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School Spirit and Branding of physical spaces

School spirit is the vibrant heartbeat that courses through the halls of educational institutions, breathing life and energy into the student body. It is the collective enthusiasm, pride, and loyalty that students exhibit towards their school, uniting them in a common purpose. School spirit ignites a sense of belonging and fosters a positive atmosphere, where students are motivated to excel academically, participate in extracurricular activities, and support their fellow classmates.

School Spirit Learning Spaces, Education Furniture with School Logos

Elementary School Cafeteria School Spirit

Corporate Branding

Corporate office branding for healthcare software company Waystar.

Office Design Ideas & Branding

Branding your business is more than choosing a slogan or the colors of your logo, it communicates your identity as a company, and how you differ from your competition.  Your brand can build trust, improve your advertising, and create a band of loyal customers.

It doesn’t matter if you are looking for office designs for small spaces, luxury home offices, or commercial building design, you can find the best office layout design for your company. Branding to your clients starts in your office space.  Everything from furniture and décor to office design is sending a message to clients, business partners, and even your employees.  Your office furniture and design affect the talent you attract, can help or hinder the productivity of your employees, and even has an effect on their overall happiness.

So, here’s your How To: Design an Office Space

Office Design

For years, office design has been categorized as dull and uninviting, but businesses have realized a need for a change in order to attract employees and inspire more creative and productive work habits.  Offices are becoming as unique as the business themselves.

Open office plans, also called Creative Offices, are fitted with wood or cement floors, high ceilings, large windows, and fewer walls and private offices.  This style of design encourages collaboration between colleagues.  These open concept flooring plans even allow for employees to openly communicate with their employers for a more relaxed and inviting experience. 

While these open concept spaces are ideal for many companies, there is still a need for privacy from time to time.  Quiet zones allow for employees to conduct business, finish projects, and hold meetings with less background noise.

Offices that house open concept work areas with complementary small meeting rooms, glass enclosed offices, and soundproof booths, give the best of both worlds.

Closed office spaces, or Traditional Office Space, is the more conventional way of housing a business.  You will find the typical reception area, private offices, cubicles, breakroom, and conference rooms. Communication is less likely to be encouraged between colleagues, as a physical partition is separating each person.  These workspaces are intended for work-alone settings, little to no collaboration, and often times portray an unspoken hierarchy.

While this style of office space is often viewed as rigid and less-welcoming, companies that provide financial services or legal advice, value this privacy.

Furniture That Fits My Brand

Office furniture isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ piece of equipment.  That’s why the design and construction possibilities are endless. Are you looking for sleek and modern?  Do you want something retro and funky?  Again, your brand depends on it.  What message are you sending?

Most furniture is categorized by five separate styles, each giving your clients and employees a different vibe when entering your workspace.

Traditional

Bold, rich, and timeless define this style of furniture.  Great attention to detail, luxurious finishes, and rich wood colors gives a fancy look to any office space.  Furniture includes a lot of detail and curved lines and often time the room feels very heavy due to the bold colors and patterns.

While this style is often referred to as outdated, it gives a sense of longevity, trustworthiness, and loyalty.  Often companies that pride themselves on their business being passed down through generations will use this style of furniture and décor.

Transitional

When traditional marries contemporary, transitional is born. A very close comparison is design to traditional, but when you see the finished look, the two are very different from one another. When it comes to furniture, you should think straight lines and rounded edges.  Transitional style is home to a very neutral palette consisting of taupe, tan, and whites with a dark wood for accent.

These spaces come with comfort.  Plush cushions, lounge seating and a very home-like ambiance comes naturally with transitional furniture. Both your clients and employees will feel at ease, flexible to change, and friendly.

Contemporary

Contemporary furniture is sleek, simple and often times slim.  This is the opposite of traditional as it utilizes very little intricate details in its design. The office furniture design usually uses very harsh lines and uses a range of light to dark tones.

Your contemporary office style will show that you are modern and up to date, but also have a clear purpose with the simplicity and minimalistic design.  While style can feel cold, you are sending the message that your company is ambitious, driven, and bold.

