over 10 years ago from Brooks Hassig, Sr Experience Designer at OpenTable
I was surprised to find that there's no coworking space just for designers in San Francisco, so I'm going to make it.
What would your dream space have?
Lots of windows, great interior design, tons of outlets, vending machines, great people.
TONs of outlets! Good point. As for great people, I'm thinking of having people apply, so we can vet for personality and/or quality of work. What do you think about that?
not being surrounded by only designers would be nice.
Interesting. Do you find yourself normally only surrounded by designers? See, my problem is that I've only experienced spaces in SF that are for everyone. No doubt, there's something special that happens when you have a mix. But I've not yet experienced the magic of the design school studio and crit sessions in SF. That's why I'm looking to surround myself with only designers, at least only for a while each day.
Granted, I'm in NYC so I'm of little help but I would personally rather be surrounded by people who work in a similar industry rather than share a specific skill.
No, man, actually it's a valid point. And it's something I'm still thinking about. Having developers in the mix means you can have more making of digital things. It's good for both sides. I see a lot of that already here, though, that's all I'm saying. Maybe it's skewed here because so many designers do work in the same industry. It's almost assumed that you're playing the startup game here if you say you're a designer.
Gotcha, that makes sense. I just finished a resident designer role at Work-Bench (work-bench.com) helping with their marketing & branding and although they're not at all a co-working space they're hitting the right notes. That may be a good place to get some ideas.
Oh whoa, these guys are right up my ally. Could you introduce me to one of the founders there? How was your experience there?
I actually worked for Work-Bench itself for 6 months as a resident designer, feel free to shoot me an email if you want. hey@taurean.io
Other people is a must.
Design (with a capital D) is a profession of professions—something that only really thrives when a designer brings many different kinds of people together. If you're really only interested in design, then an environment of only designers is probably /okay/.
Can I quote you on this? Well said.
Haha sure, I'm writing an essay about this as we speak, so good to know I at least sound like I know what I'm talking about :P
Large screens (can't bring those from home), height-adjustable desks. good airco, great printer (printing service) and plenty of wall space to hang things up and scribble upon.
Large screens: definitely. Height-adjustable desks: wouldn't have thought of that, nice. Great printing is a must. Wall space is the biggest for me. I want a place for easy critique, you know?
I'm 6"6 so I might be a bit of an outlier, but I think it'd be great, and more and more people seem to prefer standing over sitting at desks these days
Paint the walls with this stuff http://www.ideapaint.com/
EDIT: Too late, has already been suggested.
No amount of amenities can be a bigger draw than quiet, light, and ample space between coworkers.
Good point. Coincidentally, you're on my todo list today. I wanted to ask you more about what you think about this idea. You guys are doing rad things here and with LV, so it'd be great to get your perspective. Got a couple minutes?
In addition to everything above, maybe some lectures from cool designers.
Badda boom. Exactly. I'm thinking evening events, open to the design community at large.
This would be killer.
What everyone above has already mentioned, but also an area where we can play around with analog/non-digital design - like paint, clay, letter pressing, and screen printing. Sometimes it's fun to refresh my head and get away from pixels.
This is a must. I want screen printing, stamps and even painting supplies.
Clay! Oh, that's cool. Or even Play-Doh. That's... actually really cool.
Play-doh would be fun! And a fantastic way to connect senses to memory.
Height adjustable desks, meeting room, good coffee, open plan, super fast internet, cable and wi-fi.
Are you a standing desk kinda guy? I tried them and ... always just wanted to sit down.
Surprised nobody's mentioned location.
I'm thinking SOMA, or Central Market. Where did you have in mind?
Sounds good to me.
Good coffee, comfy chairs, lap trays to protect the fellas, maybe a dog or two :)
Just curious, how would you enforce 'designers only'?
Good question. I'm thinking there'd be some light enrollment process. It could go anywhere from screening for cultural fit to reviewing portfolios. What do you think?
I've heard amazing things about Studiomates in NYC. I'd base it off of that.
I have, too. They're definitely an inspiration.
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