4 ms·

Think your workplace is creative and fun? (Inside Pixar - A Photo Tour)

29 points by gaika 18y ago

Zev 18y ago
And I thought I had some creative ideas for what would make a quirky/fun workplace. Pixar blew em out of the water with that garden shed. Also, cheerios! Am I the only one that keeps a box of cereal around to snack while trying to solve a problem? Chips just aren't the same.. :p
petercooper 18y ago
Notice how the work areas are really dark? I haven't seen a workplace like this in a really long time. I personally love dark workspaces, but they seem to have become uncommon - substituted for "bright and airy" fluorescent lit hellholes. I wonder how / why Pixar went with it. That whole area with the garden shed, as well as the render farm, look great!
- parenthesis 18y ago
  I'd rather have natural light than dark, or fluorescent-lit hellhole.
  - markbao 18y ago
    Natural light is only available 10-12 hours a day, and most hackers' days are longer than that.
- far33d 18y ago
  The workspaces are dark because a lot of the work is very color sensitive. A good number of people can't have any ambient light around to do their jobs correctly.
bprater 18y ago
After seeing this and other Pixar movies that include their workspaces, I've decided that any companies I start in the future will have a 'no white wall' policy. I'll give employees a budget to use as they wish, or if they don't, I'll bring in someone to "decorate".
ojbyrne 18y ago
I found the phrasing of the first page a little misleading - "...is a hive of self-expression; this employee, for example, is working out of a garden shed." suggests that this specific employee decided that he wanted to work in a garden shed, and it represents his self-expression, and the picture is framed to make it look that way like it's the only one to enhance that impression. When in fact there are other pictures out there showing that there are many of these. E.g. http://www.flickr.com/photos/veerles-blog/461586084/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/veerles-blog/461586084/ Not that they aren't cool, but the text is misleading.
babul 18y ago
But is there correlation to creativity, productivity, and creative environments like this. I can (and have) see people getting very distracted with all the funtertainment around. Without wanting to be a joykill, it really only works where you have highly driven and motivated people/team(s) who use it to fuel them.
wallflower 18y ago
Andy Baio (waxy.org), said that Pixar has the right of first refusal when it comes to employee projects. If an employee wants to work on something of their own, they have to go to Pixar management and tell them about it before starting. In case Pixar would be interested. Usually they say 'no' and get full approval to work on their own project (at home). Contrast this enlightened approach to employee IP agreements and other murky waters at typical companies (even startups).
- SingAlong 18y ago
  Its the Steve Jobs way. Very strict with work. And by the way... minus the darkness and you'll get a really cool work place. Bright light is always good to work in. The photos above show guys working isolatedly. That way, I like Google's work place. Lots of toys and very vibrant(never been there, but their photos clearly show that).
JabavuAdams 18y ago
I wonder how often they get to use the non-food facilities, in crunch mode. This is all great as a marketing and recruiting tool, but the reality is that to do that kind of work well, you need to work hard. I've worked at an "it" company where people lost sight of that, amid all the perks.

29 points by gaika 18y ago

Zev 18y ago

And I thought I had some creative ideas for what would make a quirky/fun workplace. Pixar blew em out of the water with that garden shed. Also, cheerios! Am I the only one that keeps a box of cereal around to snack while trying to solve a problem? Chips just aren't the same.. :p

petercooper 18y ago

Notice how the work areas are really dark? I haven't seen a workplace like this in a really long time. I personally love dark workspaces, but they seem to have become uncommon - substituted for "bright and airy" fluorescent lit hellholes. I wonder how / why Pixar went with it. That whole area with the garden shed, as well as the render farm, look great!

parenthesis 18y ago
I'd rather have natural light than dark, or fluorescent-lit hellhole.
- markbao 18y ago
  Natural light is only available 10-12 hours a day, and most hackers' days are longer than that.
far33d 18y ago
The workspaces are dark because a lot of the work is very color sensitive. A good number of people can't have any ambient light around to do their jobs correctly.

bprater 18y ago

After seeing this and other Pixar movies that include their workspaces, I've decided that any companies I start in the future will have a 'no white wall' policy. I'll give employees a budget to use as they wish, or if they don't, I'll bring in someone to "decorate".

ojbyrne 18y ago

I found the phrasing of the first page a little misleading - "...is a hive of self-expression; this employee, for example, is working out of a garden shed." suggests that this specific employee decided that he wanted to work in a garden shed, and it represents his self-expression, and the picture is framed to make it look that way like it's the only one to enhance that impression. When in fact there are other pictures out there showing that there are many of these. E.g. http://www.flickr.com/photos/veerles-blog/461586084/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/veerles-blog/461586084/ Not that they aren't cool, but the text is misleading.

babul 18y ago

But is there correlation to creativity, productivity, and creative environments like this. I can (and have) see people getting very distracted with all the funtertainment around. Without wanting to be a joykill, it really only works where you have highly driven and motivated people/team(s) who use it to fuel them.

wallflower 18y ago

Andy Baio (waxy.org), said that Pixar has the right of first refusal when it comes to employee projects. If an employee wants to work on something of their own, they have to go to Pixar management and tell them about it before starting. In case Pixar would be interested. Usually they say 'no' and get full approval to work on their own project (at home). Contrast this enlightened approach to employee IP agreements and other murky waters at typical companies (even startups).

SingAlong 18y ago
Its the Steve Jobs way. Very strict with work. And by the way... minus the darkness and you'll get a really cool work place. Bright light is always good to work in. The photos above show guys working isolatedly. That way, I like Google's work place. Lots of toys and very vibrant(never been there, but their photos clearly show that).

JabavuAdams 18y ago

I wonder how often they get to use the non-food facilities, in crunch mode. This is all great as a marketing and recruiting tool, but the reality is that to do that kind of work well, you need to work hard. I've worked at an "it" company where people lost sight of that, amid all the perks.