Blog - Office Layout & Design

June 18,2008

Color Trends in Office Design

I had the pleasure of attending a seminar hosted by Leatrice Eiseman at this year’s NeoCon in Chicago. She’s a color expert and trend forecaster, and author of several books. Her seminar focused on color trends in office design for the next two years.

In my former job as a color theory instructor, I did some research on color forecasting— it’s a fascinating area in the business of marketing products and services. Large numbers of color experts meet every year to pool their observations and forecast what colors are going to be “hot” in the coming months. The rest of us rely on their expertise… and their palettes… and they are rarely wrong.

So, whether you’re decorating your office for the first time or it needs a little sprucing up, here are some suggestions which I gleaned from Eiseman’s seminar:
Watch the fashion industry, and surprisingly, the jewelry industry, for what colors— and color combinations— they are using. Those designers are on the leading edge of trend-setting color use, and we can learn from them.

The hottest colors for the next couple of years are going to be on the cool side of the color wheel: blue violet, violet (purple), dark periwinkle blues, and lavenders. She thinks we’re going to be repeating a lot of the colors which were popular in the 80s (fuschia is becoming quite popular again), but without as many prescriptive rules as they had back then. For instance, now we might see them used in combination with metallics, or browns.

Our long run with orange is going to continue for a while. In fact, it’s reached an upscale level, which is amazing since not too long ago, orange was perceived as “cheap.” Mix it up with grays and taupes, or change it from bright orange to something more subdued, and you’re sure to cast a sense of culture and achievement in your office space.

Same with browns. We used to think of brown as dirty or muddy, but it’s coming back in style, especially browns with a rich, red overtone, or several shades of brown woods used together in furniture and architecture. Interestingly, we tend not to see brown as a color at all, but it really does add a lot of color to our spaces.

So, Eiseman could’ve stopped there and I would have been saturated with color, so to speak. But she continued right around the color wheel. I think what’s important is to see not only what colors are being used, but whether they are dark, light, bright, or dull; how they are used in combination with other colors; and how much they are used (a whole wall, or an accent?).

So it’s time to stock up on Vogue and Elle and take stock of what colors and color combinations are happening on their pages. Translate that into your office décor and you’re sure to stay at the forefront of office color trends.
Posted by Mary

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March 11,2008

Changes in Office Floorplans

An interesting article was published yesterday that talks about creative ways to design office space. The article describes how a company in Kansas City is redesigning their entire office with an open floor plan and "hoteling" stations to help with their mobile workforce.

Along the same lines, there has been a lot of discussion about Generation Y entering the workforce, and how the frequency of open collaborative environments is growing with this new generation. This recent article doesn't mention if that is a major component of their redesign.

The debate becomes open collaboration vs privacy; innovative ideas at the expense of personal walls for everyone involved.

That's a tough one. I've experienced life in a cubicle as well as the full-four-walls-and-a-door style. I can say for certain that the ability to close the door of my office when I'm trying to crank out a project without disruption is quite appreciated. I'd hate to forfeit the privacy and/or peace and quiet when I need it.

That said, I believe two heads are better than one. The idea of collaborating over an idea, even if it's a brief 5-minute conversation, can lead to significant new ideas.

I'm sure there are issues with a design like this...especially for those who sit next to Chatty Cathy and they just really want to get their work done. But to be honest, Chatty Cathy is likely an issue even with 4 walls around each person.

What do you think? Do you like the idea of an open floor plan without the confinements of so many walls? Or do you prefer your own 'private' domain?
Posted by Cindy

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