Tag Archive for: Branding

The design of an office has slowly been changing over the years, but recently, those changes are becoming more pronounced. Long gone are the days of placing a desk, chair, and file cabinet in a square room the size of a box or merely cramming a few dozen desks and computers into one large noisy room.
These newer changes have been a long time coming, as companies realise that their employees can work better if they have spaces to recharge and re-energise throughout the day. Of course, employees understand the same thing, which is why they are incorporating many of the new office designs into their own home offices!

office trends

Here are the top trends in office design:

 

A Plethora of Technological Options

Almost every office utilises technology in some form or another, but nowadays, companies and employees want everything that is available to them. Moreover, they do not want to work too hard to use any of it! Everyone should imagine placing his or her smartphone or tablet on a table and have it charge automatically without needing to be plugged in. Screens can rise out of floors or down from ceilings for virtual meetings with those who are on the other side of the world, and computers integrated into almost any area of the building.

Spaces Dedicated to Relaxation

Relaxation is vital for many people, as most of them find that they work better after fifteen to thirty minutes of downtime. In the old days, some people would venture out for a walk or just put their heads down on their desk for a nap. However, in today’s world, employees want to spend their downtime having fun in a bright and cheery space. A few companies are already incorporating game rooms, gardens filled with fragrant flowers, and little cafés into their workspaces and the trend is picking up speed tremendously. Before long, every company will offer these spaces, so that employees will always have a place to go when they need a few minutes to regroup.

Flexible Work Spaces

Flexible workspaces can be less intimidating to those who are working with a deadline because they do not need to stare at the four white walls that are surrounding them. Instead, they can wander down to the conference room, or down to the lounge or another open space to continue their work. These workspaces are also perfect for group projects and collaborating with others, as everyone will have room to spread out and get their job done. While boring tables and chairs will generally put in these spaces, many companies are choosing to fill them with comfortable chairs that can be separated or grouped, as well as small coffee tables or ottomans. A few companies have even placed bean bags, hammocks, and floor pillows in little nooks in these areas so that everyone can work in the way that is best for them.

Spaces for Being Active

Not every company wants to deal with maintaining a gym and other workout equipment, but that doesn’t mean that they cannot incorporate a space where their employees can be active. This area can be a large room that people can use to do a few yoga positions, sit down to meditate, or walk around to get their creative juices flowing again. Companies that do not have a lot of empty spaces for this type of room will get creative on their own by allowing desks that move from sitting to standing positions or even those that can be wheeled around as people walk around their office or another workstation.

Active office space

Consultation Spaces for Different Relaxation Services

There are times when employees never seem to have any spare time to think about their health and well-being, which is why many companies are bringing different relaxation services into the workplace. Newly dedicated workspaces for massage therapy, acupuncture sessions, chiropractor appointments, and even holistic medicine treatments. Employees can use these services at any time during their workday, as well as before or after work. It eliminates them from needing to make another stop on their way to work or on their way home, essentially saving them time and money.

These newer office trends are surprising, and it is easy to see why both companies and employees are embracing them wholeheartedly. As companies are adding more of these more modern trends to their buildings, they will find themselves using many different materials that they may have in the past. Glass dividers or portable green dividers will replace solid walls, while lightweight and free furniture will replace all those large pieces. Plants and other green items will be scattered about, creating fresher air and a better ambience for everyone who works there.

It is easy to see why these office trends will be sticking around, but everyone should prepare for even better options in just a few more years because there are better things yet to come.

 illuminated service sign to promote customer needs

 

 How do you understand customers needs?

When you enter the business world, you will more than likely deal with challenging competitors and a wide range of customer personas. If your goal is a successful company, you need to understand your customer’s needs, and you have to put them first to get the best outcome. As the saying goes “When the customer comes first, the customer will last” But how can you better understand your customers to achieve such a goal?

Study your industry and see what customers like.

Usually, your niche will be full of forums and websites that showcase what your customers like the most. Doing this can be a significant step in finding the customers needs, even if it can take a bit of time to quantify and manage all of that data. Try to ask your sales team about your customers and make sure that you identify what products or services they ask for the most. That, combined with an intensive study of your industry, will offer you a great way to determine your customers and their requirements better.

Use surveys.

A direct way to study the customer’s needs is to create and share surveys. You can send your customers an email which links to a quick survey. Make sure that the questionnaire is short; the best surveys tend to take up to 1-2 minutes to answer. Add only the most essential questions and allow your customers to share their long answers too. That will help a lot, and it’s apparently something you do not want to miss.

