Our New Office Identity

10 years working in a small corporation in Singapore for years, there is one reality I have come to appreciate more and more: your office speaks for you. Yes, imagine all those days and months waling in and out of our building and I have come to appreciate why we rarely change our layout and colors. After all those times, it becomes such a commonplace and boring experience to have to go through building until recently when our company decided to venture into a major make over. And that was when I realized how office interior design in Singapore, which means the physical features of our office is just as important as our advertising and other public relations tools in terms of communicating our identity. 

Office Design and Public Image 

Corporate branding is no longer simple about logos and mottos. Of course there are the proper use of media channels and strategies for visibility to consider. But when our office renovation took more than a year to finish, I realized the amount of planning and factors that was put into it. Which is perhaps why it took so much time. 

And indeed, an over-looked element of corporate branding is the internal office design which communicates a lot about a company and is perhaps the most basic element of any office’s public image. Even before the actual physical renovation started, top management presented their plan to redesign the office. Interestingly, the plan was explained to employees not based on the need to maximize space or to improve physical efficiency. In fact, the design it turns out had very little to do with that. Although we were consulted on things like storage preferences, room locations, utilities needed, the over-all architectural even floor lay-out designed with functionality and image in mind. 

Employee and Costumer-friendly Design 

And aside from the time put into it, there was the considerable cost. In addition to actual expenses of renovation, our company even hired a top in Singapore commercial interior design company to provide consultants and services to assure that the “look and feel” of the office design would match what the company wanted its public image to be. 

According to the Singapore commercial interior design firm contracted by our company, the design combines what management seeks to accomplish (vision), what the employees know and believe (organizational culture), and how its external stakeholders perceive the company (image). And these delicate combination determined the smallest details of the deisgn: industrial, graphic and lighting, utility design, furniture and appliances, fabrication or protoyping, spacings, types of rooms available. Even design of kitchens and restroom had to be consistent. 

In the design, space was utilized not only to create a physical atmosphere and convenient working but made to be “customer-friendly” which meats it had lots of corner spaces, lounge and waiting areas. There were also water dispenser spots all over the office. And it did not feel cramped. It was well-lit, appeared wider and cleaner and therefore created that feeling of freedom and a general spirit of welcome openness. The monochrome color motif further complemented this by conveying a sense of cohesiveness and unity.