Does it HAVE to be a cubicle? Some of us came up a little sweeter than that and have our own offices...

nutbastard

Clean and Relaxed - Elegant without forgetting the fun aspect. Love the robots. It feels relaxing just looking at those pictures.

Tiki Party - Different. In a good way. Not sure I would have that setup but I like it.

Cluttered but fun - I would end the title at "Cluttered".

Rainbow Connection - Terrible.

iceman7

Microreef FTW.

Kaiser-Machead

@BigViper: Likewise, you're qualified to enter the Coolest Workspace contest when it rolls around. It applies to virtually anyone (hence the catch-all "workspace" rather than office).

Adam Pash

and what about those of us who don't actually have to go to an office and work from home :)

BigViper

@openfly: You didn't miss it, there's still time to submit for next week (assuming we get enough quality/qualified submissions for a second round). See the contest rules for details on how to submit your cubicle.

Adam Pash

I can't believe I missed this... =(

openfly

On the other hand, it leaves me feeling like Kim Jong Il... So Ronry.

Xavoc

these photos certainly offer some inspiration to decorate my new box/cubicle.
I love the idea of lamps and soft light. How do you suppose he gets past the flouro lights in most offices?

apprehensive

What if you have an entire office?

I'm sitting in what amounts to a double cubicle, in an office designed for 20x the number of people working here (don't ask) filled with aeron chairs, a soccer ball, and lots of windows to stare out of.

Xavoc

@Adam Pash:
cool. besides some Eschers, a Giant Flying Spaghetti Monster print, a lava lamp and a glass clown-head-thing, theres just a bunch of old papers and parts everywhere. It needs work...

nutbastard

@leetgeek: damn you.

teqsun.com

@nutbastard: We'll run the Coolest Workspace Contest again in a few months, during which everyone's office is eligible.

Adam Pash

@nutbastard: ya know...i was thinking the same thing...i dont have a cubicle

leetgeek

I love the flyer the tiki-bicle has stuck to it

"I can do what you do, I just don't know the software. Fact: you can't"

I want that tattooed somewhere on my body.

DeeJayQueue

It would be great if John could upload a larger image of that poster on his desk! I can imagine it being put up in cubicles everywhere..... :)

josephlevin

I wish I was working at a longer-term assignment so that it would have been worth it to decorate my cube. The closest thing to "decoration" I have is the 16 assorted post-its currently stuck to my desk.

pajamamoose

I've had that aquarium before. The lighting broke after 6 months. None of the parts in that thing are replaceable. Piece of junk.

sidepocket

"I can do what you do, I just don't know the software. Fact: you can't"

Man, designers are so defensive. Then again, they do have to deal with ignorant douches a lot.

rscotta

My cubical is coolest when I don't have to be in it.

RickS

Clean and Elegant definitely gets my vote in this round. But that's not to say the others aren't fun too! I really dig Rainbow Connection's spirit and life, even though I'd never ever do my cube that way. ;)

Reading this though, I'm getting ideas...mood lighting for my cube would be nice....and I definitely wish I had the kind of job where I had the time and energy to redecorate my cube every month! That'd definitely switch things up. :) Even so, I still wish I had an office.

phoenix

Sorry guys, I couldn't find the files for the posters anymore. They were from baddesignkills.com, but it looks like they're just doing Tshirts now? I did a quick google search for "Bad design kills posters" and found a few other entertaining ones though.

justincline

That nano tank has been up and running for 2 years now, pump went out once, but it's been a great lil set up.

justincline

Justin I really like that setup. Where'd you get the bamboo and Tiki stuff? I need to make a setup like this. I am on my way with the same calendar. ;-)

555Filk

Thanks! It started w/ the torches 4 years ago... they shoved 3 of us into an office meant for one - so it was kind of a bitter joke. We printed a beach scene on 9 pieces of paper and taped to the wall... it's been evolving since then. There are a lot of sites selling tiki junk online (masks and whatnot). It got the resent addition of the bamboo (corrugated paper) when LH posted this article: [lifehacker.com]
as it seemed to fit pretty well!

justincline

Next up: Who has the fanciest shackles and slave collar? C'mon slaves, really try to show some pep!

kookoobirdz

"clean and relaxed" and "tiki party" get my vote. I work from home and don't go to a cubicle! I can't wait for all workspaces contest!

