Minimal Workspace in an Old School Building in Philadelphia, US

Name: Mike Smith

Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the US

Occupation: Designer

Social media: Instagram, Twitter

Hello! Tell us a bit about yourself

Hey, I’m Mike Smith. I run a design studio called Smith & Diction in Philadelphia, PA (USA).

I started my studio seven years ago because I really wanted to make things.

I was a little disenchanted with the whole agency life of making a bunch of fake work and selling PDFs for $100K.

I just wanted to make REAL stuff and not worry about the weird designer-to-creative-director career pipeline where you’re no longer making stuff.

I get to work with my wife as my business partner (and copywriter) every day, and that to me is all that matters.

The bonus is that we get to work with really cool people, too!

Take us through your setup

I keep my workspace pretty sparse, honestly.

Just a monitor, my computer, keyboard, mouse, and external hard drive.

Sometimes, I’ll have my notebook nearby to doodle in the beginning stages of a project or something but mostly that’s it.

At my first job, we all had iMacs. I think something settled into my head that I only need one monitor to handle everything I need to.

My studio space, on the other hand, is much more “me”.

Lots of colour, lots of reference books, and some random things that I’ve made over the years that I’m super proud of.

My favourite thing — that is a bit weird — is the fact that my bookshelves are just from IKEA, and they no longer make the legs with the little crossbar. They were super cheap but seem really cool and also now are rare, haha.