Colour is one of the most important aspects of any design plan, and while your choice of colours, blends and shades may come largely from personal preference, there are going to be other factors that come into play with regard to making the right pick from the palette. The colours you use in your office fit out or interior redesign should reflect your branding – of course – but as any experienced office designers will tell you, the colours you choose can have a remarkable and positive effect upon the productivity and morale of your workforce.
You may wish to opt for a minimal colour scheme – again, this likely falls to whether or not you have a complex brand or one which is focused on a clean, appealing standard – but the one or two colours you do choose could have more importance than you may imagine. It’s never a good idea to throw every colour into the mix – employees and clients like simplicity when it comes to the workplace – and throwing everything together in a splatter could create more headaches than those your design may be able to resolve.
It’s worth dipping into colour therapy to understand how certain looks and shades can motivate and affect the workforce. Colour theory has, for decades now, perpetuated the idea that certain colours can provoke certain reactions, feelings, inspirations – where better to harness some of these ideas than in the office?
If, for example, you choose to lead with a predominantly white space, you may be overdoing the spatial look – white should be used here and there to complement a full colour, particularly as an emphasis on too much blank space can result in a clinical, impersonal atmosphere that is hardly inspiring. Consider colours such as a little green – which is proven to be one of the most relaxing colours, though not to an extent where productivity or inspiration is hampered.
To really boost creativity and productivity, you’ll need to look at introducing yellows and blues – these colours are both used in spaces where good, original work is encouraged, and where group collaboration takes place. You may even wish to use a little red here and there, a stimulating colour which certainly shouldn’t be over-painted – a little of the basic colours, and not too much in the way of white, will go a long way to inspire your staff.
