#i want to put up a whiteboard on the wall above the tank to keep track of his feeding schedule

[galoots]

TANK! I lifted that sucker onto the stand all by my lonesome. Never underestimate librarian strength.

[themysteriousauthor18]

Android Alastor oneshot [Radiodust]

Saw this art of Angel making an Android Alastor. Thought it was a really cool idea and wanted to make a oneshot of it!

Artist of the AMAZING art above:

The darkness slowly faded away, and something not bright, but a little less dark took its place. 

It's vision focused, a blurry image focusing itself down to the finer details. A warmer color invaded his vision, one that his brain came to know as...pink. This 'pink' seemed to cover most of the interior of the room. 

And as a pair of eyes looked around, it took note of the tiles on the floor, the cooler temperature, and metallic walling. 

A basement.

It's mind concluded. 

A small room within a basement, an empty chair seat in front of them, and a desk noticeably messy to their left were what caught its attention. It was unable to turn its head very much, or even it's body. But from its angle, it could barely make out what appeared to be skeptics of a robot to the left wall, just over the desk.

I want to move.

It thought. Pulling against what felt to be restraints, but decided it was best not to. Lest they damage anything. 

It's prying came to a halt when it picked up the soft tapping of shoes against the flooring. In the dim lighting, they could see a shadow drawing closer to the entrance of the room archway. 

They only patiently waited, eyes focusing in on the outline of something coming to a pause in the doorway. 

No, someone. 

They corrected. 

A human, and one quite disheveled. Blonde hair hastily tied back into a pony-tail. A white labcoat lazily draped around their arms leaving the tank top exposed. Their legs dressed in pink and purple stockings for small black heeled boots to cover their feet. 

This human seemed rather distressed. For once they saw the pair of eyes looking at them, they suddenly dropped the mug in their hands causing the brownish liquid to pour out onto the floor. 

Hands flying up to cover their mouth and wide green eyes staring in shock, they took a step closer. "Oh my god.." They muttered. 

Its head tilted as it examined the human furthur, smiling. 

The blonde-haired human was practically jogging in their spot, grinning once they removed their hands. 

"Holy shit it worked! O-okay okay okay..." They calmed themselves quickly hopping back into their chair and looking up into those eyes. Their chair swayed with them as they moved, resting hands between their legs.

"System AI begin start-up." They said barely containing the excitement in their voice.

The being was confused as its vision was suddenly invaded by multiple warnings, notifications, and many other things of which they didn't understand. After a moment or two, they cleared away. Leaving it's vision clear once more. 

Looking back down at the human who was lightly bouncing in the chair, eyes sparkling with anticipation he waited for them to say something else. 

"Alright-do you know who I am?" They asked, expression falling a little as if nervous.

The being tilted their head, eyes tracing over the person's body. Focusing in on little details such as the adam's apple in their throat, hair color, skin color, voice, and many other details.

After a moment, the being spoke. "You are Anthony Giuliani. A 23-year-old male. You are 69% Italian and 40%-"

Before it could finish its sentence the man sprung off from his seat practically jumping for joy.

"Holy shit it works! YOU work!" 

"Your heart rate has increased by 20%." 

The blonde paused in his celebratory victory and looked to the being. A frown played on his lips as he scratched his head. 

"Your tawking like your a robot. Damn...I thought I made you deviant. Shit guess it's somethin' well have to work on." He shook his head moving over to the wall and pressing something.

With a faint beeping the being felt something distracted itself from its back. It stood a little more freely now, nothing, in particular, holding it in place anymore. 

Taking a step back, the Italian moved over to pick up the mug he'd originally dropped. Setting it on his desk he turned back to the being, coat lazily draping around his hips as he rested his hands there.

"Alright...first of all, call me Angel. Angel Dust. Got it?"

The being blinked a few times, a small red circle on its temple blinking with them. "Yes. Angel Dust." It repeated in a mono-toned voice. 

The man looked annoyed by the tone but said nothing. "Second, what do you want your name to be?" 

The being stared, confused. 

"That is not in my function." It simply stated.

Angel groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Okay look. YOU are an android. I made you, but you're to..." he paused trying to find the right words. "Robotic. I can't have a boyfriend whose all emotionless and robily." 

" 'Robily' is not a real word." 

The blonde scoffed. "Well, there's a start." He turned away, being mindful of the pool of coffee on the floor. "I'll be right back, take a look around. Just don't go too far." 

"Very well." It stated. 

Once the human left, the android quietly turned to look around the room, no longer restrained. 

