Using Colour Psychology In Office Design
Have you ever walked into a red room and felt overwhelmed? That’s because colours have a ‘personality’. It is a very good idea to give some thought to your office furniture colours and how they can affect your employees.
By choosing positive colours for your workspace, you can increase motivation and happiness & positivity. You can create an ambience and tone that emphasises your brand in the office furniture and room fitout.
You can create an ambience and tone that emphasises your brand in the office furniture and room fitout.
The Ideal Office Look
The idea that colour choice affects mood and behaviour has been around for a long time. Studies show that colours evoke similar responses in most people. Colour creates a powerful emotional stimulus and can stimulate, energise, inspire, calm, soothe, or focus your visitors & employees.
The type of business you are in, and the environment you wish to create will determine the colour you choose for your office fit-out. So the colours should correspond with the nature of business and the workplace culture you are attempting to foster.
Studies show that colours evoke similar responses in most people. Colour creates a powerful emotional stimulus and can stimulate, energise, inspire, calm, soothe, or focus your visitors & employees.
Serious & Conservative: Corporate offices and more formal types of businesses such as banks, government offices, and courts often use natural colours like beige or light grey combined with prominent wood-grain finishes in the modern office furniture to achieve a sophisticated look. These colours should be balanced with some colour highlights as they can also give the impression of being boring and dull.
Bright & Cheerful: Not all businesses benefit from indoor colours that are good for corporate businesses. In other offices, you need to look at the degree of seriousness of the business and choose colours appropriately. In general, the brighter the colours are, the less serious the business is. You need to choose colours appropriate to the age of your clients, their cultural background and gender, and the type of business you are promoting.
For General Office Spaces: With general office space, you need to understand the messages of the colours so you can create the effect you want. Blues and greens will keep a calm atmosphere, but too much of these colours may decrease staff morale. Adding a small amount of red, orange or yellow somewhere in the space will increase the energy flow and enhance productivity.
With too much red, aggression and anger may be the result, too much orange will create a social and talkative atmosphere, while too much yellow can cause anxiety and stress in some. Adding colours does not have to be a massive project. In some instances, the easiest way of injecting colour into the workplace may be through your office furniture.
Let’s learn about different colours here…
When we talk about colours, they’re divided into warm and cool. Red, orange, and yellow, for example, are warm colours. Warm colours are known to be a good option to increase feelings of energy, cheerfulness and social interaction. However, if the colours are too harsh, occupants could feel anger and agitation. Remember that red room?
Colours like navy blue, dark green and burgundy give a message of control, responsibility, and confidence. If you want to instil a feeling of cleanliness like in a hospital or cafeteria, use white and for a touch of luxury and elegance.
Blue denotes honesty, loyalty, wisdom, conservatism, security and confidence. Green is calming, suggesting security, growth and money, and dark green is often used by corporate businesses to indicate wealth and prestige. Colours like navy blue, dark green and burgundy give a message of control, responsibility, and confidence. If you want to instil a feeling of cleanliness like in a hospital or cafeteria, use white and for a touch of luxury and elegance. Blue and purple, on the other hand, are cooler colours. Scientifically proven to increase focus, cool colours give off a soothing mood.
Here’s a breakdown of five popular colours:
- Red: To evoke emotion and passion, incorporate red into your office workstation. This is great for spaces that involve physical activity. It’s the colour that will attract the most attention.
- Blue: To get your team ticking off their to-do list, choose blue. It stimulates concentration and performance, keeping people calm.
- Green: More relaxing, this colour is evoking a gentle feeling. Green is good for people who work long hours.
- White: The most popular colour choice, white is easy to match with its surroundings and usually encourages an optimistic mood.
- Yellow: To boost creativity, use yellow. It enhances concentration and flow.
Workstations
In workstations, your goal is to increase motivation and productivity. While warm colours can achieve this, you don’t want to overwhelm your employees. Consider warm colours for non-productive areas, like the reception or kitchen.
Consider how your current workstation is making your team feel. The link between colour and mood is important to understand. As leaders, we focus our attention on time-saving tools and new ways to boost productivity. But in fact, the solution could be right in front of us, on our furniture and walls.
If you’re unsure where to start, we can help. Finding the perfect colours to match your brand’s vision and personality is critical. It’s a simple method to boost motivation and inspiration in your office. We have hundreds of melamine, metal, screen fabric, chair fabric, and café-top colours. From neutral to mandarin and everything in between, there’s every colour under the corporate rainbow… almost.
To speak to the Perth office fitout specialists, call us on +61893591288 or contact us online.
