In Interior Design we use a variety of visual strategies that can greatly influence the way people view your company, your office, your store, and your overall business space. The customer experience can be enhanced by having the right combination of elements; from lighting to decor, colour scheme to furniture style, and graphic design to corporate culture, it is all about communicating the right message to your clients, customers, and employees.
Corporate and commercial design has significantly evolved in recent years, mainly thanks to technology and... you guessed it, social media! Businesses all over the world are continuously sharing their brand and services through pictures, videos, reels, blogs, etc, and to create a memorable experience, brands have to stand out and offer something unique - this is when interior design becomes your best friend!
Today, we share with you five different ways in which your business space can help boost your brand and become a spot that people will want to visit. We hope you find these tips useful! Let's start.
1. The Reception: The First Space You See
The very first space people see when entering your business is key to putting your clients in a good mood and setting the tone for a pleasurable experience. Your brand should be the main character in this space, so having your logo and branding graphics is a must! From neon signs to live moss walls and digitally printed wall graphics, you have plenty of options to show your logo. This is also the right spot for having a memorable insta-worthy wall that your customers will use to spread the word about how amazing your business is and how great their experience was. The reception area is the best space to go as creative as you want! See some great images below that can help spark ideas:
If your brand is all about wellness and sustainability, living walls are a great way to bring in some nature and add an outdoor feel to your space. This is a great strategy during the winter months when we all miss a little greenery. For Physio Mira, a physiotherapy clinic we designed in Kitchener, we proposed to have live moss panels in their beautiful mezzanine reception.
Physiomira - Design by White Dahlia Design
The moss panels take advantage of the natural light and add a little extra to create a statement piece you can admire while seating in their waiting area. Urban Green had the perfect product! A preserved moss that required little to no maintenance and helped with overall acoustics.
Urban Green Canada - Physiomira - Design by White Dahlia Design
2. Setting The Tone: A Cohesive Design Style
You probably already have a clear idea of your target market, so this is a great strategy to help enhance your customers' overall experience. Are you aiming for an elevated luxe experience? Then design styles like Contemporary, Hollywood Glam, and one of our favorite trendy styles, Art Deco, are great ways to go with. We have a whole post dedicated to Hollywood Glam style in case you want to find out a bit more: Achieve That Style: Hollywood Glam Edition.
If you want to go in a more simple, minimal, and clean direction, then Scandinavian, Japandi, and Modern are the way to go. Normally, these design styles go hand in hand with a very specific vision of lifestyles focused on minimalism and simplicity where less is more. Muji is one of our favorite stores to shop for this look! We have a whole post dedicated to Japandi style in case you want to find out a bit more: Japandi: When Rustic Meets Minimal.
Prime Seafood Palace - Toronto
If your brand gravitates toward a more mature audience, then going in a more cozy residential direction is best; Modern Farmhouse and California Cool are great options. On the other hand, for a younger audience, Dark Academia or Retro Revival is the way to go. Just remember, it is important for your brand to identify with the interior style you choose. You want your customer experience to be directly linked to your business vision and philosophy. We have a whole post dedicated to new trendy styles in case you want to find out a bit more: 5 New Interior Design Styles You Probably Didn't Know About.
Cali Cool Design - Heyday skin care - Los Angeles
3. A Space Layout To Create An Experience
Aesthetics are a key to your branding, and so is providing the appropriate space to deliver your services. If privacy, comfort, and a one-to-one experience are important for your brand, then the space layout should facilitate these dynamics. There are numerous strategies you can incorporate to do this, such as adding visual privacy, good acoustics, and clear signage that your customer and employees can easily follow. This type of design is used often in financial institutions such as banks and mortgage offices, small healthcare settings such as physiotherapy clinics and chiropractors, and self-care spaces such as spas. Great ways to add privacy without having to build individual rooms are by using glass films, room dividers, and curtains as we did in this salon we designed in Kitchener. On. These are also great ways to adapt to the future growth of your space.
On the other hand, if your brand is more focused on collaborative work, then having a furniture layout that encourages brainstorming, communication, and sharing of ideas is ideal. This can include communal tables, media rooms, cafes, and touch-down spaces. This type of design is used often in shared spaces such as residential amenities, co-working spaces, and cafes. With this in mind, we designed Trillium West's downtown offices! A space to gather, meet and share your real state dreams.
4. Space Perks For Your Employees
We know how communicating a brand experience to your customer is very important, but enhancing your brand identity to benefit your staff should also be a priority. Your team should have spaces they enjoy working at which can be seen as an extension of your branding and company philosophy. More than offering the trendy slides and all-you-can-eat cafeterias seen in Google offices all over the world, we are talking about spaces aimed at the overall well-being of your team. Such spaces could include areas to disconnect such as meditation rooms, areas to have fun such as game rooms, and areas to socialize and take a break such as a lounge area. If your space is rather small, then you can offer a couple of these space perks within the same room as we did in the design of Black Bear Auto Shop below:
Black Bear Auto Shop - Design by White Dahlia Design
5. Offer A Memorable Experience
This last design strategy sums it all up and is easy to achieve by adding little pieces here and there. Selecting that right accent wall paint colour or wallpaper, that right seating piece for your waiting room, that right lighting that sets the right mood, and those perfect decor and accessories that tie everything up. It is all about that finished and cohesive final look that sets your brand mood. Fun, luxurious, accessible, serious, homey, whatever the tone for your brand is, the perfect strategy to communicate this to your customer and team is through interior design.
White Dahlia Design Team
Your building, office, store, stand, pop-up, or however your physical business looks like, is the extension of your brand and company's philosophy so make sure you use the right design elements to communicate that! Hopefully, we picked your brain and got you excited about trying some of these strategies. If you feel you are not quite convinced how interior design can help your brand, then we invite you to read our past post on How Interior Design Can Boost Your Brand.
If you need some extra guidance then we would love to help! You can browse some of our design services here or book a complementary Intro Call with us.
Until next time!
White Dahlia Design