Looking at it from this angle, the android realized it was not quite just a room but a lab more accurately put. Shelves of books and a few trophies lined some of the walls. While for the rest mainly consisted of boxes holding various android parts. 

A whiteboard lay on the main wall of the room, opposite to the wall the desk lay in front of. Equations and measurements were drawn all over the board. Some even rough illustrations of a model. 

It turned and walked over to the desk, having a clearer vision of the schematic hanging over the desk he could now see there was something written on it.

'Project AL4570R Aka the perfect boyfriend.'

It read.

  ...[.Decoding.]...

.....[.Result: Alastor ]....

...[Update: Name may be Alastor]...

...[Gender: Male?]...

It turned away, finding that its hands rested behind its back. A motion that felt comfortable for it. 

Stepping back over near the entrance, a standing mirror greeted it.

As it looked at the reflection, it's head tilted to the side at the image. Not a human greeted it, but rather a tall.....deer man? 

Simply put it was a deer man.

More intricately put, they looked to be human safe for the large pair of red eyes, and deer ears all to obviously attached to the tops of its head. Its hair was a crimson red, the tips being a dark black, it's skin some shade of brown almost greyish. 

With the monocle over one of its eyes, black gloves, and the black to red tailcoat, it both wore and made up its body, gave it a more refined appearance. The small bow tie on its neck seemed to somehow bring it all together. 

"I'm back." 

Its head turned immediately as a machine would to a sound as the human entered back. A mop in his hand. 

"Already like looking at yourself huh?" Angel joked, noticing the androids staring at the mirror. 

Not replying to the comment, the android turned as Angel mopped up the spilled coffee. 

"You had said 'boyfriend'. My knowledge tells me that is a term associated with men in a non-platonic relationship. So am I a male then." 

Pausing in the mopping, Angel leaned on its handle smiling to the android. "Well look at you gettin' all smart and shit. Let's see, do you know your name too?" 

The human continued to mop up the mess. 

"Alastor." The android stated.

Putting the mob aside, the mess is picked up, the human turned towards the android almost impressed. 

"Bingo. Now, I'm gonna need to run some tests. See how your internal hard drive is and make sure the pump is regulating that blue blood enough so you don't die on me. That be annoyin' to deal with." The blonde muttered to himself sidestepping the android.

Alastor watched curiously as the human shuffled through his papers on the desk. 

Those large red eyes scanned the room once again, landing on something they handed seen before. 

A small box sitting beside the desk some old song playing through it. With its interest peaked, Alastor moved over to the desk once more kneeling down because it was rather tall, and peered at the small box.

Angel paused and looked over to the android, smiling a little. "Do you like that?" 

The android poked at the box. "My scanners tell me this device is called a radio." 

An amused laugh came from the human as he sat down in his chair at the desk. Moved his hand over to switch the dial and by extension the channel. 

The android's ears moved back at the sudden noise. "Huh, that's fuckin' adorable," Angel muttered, fascinated. Turning his attention back to the radio, "yeah but I keep it in here sometimes just to listen to music." 

The android repeated the same motion, switching the dails. Its eyes growing in amazement. 

Angel laughed as the android continued to fiddle with it. 

"Maybe your more of a deviant than I thought." 

[ask-me-about-datlof]

Thank You, Friend - Chapter 13

It’s here, deadlines are over and I’m nearly done with Uni for the holidays which means updates should be regular!

I’m also cooking up a little Christmas special while I’m no longer busy with Uni ;)

You can read this chapter and all previous chapters on AO3 - little warning for this chapter, there is blood and needles in the first part just in case that’s not your cup of tea.

Lewis had only seen Hannah a couple of times after that night, and they’d barely glanced at each other. But the first meeting after that night Hannah had quietly murmured her thanks to Lewis as she passed by him and he knew that she would be alright. Lewis hadn’t told anyone about what happened with Hannah in the construction site and as a result Simon had continued to keep his friend’s mind off the break-up, although as the days had turned into weeks, Lewis had found that he was kept busy with the amount of work that was involved with the renovation of the castle and the building of the new base of operations for Yoglabs. The renovations on the castle had nearly been completed, with a few labs available for working in that Lalnable quickly took over, using the space to really get going with his project on cloning. Lewis had also transformed half of the castle into living quarters for the werewolf pack, who had moved into the space and turned it into a warm friendly space. Lewis had also made an arrangement with a company who owned a block of flats not too far away from the castle; any werewolf who was a part of the pack, and therefore an employee of Yoglabs, could get a severely reduced rent apartment, along with a slightly reduced rate of pay, but the deal worked out in their favour as they could find very affordable accommodation that was nice to live in and wouldn’t turn them away because they were werewolves. Lewis was paying the extra rent for the apartments partially out of the money taken away from the werewolves pay, and partially out of the profits of Yoglabs. He himself had moved out of the small apartment he had been living in and he was now living in the castle, in a couple of rooms that he had set aside for himself. And beside the castle, beginning to grow upwards among a tower of scaffolding and cranes, the foundations and base of Yoglabs were appearing.

