As well as being a designer I have a healthy appreciation and love of music and still actively DJ a couple of different styles. For me, working and music are inextricably linked, silence isn’t a preferred option. What I have noticed is how different types of music affect the speed with which you work and how different music is better for different types of work.
Although my main djing genre is indie music I find that when I need to design something from scratch and really focus in on the detail that electronic music especially the cinematic electronica of Amon Tobin, Boards of Canada and such like really work wonders. With general everyday work pretty much anything goes however increasingly I have found myself listening to stand up comedy if required to do something repetitive and/or mundane, perhaps it helps lift the mood!
I asked the question about music choice of a few friends and what works best for them and got varying answers ranging from anything loud and angry to complete silence Interestingly most people seem to have a certain act that seemed to help them produce their best work. Surprisingly it wasn’t always their most favourite genre or act. This lead me to wonder is there is a trend for different work disciplines to lead to different choices of music genres?