The benefits of art in the workplace
Part One: The Customer
Have you ever found yourself in a place of business where the space was dingy, the furniture shabby, and the “art” displayed was, well, horrible? Art on your office walls is more than mere decoration. It can actually accomplish a worthwhile purpose in your workplace.
Let’s talk first about customers and clients who come to your office. The right art can do major lifting when it comes to your branding. Your brand is expressed through many different channels, including the atmosphere in your office, the name of your product, packaging, and even how your employees dress. Branding can also be bolstered through the art displayed in the workplace.
For example, if your company’s product promises clients peace of mind, then the art you display should convey the same throughout. If, on the other hand, your product is the latest and greatest technology, then your displayed art should reflect innovation, speed, and a sense of the future.
Business branding and office decor that creates social proof
"Art can reflect your company’s values, its reason for existing in the first place."
A coffee shop with a map of where they source their beans
Perhaps your company provides health foods, and art that shows vibrant, healthy people the world over eating and smiling furthers that idea. A law office that specializes in family law could have art that expresses happy families, showing clients the firm’s ultimate purpose.
The right art in your office gives visual cues concerning the culture of your company. For example, if yours is an international business, art that depicts different ethnicities and customs could spark a greater global awareness in your customers.
Or maybe your company is headquartered in a city with well-known landmarks. Displaying art that features these landmarks reminds your clients and visitors of the status of your location. (Think Golden Gate Bridge, the Arch in St. Louis, or Times Square in New York City.)
A restaurant with photography of the surrounding locations and landscapes.
Don’t forget the impact of color as well. Bright colors stimulate, and darker, pastel or muted colors are calming. You may want to stimulate appetites by combining yellow and red colors. Art using colors that compliment the furniture throughout the office helps create a unifying effect.
Art can and does function on an emotional level too. A hospital that displays quality art of restful scenes or even abstracts with soothing colors and shapes would have a calming effect on patients and visitors.
Likewise, a business that thrives on fast, innovative ideas and an energetic workforce would bolster that notion using art that furnishes the feeling of fast moving objects and energies, or abstracts that impact with sharp lines and dynamic movement.
Quality art displayed in the workplace is a subtle yet definitive statement about the quality of your company. Let quality art in the workplace be a subtle signal to your clients and customers that yours is a quality company with an excellent product.
A ceiling mural that communicates whimsy in nature for an eco coffee shop