How to Brand Your Office or Retail Space
How Interior Design Affects Business
Have you ever thought about how the design choices you make for your business’ physical space affect your business? Or how it affects your employees; their mood, productivity and overall satisfaction with work? From how your employees feel in their work space, to the impression your clients get when they use your restroom, design matters and design tells a story.
Your brand is your reputation. Something as seemingly insignificant as the handsoap dispenser in your public bathroom being broken contributes to your reputation and therefore your brand. A broken soap dispenser says more than “I don’t have time to fix this”, it tells your clients and employees that you don’t value them enough to provide a working solution to wash their hands. It says that at the end of the day, something as small as ordering a new soap dispenser is too much work, tarnishing your credibility to solve their problems.
This week on the podcast, we are exploring the importance of interior design as a strategy for your business with guest, Tara Miller of The Hearland Interior Design.
In the episode, Miller unpacks the differences between interior design and interior decorating, and the idea of graphic and interior design being art that solves a problem.
Don’t forget to take advantage of this generous gift from The Heartland Interior Design and upgrade your zoom background!
Ep. 30:
How to Brand Your Office or Retail Space
Automated Transcript
Raj Lulla:
How do you bring your brand to life in a physical space? Welcome to Growing a Fruitful Brand, where we discuss how to create and grow a brand that makes the world a better place for you, your customers, and your employees. I'm Raj Lulla, Principal Brand Strategist at Fruitful Design and Strategy.
Today, my guest is Tara Miller from the Heartland Interior Design. Tara is an expert at bringing brands to life in physical spaces. She will tell us about how to create an experience for your customers and your employees that engages all of their senses. And how you approach your space really shows how you think about yourself and the kinds of interactions you want to have with your customers and your employees. Whether you are a Zoom worker working only from home or a big company about to break ground on a new office space, Tara's got something for everybody in this episode.
We talk about how places like Apple and Las Vegas think about their spaces and how no matter what stage of business we're in, we can use our space to shape the kinds of interactions we have with people. Enjoy this conversation with Tara from the Heartland Interior Design. Tara, thanks for being with us.
Tara Miller:
Yeah, thank you so much for having me.
Raj Lulla:
Tara, so you own the Heartland Interior Design. And so, right there, I feel like we should probably just start with what is interior design?
Tara Miller:
Oh, that is a loaded question. It could take months to unpack, but I'll try to give a little synthesis. I think interior design is how people experience the built environment, which can be experienced in a lot of different ways, but for sure all five senses.
I think a lot of times people only think of sight, but there's also sound, which acoustic design is very important to how a space feels, touch, like the tactile touch of the furniture, the walls, is it smooth and sleek? Is it natural and textural? Is it a little more rough and grungy that aids to an experience and how it's fault? Smell is a huge thing too. Certain hotel chains pump specific branded scents through their air conditioning units because scent is a huge memory trigger.
So, I think a space that has good interior design makes a person feel a certain way. And I think well-designed interiors have a function in mind, so that could be connection, it could be sales, it could be the opposite of connection, like a library where we want everyone really quiet, really focused, really individual.
Interior design is the interior, but it's also how the interior interacts with what's outside. It can be done strategically to make people feel a certain way and experience certain things. In retail, design interiors can aid to highlighting certain products, selling certain products, being bringing people to point of sale. In hospitality settings, it can be really fueled towards community and connection in how a space is laid out, how people circulate, how furniture is arranged to really encourage human interaction.
Interior design is a weapon to be used however you want for good or for evil. Do you want the home to be casual and welcoming? Or is it a place where you entertain a lot? Do you have kids and dogs? Does it need to be super durable? Or are you a bachelor who host business meetings from home or has people over to their house to entertain for not family reasons, but business reasons? Is it more about cigars and scotch or golf simulators or having a wine gallery? You can design the home based around how you live and everyone lives differently, right?
Raj Lulla:
Right.
