Insights

Have you ever tried using a shoe to hammer a nail into a wall? While on one hand you may get the nail into the wall, on the other hand, you may smash your fingers, damage the wall or possibly mess up your shoe.

Laying out the best plan and tools for the job will certainly yield better results most of the time. 

The Importance of Using the Right Tools

Use the best tools and configuration

When laying out the best tools and configuration for your office reception area, arrange furniture in a manner that best serves the visitor and usage of t...

Juliet: "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)

In Shakespeare's passionate fictional account of non-typical lovers, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet fall in love with each other. They are disaster-prone from the start as affiliates of two combatant families. Here Juliet states to Romeo that a name is an artificial and meaningless convention, and that she loves the person who is called "Montague", not the Montague name and not the Montague family. Romeo, out of his...

In many business environments, thought, design, color and visual amenities are as far removed from each other as Mercury is from Pluto.

Business owners think office environment a waste

I have heard it said many times by decision-makers: “I would rather direct my time and resources in areas that are going to be profitable as opposed to wasting money in office design.”

From interviews, many CEO’s think in similar ways. At first glance, it certainly seems practical to use company resources in ways that will obviously go directly to bottom lin...

When it comes to your reception area, you can either show you are cut from the same cloth as everyone else, or you show your creative abilities. Either way, it’s a reflection of your brand.

Stupid design ideas inspires communication

The best way to create a really innovative and unique business reception area at your workplace is to have brainstorming sessions whereby everyone can participate by throwing ideas into the proverbial hat, irrespective of whether or not they make good sense. It really doesn’t matter if the idea is off the wall o...

Investing in business is not all good

The belief that investment in business is needed to create value for the brand makes perfect sense to me. There was a time when I thought simply by investing more and more in the business was a surefire way to create more value for the brand. Then I discovered; if “what” I was investing in, was not relevant to “who,” I was investing for (i.e.; customers, employees, etc.) than all my investments would basically have little to no value.

Making important investments matter

It seems like the brands tha...

On August 2, 2011, an article appeared in the Huffington Post describing how one man challenged his co-worker to a bet in which he argued for the value of design and against the belief that design doesn’t mean anything.

Justin Gignac, a designer by trade, took that bet, and set out to prove his associate wrong. Here’s what he did. He decided to design and package New York City garbage. Yes, you heard me correctly. He hand-picked, from the streets of New York, common ordinary trash, i.e., soda cans, candy wrappers, empty packaging -- you name i...

We are willing to bet, given all the right choices, you will probably opt to change almost any piece of furniture you may ever consider buying if cost wasn’t an objection. Think about it… Maybe the size could be 6” bigger to fill out your space perfectly. Maybe the material needs to change a little to be more or less pricey to balance between the look you want and the best fit for your budget. Just maybe, the color isn’t exactly the right match to highlight the elements currently in your office.

Possibly, you have been willing to accept what’s...

Getting off to the Best Start Possible

It takes just an instant, possibly a few quick seconds, for your visitors to evaluate your company when they enter your workplace for the first time. In this timeframe, the your guest forms a judgment about your company based on your corporate appearance, your company body language so to speak, your company style, your representations, and how your reception area is addressed.

With every new visit, you are appraised, and yet additional mental imprints of your company are formed. These first impressions c...

No matter how you like to communicate; send an email, write a letter, speak your words, send a text, or even sign a phrase, there is always one common purpose, to get your message from here to there. When you think of all the possible ways to get your message across, there’s still more… Aside from all the common ways that everybody thinks of, there’s a host of non-verbal ones as well; a smile may be engaging and a grimace may show discontent. Expert’s estimate 93% of all communication isn’t coming out of your mouth. These fundamental truths are...

Whether you know it or not, the most essential thing about creating a great first on-site impression with your visitors has little to do with what you have to say, and the whole enchilada to do with how you make them FEEL. One of the paramount ways to achieve this is to formulate the energy of your office reception area before you even think about engaging with a potential client there. You want the vitality of your lobby space to capture and build interest in your business right from the start. You want your entryway to be filled with positive...