“Come on, Lewis, I’m hungry.” Simon complained as he swung his legs from the chair he was sat on. He and Lewis were in Lewis’s new lab and Simon was waiting for Lewis to finish up so the pair could go get some lunch together. This was partially to drag Lewis away from his work so he actually ate at a sensible time, but it was also so that Simon didn’t have to go get lunch on his own which he would have found very boring.

Lewis’s new lab was located in one or the rooms in the castle; the walls were stone and the floors were wooden planks because planning permissions had allowed Lewis to change very little about the inside of the castle, requiring him to use the same sort of flooring and walling, even if he changed the layout of the rooms. He’d even been required to keep the old dungeons in the basement of the castle. But despite the stone walls and wooden floors, the lab was well lit with L.E.D. lights tucked away into the ceiling which could be turned on or off by the switch at the wall, or otherwise they would be turned on by a motion sensor and stay on for a few minutes if no more motion was detected. Along one wall was a large whiteboard and to the left of the door was a desk with a laptop sitting on it, and a desk chair that Simon was sitting on. The rest of the room was filled with worktables and shelving units, all filled with the scientific equipment that Lewis had carted over from his old lab. Simon was amazed at the fact that although Lewis had only occupied this space for less than a week, it was already cluttered with paper and empty mugs and half finished experiments.

“Alright, alright, I’m nearly done…” Lewis murmured, frowning in concentration as he wrote something down on a spare scrap of paper as he skim read through what looked like a report or an article. Simon waited patiently for another thirty seconds before he jumped off the chair, sending it rolling back across the floor, and walked over to Lewis, and grabbed the paper from his hands. “Simon!”

“The only way you’re getting this back is if you stop and have some lunch.” Simon said in a commanding tone as he flapped the paper about in the air. Lewis smiled slightly before he put the pen he’d been holding down and stretched his arms above his head.

“Sounds fair to me, friend.” Lewis got to his feet and grabbed his jacket from where it was lying on one of the tables. Simon plonked the paper he was holding down on the desk beside the laptop as Lewis pulled on his jacket. “Should we pop in on Lal and see how he’s doing? I reckon if I deserve a break, he deserves one too.” Simon nodded.

“I don’t understand how you two can get so absorbed in your experiments that you forget to eat.” Simon said, almost incredulously as the pair left Lewis’s lab and made the short trip across the corridor to Lalnable’s labs.

“Well,” Lewis grinned, “I’m not sure I can explain it to you if you haven’t experienced something like that before.” He knocked the door to Lalnable’s labs lightly before he opened it up and strolled in, Simon following close behind. “Lal? You in here?”

Lalnable’s labs were actually two rooms that had a small arch knocked through one wall so that you could pass from one room to the other with ease. The first room, that Lewis and Simon were now standing in, had a row of half built tanks along the back wall, each one hooked up to a computer with multiple wires running across the floor, hopelessly tangled in some places. The second room was filled with computers and a large whiteboard filled with biological equations and half formed thoughts. Tacked up on the wall were a couple of anatomical diagrams of the human body and in one corner there was a skeleton grinning out over the room. Whether the skeleton was real or fake, neither Lewis nor Simon had dared to ask. Lalnable himself was sitting in front of a set of monitors, holding his head in his hands. There was a collection of screwed up paper surrounding the chair that Lalnable was sat on a chair and his lab sleeve was rolled up and a cuff was on the upper half of his arm, with a needle and tube coming out from the crook of his elbow. Blood was flowing through the tube into a bag that had been placed on a little trolley.

“Lal?” Lewis asked as he and Simon walked into the second room and caught sight of him. “Are you alright, friend?” Lalnable lifted his head and turned to look at the pair.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” He replied tiredly.

“What’s all this for? Are you donating blood or something?” Lalnable smirked slightly at Simon’s innocent question.

“I guess you could call it blood donation. I’m collecting blood so that I have samples with which I can start trying to clone myself.”

