Your main entrance is often one of the hardest-working spaces in your building: welcoming guests, reinforcing your brand, and setting expectations for visitors. Your space starts communicating well before you get the chance to greet those who walk through the door. Before visitors meet your team, hear your best sales pitch or learn about what you do, they’ve already started forming a perception of your brand.
Every space says something. What does yours say about you?
While it’s true that your website and online presence are the main introduction point to your brand—what customers will walk into (the physical space) can be just as important. Are you being intentional with its design? Here are some questions that you should be asking about your physical office(s):
- Is the space clean and well-kept, but not too plain and “sterile-looking”?
- Does your space reflect the industry that you are in—or could the same space belong to virtually any company?
- Do you have professionally installed signage that clearly identifies the brand, or is it a piece of paper that someone just hung up in the window?
- Are you using the available wall space to tell visitors something meaningful about who you are, or why you do what you do?
- How does the environment make someone feel? Does your physical space create a sense of comfort and confidence in your brand or service?
These are the questions that we addressed when working with WHP Training Towers on their main office reception area. Rather than treating their lobby as an area that simply needed “decoration,” we saw an opportunity to transform a high-traffic—and often-overlooked— space into an intentional extension of their brand identity.
The environmental design included four primary lobby signs, two sets of double-sided door graphics, a new front desk sign, and an additional above-door application. With two full-wall designs, one in the main lobby and another in the conference room, we had plenty of room to tell the brand’s story.
The main feature wall elevates the main lobby energy and ties everything together by utilizing structural steel (also used in their MODx™ fire training structures) with the WHP logo applied on a sleek frosted acrylic panel, complemented by bold pops of the brand’s signature, solid orange and navy.
Below we create something unexpected: a custom baseboard running along the bottom with programmable LED lighting, to create the warm glow of fire. It’s a subtle nod to what WHP does, and immediately gives the space life, personality, and a story.
Designing the First Impression
Our transformation changed more than the walls. The WHP team immediately felt a different vibe walking into the space and their clients did too. The reception area now conveys professionalism, creativity and an attention to detail that reflects the company’s values behind it.
A lobby doesn’t have to be a pass-through space between the reception, office and meeting space. When designed intentionally, it can reinforce your brand, tell your story, and start building trust before your team ever says “Hello”. That’s the power of environmental design.
Your physical space is already communicating. Make sure it leaves an impression worth remembering.
We love unexpected ideas, unconventional spaces, and a good design challenge. Whether it’s a lobby, conference room, office, storefront, event space or something else, we’ll help you think outside the box and within your four walls to turn your environment into a meaningful part of your brand.
By: Aislin Butt, Co-founder and Creative Agent
Indicia Design Creative, LLC
aislin@indiciadesign.com
To see how Indicia can help on a seasonal- or project-by-project basis, please email for more information and to set up a no-nonsense meeting to discuss.
Indicia is a collaborative of highly experienced, highly specialized independent creatives. We partner with other experts to create a marketing “dream team” for your organization—from writers and photographers to printers and web developers—and everything in between. We manage the sub-contractor relationship to ensure your overall brand and marketing objectives are being met while allowing you to work directly with other domain-specific experts to deliver on your marketing plan.