Wire management issues

I am not sure if everyone out there shares the same sentiment as me but I had always felt that wire management had always been the number one issues for if not all but most of the desking solutions out there. Be it home or office.

Even for those "branded" office desking solution manufacturer out there who claims to have the "best" wire management incorporated, they were never fool proof or 100% covered.

Back in the days when I was still a apprentice designing my very first Office System, I can still remember my mentor told me that, for every system, desking or panel solution, wire management solution should always be the the design priority listing.

This is because, if you think your home desk is already in a mess with all the different kind of cables/ wire/ you had, it will be even worst in a corporate environment.

Reason been that more cables/ wires runs through the office, either threaded from panels to panels or desk to desk.

When it comes to designing the system's wire management solution,one not only have to put into consideration of how to manage the standard cables/ wiring which will be running through your design but also to anticipate what sort of cables/ wires the user would personally be using on it.

But of course I am not ruling out any other important design criteria, such as ergonomics, ease of installation, safety, etc.

It just that, I felt that wire management is an issue which is not fully looked into for some of the systems out there. Or at least not an priority when designed.

Having said all these, do you have a good wire management solution OR issues which you have either at home or your office?

Take a picture, email it to me and share it here.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Work Bench at a Local IT SME

Today, I had managed to make a new friend through some very casual interation on another common friend's facebook post.

It was kicked off from the phase "work station" and with a suggestion from this new friend of mine about posting work station photos, I knew this could be be an opportunity for a new entry for this blog.

And here are the shots contributed by this new friend of mine from a local IT SME.

When I asked for the shot of his work station, he told me that he might need to clean it up a little before sending it to me.

However, I told him, just send me the "raw" conditions of his work space.

Reasons been many of us start our new job with a fresh desk at a new place most of the time.

And it is common that after the occupants had moved in and commence actual work, the desk will never look the same after that.

It is that particular condition of that work space which I am interested in as it reflect actual user interaction which his/ her work space. Not just another idea work station you sees on magazines or portfolios.

Only from these real world images can we really study and find out what it takes to design the suited work space for each individual trade in the industries.

And most of the time, the type of industries and jobscope plays an important factor in deciding what type of work station and what features it should have,in order to make it a safe an efficient working environment in all aspect.

So now my dear readers, the firm which is providing certified equipment and professional services for secure electronic data erasure, destruction and disposal, what type of design improvements do you think is required for a work station which suits the industry of my friend over here? More desk space? Testing Plaforms? Wire Management? Power Outlets which are easily access?

And of course, a great thanks to this new found friend of mine who had contributed his share of his work space for us.

How is the market like to be a Industrial Designer (Specialised in Office System) in Singapore?

This is a question which recently I had asked myself and normally it would have lead to the next question in mind, which is "had I picked the wrong career path?"

All my life since my first step into the working society, I had fought my way to be in this industry.

With over 6 years spent in a office system furniture company, when I had peaked my career with them, I thought it would have been a good option to check out the market out of my comfort zone.

And yes, it was my comfort zone, as I soon realise that, the market for a Office System Designer here in Singapore is bleak when compared to overseas.

Recently, a company from within the same industry called me up for an interview, and from them it had further strength the word "bleak" in my mind.

Many companies out there in Singapore, are mostly distributors of other brands and had no intention or even financial means to start up their own in-house designed products.

And been a closed loop industries, it sure makes it even harder for me to pursue my passion and from time to time makes me wonder if I had made the wrong decision in the first place.

An Inside View of Scribd Office

Ok, with the first few post as warm up, now it's time to get into the big boys' office.

Today, we will be showing you what's inside Sribd Office.
Scribd is a social publishing site, where tens of millions of people share original writings and documents. So now they are sharing to the world, a inside look of where they rock.





Videos courtesy of Techcrunch.

My Office Desk Reconfiguration in June 2010

Well, sometime in June 2010, I felt that the corner where I had my desk is kind of pretty dark. And as a person who love natural lighting, I decided to shift the entire workstation again.

*its no joke to shift the entire workstation by myself and its a full day process that day.

Old, btw, don't even bother ask me why orange.. cause I am not a orange person this finishes on the panel is a big screw up from the fabricator.

SWGraphic Sara Wu's Home Office

I supposed it would be quite boring if I were to keep on posting about my own work place right?

Ok, here is something different for this post, courtesy of Sara Wu my twitter buddy all the way from New York.

A little information about Sara is that she is an Interactive Designer & Art Director based in New York who is also a Lead Designer for Disney Interactive Media Group.

Apart from that, she is also the owner of the reknown SWGraphic website which had recently been featured in "The Web Designer's Idea Book Volume 2".

So now, many might wonder where did all her awesome inspiration are created from. And this is the same question I asked myself.



The answer from Sara? A nice cosy corner of her apartment where her desk is situated.

Hmm.. now it makes me wonder what is the view outside that window she is facing everyday when she works from there.

My Office Desk Configuration With Partition Panels

Ok, here is another shot of my office desk back in 2009.

But this shot was taken when I got the sample Partition Panel System which I had been working on and I had just bought 2 Samsung SyncMaster 2243QW display.

My Office in 2009 Oct

Well, back in 2009 Oct, I finally got a place for my actual office as I required some space for samples testing or set up.

So, maybe you people might have thought that I would have made my own desk? Neh, I didn't.

I virtually went to IKEA and grab what I need.

And hence, my first work desk at the new place.

My Home Desk in 2010

I had a bad habit of moving things around or reconfiguring layout every now and then.

Here is my 2010 home desk arrangement now after I had lost my study room.

No longer did I have the large area, cosy setting as I once had but still it's quite decent working space.

My Home Office Desk

ok, I shall start the ball rolling here.

Here is a photo of my desk back at home 2 years ago when I still have my own study room (long story).

It was one of my most cosy layout which at time, I felt that I had spent too much time over there and I bet my family felt the same way too.

Hello World !!

Well, I am not sure if it should be a tradition to always make the first post to "Hello World" But here we go.

But before we go on from here, here is a short write up on the purpose of this site.

As a Freelance Industrial Designer, specialised in Office System Furniture, there are times when I need to reseach on general behavoir of a consumer's actual behaviour behind the desk.

And by that, I means how is everyone's desk configure, layout, design or general habits.

The thing is that, whenever I google about this, I seemed to get more results from Overseas site rather then in Singapore.

Hence, I had decided to try if I can "comb" out people out there to post a picture or 2 so that I could gather this interesting showcase to the world out there.

So what are you waiting for? Snap a picture of your office or home desk, say a little something about it like, what you like about it or what you hope that it can do and drop an email to me under the About Me section and check to see if it get posted out here.

But also from time to time, I will be posting some of the interesting ones around the world.