We here at Helikopter Design love music. Maybe more than web design.(Blasphemy!) It’s an essential part of the design process for us. Setting the right tone for inspiration, helping re-energize when attention is flagging, and making mind-numbingly-repetitive tasks much more tolerable. Our personal favorites include Animal Collective, Boards of Canada, Aphex Twin, and FSOL. We decided to get in touch with some well known web designers like Jonathan Snook, Dave Shea, Richard Rutter, Andy Budd and Roger Johansson to find out what role music played in the creative process for them. Two main themes emerged for any of you budding young designers out there: 1.) Stop listening to music with any lyrical content and 2) start listening to Explosions in the Sky!

We’d like to take a minute here to mention that quite a few well known female web designers were contacted for this piece but unfortunately only one (Grace Smith) responded. Hence, the “Boy’s Club” look of this article. Hey, we tried! Please feel free to leave your own musical inspirations in the comments. (Especially if you’re a female designer!)

“A mixture. All depends what mood I’m in, and what stuff I’m working on. For example: If I’m doing some coding that requires some math and such, I tend to switch any music off so I can concentrate. Same tends to happen when I’m writing a proposal or something (although something chilled and on low is sometimes OK).
If I’m doing some graphical design or illustration, then I tend to whack the volume up loud. But the actual type of music just depends on the mood I’m in. I do get bored pretty quick so that may be why I mix things up a bit :P
Current favourite bands and artists: Editors, Paramore, La Shark (un-signed), John Smith, The Horrors, The Maccabees, Grandaddy, RJD2, Saosin, Radiohead, Portishead, La Roux, The Hold Steady, Fightstar, Deftones, Biffy Clyro…I could go on, and on, and on … :)”

“I love listening to music while working, answering emails, catching up on my feeds, etc. There are times, however that I need to shut it down to concentrate on preparing an article or something that requires my full concentration.”
I usually listen to pop music, but sometimes I choose some instrumental pieces…. whatever suits the mood of what I’m working on.”

“Basically I only listen to instrumental music while working. This is normally Jazz or classical. However I do occasionally listen to some movie soundtracks.
The problem I have is that if the music has lyrics I tend to end up typing what I am listening to!”

“It depends on what I’m working on and how soon it needs to be done. If I’m in no rush I’ll listen to something mellow, like Iron & Wine or the Decemberists. If I’m in a rush and need to get something done quickly I might listen to something more active like Matt & Kim or Minus the Bear. A lot of time I will just turn on AOL Radio and listen to one of the indie rock stations though, saves me from having to keep choosing different music. I’m almost always listening to something while I work.”

“I tend to listen to either dance/electronica compilations (Global Underground et al) or heavily instrumental shoe gazing music (Caribou, Explosions in the Sky). The fast pace of this music gets me into an trance-like zone of productivity, while the lack of vocals keeps distractions to a minimum.”

“I mainly listen to dance music though a lot of the time I just have my iTunes on shuffle. Some dance artists worth mentioning would be anything from Ministry of Sound, The Presets, Prodigy, MGMT, Daft Punk, Art vs. Science, David Guetta, Dirty South, Fat Boy Slim, Grafton Primary, Cut Copy, Midnight Juggernauts, Digitalism, Justice, Pnau.
I also listen to radio station JJJ sometimes and sometimes classical music when I really need to be ‘in the zone’”

“I find that when I’m doing think-heavy stuff, like building out sites or designing, I have a hard time listening to anything at all. When I’m doing more mindless stuff, like moving and marking up content or doing something like cutting clipping paths in Photoshop, I like to play some tunes. I love old time music: fiddles and banjos and guitars. But my scope is pretty wide, I like any music where you can hear the craftsmanship of the musician coming through, which can be anything from classical to hip hop. One guy I’ve just gotten into is Gregory Alan Isakov.”

“Lastfm is a pretty true reflection of what I listen to whilst coding up a storm – Mark at Last.FM

“I usually don’t listen to music if I’m in an environment that’s free from chatter. If I need to zone out, like in a coffee shop where there’s a lot of background chatter, I listen to Modest Mouse, Dispatch, Jack Johnson and Hip-Hop/R&B like Common and (early) Usher. I listen to them because they’re not very loud and jarring, which allows me to tune out my surroundings without being distracting while I work.”

