When you walk into a room and it’s covered wall to wall with banners that draw you from one point to another, that’s environmental design. When the waiting area at a restaurant has a TV screen built into the floor that interacts with wallscreens as you walk over the spot, that’s environmental design. And when your entire office embodies your brand to give clients comfort and confidence in your work, that’s environmental design.

Environmental design is more than hanging a sign or painting a wall. It’s engineering your visitors’ experience to elicit specific feelings. It’s something we at Signworks love doing. Seeing how our work can affect people on an emotional level gets us excited about our jobs. Designing your environment, not just individual signs or wayfinding, lets you have a greater impact on your audience than you ever thought you could have.

Psychology backs this up with a number of studies done throughout the year on the amount of daylight and its effects on consumers, ambiance and emotion regulation, ceiling height and a sense of freedom and more.

“We love environmental design projects because they really let us put our thinking hats on and get creative,” Andy Chapman, principle at Signworks, says. “It’s creatively challenging to think about every element of the experience, from what visitors see outside your building to their experience walking in, what they see and even what they feel for touchable pieces.”

From years of work with the Indianapolis Children’s Museum, we’re familiar and comfortable with making signage and products durable for little hands. We’ve used this knowledge for environmental design projects with Harvest Bible Chapel and the Indiana State Fair, among others.

Leave a comment on our Facebook page describing the coolest environmental design you’ve ever seen. If you’re interested in learning more about this type of design and the environments Signworks has created, let’s talk!