Brand Rezonance

As a kid, I would visit my dad’s office sometimes. It was an elegant teak panelled office with wood and glass walls neatly compartmentalized into a big hall and a few cabins, one of which was my father’s. I would tip-toe into his office, making sure even my footsteps were muffled, since the average decibel levels were quite low. A big picture of about a dozen white men in the reception, without any caption, was the only meaningful piece of an Environmental Graphic. They were, I was once told, the board of directors of the company in the UK.

This one time, I was hanging out near the pantry, and this guy familiar to me walked up and asked me if I was having fun. I didn’t know what to say, so I said, no. He nodded, “Yeah, it is a boring office, isn’t it?”

That’s what companies wanted those days, an elegant, non-distracting workspace which suggested seriousness regarding work. Casual interaction was limited to washrooms and the cafeteria, or in smoking zones.

Years later, in my first EG project for the India centre of a big financial corporate, I learnt that to attract and retain the best talent in the market, the company not only wanted to pay their employees well, but keep them engaged. What engagement meant though, the picture was much clearer later.  

Take the average 8-9 hours people are expected to spend in office every day. Back in the day, in most offices, they would come in at 9, work with a certain pace, take about 2-3 breaks in a day, and leave soon after 6. That would fulfill the expectations of the company nicely enough.

Over time, the simple, non-distracting ‘follow the book!’ workplaces have given way to vibrant, well-branded, ‘Let’s try something different today’ workplaces. Wacky graphics, witty lines and ‘food for thought’ inputs are scattered on walls and bays, while cafeteria graphics suggest finesse and hunger-aid. Receptions are adorned with bits from the corporate image, and meetings rooms with thought-challenging messaging.

The need for engagement within a workspace comes from the need to provide a vibrant, fun, open environment which stimulates imagination, constantly delivers subconscious messaging regarding the company values and culture, and helps employees move faster, refresh quicker. The whole aim is to shape the path employees walk every day, in their natural course of work.

And while it may have all started with new-age companies’ need to stand out, a real part of the job is also to make sure no two workspaces seem alike, for no two work-cultures are alike. From themes as diverse as ‘think lateral to solve problems’ to ‘we side with the customers in business’ to ‘we are work-execution specialists’, workspaces have evolved to speak about the company through great design.

When it comes to Environmental graphics, great work has been done around the world, and the way most of it has evolved stems from same need why it became so popular in the first place, to be different. While some may call these thinkers, ‘experts in environmental branding’, I personally feel there is no such thing. How good you are is a direct result of how well you understand the company and the audience. There are no fixed rules, all it needs is the need to understand the soul of a company, and paint the town with sharp graphics that speak the soul.

The final result, if simple, witty and well-crafted, will define a project well done. If people come to work every morning, and for the next 2-3 years, not say, ‘Man, office ambience is so boring!’ - I would consider it a project well done.

Saurabh Kejriwal

Saurabh is Creative Thinker at ReZonant.