating and décor are of utmost importance to a studio. When considering that people will be working either on a range of disciplines from hand drawn sketches, computers to 3D modelling it is crucial to find a matrix these that work together at the same time as fostering as much creativity as possible. Décor in general can be worked a number of ways, it is true. To decide on this you must chose/know if you will be a ‘messy desk’ environment, or a ‘tidy desk’. Picking one or the other may swing how you decorate/ arrange the space. Various things have been recommended to us if the mess and ideas are going to be kept on the walls – static paper, on computers – Pinterest, on desks – in paper form, in meeting rooms – whiteboards or neatly tucked away in shelving units and sketchbooks. There are arguments for painting all the walls white and being very minimalist, however in the cold winters (but not inside, because you’ll be heating your studio!) the white bleak walls are not going to inspire, but depress. Adding splashes of colour around the walls cannot be overlooked. Go for the chic colourful beanbag look if you’re aiming for a more chilled, easy out vibe. But there are other ways of doing it. Use your imagination if minimalist isn’t good for you. A number if studios now are making ‘fantasy rooms’ similar to Google’s famous offices worldwide, with out of proportion furniture, golfing greens in the middle (see TAXI studio), or even themed rooms made to feel like hunting lodges! These are just a few thoughts to help you along, but ultimately how you decorate depends on the people within your studio.
24 Ambiance
Lighting
W
hen it comes to lighting, keeping the lights adjusted to a lower setting can be beneficial for generating creative ideas, though you might want to make it brighter when you need to focus at a later stages of your work. Research published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology looked at the difference in creativity levels in brightly-lit and dimly-lit environments over six studies. The research found that dim lighting helps us to feel less constrained and free to explore and take risks. Two of the studies tested this feeling in particular, and found that “darkness elicits a feeling of being free from constraints and triggers a risky, explorative processing style.� So when you’re gearing up for a brainstorming session, try turning down the lights before you get started.
Natural lighting vs. artificial lighting: Brightness levels aren’t the only factor to take into consideration. Many studies have examined the effects of natural vs. artificial lighting;
“Compared to the afternoon, people who had DL (Daylight) were significantly more alert at the beginning of the evening, and subjects who were exposed to AL (Artificial light) were significantly sleepier at the end of the evening.” Not only does poor lighting affect how alert we can be, but it can really disturb our mood. Our cortisol levels drop significantly under artificial or poor lighting conditions. That means that we’ll be more stressed, and have less ability to stabilise our energy levels
26 Ambiance
Sound Studies have shown that a small amount of sound infiltrating through a space, drowning out the background silence, can make our minds more efficient. Around 70-90 decibels is the recommended amount, however some prefer more and some less. So get a sound system, place speakers tactically around your studio and play some music. Whether it’s wordless, rap or jazzy lounge music it will do some good.
Ambiance 27
“We play music all day every day, and rotate who is the DJ, so we get a fairly eclectic range of music. Sometimes we can see a physical difference in the work produced depending on the music style played which is quite interesting!�
28 Ambiance
Temperature Although you are a new studio, with not all the funding in the world, consider the importance of heating and what it does to the body and mind. Nobody, without exception, will be as productive or inspired when they’re cold as when the air around them is of a normal temperature. Plan for heating costs within your first budget and get everybody ‘warmed up’!
“The temperature in the office is generally set between 20-22 degrees Celsius. This makes for a comfortable working temperature meaning no distraction is made from feeling cold or warm.”
A few questions : Teapot Creative Anthony Hyam Where did you get your inspiration for your studio look/layout? My desk is generally very tidy as I enjoy a clear workspace, to me a clear workspace is a clear mind and allows for more ideas to generate and circulate for debate. Do you play music/noise in the studio? Music is played throughout the whole day. Due to the common consensus of rock being the favourite taste, that is generally what is played. It allows for a calm and relaxed atmosphere within the office.
between 20-22 degrees Celsius. This makes for a comfortable working temperature meaning no distraction is made from feeling cold or warm. Do you feel more creative in the studio or at home? Definitely in the office. Being at work puts me in the mindset. I am far too prone to procrastinating at home finding it far too easy to be distracted by other things.
Has the space evolved much since you moved in? I have only been working at Teapot for around 3 months now. Since starting I think we have added additions to artwork on the walls and some sofa’s in our client waiting area that adhere to our company brand colours. In this case CMYK Is there a set temperature all year round/ seasonally? Do you find you are sometimes too hot or cold? The main office, the client waiting area, the staff room and our two meeting rooms are equipped with air conditioning units. The temperature in the office is generally set
Do you have any artwork in the studio? The artwork that we have in the office is provided by one of our own Graphic designers and the wife of one of my colleagues. They add some nice vibrancy to the office and a warm feeling in general.
