I’m Laura Sousa, a designer / art director in an advertising-marketing agency. I’m also an illustrator of New York buildings and other stuff (check out my work here). I’m from Portugal and i moved to New York 3 years ago and I love this city.
Can you tell us something about the items on/around your desk?
I’m super organized and neat. I love my imac (27”) and i love new computers/gadgets (can’t wait till I upgrade to the 5k retina display iMac). I always have my iphone 6+ on the desk (used to take the picture above).
I use heavy software (always running photoshop, illustrator and indesign at the same time), so I keep my computer very clean inside and out (P.S.: Don’t touch my screen! ;)
I like to keep my accessories minimal - i have a cabinet with pens and paper and cables/stuff, but I don’t like to have a lot on my desk.
The legos… well I love legos since ever (who doesn’t really…) so I started this mini figure collection - started with 5 (one for each day of the week) but I guess im not doing that anymore. Now friends and co-workers are giving me some and I keep buying. we’ll see where this is going.
Is there anything you would like to improve on this setup?
I’m very happy with this setup, but yes, Id like to have an iphone stand so i could have the iphone charger out of my sight. (thinking about it)
Is there something on your desk which helps you stay focused? What is it?
The legos help! They remind me of how organized lego (the company) is, and they help me focus when its time to do so. I also call myself “Laura the happy designer”, so their tagline “Play on” is great for inspiration. We have to balance work and play and play while we work and thats why I love my job even when its rough.
My desktop wallpaper gives me peace and helps me having a better perspective of things. A deadline seams much easier to achieve if you take a step back and really think about it.
Finally, the fact that I don’t have a mess in my desk is the number one factor to keep me focused. Can’t focus with a messy workspace.
