Desks have changed more during my woodworking career than almost any other common piece of furniture, with the possible exception of TV cabinets. The main reason, of course, is that the way people use desks has changed. The desk where I am currently working is smaller than what I formerly used, has fewer drawers, and has a long shelf surface at the back, a kind of parapet, for computer monitors. Structurally, desks are similar to tables, with many of the same issues and opportunities. The further we move into the digital age, the more the difference between a desk and a table seems to shrink.
The cabinet making business is generally considered quite distinct from furniture, but cabinets have always been part of the mix for me. Typically, cabinets are defined by straight lines and right angles, since that generally makes the best use of space; the functional part of the design task amounts to organizing a rectilinear world. With judicious use of today's hardware, we can store things so that they're easy to get at, without stooping or undue effort. I aim to make cabinets that will look as good in twenty years as they do when they go out the door.
Like cabinets, shelf systems are an exercise in applied geometry. The design is often dependent on the practical requirements of the space and the items to be displayed. Bookshelves, for instance, can be of varying depths, to accommodate books and other objects of different sizes; with any luck, the variation becomes an attractive design feature. Of course, the heights of shelves are generally designed to be adjustable. I have learned to resist the urge to add design features to projects simply to make them seem less plain, because it often turns out that the functional plan provides considerable visual interest, which is only obscured by edge details or the like.
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