In honour of Back to the Future Day on October 21, we’re showcasing Chris’ 2002 home workspace.
He’s shared a snapshot of what working from home looked like 22 years ago, offering a glimpse into how much things have changed — and how some things remain timeless.
As Chris puts it, “Everything was still so low-tech and mixed media, but at the same time on the threshold of a new digital world. We could all feel it! It was a time of playfulness and discovery.”
Join us on this nostalgic journey.
Name: Chris
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
Occupation: Interactive Art Director and Illustrator
Room size: A corner in the living room
Cost of setup: $1,5K
Date: November 2002
Hello! Tell us a bit about yourself
Hello, my name is Chris, and this is my creative corner/home office in our apartment in Nørrebro, Copenhagen.
During the day, I work as an Interactive Art Director and Illustrator at a large Danish IT & e-Business consulting company.
It survived the dot-com bubble, so everyone is excited. Next year, I will become a partner — so fingers crossed.
When I’m at home, I mostly work on my own projects.
I create illustrations, comics, and graphics for magazines and the Internet.
One of my comic strips has just been censored and discontinued by a popular magazine.
A General Secretary from one of the magazine’s primary channels said it was the most disgusting and violent cartoon he had ever seen, and he would terminate the collaboration if it continued!
So my monthly doom-doodles and I were fired.
I think the strip just showed the ugliest sides of our inner thoughts that are not acted upon, in a counterfactual, humorous way.
I think the General Secretary might have misunderstood the point, unlike the readers, where it tested as very popular.
Well, I probably shouldn’t even show it here, but here it is.
Viewer discretion is apparently advised :-)
Take us through your setup
The home office is located in a corner of the living room, so it can’t take up too much space.
Creativity is a big part of my everyday life, but it’s important that it doesn’t look too office-like when I get home from work.
It needs to fit in naturally with the rest of the decor, while also being inviting.
I had looked at the special edition iMac G3 Snow White from last year, but then Apple came out with the new white eMac G4, and after that, there was no doubt.
And then there’s my new Internet connection.
I went from a dial-up modem to a whopping 512K ADSL connection. Internet, here I come. “All your base are belong to us” :-)
Also, my Ricoh RDC-7, a three-megapixel digital (still and video) camera.
I still use my tiny and indestructible Nokia 8210 from 2000.
I’ve just got the new Nokia 6100 as a company phone. It’s great, but not as cool design-wise.