Read blog comments to understand your customers.

If your company has a blog, then you most likely have a lot of readers that leave comments. Study those comments, see what remarks are prevalent and use that information to your advantage. Some customers want new features; others want to see various changes and so on. As long as you read the blog comments and make sure that you reply to them, the results can help you better understand your customers.

 Social Media image of hands with smiley faces

 

Interact with your audience on social media.

More than a billion people are on social media, so you want to make sure that you interact with as many customers as you can on these platforms. Create a company account, reply to your customers and try to solve their issues as fast as possible. Social media can be perfect for customer service, so you should use this as an option to connect with your customers.

Read industry blogs and interact.

Get involved with other industry blogs, read those and interact with your audience. It will show you what your competition’s customers want, and you can use this information to adjust your products or services. Always try to be unique and offer your customers something different too. Showing your customers you are willing to change things to suit their needs, is a great way to show that each customer comes first.

Track industry trends.

Use Google Trends to identify strong trends in your industry. These are things that your customers are looking for, and it can offer you a vast range of incredible benefits in no time.

Signage on window

How do you choose the right signage company?

Choosing the right signage company for your business may seem a bit hard to do at first. But the reality is that with a bit of attention and focus, you will have no problem choosing the right signage company to suit your requirements. With that in mind, here are some of the ideas to keep in mind when you look for the best players in the signage industry.

Create a list that includes all signage services

Usually, any branding company that works in the signage industry tends to offer a wide range of services. To avoid spending a lot of money, make sure that you invest in a signage company that has all the features you need. Write them down, select a budget, and you will be good to go in this regard.

What type of products do they offer?

An essential thing to keep in mind is that most companies in the signage industry tend to be specialised. So, you have to see whether they can work on the desired type of sign or not. Adapt to the situation and take your time to study all the options before you make any pick.

What materials should you opt for?

Every signage company will tend to use different materials. Some signs are made out of carbon fibre, others are made out of plastic, while others can be steel-based and so on. There are numerous options when it comes to material and media type. However, the material selection is pretty subjective, so you are free to choose the one you like the most and suits the project in hand. A good sign company will give you all the specifications on each material and media type. 

Durability matters

Durability is synonymous with quality in this regard. You want to work with a signage company that can offer you the most durable signs out there. You want to make the right investment and focus on products that will withstand any weather changes and day to day use. Keep this in mind when you select the right signage company for you and the results can be very good in the end.

Does the offer include installation?

Not all companies in the signage industry include installation with their offer. Obviously, that’s a shame, and you have to figure out whether the company you want to work with will provide such a feature or not. Obviously, this can reflect in the overall price, so try to keep that in mind, and the whole experience can be pretty impressive for sure!

Installation crew in a hoist fitting a sign

Maintenance is important

Even if the signage company offers installation services, do they include any maintenance? Yes, maintenance is a critical thing to keep in mind and one of those factors that you will like quite a lot. We recommend you to opt for high-quality maintenance offerings to get the very best outcome.

While picking the best company in the signage industry can be a bit overwhelming at first, it’s not impossible. With these great tips listed above, you will find no problem making the right choice, and the entire experience will be a lot more exciting and rewarding in the end. Don’t rush into picking a team right away. Take your time, understand what the company offers and you can get some remarkable results in the end!

variety of coloured sweets

How important is the colour choice in branding? Creating a powerful brand requires you to focus on a broad range of things, and one of them is certainly the colour or colour combinations that you pick for your brand. You have to note that each colour brings in front specific emotions for each person. That’s why you need to understand the psychology of colours and use the one that’s appropriate for your company branding. Done adequately, this can help you boost a number of conversions you receive!

What type of emotions are generated by each colour?

As we mentioned above, before you opt for complete office branding, you first need to understand the emotions brought by each colour. With that in mind, research has shown that specific colours will bring in certain emotions for people. It all comes down to figuring out what colour suits the emotions your company wants to instil in potential customers.

  • Yellow is a colour that brings in the sense of clarity and warmth
  • White and grey are neutral colours; they bring calmness and balance
  • Green is all about growth and health; it’s also all about positivity and peacefulness
  • Orange provides a sense of friendliness, and it’s also a colour that showcases confidence and cheerfulness
  • Red is the colour of excitement, action, boldness, and youthfulness
  • Purple is the colour of creativity, imagination and wise persons
  • Blue is all about helping you inspire a sense of trust, strength, and dependability

colour choice in branding

According to a study named the Impact of Colour on marketing, it seems that around 90% of all snap judgements made about company branding and products, in general, is based on the colour alone. And while there are personal preferences that will make people opt for specific brands, the reality is that people will still use colours to differentiate brands most of the time.

