No. 550 · October 24, 2026

Simon Pickles

Engineering Manager and Founder of Analogue Desk Co.

London, UK

“One desk tailored for two jobs. By day it’s my home office, the rest of the time it’s the Analogue Desk Co. workshop.”

A long oak desk against a backlit slatted oak wall, with a monitor and laptop, a lava lamp, trailing plants and an electronic drum kit by the bay window. — Simon's desk in office mode.

Simon Pickles is a Senior Engineering Manager at a software company and founder of Analogue Desk Co., a one-person workshop in London making IDX, an analogue desk gauge that uses a moving needle to track live data.

He trained in furniture and product design, then spent ten years designing and building exhibits for science museums around the world, including the Science Museum in London, the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis and Science Centre Singapore. Fourteen years in software development and leadership followed. He set up Analogue Desk Co. to bring making and software together.

Follow Simon on Instagram and at analoguedesk.co.

What is the most recent item that you’ve added to your workspace?

A presence sensor. It’s a small Zigbee sensor controlling the LEDs through Home Assistant. When I walk in, the accent lighting slowly fades up. It’s welcoming and calming before I’ve even sat down.

The same desk in workshop mode, with a blue soldering mat, a ring magnifier, a bench vise, a parts tray and a laptop showing code. — Workshop mode: soldering mat, magnifier and vise at the left end of the worktop.

What is one change you’d like to make to your current workspace?

Curtains! The previous owner’s curtains came down when I rebuilt the office and they’ve never been replaced. It can get bright in the afternoons.

The desk at night with the slatted wall backlit in warm orange, a blue and pink lava lamp glowing, and teal code on the monitor and laptop. — The accent lighting faded up by the presence sensor.

You built the desk yourself. What did you design into it that you couldn’t have bought?

One desk tailored for two jobs. By day it’s my home office, the rest of the time it’s the Analogue Desk Co. workshop. The long uninterrupted wooden surface is a production line: assembly and soldering at the left end, software flashing and testing in the middle, with final cleaning and packaging on the right.

The office after dark, shot upright: the backlit slat wall, the lava lamp and the laptop and monitor showing teal code. — The same, but different.

After fourteen years in software, what was the moment you knew you had to get back to making physical things?

There wasn’t one moment, it crept up on me. Fourteen years in software was useful work, but I missed making things you can hold. These days I manage software engineers, so I’m one step removed from building even the software. Analogue Desk Co. lets me combine everything: physical design, electronics and code, in one project.

Low afternoon sun falling across the oak worktop and the carpet, with the electronic drum kit in the bay window. — The natural light, and the reason curtains are on the gear list.

Analogue Desk Co. lets me combine everything: physical design, electronics and code, in one project.
Simon Pickles, on making physical things

The slatted oak wall and backlighting: what was the thinking, and did you build that too?

I did, and unlike the enormously heavy worktop it was surprisingly easy to install. The solid oak surface is the primary feature of the room, so I wanted something to complement it without competing. The slats hide a multitude of sins, as the wall below wasn’t in great shape. The backlighting uses Nanoleaf strips, controlled by the presence sensor.

The office from the doorway: the electronic drum kit in the bay window, the oak desk along the slatted wall and a mesh task chair. — The drum kit that he plays when no one else is around.

The drum kit three feet from the soldering station: what role does it play in a workday?

I’d love to say I unwind by hammering out rhythms at lunchtime, but my son is the drum wizard in our house. I’ve been known to have a go when no-one is around!

The oak slatted wall running the length of the desk, backlit in warm orange, with a lava lamp, trailing plants and a floating shelf. — The slats "hide a multitude of sins", backlit with Nanoleaf strips.

The desk head-on: a Dell monitor and an LG Gram laptop both showing a teal mountain wallpaper, with a plant and the desk gauge beside them. — Close up of Simon's computer and monitor situation.

A wider head-on view of the desk with the lava lamp at one end and a printer at the other, under the backlit slat wall. — The full view of the custom worktop setup.

A close view of the IDX desk gauge: a needle dial reading 0 to 100 percent in a clear acrylic case, lit blue from inside. — The IDX Phase device.

A close view of the oak worktop’s cut-away corner, with a drum stand clamped just beyond it. — Cut away corner to stay sympathetic with the bay window.

The desk in full production-line mode, with the soldering station and magnifier on the left and the laptop and monitor in the middle. — The desk as a production line: assembly and soldering on the left, flashing and testing in the middle, cleaning and packaging on the right.

The production line shot upright, the soldering station in the foreground and the laptop and monitor beyond it. — The production line, end to end.

Simon’s gear

14 items.

Analogue Desk Co. IDX Phase

The reason the workshop exists. A moving needle in a machined case, pointed at whatever live data you want to watch — designed, soldered and flashed on the same worktop it ends up sitting on.

See the IDX Phase