character versus caricature

3 min read

How fine is the design line between too much and too little?

Powerhouse Group design team

 

Just don’t ruin it.  That’s a familiar refrain heard by amateur artists, chefs, writers and designers of all ages.  It’s an admonition not to take things too far.However, as discussed in a previous article by Taren Hura, a good interior designer, a designer worth their salt, will indeed take a brief and see it as a useful starting point rather than a final set of instructions.  It was said that if your designer can add nothing to your own suggestions, maybe you need another designer.

But where do you go when, as either a client or interior designer, your creativity and zeal for the brand begins to get the better of you.  Frenzied, free-form brainstorming, if left unchecked, can create a jungle of corporate mahogany and brass or a morass of beanbags and “funky” astro-turf floor coverings.  Only then do you realise you’ve overstretched the imagination and you’ll be hard pressed to find your way back.  Rather than characterising your brand and bringing it to life in your workplace, you’ve caricaturised your commercial entity, mortally wounding your brand’s credibility.  It’s a very real danger with seemingly innocuous origins.

The effect of cause and effect

When constructing a business plan or commercial strategy piece, savvy leaders with an entrepreneurial bent will draw a straight line between the starting point and the end goal, marking off milestones along the way.  Deviations are eliminated or at the very least minimised because the idea is to reach the goal while minimising costs.  Again, focusing on the achievement of the goal is key.

So, keeping the following few questions and, importantly, the corresponding answers in mind can keep the designer, the project manager and client on track and on the same page.

  1. What should our brand convey to the target audience (be they external/internal stakeholders, customer/clients etc)?
  2. What does the office fit out need to do in terms of form and functionality to help our people accomplish this?
  3. What are the structural, physical impediments within a workplace that could negatively impact our effective/pursuit of our goals?

 

This is a reasonable start to a rudimentary marketing plan but in terms of office fit outs, these questions can act like bumper bars in a bowling alley, preventing your design from drifting off line and dragging your brand into the gutter.It happens… often… we’ve seen it.

Aside from being a bit loose about the tie-in between brand and workplace form and function, another more emotive threat lurks just beneath the surface.Personal preferences.  Truthfully preferences are both necessary and omnipresent. Fighting this basic truth puts you on a hiding to nothing however, to assess the value of those preferences through the prism of brand imperatives is, well, imperative.Statements and thoughts to recognise as “unhelpful to dangerous” include:

  • We promote openness and a flat organisational structure but managers should have mezzanine level, private offices
  • We’re a progressive company with a sunny outlook, selling fun products but dark timber and rich leather is a must have
  • Fund security and our hard-earned reputation as conservative money managers has built an impressive legacy but we feel convinced that arcade games, fusbol tables and beanbags might just modernise our clients’ experience

It is often said that the word “but” also means, “ignore everything that was just said and listen to what I’m about to say…”  Dangerous, if the business’s corporate brand/identity was being discussed.

Obviously, these are exaggerated scenarios, however real-world variations of these themes do exist.  The danger is that designers, clients and project managers will see an opportunity to please, appease and secure a quick sign-off.  A sign-off that may well do a disservice to the brand.

Finally, becoming infatuated with an aspect or area of a design in isolation from the overall effect can lead to incongruous results: the reception area is a triumph but somehow seems at odds with the adjoining open plan contact centre; the atria clash with the meeting rooms; instead of a thematic flow from offices through to breakout areas everything seems to… clash.

Again, how was the overall fit out supposed to enable the client (and associated employees) to further their collective progress towards the organisational goals.  A fit out that achieves this in both form and functionality will inevitably add to the character of the enterprise.  Less than that navigates the ship dangerously close to the rocky shores of design caricature.

Interior Design Team

Interior Design Team

Powerhouse Group
Focusing creative minds on bringing to life a client’s vision while designing practical and aesthetic solutions to workplace challenges is rewarding work. The team draws on decades of cumulative, commercial interior design experience and understands that sometimes, pushing the boundaries of the brief can be just as powerful as refining a look and feel to suit the branded interior. It all comes down to experience and expertise.

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