Recently I emailed a series of Twitter friends who design and handful of popular designers to see what sort of music got their creative juices flowing. The results were a mix of every musical genre out there. Some like to chill out to mellow and classical music, while others need something a a bit more energy to get them going.
If you find this post interesting, you might also want to check out Fudge Graphics post on designers and their favorite colors. He asked 40 designers/bloggers what their favorite colour is and split them up into 3 groups: cold, warm and neutral colours.
Check it out here.

Danny Outlaw
Website - https://outlawdesignblog.com
Music - Hank Williams the Third

Franz Jeitz
Website - http://www.fudgegraphics.com
Music - Kings of Leon

Liam McKay
Website - http://www.wefunction.com
Music - The Prodigy

David Airey
Website - http://www.davidairey.com
Music - Classical

Chris Spooner
Website - http://www.blog.spoongraphics.co.uk
Music - All American Rejects

Adelle Charles
Website - http://fuelyourcreativity.com
Music - Pink

Jacob Gube
Website - http://sixrevisions.com/
Music - Modest Mouse

Steven Snell
Website - http://designm.ag/
Music - Metallica

David Leggett
Website - http://www.tutorial9.net/
Music - Sigur Ros

Chad Mueller
Website - http://www.inspiredology.com
Music - Kaye West

Gino Orlandi
Website - http://www.fuelfordesign.com/
Music - Octane on Sirius Satellite Radio

Ty
Website - http://www.sourapplemedia.com
Music - Jay-Z

Calee Hime
Website - http://www.runningchimes.wordpress.com
Music - Daft Punk

Lilian
Website - http://www.lilula.co.uk/
Music - Explosions in the Sky









52 Comments
I listen to Rise Against while I’m working.
Music is important to me when designing as it helps inspire, keeps me creative and helps me stay in the zone. Personally I find more ambient music more effective as catchy tunes can often find you singing along or breaking into a guitar riff mid design.
Good design music can also be project dependent as it can set the scene or create a mood and you might need an upbeat set of tunes for one and a more obscure set of tunes for something more abstract.
- Kid Loco
- Sigur Rós
- Herbaliser
- The Avalanches
- St Germain
- M83
- Beta Band
- Kruder & Dorfmeister
- John Williams / Hans Zimmer music Scores
These really help me!
9 Trackbacks
[...] you want to know more about your favourite bloggers and designer I highly recommend reading “Music of Design: What do you listen to?” on Outlaw Design Blog. Danny Outlaw asked a handful of popular designers (including me) to [...]
[...] Music of Design: What do you listen to? (tags: music creativity inspiration) [...]
[...] bookmarks tagged explosions in the sky Music of Design: What do you listen to? saved by 2 others np228 bookmarked on 02/19/09 | [...]
[...] Music of Design: What do you listen to - Outlaw Design Blog [...]
[...] The Sound of Design: What do you listen to? [...]
[...] a recent article on Danny Outlaw’s design blog, Outlaw posts a list of music that inspires some of his fellow graphic designers. Obviously, I can relate to the issue of music serving as more than a backdrop to my creative work. [...]
[...] Music of Design: What do you listen to? | Outlaw Design Blog (tags: inspiration music) [...]
[...] There are so many others I could list. It’s hard to pick favorites because I have so many. Do we have similar musical interests? See me on last.fm! Feel free to add your favorite artist or album below. You might also want to check out Danny Outlaw’s music of design. [...]
[...] bookmarks tagged musicstart credit card processing today free merchant account includes terminal Music of Design: What do you listen to? | Outlaw D… saved by 5 others LostRinoa bookmarked on 05/28/09 | [...]