“Are you that close? You’re going to actually try to clone yourself already?” Lewis asked excitedly, his eyes twinkling with excitement.

“Nearly… I just need to finish building a cloning vat.” Lalnable nodded towards the other room. Lewis and Simon glanced back at the half built tubes and computers. “This is just me taking a short break from that.” Lalnable chuckled slightly. Simon glanced up at Lewis with a slightly concerned expression as Lewis rolled his eyes.

“If you’re going to take a break, Lal, you might as well take a proper break. Come with us to get some lunch.”

“I probably should get something to eat after this…” Lalnable mused quietly, his eyes drifting to the bag of blood beside him.

“Yes you should.” Lewis walked up to Lalnable and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Do you want me to help get the needle out?” Lalnable shook his head.

“No, I can do that by myself. Simon, do you want to grab those cotton buds beside you and pass them over here?”

Simon did as he was asked and passed a small bag of cotton buds over to Lalnable, who took off the tape that was holding the needle in place before he placed a cotton bud over where the needle had pierced his skin and pulled the needle out, pressing the cotton bud down tightly.

“Do you want to hold this for a second, Lewis?” Lalnable asked, holding out the needle towards Lewis.

He took it as Lalnable busied himself with taking the cuff off his arm and taping the cotton bud in place. Once he’d done that, he took the needle back from Lewis and tidied away the bag of blood and chucked the needle in a small bright yellow bin with warnings printed on the side. Lalnable carefully tucked the blood away in a refrigerator before he straightened up and began rolling down the sleeve of his lab coat.

“Are you ready to go?” Lewis asked, looking towards Lalnable. He nodded and the trio left Lalnable’s labs, walking through the corridors of the castle and quickly making their way to the outside.

Datlof was now in the icy grip of winter; people scurried by wrapped up in hats, coats and scarves and the occasional nights where the weather was cold enough to freeze things over, the next morning the streets of the city were chaos as cars struggled to get where they needed to go. There was no proper snow, but sleet was a frequent visitor to the city, showering down from grey skies and creating an atmosphere of gloom. But strung up between buildings and wrapped around bare trees, christmas lights twinkled, fighting the darkness and the gloom of the cold short winter days. The trio admired the lights as they made their way towards a cafe that seemed slightly emptier on the inside than some of the others. They quickly moved inside the cafe, escaping the cold of the winter air and being embraced in the warmth of the cafe. They ordered food and drinks and found a small table by the window where they could look out onto the main street of Datlof. From where they were sitting, they could see the castle, for the first time since they had know it, fully restored and glowing from the lights inside. And every so often, a werewolf or two would leave or go in through the front door, making the castle look loved and lived in once more.

“So how are you getting on with this cloning project, Lal? Are you anywhere close?” Lewis asked after their food and drinks had arrived and he’d taken a sip of his tea.

“Well, I think I’ve got the theory down, I just need to put it into practice. And that’s where everything will go wrong.” Lewis chuckled slightly.

“I’m sure it will go alright, I know you have the skills to make this happen, Lal.” Lalnable smirked slightly.

“Thanks, Lewis.”

“And if you want any more blood, I’ll be happy to donate some for you to use. I can’t say anything for Simon though.”

“As much as I’d love to have a million of me running around, I don’t fancy having a needle jammed into me thanks.” Both Lewis and Lalnable laughed.

“Don’t worry, Simon. I’ve got plenty of blood for now, and besides, I think I want to keep things simple and stick to human DNA.” Lalnable paused before he looked towards Lewis. “And I’ll let you know if I want any of your blood. But I should be fine for now.”

“Good, good. Just don’t go bleeding yourself dry for this, Lal. And remember to take breaks.”

“Look who’s talking!” Simon exclaimed, looking pointedly at Lewis.

“I take breaks, Simon!” Lewis said, trying to defend himself.

“Only when I force you to take a break.”

“I take other breaks too! When you’re not there!”

“Sure you do, spaceman. Sure you do.” Lalnable grinned as he watched the exchange between Lewis and Simon.

“It’s like old times, watching you two argue over something while we’re eating. We’ve not done this for a while.” Simon and Lewis glanced up at Lalnable.

“You’re right. We’ve all been so busy since coming to Datlof, we’ve barely had any time to hang out with each other.” Lewis said, leaning back into the chair he was sat in with his mug of tea. Simon glanced out of the window.

“I remember two winters ago, probably around this time, we were celebrating the completion of the spaceship.” Simon said softly, gazing out of the window. Both Lewis and Lalnable followed his gaze and caught sight of the sleet that had started to fall while they’d been in the cafe.

