• PRODUCTIVITY

Play and productivity: using colour to enhance the employee experience

July, 2018

Want to create a more productive office? Or influence the way employees feel when they come to work every morning?

The happy shades and bold aesthetics referenced in the latest Antron Colour Trends Report are designed to encourage playfulness, creativity and productivity.

Colour can profoundly affect every aspect of your life. Play is essential for human development and happiness. By bringing these twin aesthetics together you can begin to infuse fun into your office design. Antron have taken a Bauhaus approach in their latest colour trend report, creating blocks of yellow, green, purple, blue and pink to spice up the office environment and to introduce playful elements.

The science of colour

The way we absorb and see light and colour is governed by the hypothalamus which controls much of our behaviour. But it’s not the colour itself that makes us behave in a certain way, but the intensity of the shade – the more intense, the more stimulating.

But the science of colour goes further. The psychological primary colours are red which stimulates the body, blue which affects the mind, and yellow which is associated with the ego and emotions. Interestingly, creating secondary colours means you harness the effects of them both – so purple affects the mind and body while green balances the mind and the emotions.

So how does colour affect fun and productivity in the office?

Play with colour

65% of employees are collaborating in the office at any one time. Creating a fun design allows employees to work together in an environment that can stimulate or soothe – and that in turn promotes creativity, enthusiasm and energy. The playful use of colours creates a real buzz in team areas used for collaboration and problem solving.

A colour block of Jet Engine Red Hexxtiles would create a sense of dynamism and energy in the office by associating the science of colour with a strong geometric shape. Or imagine a ribbon of yellow flooring leading your workforce to a breakout area where they can collaborate in a mindful environment.

Promote productivity through colour

If your office is a hive of mind workers, then a serene blue environment combining sea blue carpet and the soothing geomimicry of Freedom Bark flooring creates the right mood for productivity.

If you’re a designer or engaged in the creative industries, an optimistic yellow will appeal to your spirit of creativity.

Green, with its balance between mind and spirit may just be the perfect colour for the fun and productive office. Antron’s bold bright green is reminiscent of Pantone’s Greenery and works perfectly against neutral carpeting inspired by nature for a fresh and clean take on the geomimicry and colour blocking trends that are currently influencing open office design. Create an environment that makes your workers happy and they may experience a 20% jump in productivity.

Colour never exists in a vacuum. It’s the way you play with tones, intensity and contrasts that creates the most desirable effect. If you want to encourage productivity and creativity in 2019, bring together bold and bright colour with grids and geometric shapes. Try experimenting with Hexxtiles for an instant hit of colour blocking and don’t be afraid to let your office design play with the idea of fun.

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