Inspirations
8 Office Design Ideas To Make Your Brand Stand Out
What’s in a brand?
“A brand is a name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers” (American Marketing Association).
Beyond this, a brand also relates their values, personality, culture to their communities, both internally and externally. Big budgets are often spent on advertising, communications, product packaging design, visual identity but there is one area businesses commonly overlook – their own offices.
But why is it so much more important today to extend the brand to where you work?.
Our employees are our best advocates, and the office design plays a big part in inspiring employees to work, play and live better. And all of this helps to create a more positive impact on clients, partners or suppliers who visit.
Here we present 8 office design tips to help build your brand experience from the inside out.
Tips # 2 Consider the overall layout
There is no one size fits all. The layout of your office has a big impact on the way your workers and clients perceive your values. No matter which office design concept is applied in your organization, whether the traditional cubicle or the in-trend open plan concept, they have a major impact on how the space feels to visitors and employees alike. You can also choose to integrate both. Full-height acoustic cubicles give users a sense of visual and acoustic privacy, crucial for deep thinking tasks where absolute focus and silence are needed. Consider other spaces for collaboration and large discussions, technology for the other open areas.
Tip # 1 Defining your values
Brainstorming, identifying and listing down your values. This may help in more ways than you think – it helps to define the brief, and refocus on the principles that are most important to your work which then can be translated to the physical space.
Tip # 3 Focus on key touchpoints for different audiences
Employees and clients may view your brand differently depending on the day to day nature of the business. Different ways of delivering the same message can be tailored in each area, so that there is consistency and relevance to the different audiences. An obvious client touchpoint would be the reception area, so this should reflect clearly what you do and who you are.
Tip # 4 Choose the right furniture and furnishings
The right selection of furniture and décor can go a long way in representing your company’s values. For example, it can make your office feel comfortable, professional, trustworthy, fun. Explore ideas for your office, and you don’t need to follow the usual or traditional definitions of your industry. Mix it up a little. Imagine a legal office with elements of a boutique hotel or an art gallery. Co-working spaces have been leading the trend by bringing lifestyle into the workplace with café culture, the warmth from home, and a fresh new perspective on how and where we can work better.
Tip # 5 Add a few of your own touches
Personalising your office can add a differentiating factor to your employees and clients, for example, thematic names for areas or spaces, or interesting shapes / profiles for panels for different areas. Here are some examples of how you could personalize furniture for your office featuring Decibel 43.
Various side profiles to further personalize Decibel 43.
Graphic stickers to give corporate identity. Printed on 3M Vinyl stickers.