It’s laughable to imagine a company verbalizing a message like the one pictured above. Yet hundreds of businesses are making that very statement right this moment, without a single word. The source of the slander? Their working environments.
The places we work have the power to speak to us. Look around you. What does your workplace say about your company and brand? What impact does it have on the people within its walls? Does the environment energize employees to do their best work? Do job candidates find the space enticing when they interview? Does the atmosphere make the right impression when new customers visit?
To illustrate how EGD can communicate on behalf of a brand, we’re pleased to offer you a virtual tour of Element’s working environments in De Pere and Neenah, Wisconsin. And here to guide the tour is an actual environmental graphic display – a life-sized, foam-core cut out of our EGD expert, Tom Eggert. That’s right, we’re about to get meta with it!
Our tour begins in the De Pere conference room, where Ultra Board Tom is Vanna White-ing a dynamic gallery of Element client work. This flexible design was strategically chosen to allow easy customization of work samples based on the type of projects we want to showcase.
The message here is pretty straightforward. Anytime we invite someone to our conference room, the display tells them we’re proud of what we do. When we interview job candidates, the display also tells them they had better be ready to produce at a high level. When we host meetings with client prospects, the display invites them to add their next project to our lovingly-framed wall of fame.
It’s no coincidence that the walls in this room are blue, by the way. According to a study from Ohio State University and the National Institute of Mental Health, wall color can affect performance. Of special significance to our agency, the study concluded that blue walls had a measurable impact on creativity. When we have internal meetings in the conference room, the team knows they’re welcome to bring even the craziest ideas to the table. How do you think we ended up with a two-dimensional tour guide?
Our next tour stop brings us to the main hallway in De Pere. Here, Element’s mission statement is prominently displayed in a place most employees pass daily. This design speaks to our team with a unifying message and a near-constant reminder that we’re all in this together. For visiting clients, it boldly serves notice that we live by our collective mission to “create great work that strengthens their bottom line.”
Environmental graphic design can be an effective way to engage employees and acknowledge their contributions to the success of the team. At Element, all new employees get to take a photo for our “Wanted” wall. Everyone invents and displays a unique crime that ties to the role or personality they bring to the team. This display communicates the diverse skills and traits that make up the people-power behind our agency. Job candidates almost can’t help but picture themselves on the wall, and clients immediately get the message that we’re going to be fun to work with.
Taking a brief southbound detour to our Neenah office, we’re greeted by a custom, hand-crafted welcome sign. Brushed nickel dimensional lettering spells out our wordmark against a backdrop of rustic reclaimed barn wood, mounted to a brick wall. This sign practically screams that you’ve entered a down-to-earth Wisconsin agency, and that fits perfectly with our brand promise to “Get real.”
You’ll find Element DNA displays in both our Neenah and De Pere locations. This visual depiction of shared values gets a lot of attention and the DNA metaphor is a perfect thematic fit for Element.
You may have noticed: we dig on science analogies. Our trademarked “Total Brand Chemistry™” process for optimizing brands is a prime example, just as that statement was a prime example of a thinly-veiled plug buried in the context of an otherwise informative article. That’s mo’ meta.
More to the point, DNA is something that we possess in common, but experience individually. This symbolizes Element employees because we all contribute personal effort and talents while working toward the same mission, with shared values.
No Element tour would be complete without a visit to Canuck, our spokes-moose. We always let Canuck speak for himself. What does he say to you? Leave a reply below if you’d like to let us know.
Finally, we’re back where we started – the large conference room. You’ve probably already gathered that, thanks to the thoughtfully-placed wayfinding signage. We had matching signage produced for all our rooms and offices to bring consistency to the experience of working or visiting here.
The envelope door is a distinctive display that carries a mailbag’s worth of messages. It suggests that there’s something important inside that door, and that any time you open it, you should be ready for a pleasant surprise. It’s also a reminder to visitors and employees that we are here to “push the envelope” when it comes to marketing strategy and creativity.
Like the conference room door, all environmental graphic displays at Element teach you about the places, the people, and the values that make our brand what it is. They send important messages to everyone inside these walls that we are creative professionals who work hard and have fun doing it. But don’t take the word of a 2D tour guide for it. Come see for yourself!
If you think your workplace could benefit from an EGD Makeover, Element would love to be your partner. We’ll collaborate with you to spell out your big-picture objectives, then tailor a solution to your goals and budget. Call 920.983.9700 to schedule a free consultation.
