Dan Marschman
1.) What is your name and where in the WWW (Whole Wide World) do you live?
Dan: My name is Daniel Marschman and I live in Denver, Colorado.
2.) What do you do for a living, what pays the bills? And what is the thing you do when you are not doing the thing that pays the bills?
Dan: Professionally I am a designer and project manager for Intergroup Architects and also a photographer. Both personally and professionally I am an artist.
3.) How much of what you do, personally or professionally, gets done at the work space featured?
Dan: I rely on my home studio, which is pictured, to edit my photography and do my painting and printmaking, but do very little of my design work for Intergroup Architects here.
4.) Typically, what time of the day do you normally find yourself at this desk, and for how long? Night owl, early bird?
Dan: I start my day off with a cup of coffee here while I check my emails and schedule for the day. At the end of the day you can find me in here downloading and editing photos. My weekends are when I work on my painting and printmaking.
5.) How much of what gets done at your desk is for work, how much is it to scratch your own creative itch?
Dan: My Studio space was designed solely for my own creative itch. The creative work I do does generate some income, but it doesn’t seem like work to me.
6.) What are the essentials that can be found on your desk more times than not? How about those items just out of reach or out of sight? If it’s not on top of your desk what are the things you most often grab out of a top draw or cabinet?
Dan: On the desk you will find mostly peripheral computer equipment such as memory card readers, cameras, lenses, and external drives for storing photography files. When working on a series of prints I cover the worktable with drop cloths and typically have an abundance of inks, brayers, linoleum printing blocks, brushes and pallet knives. I take hundreds of photographs a week that I store on several external hard drives. I created a media tower with wire shelving that holds much of my computer devices and baskets that hang from the shelves hold frequently used files and equipment.
7.) What beverage/food/snack can one usually find at your desk, and why?
Dan: A cappuccino in the mornings and maybe a cold beverage in the evening, but I never eat at my desk.
8.) Do you have any reasoning or anecdotes that lend some insight into why your desk is setup the way it is, or the thinking behind certain item(s)? How about the things around your desks? Decoration, wall art, figurines, statues, etc? Any particular reason behind those?
Dan: I have no design “rules” for my studio. I simply want it to feel cheerful, fun and energizing. The jumping off point for the bright colors in my studio is the two race car prints that I completed for an art exhibit for the first Denver Grand Prix in 1989. From that point I just found creative and colorful ways to accommodate the things I need and use. The items I chose for my studio and desk were selected because they make me smile. I began collecting the pachinko machines about 5 years ago. I find them inspiring and obviously they provide an occasional fun diversion. I love the colorful graphics on the playing fields of the machines. I often wonder who designs them. I think that would be fun to do.
9.) How much of what you do, or aspire to do, influences your desk setup, tangibly and intangibly.
Dan: My workspace is definitely influenced by what I do. I’ve made the space functional but really strive to keep the atmosphere creative and fun.
10.) Are you a Mac or are you a PC? What machine(s) are setup and used at your desk? If you are a little bit of both tell us why. How about any other tech gear that can be found at your desk or in your home?
Dan: I switched from a PC to a Mac about 8 years ago with no regrets. I have an Apple G4 PowerMac desktop computer and a high resolution 17” Apple Studio Display that I can connect to either my desktop computer or laptop. My 15” MacBook Pro is my main computer so I can take my work with me. I also have an external Lightscribe CD burner, Airport Extreme Wi-Fi router, UPS backup, Canon ink jet printer, wireless mouse and keyboard. In addition to my Canon DLSR I have a variety of other cameras including Canon Powershot and Minolta Vectis APS cameras. Lenses: Canon EF 18-55mm and EF 80-200mm, Sigma 10-20mm, and Lensbaby Composer with single glass, double glass, plastic and pinhole optics and Creative Apertures kit.
11.) What’s the one piece of gear you could not live without?
Dan: As long as I have a DSLR camera and laptop I am happy.
12.) What piece of gear cannot be found on your desk, but you wish it could be?
Dan: I typically have a long wish list of tech items. I would love an Apple 24” or 30” Cinema Display. Also, I wish I had a smaller laptop that would be ideal for traveling. A MacBook Air would be a great addition to my workflow, although not specifically for my workspace. I also have my eye on a new Canon XSI camera.
13.) Software; what do you use more often than not. What helps you get the job done? And what do you not use, but hope one day to incorporate in your workflow?
Dan: I use Aperture 3 for processing and managing all my photographs. I also use Photoshop frequently. I’ve partitioned the hard drive on my laptop to run Windows so that I can also run AutoCAD software. I use Adobe Contribute and iWeb to maintain my websites. I also run two versions of Photomatix Pro for HDR (high dynamic range) photo processing; one full version as well as a plug-in for Aperture. For word processing and spreadsheets I am using Microsoft Office and Quicken for finances and accounting. I use Synk software to backup all of my data.
14.) If you could change one thing about your desk, or the room it is currently in, what would that be?
Dan: My studio is located in a small bedroom of my 1927 home. The space is quite small, only 9’ x 12’. My favorite element of the space itself is the amazing large south facing window which covers more than half of the wall and provides great light, but my desk set up was actually purchased when I lived in another house and isn’t ideal for the small studio space I have. I think I would opt for a new desk and more storage over having more space. I would love a desk that could be built around the perimeter of the room.
15.) Workspace Breakdown;
Think of as many things as possible that comprise the setup of your office or workspace, anything from the paint on the walls to the floor mat your chair rolls on, and list them out. Who makes your desk, how about the cabinet next to your desk, your lamp, the overhead light fixture? Anything and everything you can see in the pictures shown, give as much color and background on these items as time and memory permits.
Dan:
- My desk, file pedestals and book shelf are all flat pack beach wood or cherry from Scandinavian Designs. I replaced the knobs with interesting steel industrial looking knobs.
- The chair was purchased at the Container Store. I swapped out the casters with colorful replacements from CoolCasters.com to protect my hardwood floors.
- Shelving and etching press base are Metrowire.
- I modified an office file cart for my printing press stand. Again, all have colorful casters from CoolCasters.com.
- The drafting desk lamps were purchased at a local art supply store. They have such a long reach and provide great light anywhere I need it. Unfortunately there are no identifying markings on them so I can’t tell your readers who makes them.
- Warner Bros. mugs for pens and office supplies. I purchased the Marvin Martian directly from the Warner Bros. store. After they went out of business I tracked the others down on eBay.
- The aluminum briefcase is by Roncato Luggage.
- As already mentioned I use an Apple G4 PowerMac desktop as well as an Intel based 15” MacBook Pro and 17” Studio Display.
- I have a Canon inkjet printer and iSub speakers.
- The sculpture on top of the shelving unit watching over my studio is “21st Century Icarus” by Larry Clark.
- Wall mounted wire fish sculpture is by Tim Flynn, and the neon fish light was purchased on eBay.
- The “Ricky Rat” artwork above the pachinko machines is by Jerry Simpson.
- The stained glass was purchased through Home Decorators.
- The etching press is made by Conrad Press.
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If you would like to learn more about Dan Marschman, his workspace, or his work, you can find him at the sites listed below;
If you have any questions or comments about this setup, or any other setup featured here at SetupsandSpaces.com, feel free to email me at FValletutti@me.com.
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