The Designer
designer
/dɪˈzaɪnər/
noun
someone who draws rectangles for a living.
“hey can you ask the designer why we're updating all the buttons to have gradient borders that glow?”
Designers are minimalists when it comes to video. But not for the reasons you’d think.
See, a setup for creating really high-quality video is pretty messy. The camera is clunky, the microphone is always in the way, the lights are hideous and cables are everywhere.
The resulting cluttered desk makes most design-minded people squirm. So they stick with the basics. Default webcams, built-in mics, and poor lighting. And of course, their videos suffer.
But today we change that. Below you’ll find elegant, high-quality video products that make great videos and great desk setups.
The Designer
designer
/dɪˈzaɪnər/
noun
someone who draws rectangles for a living.
“hey can you ask the designer why we're updating all the buttons to have gradient borders that glow?”
Designers are minimalists when it comes to video. But not for the reasons you’d think.
See, a setup for creating really high-quality video is pretty messy. The camera is clunky, the microphone is always in the way, the lights are hideous and cables are everywhere.
The resulting cluttered desk makes most design-minded people squirm. So they stick with the basics. Default webcams, built-in mics, and poor lighting. And of course, their videos suffer.
But today we change that. Below you’ll find elegant, high-quality video products that make great videos and great desk setups.
The Designer
designer
/dɪˈzaɪnər/
noun
someone who draws rectangles for a living.
“hey can you ask the designer why we're updating all the buttons to have gradient borders that glow?”
Designers are minimalists when it comes to video. But not for the reasons you’d think.
See, a setup for creating really high-quality video is pretty messy. The camera is clunky, the microphone is always in the way, the lights are hideous and cables are everywhere.
The resulting cluttered desk makes most design-minded people squirm. So they stick with the basics. Default webcams, built-in mics, and poor lighting. And of course, their videos suffer.
But today we change that. Below you’ll find elegant, high-quality video products that make great videos and great desk setups.
The Gear List
Budget:
$$
The Gear List
Budget:
$$
The Gear List
Budget:
$$
The American mind cannot comprehend this.
Teenage Engineering CM-15
Finally, a little bonus option for all you psychos. The Teenage Engineering CM-15 portable mic. Who cares about the sound (the sound is good) this thing looks so friggin sick. But costs an arm and a leg.
Specs
1-inch large-diaphragm
10 hour rechargeable battery
48V phantom power
3.5mm jack out
USB-C connection
14 dB
The American mind cannot comprehend this.
Teenage Engineering CM-15
Finally, a little bonus option for all you psychos. The Teenage Engineering CM-15 portable mic. Who cares about the sound (the sound is good) this thing looks so friggin sick. But costs an arm and a leg.
Specs
1-inch large-diaphragm
10 hour rechargeable battery
48V phantom power
3.5mm jack out
USB-C connection
14 dB
The American mind cannot comprehend this.
Teenage Engineering CM-15
Finally, a little bonus option for all you psychos. The Teenage Engineering CM-15 portable mic. Who cares about the sound (the sound is good) this thing looks so friggin sick. But costs an arm and a leg.
Specs
1-inch large-diaphragm
10 hour rechargeable battery
48V phantom power
3.5mm jack out
USB-C connection
14 dB
A webcam work of art.
Opal C1
Opal launched in 2020 to a lot of hype. They were the first company to build a webcam that actually looked great. Their debut webcam, the C1 combines Apple-inspired hardware design with 4K video. The metal housing sits neatly on top of an external monitor or laptop. It’s full of other nice touches like the bungee USB able and magnetic lens cover.
Specs
4K resolution
Metal body
USB connection
Monitor mount
Comes with Opal’s software
A webcam work of art.
Opal C1
Opal launched in 2020 to a lot of hype. They were the first company to build a webcam that actually looked great. Their debut webcam, the C1 combines Apple-inspired hardware design with 4K video. The metal housing sits neatly on top of an external monitor or laptop. It’s full of other nice touches like the bungee USB able and magnetic lens cover.
Specs
4K resolution
Metal body
USB connection
Monitor mount
Comes with Opal’s software
A webcam work of art.
Opal C1
Opal launched in 2020 to a lot of hype. They were the first company to build a webcam that actually looked great. Their debut webcam, the C1 combines Apple-inspired hardware design with 4K video. The metal housing sits neatly on top of an external monitor or laptop. It’s full of other nice touches like the bungee USB able and magnetic lens cover.
Specs
4K resolution
Metal body
USB connection
Monitor mount
Comes with Opal’s software
Did know know that some tadpoles can glow in the dark?