“It had snowed lots already then. There were a good few inches of snow on the ground.” Lalnable commented as he watched the sleet.

“Mmm…” Lewis hummed quietly. “A lot has happened since then, hasn’t it?” Simon and Lalnable nodded slowly. Lewis smiled as the three of them continued watching the sleet falling. “I think I preferred watching the snow, rather than watching this sleet.” Lalnable grinned at Lewis’s comment.

“You can’t make good snowballs when it sleets like this.” Simon complained, grinning widely.

“That you can’t. It would be nice if we got some snow, it might make the city look a little prettier than just cold and wet.” Lewis said, accompanied by chuckled from the other two.

“Snow would be an absolute pain though.” Lalnable said.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Lewis finished the rest of his tea and looked down at the table that now held empty plates and cups. “Well, I guess we should be getting going. Lal probably wants to get back to his cloning experiments and I need to finish what I was doing too.” Lalnable let out a big sigh as he stood himself up, while Simon just looked completely crestfallen.

“Yeah, I need to get back.” Lalnable said as Lewis and Simon got to their feet too. “It was nice having lunch together though.”

“We can all have dinner together tonight too!” Simon exclaimed excitedly.

“Sorry, Simon, but I think I’ll be working late tonight.” Lalnable replied, instantly wiping the excitement off Simon’s face. Lewis, noticing his friends sad expression, placed a hand on Simon’s shoulder.

“Don’t you worry, Simon, I can have dinner with you tonight. And I’m sure we’ll be able to drag Lal away from his experiments at least a couple of nights this week.” Simon perked up slightly at the promise of having dinner with Lewis.

“Alright, Lal, I’ll let you off tonight, but I’m not going to let you get away with this every night.” Simon said, frowning and pretending to be angry with Lalnable. Both Lalnable and Lewis laughed.

“Ok, time to get moving, I think. This work won’t wait. And the sooner I can start back up, the sooner we’ll be able to leave for dinner later on.” Lewis said, grinning down at Simon who beamed up at him. “Come on, let’s go.”

The trio filtered out of the cafe and into the sleet outside, where they didn’t dally for long and quickly made their way back across the road and into the warmth of the castle, where Lalnable instantly disappeared off back to his labs. Simon and Lewis took a little more time before they returned to Lewis’s lab and Lewis set about working once more as Simon settled down in the desk chair for a quick nap.

[davidxn]

Where the magic happens!

