These days you don't need a traditional desktop environment to create brilliant digital content. Some people like working on a laptop. others have embraced more mobility with an iPad. Heck, for some tasks you can even use a touchscreen smartphone.
Improve your design workflow
But you can't beat a big-screened monitor. Or two. Or three. One popular way of working is to use a roomy 30-inch panel for design work, with cheaper 'sidecar' screens positioned either side of it to hold those screen-cluttering toolbars, palettes, settings and other essential digital doodads.
Over on Computer Arts they recommend a trio of giant displays that are ideal for graphic designers or digital artists. Take Apple's 27-inch Thunderbolt display (£860), for example. If you can afford to buy two then you can create a panoramic studio setup by plugging them into a MacBook Pro.
You don't have to spend a fortune...
Apple's display impresses with a wide viewing angle, unmatched connectivity and good colour reproduction. But if you don't need (or can't use) the showcase Thunderbolt technology, then the 27-inch Dell UltraSharp U2711 uses the same LCD panel and you can buy it for £350 less.
Of course, if price isn't holding you back then consider the NEC SpectraView Reference 301. This 30-incher is £2,700-worth of high-end monitor, which boasts a wide colour gamut and hardware calibration for 42-bit colour control. It also comes with a monitor hood.
How to choose the perfect monitor
Read all about these monitors, what technologies you should be looking for in a perfect display, plus the newest breed of higher resolution 4K screens below:
What monitor do you use for improving your design workflow? Tell us in the comments.