Opal Tadpole
Not one, but two webcams from Opal. You lucky buggers. The Tadpole is Opal's newest webcam and it's specifically designed for laptops. It's light, and clips nicely onto a laptop screen. It's also portable — the Tadpole comes with a carrying strap. To quote Opal, the strap is so you can "wrap your camera around your wrist as you go from meeting to meeting"... not sure about that tbh. Looks great though. It's only 3.5cm tall, which is tiny. At that size with its clean, minimal design, it's probably the nicest looking webcam on the market.
Specs
35mm x 45mm
35g
USB-C connection
Aluminium body
1080p, 30 FPS
Cool name
Did know know that some tadpoles can glow in the dark?
Opal Tadpole
Not one, but two webcams from Opal. You lucky buggers. The Tadpole is Opal's newest webcam and it's specifically designed for laptops. It's light, and clips nicely onto a laptop screen. It's also portable — the Tadpole comes with a carrying strap. To quote Opal, the strap is so you can "wrap your camera around your wrist as you go from meeting to meeting"... not sure about that tbh. Looks great though. It's only 3.5cm tall, which is tiny. At that size with its clean, minimal design, it's probably the nicest looking webcam on the market.
Specs
35mm x 45mm
35g
USB-C connection
Aluminium body
1080p, 30 FPS
Cool name
Did know know that some tadpoles can glow in the dark?
Opal Tadpole
Not one, but two webcams from Opal. You lucky buggers. The Tadpole is Opal's newest webcam and it's specifically designed for laptops. It's light, and clips nicely onto a laptop screen. It's also portable — the Tadpole comes with a carrying strap. To quote Opal, the strap is so you can "wrap your camera around your wrist as you go from meeting to meeting"... not sure about that tbh. Looks great though. It's only 3.5cm tall, which is tiny. At that size with its clean, minimal design, it's probably the nicest looking webcam on the market.
Specs
35mm x 45mm
35g
USB-C connection
Aluminium body
1080p, 30 FPS
Cool name
Is that a squircle?
Elgato Key Light Air
Elgato makes the best looking equipment for streamers. Their products don’t have neon lights and they don’t have tribal graphics. So far so good. Their Key Light Air lamp is a discrete key light with nice lines that you can easily fit onto the back corner of your desk. Get two and make it even.
Specs
1400 lumens
Adjustable height and angle
Hidden cables
205 x 205mm base
Is that a squircle?
Elgato Key Light Air
Elgato makes the best looking equipment for streamers. Their products don’t have neon lights and they don’t have tribal graphics. So far so good. Their Key Light Air lamp is a discrete key light with nice lines that you can easily fit onto the back corner of your desk. Get two and make it even.
Specs
1400 lumens
Adjustable height and angle
Hidden cables
205 x 205mm base
Is that a squircle?
Elgato Key Light Air
Elgato makes the best looking equipment for streamers. Their products don’t have neon lights and they don’t have tribal graphics. So far so good. Their Key Light Air lamp is a discrete key light with nice lines that you can easily fit onto the back corner of your desk. Get two and make it even.
Specs
1400 lumens
Adjustable height and angle
Hidden cables
205 x 205mm base
Getting R2D2 vibes from it.
RØDE NT USB Mini
RØDE are a safe pair of hands when it comes to mics so you know the audio quality is good. But more importantly this mic just looks really nice. It’s compact, it’s not fancy, it’s black — checks all the boxes. You can use it with a stand or hook it up to a boom arm. Not sure if Dieter Rams would use this mic, but I reckon it’s pretty nice.
Specs
Built-in pop filter
USB output
Zero-latency headphone monitoring
Getting R2D2 vibes from it.
RØDE NT USB Mini
RØDE are a safe pair of hands when it comes to mics so you know the audio quality is good. But more importantly this mic just looks really nice. It’s compact, it’s not fancy, it’s black — checks all the boxes. You can use it with a stand or hook it up to a boom arm. Not sure if Dieter Rams would use this mic, but I reckon it’s pretty nice.
Specs
Built-in pop filter
USB output
Zero-latency headphone monitoring
Getting R2D2 vibes from it.
RØDE NT USB Mini
RØDE are a safe pair of hands when it comes to mics so you know the audio quality is good. But more importantly this mic just looks really nice. It’s compact, it’s not fancy, it’s black — checks all the boxes. You can use it with a stand or hook it up to a boom arm. Not sure if Dieter Rams would use this mic, but I reckon it’s pretty nice.
Specs
Built-in pop filter
USB output
Zero-latency headphone monitoring
Tella — Screen recording for entrepreneurs