That’s why it can be an excellent idea to start company branding with a focus on particular colours.

Also, it seems that our brains tend to prefer brands that are recognisable. The idea is that whenever you want to do office branding, you need to predict the customer’s colour appropriateness with the product as a whole.

You wouldn’t buy pink Harley Davidson motorcycles or Coca-Cola with a white label. Figuring out what is appropriate for your branding is crucial here. Usually, there are five core dimensions when it comes to brand personality, and these are sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication, and ruggedness. Based on these ideas you will be able to identify the colour choice a lot easier.

Yes, colours are essential for company branding, and it also plays a pivotal role in marketing as well. Consistency is key here, so you want to find a colour that suits your brand and stick to it. Changing colours all the time is not good, so studying everything beforehand and making the right decision from the start will have a significant impact on branding!

plotted wall graphic spelling out the word courage

Creative working space

Our Cre8tive Workspace team just finished a great project for AXA Ireland. Our team pulled out all the stops to help create an enjoyable working environment at AXA Ireland in Dublin.

We used a combination of wall graphics, windows graphics, window frost and creative design to achieve our goal. Follow the link below to see the final project.

 

AXA Ireland

office hub wall graphic

We recently help Cartridge Green brand their new OfficeHub side of the business. Check out the feedback we got from Niall the managing director.

1. Introduction

OfficeHub and Cartridge Green is based at Goatstown Cross and has been in existence for 15 years. We are lucky to have thousands of loyal business and home customers. We offer innovative and high-value products and services such as printers with 12 months free unlimited ink.

2. Reasons for re-brand

We were launching a new brand called OfficeHub to sit alongside Cartridge Green.Officehub shop front OfficeHub offers a broad range of products and services such as laser printers, scanners, printing service, office supplies and printer rentals and these are aimed primarily at business users. Cartridge Green is known for offering great value products and service around printers and ink such as printers with 12 months free unlimited ink.

3.Why did you pick Inksplash

We have used Inksplash numerous times over the years so we were aware of their quality, speed and reliability. This time, we also used them to develop innovative and eye-catching wall graphic designs and branding ideas that would work in our space. We were not disappointed.

office hub logo

Creative torch logo design

Logo Design Process

There is a lot to consider when developing a logo for your business. What is the purpose of a logo? Thinking it through before getting a designer to start designing is one of the keys to developing a logo that works for your business.

We found an excellent article on the ins and outs of developing a logo for your company. It’s all about the details! We love sitting down with new clients gathering information and working on a creative brief that gets both parties excited.

Source: Developing a Logo for Your Business

creative signage in an office. Number 3 led sign

Creative Signage Inspiration

 

Designing effective signage that instantly grabs ones attention can be a tricky task. Especially in a city centre where there is an abundance of stuff screaming for attention.

Creative signage example on side of officeCompanies are now seeing the benefits of investing in quality signage for their brand. Some Great examples of creative signage in this article.

Source: Beautiful signage | #1275

DIGITAL PRINT TRENDS image of desktop computer

Digital Print Trends Report 2016

The print industry is growing and changing at a fast rate. This paper produced by Craig M. Berger provides a summary of digital print trends, technologies, methodologies and materials shaping the way designers, fabricators and manufacturers are navigating digital printing methods.

 

digital-print-trends

 

 

building-wrap

Building wraps

Building wraps are a fantastic way to get your brand noticed. There are so many reasons why you should wrap your building.

So why you should go down the line of wrapping your building. The main reason is quite simple and this is “To get your brand noticed” and make it more successful. Be the purple cow, that’s how you will get noticed.

By wrapping a building you are making a loud statement to your competitors. You mean business. It is a great way for advertising and it will definitely catch the eye of an potential customer. If customers don’t come in straight away don’t worry you’ve planted a seed in their head. They will remember you.

I read an article from “Fabric Graphics” it explains how one company went through the process of wrapping a building and how they achieved it with no mistakes, what they got out of it, how to deal with their customers needs and what it can do for the growth of their company. I have attached a link to their article. If you are only new to this Industry or even if you are experienced, this article is well worth the read.

http://fabricgraphicsmag.com/articles/0307_f2_building.html