What Are Environmental Graphics Services and How Are They Applied?

Environmental Graphics
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If you don’t think the way your business is presented isn’t a big deal, you need to stop for a minute and consider this statistic. Potential customers were surveyed about the reasons they choose to patronize a business, and over 80% said the layout and environmental design of a business were essential to whether they chose to do business with a company. Because the way the exterior and interior of a building are so essential to the success or failure of a business, you need to understand what environmental graphics services are, how they are applied to a business, and why they are so important.

What Are Environmental Graphics Services?

Simply defined, environmental graphics services combine several disciplines to work together to enhance the look of a business. Environmental graphics services combine the talents of graphic designers, landscape designers, architects, artists, lighting experts, and any other relevant disciplines together to come up with an integrated plan for interior and exterior design. The design is often centered on the theme, mission, vision, or business objectives of a business.

There are lots of ways environmental graphics represent themselves within a business. There might be a combination of sculpture, topiaries, hardscaping, and other landscaping elements around the business. When a customer walks into a business, they may see branding on elevator doors, within lettering on the business interior, branding, and graphics, murals, furniture design of waiting and conference areas, and even signage and access to areas within a business.

The goal of environmental graphics services is to project a central message for the business that will stick in a customer’s mind, and will trigger feelings of business confidence, warmth, and attention to detail. You want your customers to become attached to the message your business is sending out. You want your customers to feel inspired to create and work with your business, and environmental graphics services help you present that inspiration.

Is This a New Area of Design?

Not exactly. In fact, the initial elements of environmental graphic design are nearly 50 years old. In the 1970s and 1980s, advertisers and graphic designers began to incorporate fonts and branding throughout buildings as a way to tie in a message for clients and customers to identify with. The environmental graphic design field has gradually expanded to cover the interior and exterior of the building and has even become a way for a business to celebrate milestones, advertise their concern for society or the environment, or even to celebrate a business rebranding.

What Are the Types of Environmental Graphic Design?

Over the years, the field of environmental graphic design, or EGD, has expanded to cover different areas within design. There are currently five types of environmental graphic design.

Wayfinding Systems

In large businesses, and institutions, the first step to ensuring a potential client or customer can connect to your business is to ensure that they can find their way around. Wayfinding systems environment graphics design uses graphic design, architecture, hardscaping, signage, and landscaping to help everyone from the employee on their first day on the job to a new customer visiting for an initial meeting to find their way around. Good wayfinding systems designers can combine color, texture, graphics, and branding into a welcoming and informative directive.

Exhibition Design

For many businesses, it is important to display your message, whether it is at your headquarters, at trade shows, or even at exhibitions. Exhibition design combines elements of graphic design, art, architecture, lighting, audio, and innovative technology to create amazing graphical displays.

Interactive Experiences

The goal of interactive experiences in environmental graphic design is to get the client or customer to interact with the space of a business as a whole. Usually, these designers are focusing on actual touchpoints within a business that conjures up feelings or desires in the minds of viewers and participants. Designers can incorporate landscape design, graphics, art, architecture, and advertising into a whole-building experience.

Public Installation

These designers usually focus on large pieces of art or sculpture that represent something the business wants people to look at and discuss. A good example of this type of public art and design is the “Bean” in Chicago, actually titled “Cloud Gate”,  which was made to look like mercury and to reflect the commerce and activity in Downtown Chicago. It is one of Chicago’s most famous landmarks and has invited commentary for over 20 years.

Placemaking and Identity

This area of environmental graphic design is to give potential clients or customers a sense of inclusion and belonging through exterior and interior design. Instead of directing people around, this type of environmental design asks you to feel right at home.

How Are Environmental Graphics Applied to a Business?

If you think your business would benefit from environmental graphic design services, the process starts simply. You need to look for an EGD team that will come in, take a look around, and help you brainstorm what you are looking for in terms of your business goals and what you want your company to move towards. This brainstorming part of environmental graphic design can take a while because you need input from your managers, employees, and customers.

Once you have some ideas about what you are looking for in your EGD services, you will then work with a design team to figure out how to get your message across through the interior and exterior of your building. The goal of EGD is to incorporate as many senses as possible–because research shows that the more senses are activated through messaging, the longer the message will be retained.

The design team will then go away and develop that plan for your business, and they will then present it to your business. Once your environmental design plan is approved, the designers will begin the installation process. That means it’s time for you to relax and let the designers do the work. If you hired the right design team, the message and branding of your company will be loud and clear to everyone who enters your business. When you are ready to look into environmental graphic design, it’s time to give the environmental design team at Amer-Print a call today, so we can get started on your design revolution.