“I always listen to music at work – I don’t really work well without it! My favourites have always been Starflyer 59, but in particular at the moment I’m listening to : ‘Bonfire on the Heath’ – The Clientele, ‘Oblivion’ – Mastodon, ‘Post Electric Blues’ – Idlewild, ‘Embryonic’ – The Flaming Lips, ‘I Had the Blues But I Shook Them Loose’ – Bombay Bicycle Club”
Jon at Last.fm

“While designing I tend to listen to ambient drum and bass music. It has no lyrics typically which allows me to just focus on the sounds and not become distracted by lyrics. It also puts me in sort of a mental trance, where I can focus on my designs with some brilliant background music.”

“Ambient electronic, minimal techno, dub techno, jazz, trip-hop. Nearly always instrumental since I find vocals distracting while I work.”

“I always have music on while working, mostly it jumps between Hip-Hop, Drum&Bass, Dubstep, Techno, House or Minimal depending on what I’m doing. At the start of the design stage I usually go with something more laid back and then move onto some more rocking stuff once I am fully into it or coding designs/apps up. I always find music helps me get focused on what I am working on with no distractions.”

Patrick H. Lauke@Splintered

” It varies, but if I really need to concentrate on work, I have a playlist of abstract, techno, and related tracks that have no lyrics and a fair amount of repetition. It’s called “Workbeats” and it forms a sort of sonic wallpaper, keeping the music centers of my brain occupied without drawing off much attention. I just set it to random– or alphabetically sort the titles, which comes to the same thing– and let it go.
Some artists from that playlist include: Propellerheads, The Orb, Anselark, The Beastie Boys (the instrumental albums), Joe Boyd Vigil, and Master Cylinder. I may be adding some Philip Glass soon, since I just downloaded the free sampler from @amazonmp3“

Cameron has provided us with a selection of his iMixes which you can find here.

“I tend to listen to Radio 1 mostly (UK) – it rocks!
Although when I need some good inspiration I’ll listen to all kinds of music (love AC/DC ‘Back in Black’) or if it’s a Friday/Saturday I’ll get the beats on (David Guetta ‘When Love Takes Over FTW’).”

“I usually listen to John Mayer, Fiona Apple, Al Di Meola and other ’smooth’ artists or acoustic music. And when I need something with a little more bite, when I do my accounting for example, I’ll listen to metal bands (some may be a little obscure to the non-metal fans) like Soilwork, Darkane, In Flames and Dark Tranquility. I also enjoy listening to some country music and bluegrass (when I’m in the mood) :)”

Dan Rubin@Superfluous Banter

“The music I listen to depends on what I’m doing — when I’m in “code mode” I tend to listen to electronica of various types (Massive Attack was my gateway drug, thanks to Anton Peck, usually relying on Last.fm, Pandora, and iTunes Radio to serve up a selection I’m not expecting. This helps me avoid any unintentional patterns based on specific artists, while also exposing me to songs I might not have heard otherwise.
When writing or preparing workshops, presentations, and lectures, I tend to listen to classical (usually Mozart, with liberal helpings of Last.fm, Pandora, and iTunes Radio for the reasons mentioned above). I feel like it puts me in a more intellectual headspace.
Finally, when designing or doing anything else visual in front of my screen, I listen to music that suits the mood and style of whatever I’m working on — we are all heavily inspired by the music we listen to (though some designers seem loathe to admit it) and as such, it affects what we produce. Thus my listening habits while designing span all manner of genres and artists, and sometimes not at all.
All that said, in general I don’t listen to much music — as a musician, I find I focus on the music more than whatever else I’m doing (driving, designing, writing, coding, cleaning, reading, you name it), especially if it has lyrics (the caveat to all my preferences above is that I try to avoid music with vocals, as they cause more distraction than anything else). I’ve found a number of designers with musical backgrounds who feel the same, sometimes to the extent that they can’t listen to *any* music while working (a place I find myself on a regular basis).”

