We don’t work like we used to. Every minute of the workday is tethered to tech, and the evidence is right in front of you: keyboard and screen replace pen and paper, hard drives stand in for file folders and a smartphone easily outclasses the old landline. It’s more efficient, for sure. But does the modern workspace inspire creativity? And if technology is supposed to make life easier, why are all these cords such a damned tangled nuisance? Those are the questions that pushed an architect and a digital designer (Artifox, collectively) to build the Desk 01, a beautiful new desk that seamlessly combines old-fashioned craftsmanship and creative spitballing with sleek, modern tech integration features to help you work smarter.
Even from across the room, the Desk 01 sets itself apart from its tech-ready peers. Crafted in the USA from solid, Missouri-grown maple or walnut wood, it’s a thing of beauty. A quarter of the desktop is given over to a dry-erase surface, a nod to the creative value of old-school note jotting and doodling.
It’s only upon closer inspection that fine details come into focus, revealing the desk’s modern utility: a subtle phone and tablet docking station is cut into the surface, where your myriad screens are kept upright, visible and, most importantly, manageable; cables are run through the dock to a hidden drawer that holds a power strip and hard drives, resulting in a clean, clutter-free workspace where just a single cord emerges from the back of the desk; pegs on the front legs stow backpacks, coats or headphones, keeping them off the floor and clear of the work surface. The clever design features integrate both new tech and classic lines for a desk that’s as handsome as it is functional, an accomplishment that no other desk manages quite so artfully. By clearing the workspace of digital debris, the Artifox desk grants a man the room he needs to compose his thoughts and finally get down to business.