First impressions are important, so think about what sort of impression you want to give people when they first step through the door. What sort of image do you want to convey? Sleek and professional, or vibrant and quirky? Decorate your lobby accordingly. House of Design creative director Agatha Ozhylovski advises you to arrange your lobby decorations so that the logo is the first thing a visitor sees, followed by a relevant piece of artwork.
What are the benefits of office art, besides adding some flair to your lobby? For employees, seeing an interesting design can spark their imaginations, which will come up with creative ideas. And for visitors, artwork can show that your company strives to create a stimulating environment for the people working there.
To reflect your company, the office needs to be decorated with certain colors. Which ones you choose ultimately depends on the type of services you provide. It wouldn’t be appropriate for a bank or law office to have bright blue walls, nor would it seem fitting for a graphic design office to boast a beige color scheme.
Whatever you select, just avoid making your entire office white. Ozhylovski says that “ research has shown it to be not so good for overall health and well-being… People who do IQ tests perform much better in a coloured room than in a plain white environment, and yet 80 per cent of paint sold is white.”
Plants can not only inject the office with a bit of color; they could also be good for employee health, too. Offices with many plants have employees taking fewer sick days than offices with no plants. Why? Plants actually decrease the amount of airborne bacteria. They also have other benefits, such as acting as natural dust magnets, cooling the office, and lowering the humidity level in the building.
Some ideas for office plants include the low-maintenance and lucky bamboo plant, the Areca palm, which acts as a natural humidifier, and the classic (if sometimes messy) ficus.
At the LinkedIn offices, employees hang flags over their cubicles. The flags range from the traditional country flags to banners toting smiley faces and the McDonalds logo. According to Allen Blue, the company’s co-founder and VP of product, the flags are a good way for each employee to state who they are and where they come from. But in addition to that, hanging up flags would also be a creative and cheap way to spice up your office.
Another option would be to contact artists and see if they’d like to display some of the artwork in your building. This is beneficial for both parties involved. You’ll show your customers that you’re engaged with the community and decorate your office with truly original artwork, while the artist may get some exposure to people who wouldn’t have seen their work otherwise.
If you’d rather have some custom-made pieces, however, there are also businesses that let you commission your own office art. Check out sites such as Canvas Pop and DNA11, which use your creative input to make art that is uniquely your own.
Image credit: freedigitalphotos.net/chainat