“Streaming drum and bass Internet radio all day long”

” I’m afraid that I don’t listen to music while I work. For me, music is only for when I’m not working and when I can give it the attention it deserves. Otherwise it’s a distraction that muddles my work efforts and thinking.
When I’m not working; it may be anything from a soundtrack from Harry Gregson Williams or Hans Zimmer, or more “regular” fare, like AC/DC, Shinedown, something from Mozart or Prokofiev, or maybe Kelly Clarkson or Avalon. All depends on my mood.”

” Well my listening history is here, but I tend to work to music in two ways. The first is my “Not Played Recently” playlist, listened to on iTunes DJ with higher rated songs played more often. This way I get a nice random selection and keep uncovering stuff I haven’t listened to yet, or for a while. Nice opportunity for serendipity, and what I usually turn to when doing less intensive work (email etc). This will get played over the office hifi.
When I really need to get in a state of flow then I turn to a playlist I have consisting of primarily instrumental, foreign language or somehow ethereal music, listened to with headphones. This includes bands: Explosions in the Sky, Sigur Ros, Spacemen 3, Mogwai, Stereolab, Thom Yorke, Laika, Spiritualized, Curve, Ride. I’ve I really need to concentrate particularly hard I turn to the first two.”

” I listen to the radio here in Brazil most of the time, but I really like Strokes, Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs, Muse… Also some old stuff like Ramones, The Cure…. I don’t even know how to explain why, but I think they motivate me. Sometimes I don’t even pay attention to the music though.”

” That totally depends on when you ask me. I change what I listen to on a regular basis, based on things like weather, mood, and what I’m working on.
When I’ve got a plan in mind and I’m just working through the mechanics, anything’s fair game, and it’s a good time for me to tune into whatever I’m interested in lately. The last few weeks I’ve been digging these two mixes: Nintendo Mix Tape and The Man In Blue.
When I really need to focus and think things through, I’m better off listening to instrumental jazz or really familiar older stuff that I’ve heard a thousand times so it doesn’t distract me.”

“I just couldn’t work without listening to music, it keeps the creativity flowing! The style of tunes I would usually fire up on iTunes would be electro/indie in style as I find it really syncs with pace of my work and keeps me inspired”. My top 10 tracks most recently would be: Bat For Lashes – “Daniel”, MGMT – “Electric Feel”, Pnau – “With You Forever”, Empire Of The Sun – “Walking On A Dream”, Roisin Murphy – “Overpowered”, Friendly Fires – “Paris (Aeroplane Remix)”, The Temper Trap – “Sweet Disposition”, Jack Penate – “Pull My Heart Away”, Justice – “Genesis”, Muse – “Take A Bow”

“I hate music! :P No. I am really enjoying Caspian, Explosions in the Sky, Band of Horses, Editors, Interpol, Radiohead (”In Rainbows” is a really enthusiastic change for them). Tasty stuff.”

“I sometimes listen to music while I work. I like rock and some of my favorite bands are Blindside, Anberlin, Megadeth, Collective Soul, and there are a lot more.”

“My musical tastes are pretty varied but when it comes to coding, I like things with as few lyrics as possible; it can be distracting to want to sing along when I’m working. Lots of trance and drum’n'bass for me. If I don’t need to focus as much, some decent rock music will do for me. I had gone through an Arctic Monkeys phase but now a mix of We Are Scientists, Kings of Leon, The Raconteurs, Spoon and Arcade Fire. If I need something a little mellower, I’ll go with some Feist or Fiona Apple.”

“I usually rock out to a bunch of artists and albums I’ve collected in my Spotify account, right now Blink 182 – “Down” is blasting out. Although recently I’ve been playing Paramore’s “Brand New Eyes” album non stop, along with Green Day’s “21st Century Breakdown”. I’m off to see Green Day in just over a week so the excitement is definitely building!”

“My general tastes revolve around a lot of Metal and 90s-era Grunge / Rock, plus a fair bit of Electronica”. Elliot’s Last.FM Playlist

“I prefer listening to sludge (or ‘post-rock’, if you like) while designing, bands I most often listen to are Isis, Neurosis and Cult Of Luna. Their slow-paced, atmospheric music works really well for me when ‘in the zone’, without being distracting – something I find most other genres are. I guess the mood and tempo of this type of music are just right for the state-of-mind I need to be in to think and focus.”