HOW TO EMBODY YOUR BRAND WITHIN YOUR WORKSPACE

Interior design and architecture can be the final frontier in fully developing your company’s brand, yet it is often an overlooked part of the branding process. Marketing teams and architects/interior designers can actually work hand-in-hand to fully embody and strengthen a brand in every aspect of an organisation.

A brand is not simply a logo or strapline. Alongside this, a brand encompasses the beliefs, feelings and expectations people have of a company, or the products and services they sell, as well as perception and reputation. It is also about customer experience, company behaviour, and company values. It is a complex thing that can be portrayed through expert design and branding, as well as in architecture and interior design.

By translating your brand into your physical location, whether a retail space, office or restaurant, you can reinforce your company’s identity, improve recognition, and deliver a full brand experience to your customers, clients, visitors and employees. Internally, this can also result in happier staff, higher staff retention, increased productivity and a better understanding of your company’s mission, vision and values. It’s all about walking your talk!

There are various opportunities to transform your workplace into a live embodiment of your brand, from full architectural remodels to smaller scale interior design elements and space planning exercises. We’ve outlined a few simple, yet key things you should consider:

Colours

Colour is often the first thing that springs to mind when thinking about adding splashes of your brand into your building or office, and rightly so. By pulling your brand colours into your workspace, you will instantly increase recognition and association, and subconsciously the values that go with that. This is a key first step for many of our clients.

However, colours can be even more important than this when we enter the colour psychology arena. Careful and calculated colour selection can evoke feelings, emotions, and help create opinions and attitudes that align with your brand.

Lighting and Acoustics

Cleverly designed lighting and acoustics can play a crucial role in creating an atmosphere and ambience that relates to your brand. How do you want your customers or employees to feel in this space? Do you want them to feel energised, excited, inspired or relaxed? The perfect lighting and acoustics can go a long way - from variable or coloured lighting to acoustic panels or room and ceiling shape, there are many things we can do to achieve this for a brand.

Layout

How your workspace is structured and laid out can speak volumes about your brand, your culture and your values. Flexible, collaborative and open plan spaces signify something much different to private and closed areas, and your decision should be very personal to you and your brand. A creative brand may want to have the former, and a brand that prides itself in trust and confidentiality should use the latter, but often the most successful workspaces combine both.

We’ve seen an increase in solicitors and accountants moving from modular spaces to open plan offices, whilst retaining private areas for meetings. This signifies what their brands stand for – privacy and trust – but is also following trends in office space that promote effective and collaborative working

Attention to detail

Paying attention to the smaller details can really take your brand embodiment from mediocre to magnificent. Although things like furniture, artwork, signage and accessories may seem like a last priority, and can be overlooked due to cost or time constraints, these can actually have a huge impact.

Think about Disneyland. This company is the master of detail, and uses even the smallest of features in its theme parks to convey its magical brand – even down to the manhole covers that all feature an outline of Micky Mouse in the centre. Not everyone notices these minute details, but that’s the point. Every tiny thing works together to create the ultimate brand experience for each and every visitor.

This can apply to your office, shop, restaurant or any place of work too, and interior design can be your best friend for achieving this. You can think big to achieve the personification of your brand, but don’t forget to think small too.

The above elements, along with many more, work together to embody the attributes of a brand, showcase a brand’s personality, and truly represent the business’ vision and values. Interior design and architecture can allow your customers, visitors and employees to engage with your brand on a whole new level, letting them explore, touch, understand and truly experience it.

If you would like more information about how you can represent your brand in your workspace, please get in touch with the Tinto team by emailing info@tintoarchitecture.com or calling 01224 821670