While recording another song for Buried Souls today, I thought I'd give a glimpse into my workspace! This is my own space on the bottom floor of our house, where my desktop computer lives and where I do the majority of my composing and recording. It is also a complete tip, and the guide that I put together just for people to be able to follow the order of the circles looks like an arcane star chart. Nevertheless, here's an insight into how I work. Computer things 1. First monitor! It's a 4:3 that I must have had since about 2006. When in music writing mode, this usually has Kontakt's overwhelming array of levers and pulleys on it - or otherwise it's got the Internet open because I've got distracted. 2. Second monitor! Mismatched with the other one, this is a 16:9 that I picked up a bit later on which is almost but not quite the right size to fit alongside the other one. I've been meaning to upgrade the first one but I've never really felt a pressing need to. Still, this is the one that houses Reaper's spaceship controls. 3. Logitech speakers. Again, these have probably been around since I came into the country in 2006 and have survived two house moves. I don't actually use these much in music composition because the sound is handled by an external sound card (see 11). 4. Ultra-professional monitor stand (a cardboard box that used to contain a pump that prevented the basement from flooding). I stand up when recording vocals and I used to hunch over the computer to click around and set things up, but having it at eye level is a lot more comfortable. I should really get one of those desks that you can raise to a standing position. 5. DELL QuietKey PS/2 keyboard, a relic and a misnomer because it's the most clackety keyboard this side of using a typewriter. I rescued it from the out-pile when we moved offices a couple of jobs ago - it's very comfortable to type on, has a satisfying feel to it, is built like a Sherman tank and weighs a ton. 6. Similarly 10-year-old mouse, with a Clickteam mousepad - the company that made the Fusion development environment, now most famous for enabling Five Nights at Freddy's 1 through 476. I used to do contract work for them, writing demo applications and tutorials, and they sent a mousepad with one of my cheques. (They're very nice people.) 7. Headphones - my primary way of hearing what I'm writing! These are a pair of Sennheiser PC-350 - I've been meaning to look at others because the headset microphone on this (which I use for recording game videos) has a slight screechy tinge to it, but they're very comfortable and I don't want to give them up. 8. The computer itself. Both the oldest thing at the desk and not the oldest thing at all - I haven't bought a new desktop since 2003, but parts have been swapped in and out over the years and it's now the Computer of Theseus. I can't remember whether any parts in it now (the case included) have been there from the very beginning or if it's a completely different machine. Music things 9. A guitar! This is one of three that I own - I have a Johnson strat copy that I learned on (and have since modified into an electronically enhanced Frankenstein by drilling holes in it and grafting on mounts for a compact amp and so on), an Ibanez which is my main guitar, and this one. It was salvaged from my wife's grandmother's house after she died, has no markings on it indicating who made it, and could be an expensive antique (but is more likely worth $5 or so). I still can't play the guitar to any acceptable level - they're just used for idling around when trying to think up melodies. 10. A keyboard! This is a very basic one, a Yamaha PSR E243 which has no mod wheels or key velocity. It's connected up to the computer and does what I need it to, though - and since I learned on the piano, it's very useful for experimenting and visualizing where a song is going. 11. This is a Line-6 Pod X3 mounted to the wall (there's no official way to do that - I just had some large bolts left over that happened to be the right size for poking into the screw wells on the back). It's an external sound card that acts as a digital amp for guitars, but I haven't used it that way in ages and I use it mostly for recording vocals instead. You can't buy this model any more, it's been superseded multiple times by now - I think I got it in 2008 or so when my original Amplitube guitar connector broke down. 12. My microphone is a Samson R31S, which is a $30 thing that you can get at Best Buy - I got it so that I could experiment rather than for any serious work. With the XLR cable to the Pod, though, it has no noticeable noise at all, and people seem to agree online that it's a surprisingly good microphone for its cheapness. There is no pop filter, a fact that I get around just by singing perpendicular to it. 13. Microphone "stand" made out of duct tape and suspended from a pipe on the ceiling, so I can't do laundry and record music simultaneously. It's up here because before I recorded The Poison Skies I read about the best place for a microphone being slightly above your mouth, so that you tilt your head back and open up your vocal cords more. I meant to get a slightly more permanent mount for it but I haven't found one I liked. The back wall 14. The whiteboard! This is where I chart progress when I have a serious project going on - three boxes for each song representing how far along the instrumental parts are, then a box each for whether I've completed the lyrics, the vocals, and got the song to a place where I can declare it releaseable. That's six boxes each, for twelve songs on Buried Souls - a total of 72, and I've filled in 42 of them. 15. A picture of some highland cows. Can't remember why this is there. I think my wife got it and it somehow ended up down here after we moved house. 16. Signed Iron Savior card! This came with a special edition of one of their albums, and is definitely not pre-printed because one of the signatures has a smudge on it where someone put their hand on the wet ink. 17. Picture of a lovely mouse by DAQ <3 http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3590067/ 18. A box for a ream of photo paper. I had to put this up in the window during the summer because in the morning the sun reaches the exact angle to come blindingly down through the window. 19. Brown parcel tape mounts for said box. Miscellaneous junk 20. Black and Decker drill/screwdriver. I should put this away, really - it's been here since we moved in last year and I was putting things on the wall. 21. Pile of DVDs containing British children's programmes recorded from old tapes by my parents and sent over here for me to look at and extract any treasures from. I have a Youtube account for these at https://www.youtube.com/user/TributeToThePast but it's been a very long time since I updated it. I should correct that. 22. Unused invitation to the sponsor/Professor Dinner at Anthro New England 2017, which I couldn't go to due to the birth of my daughter! 23. Water! Very important for keeping my vocal cords cooperating. I don't drink nearly enough of it as it is. 24. A pile of physical copies of furry pictures that I'm yet to find a home for, to be honest. 25. A drinks fridge! Was picked up for free from a yard sale shortly after we moved here. It is currently not plugged in and contains no drinks - it's been acting as a bits-of-paper stand for virtually all its lifetime here. 26. Spare body parts.

[connorrenwick]

Where I Work: Beau Oyler of Enlisted Design

This month’s Where I Work heads to Oakland, California, the home of Enlisted Design, a multidisciplinary design studio whose collaborative approach to product and brand design has resulted in lucrative partnerships with many brands, like Ford, Samsung, LG, Amazon, Cisco, Best Buy, Belkin, Netgear, and many more. The design entrepreneur behind the award-winning company is founder Beau Oyler, the CEO and Executive Creative Director who also co-founded Urbio, the vertical garden that got its successful start on Kickstarter. Let’s head inside the offices of Enlisted Design to take a look around and see how Beau and his team make it all happen.

