How to Upgrade Your Office

Doug Lloyd

Founder

Lloyd & Co.

In a giant Tribeca loft, creative director Doug Lloyd has worked in a wide variety of print mediums, from designing art books to directing and editing the magazine Arena Homme +. Lloyd has also collaborated—infamously—with Tom Ford on ad campaigns for Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent. (Remember the Gucci ad with the G shaved into a model's pubes?) From a simple corner office flooded with natural light, he oversees an open bullpen of staffers working on a wide range of design and branding projects.

'With the interiors of my beach house and apartment, I'm much more focused on the objects that are in them than I am here at the office. It's not because I don't want it to be personal. It's a drive to have the office be functional and utilitarian rather than too residential and comfy. I keep it simple and clean—neutral, so I can focus on the stuff I'm working on. The openness and natural light are the main things about the office in general. In the world I work in, we analyze colors and photography, so the brightness and airiness are appropriate. Most of the staff works in an open room, and that's more democratic. People pitch in and work well together when it's not segmented or closed off. It's about having an environment that people want to work in day in and day out.'

Thomas O'Brien

Founder

Aero Studios

Renowned interiors wizard Thomas O'Brien works as a consultant, designs his Vintage Modern line for Target, and runs Aero, his SoHo-based studio and store, which mixes archival finds with his own line of furniture, lighting, and more. O'Brien does his limited amount of computing from a small private office but spends the majority of his day under the skylight of his sprawling conference room, where he meets with clients and staff. We asked him to tell us how you should think about your office—even if you don't have a conference room to call your own.

Give 'em something to talk about: 'I use the things around the conference room as talking points when discussing projects with clients. So you need shelf space and things you love. It's about having things people will find intriguing.'

Be practical: 'When I'm working with a client on his office's interior, we start with 'Where are you using your computer and how?' There are presidents of companies who still work the same way they did in fourth grade. You have to take the time to think about how your computer is integrated.'

Don't be shy: 'It's not about hiding electronics. This equipment is today's industrial design. It's beautiful! Incorporate it into the space.'

Make it your own: 'In my small office, there's personal stuff. Gifts people have given me. A letter from my grandmother. A picture of my dad and my grandfather. Just odd, special bits and a great Irving Penn.'

Go horizontal: 'The big table is the most important thing in my conference room. Nobody uses their conference and dining rooms, but I tell people, 'Use a table. Spread out.''

L.A. Reid

Chairman

Def Jam

At various points in his twenty-five-year career, Antonio 'L.A.' Reid has overseen artists ranging from OutKast and Usher to Fall Out Boy, the Killers, and Mariah Carey. Reid's twenty-eighth-floor corner office in Midtown Manhattan—where he meets with artists, managers, producers, and staff (and listens to a hell of a lot of music)—is an impressively sleek vision in black and white. It includes an adjoining reception area for his two assistants, a bathroom with a steam shower, and a separate room for his awards and memorabilia. 'I don't like the idea of looking at awards,' Reid says, 'when I'm supposed to be doing work.'

The hit man 'When I came to this company, I moved into a tiny, disgusting project manager's office. I said, 'I'm not moving out of this office until I have a hit record.' I had something to prove. I was in that office for Mariah's album The Emancipation of Mimi, Young Jeezy, and the Killers. Then I thought, I've earned my keep.'

Gotta have flowers 'I need white orchids. I'm married and monogamous, so my orchids are the closest thing to having a hot girl around.'

No distractions 'Someone made a joke about me: 'I can tell my song's not a hit when L.A. turns to his computer.' So I put the computers behind me, and I give people my undivided attention.'

Fast on the phone 'I don't have a lot of patience for the phone. I have an amazing working relationship with Jay-Z, and we've had maybe three phone conversations longer than ninety seconds. With Mariah it's fifteen minutes. Which feels like two days.'

Sound is everything 'This is a house of music: I had the room built around the speakers. My chair is the sweet spot, so it's my version of being in the studio.'

Private amenities 'I'll often take a cold shower before dinner. And I keep celebrity fragrances in there—if Usher or Puffy are here, they'll see their cologne.'

A man's hobby 'I started collecting black-and-white photography maybe ten years ago. The person that really turned me on to it was Elton John. When I lived in Atlanta, I'd go to his apartment, even if he wasn't home, and go through his collection, taking notes.'

The floor plan 'I negotiate from a chair in the lounge area. The lounge is the group-conversation space; the captain's chair at my desk is the music studio.'

Imported vice 'The Montecristo No. 2 is my favorite cigar in the humidor. I usually smoke around midnight, when the building is empty and I'm in my listening zone. It doesn't smell, because we have candles and an air purifier.'

You might not have a tricked-out executive office (yet), but if you follow these twelve steps, you'll instantly improve the workspace you do have

1. Kill the Overheads

If you want your office to exude any warmth whatsoever, do one thing: Turn off your overhead lights. Bring in a floor lamp (which will provide ambient light—and ambience) and, for your desk, a task lamp, preferably one that's adjustable. Since most corporate interiors are temples to machine-made anonymity, opt for at least one lamp that has some history (or at least the suggestion of it).

2. Get a Seat of Power

A quality office chair serves two purposes: It sets the tone of your workspace, and it encourages you to sit in ways that won't cause a world of hurt a few years down the line (see step 7). Arne Jacobsen's classic Oxford chair, originally designed for professors at the University of Oxford, was recently reissued by Fritz Hansen in an office-friendly midback version (www.fritzhansen.com). And for pure state-of-the-art comfort, take the Humanscale Liberty chair (www.humanscale.com) for a test spin.

3. Get Some Life

The perfect office accessory? Life. Try a small houseplant or a fistful of flowers (just enough to fill a narrow bud vase). Since nothing brings a space down like a dead plant, pick something hardy—philodendrons, jade plants, spider plants—basically any houseplant that can survive on a Home Depot sales floor.