Mid-Century Modern

Vintage, urban, and charming. Mid-century modern took a little bit of everything, beginning in the 1940s, to create this furniture style. These furniture pieces are uncluttered and sleek, with very little ornamentation.  They took on geometric forms and were created with non-traditional materials such as plastic and plywood.

Colors and materials can be mixed and matched while still giving your office a sophisticated and forward-thinking feel.

Eclectic

This isn’t so much an official style of furniture, but more of a ‘this is what we’ve got’.  More than likely you are a start up company and your main concern is not how great your office space looks, but rather that you have an office with real employees and they have a place to work.  So, while this may not ‘wow’ your clients, it also shows that you care more about your work than your space.  You seem focused on the important things.

Corporate Colors For My Office

Color choice is the most impactful piece of your branding.  Colors tell stories that words cannot, they add to a story, and evoke emotions.  Each color has a specific meaning, which can either be learned through experience or biologically innate, and will influence people automatically.

Blue: Calm, Reliable, and Organized

From a clear sky to the serenity of crashing waves, blue brings a peacefully and calming ambiance to any room or office. High stress jobs often use this color to calm employees and clients.  When doing repetitive tasks throughout the day, the blue can soothe you helping you focus.

Red: Leadership, Perseverance, and Dynamic

Being the color of passion, red is shown to increase the heart rate and boost the flow of blood, giving both an interpretive and physical sense of intensity and power. Jobs that require physically activity or mental alertness often chose red to increase productivity.

Yellow: Intelligence, Originality, and Distraction

Offices should use this color sparingly as it can be distracting for its brightness.  However, the use of yellow gives a feeling of warmth, optimism, and happiness, and can increase positivity in the workplace and boost confidence.

Orange: Energy, Freedom, and Tolerance

This vibrant and warm color gives comfort and confidence while spreading cheerfulness and helping maintain and enthusiastic and positive outlook.  The use of orange is great for lounge areas and collaboration areas as it encourages communication and increases creativity.

Green: Stability, Progress, and Mandatory

Just like adding greenery to your office, this earthly paint and furniture color stimulates your brain, increasing productivity and happiness.  Because green is easiest on the eyes, this is a great choice for companies that work long hours. Green is associated with well-being and balance.

Pink: Feminine, Friendly, Maturity

This feminine color radiates hope and romance, while being calming and nurturing.  Pink is also related to good health and because it is a close match to red, it provides warmth and energy without the intensity.  Offices that house light colors and pastels, such as pink, are portrayed as gentle and caring.  Brighter hues of pink can bring joy and happiness.

Purple: Royalty and Excitement

The color of royalty shows your employees and clients that you hold your company to a high standard and only accept and produce the finest or the highest quality.  According to Live Science, purple is associated with wealth and power because the cost and rarity of the dye to produce it was something only kings and queens could afford.  This color can also be used to portray a mysterious or magical feel.

Jewel Tones: Wealth and Luxury

These deep tones of multiple colors, such as deep blues, greens, purples, and reds show wealth and luxury simply because they are the color of expensive and rare jewels.  They also give a calming and cozy look to your office space, making it more inviting and welcoming to clients.

White: Cleanliness, Integrity, and Unity

The pureness of a stark white can be both refreshing and hindering at the same time. The untouched look of white will make your office space seem extremely spacious and clean giving a sense of peace and calm to those who enter. The untouched color is often used in hospitals to give the idea that everything is sterile.  This color gives great balance to bold and bright colors that may be too much to stand alone.  However, white can be boring and uninviting, so it is vital that you pair white with other colors, plants or patterns.

Brown: Reliable, Strength, and Masculinity

The color of dirt doesn’t have to be negative when you think about it in terms of what the earth can give us.  It is reliable and dependable.  The same color that gives us wood, reminds of longevity and timelessness.  Brown is warmer than black and signifies something has been around for a long period of time.  You often see this color used, especially wood finishes, in companies that have been passed down through generations, including financial services.

Black: Power, Luxury, and Creation

Black can be the most powerful of the colors.  It is the true definition of power whether it is in a negative or positive light.  Companies that use black tell their clients they are high-end, luxurious, and professional.  If paired with the right accent pieces you can seem mysterious.

Each specific piece of furniture, textile and color tells the story of your company.  What story do you want to tell?