Beau beside the Urbio garden wall

What is your typical work style?

I hate procrastinating. My day is front-loaded with meetings and anything else that needs to be taken care of on the business side of things. That leaves the afternoon and evening for creative work and big picture, strategic thinking.

Main lobby of the studio, includes product wall, “Grand Lake” conference room (green chairs), “Fox” conference room

What’s your studio/work environment like?

The studio space is physically open and bright. The vibe is, too. It’s important to me that the energy is light since we have an intense, fast-paced project culture. You’ll always find designers huddled together, sketching, or heads down with headphones on, jamming on work. Clients are often camped out in Grand Lake (our largest conference room) engaged in workshops with the team and sharing ideas. Our kitchen, located in the center of the studio, is where we eat lunch together at the communal table. It’s a natural gathering spot for conversations throughout the day.

How is your space organized/arranged?

The studio is open plan. As you walk in, you’re immersed in our work displayed on a giant oak wood peg wall. It’s a great introduction to who we are. There are two main, glass-walled conference rooms and a door that leads to the maker space. Getting deeper into the studio, you’ll find the kitchen and two tucked-away meeting rooms. Then it opens up to where the team is working. Designers are loosely grouped by discipline with desks wrapped around the building in an L-shape. The space is lined by large windows that overlook the heart of Uptown Oakland, Broadway and 19th Street.

How long have you been in this space?

We’ve been in this building for ten years. We started in one small office and grew to take over the entire floor. We chose Oakland deliberately. It was underdeveloped, but we saw a glimmer of what it could be. Oakland is scrappy, like us. It’s also artistic and entrepreneurial and cool. Seeing the development and revitalization of the Uptown neighborhood (where we’re located) is particularly rewarding. In addition to fellow tech companies, there’s been roughly 125 bars, restaurants and indie boutiques that’ve opened in the last decade. The city named Uptown the official “Arts and Entertainment District” in 2009. This area is the epicenter of Oakland creative now. We’re so proud to be a part of that.

Urbio garden wall

If you could change something about your workspace, what would it be?

Actually nothing – I already changed it all during our renovation two years ago. I tore the entire second floor down and built a custom space that’s perfect for us.

Kieran Moriarty (Senior Industrial Designer) and his goldendoodle Bowie

Is there an office pet?

We are a decidedly dog-friendly studio. On any given day, you’ll likely meet at least one of the eight pups who regularly hang out. The general purpose of our studio dogs is to sleep, wander around for snacks, and then go back to sleeping.

Enlisted swag

Do you require music in the background? If so, who are some favorites?

We have a shared Sonos. Our studio manager, Shannon, is usually DJing everything from soul to synth-pop. We’re also steps away from Oakland’s Fox Theater – a constant source of inspiration depending on the week’s show lineup. The other day, we ran across the street to the box office and bought tickets to see the buzzy, disco-inspired band, Jungle, for a studio outing early next year.

How do you record ideas?

For years, I used Moleskine notebooks. I transitioned to Evernote on my iPhone a few years ago to keep it all in one place. It’s more convenient, but not quite as romantic.

Luis Velazquez (Industrial Designer) in front of a wall of sketches for our work with Pi Charging — a wireless charging device.

Do you have an inspiration board? What’s on it right now?

We create a vision board for every project, which is larger scale than a typical product mood board. We envision the entire world in which the new device or brand will live. Each is totally unique and specific to the project and client.

The Stance team sketching: Beau Oyler, Ellen O’Reilly (Sr. Designer), Beth Anderson (Sr. Designer), Kieran Moriarty (Sr. Industrial Designer)

Beau with the Stance project team

What is your creative process and/or creative workflow like? Does it change every project or do you keep it the same?

There is a general design roadmap that involves understanding, creating, and delivering. That said, there’s no sacred process here. We’re always looking for new ways to communicate – from mockups and explorations of form to animation and video storytelling. Anything that helps us more effectively and beautifully communicate ideas is fair game. Our team actively shares and tests new methods all the time.

What kind of art/design/objects might you have scattered about the space?