How do we enter or when is the contest?

GeorgiaBoot

Ugh. Why such gimmickry to make your workspace palatable? Call me grumpy, but many of these scream the opposite of 'professional'. They also scream the opposite of 'promote me'. Something along the lines of 'my cube is more important than the substance of my work.' The only thing of value in any of these is the view out of Cluttered but Fun's window.

Want a nice workspace, cube or otherwise? Get yourself some natural light (with a view, if you're lucky), some fresh air, an ergonomically correct workspace & chair, decent storage, and lots of flexible work surfaces, both horizontal and vertical.

onesix18

@onesix18: Get yourself some natural light?

Yea, because those of us stuck in cubicles have the ability to do that for ourselves. We work where we're told. I have no fresh air or natural light. I do have a nice chair, decent storage, and lots of work surfaces, but I also have a thoroughly decorated cubicle. Get over it ;)

Also, I'm a team leader at a major government institution, and I just got a big raise. But you're right, a decorated cubicle says "don't promote me!"

JeffDrake

@onesix18: HA! Yeah, I was thinking that as I was taking pictures... the "Get your @$$ back to work" awards ;)
I'm just lucky I'm in Marketing where creativity and standing out from the masses is encouraged.

@conigs: I know, there were some really good ones, I no longer have any of them saved :(

justincline

@justincline:
Actually, for some reason, baddesignkills.com went off-line sometime in 2007 or possibly in Dec of 06. Someone bought the domain and redirected it to a Bad Design Kills logo t-shirt they made on Zazzle.

I just wish I knew they were going off-line so I could grab some of their posters/sticker printouts.

Anyone know if there's an archive of these prints anywhere?

conigs

@onesix18: being 'clean & relaxed' has gotten me quite far, thank you. working in IT lands you a sweet interior basement office most of the time, so i am VERY thankful to have a cube. i would love a window, but that just isn't happening. so in my case, diffused soft lighting is a hell of a lot more pleasant than fluro! not to mention having an 'artistic' element, to my otherwise vanilla workspace, speaks volumes more about my personality. i would likely get sacked if all i had were an empty desk!

thanks to everyone who is down with my 'clean & relaxed' workspace. there was another photo & description that got cut, but i have uploaded it here -- [www.flickr.com]
i look forward to seeing everyone else's submissions.

___mike

3ZKL

Those of you who don't have a window--I would suggest that you immediately begin lobbying for one. There have been a number of studies done over the years affirming the idea that natural light leads to increased productivity and workplace contentment ([www.wbdg.org]).

Unfortunately, designing buildings for maximum daylight penetration often means minimizing floor plate depth, which is obviously more expensive than deep floor plate buildings because it requires more building envelope surface area. Thus, in the United States particularly, we are stuck with legions of deep plan office buildings that are dark at their centers.

I took one of Franklin Becker's courses on workplace design a few years ago; he was one of the first to introduce me to the importance of a positive physical environment in the workplace. Check out page 23 of this report ([iwsp.human.cornell.edu] - PDF link) which speaks to the increased productivity and lower life cycle costs of high-performance buildings (which by the way always have lots of natural light and fresh air).

onesix18

I really wish I could do some kind of workplace modification... We can't even put up a calendar unless it's from an approved supplier. the whole building is grey (supposed to be silver but it aint) all because the the man at the top is a complete OCD/neat freak.

however, the building itself is pretty impressive [www.mclaren.com]

justthisguyyouknow

My cube is fairly boring but there is a co-worker who has made her cube into quite the sight. She is not a reader of LH nor would she ever be. I doubt she owns a computer at home. Can we submit fellow co-workers cubes?

Please?

joered

Do y'all respond to submissions? I submitted yesterday but haven't heard anything back and want to make sure you got my email

JeffDrake

Same here. I sent my entry and I want to make sure that the images made it through. Thanks!

robertoluque

We don't respond, just because there's too much volume. I guess next time we do something like this I'll set up an autoresponder. Thanks for the suggestions.

Adam Pash