Office Space Design // 4 Reasons Why you Need Art at the Workplace

Office Space Design // 4 Reasons Why you Need Art at the Workplace

Most people connect with art because it touches a memory, or it conjures up an image of a time or place beyond our every day reach.

Art gives us a brief vacation from the stress and pressures we face daily. For a moment in time you can daydream a little. In a blink of an eye you are then refreshed in some special way and are re-energized for the rest of the work day.

Today art is becoming part of the workplace as there are so many advantages that come with it. While art is also becoming quite expensive, workplaces like coworking spaces are incorporating art in their office space design not only for the aesthetic value but also to help drive productivity, reduce stress at the office, increase creativity, enhance  morale, broaden appreciation of diversity, and encourage open dialogue.

Art in the workplace promotes all these fundamental needs and more. Here are more reasons why art is important when setting up your office space design:

Art helps communicate the Brand’s Message

Placing artwork on your office walls can reflect your company’s history and show its character and personality to employees, clients and partners alike. 

It also portrays the pride you have in your place of work — for instance, you might have a collection of inspirational art prints on the wall alongside team photos to demonstrate that you’re serious about what you do, while also adding a little bit of fun to the office. 

While if you’re a global business, you can display art from different parts of the world to demonstrate your international reach, or have pieces that relate to what you do. 

Whatever you choose, your office space design artwork can humanize your brand, giving it a personality and making it easier for clients to relate to your team and work.

Art Encourages Creative Thinking

Looking at art in the office can encourage deep interpretation, thought and consideration of the piece in question, helping you to find that creative spark and apply it to your own work.

As such, people tend to prefer impressionist and abstract art, which triggers the imagination. 

As staying in one place all day, staring at the same blank walls won’t encourage any creative thoughts, having the flexibility to move around and see inspiring pieces of art may help kickstart new ideas. 

Most importantly, not only will the creatives in your team find artwork motivating, but those who aren’t so innately inventive will as well.

Art helps improve employee stress, health, and performance

Art in the workplace has also been shown to benefit employee well-being and performance. 

This is significant, as the office can easily become a place of stress and tension, and people become cognitively exhausted after prolonged periods of highly-focused work. 

Viewing artwork, particularly realistic nature scenes, helps workers restore mental energy and reduce stress. 

Unsurprisingly, both of these effects boost brain performance. Seeing nature images in artwork has also been linked to lower levels of anger in workplaces. 

People who work in environments decorated with aesthetically-engaging art like coworking spaces typically experience less stress and anger in response to task-related frustration, and thus help to build a more collaborative and enjoyable workplace

Also Read: Office Space Design // Bring Your Workspace to Life with these 11 Plants

Art as a tool for wayfinding, culture, and employee ownership

Workplaces can often feel like a maze of desks, hallways, and doors. Because our brains hold onto memorable environmental features, art can usefully function as a landmark, helping people traveling through a space to remember where they’ve been. 

It can also come in handy when providing directions. Additionally, while work environments can sometimes feel like universes unto themselves, art in the workplace can serve as an outlet for highlighting local culture and community, creating a bridge between the workplace and its surroundings. 

Successful corporate collections often feature local artists and demonstrate direct reference to the proximate cultural milieu.

For organizations hoping to give employees a sense of agency in their workplace environments, allowing workers to choose and position their own art can supply them a feeling of control, which has been linked to enhanced professional performance at the individual, group, and organizational levels. 

Participatory murals take this a step further, allowing employees to interact with the art post-installation and on their own terms.

In general, employees show the most attention to detail, process and manage information best, and show the highest levels of organizational citizenship when their workplaces both display art and have allowed input into its selection and placement.