When we renovated the studio, we partnered with artist Annie Tull for a large-scale string installation, consisting of over 50,000 feet of custom color matched, military grade paracord. They start as balls of string displayed in the ground-floor lobby, and lead up to the studio, twisting and turning under concrete beams and above the desks. The magenta, turquoise and dark grey string are a metaphor for the collaborative design process. The colorful strings refract throughout the studio, culminating into one cohesive whole with the Enlisted logo in the background. The strings pass by another focal point of the studio, the “We Create” wall. The phrase is another nod to our uniquely collaborative partnership style, and on the wall are photos of favorite team moments, work, and design awards. The neon “Next Level Shit” sign is the go-to backdrop spot for anyone taking a selfie in the studio.

Beau in front of the “Next Level Shit” neon sign

Are there tools and/or machinery in your space?

We have a maker space that’s always humming. Whether it’s being used for prototype creation or a photo shoot, there’s always someone in there getting their hands dirty. We have two types of 3D printers, a CNC machine, laser cutter, plus every mockup tool you can imagine, like foam core, hand tools, spray paint, and hot glue. The space is also open for anyone in the studio who wants to use it in their spare time for passion projects.

John Nam (Industrial Design Intern) putting up sketches on the whiteboard in Grand Lake Conference room.

What tool(s) do you most enjoy using in the design process?

A dry erase pen and a big, empty dry erase wall. I love sketching with pen and paper, but it’s not until you take those ideas and put them up on a wall to share that things start happening. Ideating together is when the best ideas come.

Maker Space

Let’s talk about how you’re wired. Tell us about your tech arsenal/devices.

At all times, I’ve got my iPhone XS Max, plus a battery charger. I work off of a Macbook Pro 13 inch, which is under TSA’s weight limit, meaning that I can keep it on my lap to work during takeoff and landing. I wear an Apple watch, sleep with Bose Sleepbuds, and drive an Audi Q5 – the most fun, technologically advanced car I’ve ever been in. In my house you’ll find most of the major IoT home products available on the market, especially the ones that Enlisted designed, like Arlo.

What design software do you use, if any, and for what?

I’m regularly in Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects, KeyShot, and Cinema 4D.

Is there a favorite project/piece you’ve worked on?

My two adventurous children are hands-down my favorite projects.

Arlo camera on the product wall. With it are prototypes of the various design languages over the years.

Do you feel like you’ve “made it”? What has made you feel like you’ve become successful? At what moment/circumstances? Or what will it take to get there?

I don’t know if I’ll ever feel like I made it. I can acknowledge that there have been some big moments. As an entrepreneur, being on Shark Tank was great. We nailed it and that fueled Enlisted’s growth. Our ten-year-long relationship with Arlo is another significant experience. We’ve been NETGEAR’s design partner since the beginning and helped Arlo grow through design to earn nearly 50% market share. They IPO’d this year at a $1.4 billion valuation. A special moment related to that was when Belkin’s Chief Marketing Officer, Kieran Hannon, cold-called Enlisted because he saw Arlo win the Red Dot Product Design Award. Belkin is a dream client, so to be on their radar and get to work with them was huge. That said, I always want us to feel scrappy. We’re not out to prove ourselves, but we want to show that there’s a better way to design and co-create. Until that’s the established way, we haven’t made it. For me personally, as long as I’m still making, it’s all in the present tense.

Beau showing off his Stance socks

Tell us about a current project you’re working on. What was the inspiration behind it?

Stance is an American sock and apparel brand that I would say oozes cool. If the brand were a person, they’d essentially be the coolest kid you’ve ever met. At some point, that cool kid is going to grow up and mature into an adult. That’s what I’m really excited about right now – we’re helping Stance mature to the next level of fidelity, both as a brand and with their in-store shopping experience.

Beau reviewing concepts with Mega Tjhin (Visual Designer), Katie Friedlander (Account Manager), Diana Goldberg (Visual Designer), Miri Chan (Design Director)

What’s on your desk right now?

I don’t have a dedicated desk. I float to wherever I need to be, and whichever space is open. Basically, anywhere I leave my phone, ear buds, and wallet becomes my de facto desk.

Product wall

Do you have anything in your home that you’ve designed/created?

Definitely. Most of the products I’ve designed make their way into my house at some point. What I really like is seeing products I’ve designed in other people’s homes. I don’t point it out. I just want to quietly observe people interacting with the product. Same thing goes for seeing my designs in stores. Right now, we have products and packaging in the Apple Store, Costco, Best Buy, and Whole Foods. Seeing our designs out in the world, knowing that something beautiful and useful is available for anyone to buy, makes me happy. I see the brand or product and the memory of the project comes back to me. It’s like, boom, I love that thing. It’s a cool feeling.

Enlisted team

Photos by Dallis Willard.

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