
Why is workplace design so important? Think of the stereotypical office. Largely, we think of office space as being devoid of personality and pizazz. Maybe you’re visualizing a sea of beige, or an endless cubicle maze.
But what a difference it makes if the workplace is somewhere that you want to be. Beautiful, interesting, motivating — these are all words which do not have to be mutually exclusive with your office space.
The last ten years have seen a revolution in workplace design. The aesthetics of the office are now undeniably relevant. Sleek, innovative companies have sleek and innovative offices, and they’ll continue to after Covid-19. We’ve seen the images of the uber-cool tech offices in Silicon Valley, but that’s only one approach toward workplace design. The atmosphere of your office is infinitely customizable to the kind of work that you do, and the sort of values that your company holds. That’s why color palettes, art, and space are all important factors in determining the right solution.
So, how can these abstract concepts be communicated through workplace design? There are many ways to think about office design, but three crucial pillars are color, culture, and branding.
Color
This is perhaps the easiest concept to think about in this sense, after all, it is a basic dimension of art and design. Combinations of colors evoke strong responses, and can shift or elevate moods. This understanding of color has been around for a long time, and is broadly known as color theory. It veers into the realm of physics and the scientific, but even if you have no idea about color theory, we all have an innate sense of color being tied to mood and atmosphere. Some colors can relax, others can motivate, still others create warmth and connection.
The choice of color in a workplace can influence the kind of work that goes on there. Many bright or primary colors stimulate an active, engaged, and playful tone for work. Cool earth tones provoke the meticulous, understated, and classic. Reserved background colors with bright pops of saturated color mixed in suggests a pragmatic and innovative approach to work. Color can become a statement about the intention of a space and the philosophy of a company. It is a visual and highly emotive manifestation of a workplace’s mission and methodology, and is a crucial point at which to start thinking about design.
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