This week I am featuring the desk of my friend and Mac Power Users co-host, Stephen Hackett (Twitter)(Website). Recording MPU with Stephen is one of my highlights every damn week. So Stephen, show us your desk
My desk is a door that once hung in our house. When we bought it from my wife’s grandmother, we did some light remodeling and this particular door was going to come down. My previous desk was smaller, and I knew I wanted something bigger, so I rescued it from the junk pile, and screwed it to a set of IKEA desk legs. It’s not pretty, but the upside is that it’s not a big deal if I have to cut into it or mount a mile of cables underneath it.
The desk sits in my studio, which is a stand-alone building behind our garage. It’s not big, measuring 14 feet wide by 10 feet deep, but everything out here was designed to make the most of the square footage. The building itself was built back in the 70s, but we gutted it, putting in insulation, think drywall, an AC/heat unit like you’d see in a motel room and lots and lots of sound deadening foam.
The desk sits along one of the long sides of the room, separated from a large rack, which houses part of my Mac collection by a partial wall. I cut the door to fit the space, and am happy with the layout.
Most weeks, I’m out here every weekday, from 9 AM to 5:30 PM or so, as well as some evenings or weekends if my schedule requires it. However, the studio is only for work; I don’t hang out in it with friends, watch movies at my desk or use it for non-work reading. Crossing the backyard has become a threshold of sorts, and the separation has been good for both me and my family.
Under the desk sits my 2019 Mac Pro. I couldn’t be happier with this computer, and believe it will serve me well until the day I am forced to replace it with something powered by Apple silicon, years and years from now. One of its great features is the ability to upgrade it over time. I’m keeping a build log of the machine on 512 Pixels documenting how it goes.
The Mac Pro is hooked up to a mess of podcasting gear and is often used to edit video for my YouTube channel. You can read about my gear here.
As far as improvements to my setup, I don’t have anything big on my list. I’m fortunate in that my job and hobbies have merged.
As you can see from the photos, the studio’s walls are pretty much taken up, but I love three items I have to the left of my desk.
One is a signed print of the dogcow, designed by Susan Kare. I have a long history with this little icon, and the print was a gift from my Relay FM co-founder, Myke Hurley.
Next to it is a poster by Aaron Draplin, my favorite graphic designer. He was on a tour a few years ago, and made a poster for each city. I got in line early for the event to snag one.
Last is a framed, signed Mayor’s Proclamation from the day I was born. My uncle was mayor then, and while it’s silly, it makes me chuckle when I see it.
Thanks, Stephen!