A few questions : Studio Moross Where did you get inspiration for your studio layout and aesthetic? I guess it’s just like anything else aesthetic, you have a certain taste as well as a knowledge from your personal experience of what makes a functional studio! Also, all designers love a nice framed print! How is the studio arranged? Private rooms/communal desks? We’re actually about to change our studio, as we’ve totally outgrown it, but it’s arranged communally - we all have our individual spaces but the room & table is shared. I think it’s important to be able to see each others screens as well as discuss what’s going on with ease. What was your top priority when designing this space? Functional large desk spaces, with access to each other as well as what we need. We actually designed our current space as a 3D mock-up before buying all the furniture to fit the room. Then we want it to look nice!
Has the space evolved much since you moved in? Yes in the sense that we have more people and more thing - so there’s lots more work areas and we’ve been rearranging where we sit. It’s good to have certain kind of designers together so they can work off each other more easily. Is there any differences about the things that happen in your studio, as opposed to what you’ve seen in others ? I’m not sure, we’re all quite young so I guess maybe we’re a little more lively. We also have 4 dogs here some days! How would you arrange/stage a client meeting in your studio? - Or does it depend on the client? It depends on the type of meeting, we sometimes want to show something on our screen or present something, then it makes sense to bring them to the studio, but our space is quite small and chaotic so if there’s a lot of people and it’s more formal then we will meet in the nice bar next door.
Insider Tips
Tips
If you have a choice of the time of year to begin renting studio space or an office of some kind try to aim for around Easter time or after that, as starting up in the summer months means avoiding heating bills as one of your first costs! Try to separate areas of the studio with temporary or portable divides, so that if the workforce numbers grow or the needs of the studio change you can manoeuvre and evolve the space more than if the walls were solid. Don’t be ashamed to use any contacts in the industry or previous clients you might have worked with as help or a basis for your studio, they know you and will be the ones most willing to help with your new venture. Maths may not have been your strong point at school, but knowing your numbers is crucial for start-ups. Make sure you know where the money is coming in and what the costs are of your studio, so that you can be prepared for any shortcomings in advance and have a back up plan or more business waiting on the side.
Know your weaknesses. Do what you do best within your team/studio and outsource the rest; whether its printing, binding or even accounting, do not waste your time on creating something that is not the best. Outsourcing is very common and not something so be sniffed at when you’re buried under mountains or new work. If business is slow or starting up, continue to do some self initiated work about something you’re concerned with or passionate about. This is underestimated in the business world, and can bring in big clients who may work in the same field as your project. Companies will not always come to you. Find a company/charity/brand that tickles your fancy and write to them or send them samples of your work saying ‘hi, we’re Studio A and we feel strongly about your product. We’d love to do some design for you in the future.’ You never know what may happen!
Believe in yourself and your studio!
A few questions : Dalton Maag Richard Bailey
Where did you get inspiration for your studio look/layout/feel? It was very much a case of form following function. The priority was giving the designers enough individual desk space and circulation space in quite simple surroundings, while still maintaining a ‘team’ feel to their desk areas/zones. Accordingly, the workspace is quite basic and open, whereas our communal areas (kitchen/diner/meeting suite) are somewhat more interesting. How is the studio arranged? Private rooms/communal desks? All desking is open-plan, including senior management and the Directors. Each FTE has a dedicated personal desk. Departments are bunched together in clusters. We then have a large kitchen-diner with seating for around 30, separated from the workspace via glass security doors. We have 3 dedicated meeting rooms (seating 8, 12, 40+), and a breakout room for informal meetings. What was your top priority when designing this space? As per question 1 - ensuring the employees
are given adequate space and light to perform their roles optimally and comfortably. Has the space evolved much since you moved in? Very much. We were 14 FTE’s when we took occupation - we’re now 46, so we have considerably more furniture, storage, seating etc. The kitchen area has also had a revamp - where it was once little more than a tea-point, it is now a large refectory style kitchen-diner with prep areas and reheating facilities etc. Is there any differences about the things that happen in your studio, as opposed to others ? I’m not really sure to be honest. I don’t really have a great deal of insight into the facility management at other font studios. How would you arrange/stage a client meeting in your studio? - Or does it depend on the client? We have a dedicated meeting suite on the floor below ours where a majority of our client interactions occur.
With thanks to... Anthony Hyam at Teapot Creative Dan Grzonka at Brond Debbie Taylor at Hello Charlie Guy Field at Studio Moross Jason Smith at Fiasco Design Kyle Clarke and Sidonie Warren at Something Good Studio Michael Bierut at Pentagram Richard Bailey at Dalton Maag Studio Spencer Buck at Taxi Studio Tom Maurice at SunHouse Creative
Without the valuable input that these people provided we would not have been able to make our mission a success.