What is decorating the walls around you?
Is it something that brings you joy, and inspiration?
I recently finished a project addressing these questions. What we see around us creates an environment that has a huge impact on our personal outlook, effecting everything we do.
The design dilemma was this, a new office space with pre existing hardware and holes in the blank walls. The main areas of interest, a skinny hallway, and a larger open wall space.
The next question was, how to address barren walls in an office space shared by many people with differing but distinguished visual aesthetics?
I quickly developed a three step process to handle this unique project
1. Consider the space, and those who will interact with it
2. Select a medium for the body of work
3. Create a concept for grouping the work together
I wanted something that would give the space a clean overall look, while giving inspiration to the users of the space. Keeping in mind how many hours are spent in the office, I really wanted to give those working in the space a positive personal connection. Photography has become a common hobby. Many people own digital cameras, and have opportunities take pictures all over the world. As it turned out one member of the office team had a wonderful mountain picture from a trip to Tibet, and another had visited Africa taking some some great animal photographs. I decided photography would be a perfect medium for the project. The concept for the space would be Nature Around The World. To achieve a clean over all look in the space I focused on black and white photography to help create continuity.
With answers to my three step process, and frame sizes in mind I went to work creating thumbnail layouts. Sometimes I find looking at a HUGE blank space can be intimidating, thumbnail sketches are a great way to explore ideas on a smaller scale.
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| Hallway Photo Layout Side A |
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| Hallway Photo Layout Side B |
For the long hallway I utilized photos I have taken while backpacking in the USA and Canada. I also included the wonderful mountain photo taken in Tibet by one of the office team members.
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| Juxtaposition Photo Layout |
Juxtaposition is not just a fun word, it also supplies visual interest. I did not want to wander too far off concept, however while working I saw an opportunity to add interest. By introducing small pops of color in juxtaposition to a larger black and white photo on a large open wall. I utilized photos of tropical heliconia flowers I took while in Costa Rica, and I placed them on either side of a stunning photo of zebras grazing taken by an office team member while in Africa. The end result was a fun and energizing arrangement.
I hope these ideas help to alleviate the dreaded Blank Canvas Syndrome and inspire you to take a closer look at what is hanging on the walls in your space.