Tara Miller:
So, I mean, there's residential design, which is more private. And there's commercial design, which is typically more public spacing, public facing. And we do both to different degrees. And I enjoy both thoroughly because they present a different set of problems and different solutions, and they both have different code limitations, but both allow you to be very creative.
Raj Lulla:
Yeah, you talked about the interaction between the outside space and the inside space, and reminds me of two classic examples, one being Vegas, where they don't want you to think about outside. And so, they do so much to keep you from doing that. You seem like you have a thought there.
Tara Miller:
Okay, so I think I wrote a blog post on this one time. But okay, so there's the Old Vegas approach to design, which I forget the guys who... It's like, a documented thing that these two guys created this old approach to Vegas, and it was the disorientation approach, where you walk in and you're in a sea of the machines and they're pumping cold air and to keep you awake there.
The circulation routes, you can't really find where to walk, you don't really know where to check in, and you get very disoriented. And they did that intentionally because they thought that it would... And it's proven to be true, that people would get lost and spend more time and money on the machines than if they literally couldn't get away. And yeah, no outside windows because they really wanted to be focused on the machine. That was the light, that's what drew them in.
But then, and I don't know the year or the name at the moment because I'm so on the spot, but this is 100% true. Someone decided to make a better customer experience to see if they would be happier, and then if that would increase sales. So, they made clear paths of travel, well-lit spaces. They let natural light in, so people could find where they were going. They could see if it was night or day. They could choose if they wanted to gamble or if they wanted to go check-in at the front desk. And that increased people's happiness, which did increase their spending.
So, you'll actually see over the past 10 years, a lot of hotels in Vegas and casinos have been undergoing massive renovations to this psychology shift in interior design to make people less confused and more happy, which then helps their profit.
Raj Lulla:
That's fascinating. It's also the most Donald Miller thing ever, and really you confuse in a space you will lose. But we talk about that, I was messaging all the time.
Tara Miller:
Yeah.
Raj Lulla:
The other example that came to mind was Apple Park in Cupertino was designed almost opposite of that, where, well, at least at the old Vegas, where they wanted the inside and the outside to blend so seamlessly that they actually started running into a problem where people were walking into the glass walls because they were on their iPhones at Apple Park, of course.
And so, there was a memo that circulated asking people to stop putting sticky notes on the glass to remind people that there's windows there because it was ruining the aesthetic and putting sticky marks on the glass. But I assume they probably figured this out by now.
Tara Miller:
Oh, my gosh. That's crazy. I mean, when it comes to blending the outdoors and the indoors, it's rooted in the scientific study of biophilic design, which wasn't a big buzzword until COVID hit. And then, everyone realized their need for nature. But prior to that, way back in the day when I was in design school in college, biophilic design was heavily implemented for some healthcare because of the documented increase in health and rehab time was shorter.
Raj Lulla:
Air recovering thing?
Tara Miller:
Yeah.
Raj Lulla:
Wow.
Tara Miller:
And so, that's why I knew about it first from a healthcare perspective, because in school we had to study healthcare design. And so, just things like natural light, having plants inside, even having natural materials or organic shapes, anything that felt more natural. Even a landscape photo or painting, if you don't have a window, just bringing that idea of the outside in really is very beneficial for the human psychology.
And I think it became very apparent during lockdowns and I was asked to write multiple articles on biophilic design, which is crazy because I'm not a biophilic expert. But I think, most interiors had that underlying training as a design principle. And I think, it's so great that that idea got elevated more into the mainstream of society, so that people can better their mental health just by implementing a few different nuggets of biophilic design.
Raj Lulla:
Yeah, that's incredible. And just even you talking about that has made me think it's like, I probably need a landscape photo in my office because we have great natural light in our open spaces around here. And sometimes, I'll just go work in our conference room because I don't want to just be stuck between walls.
Tara Miller:
Yeah, you're drawn to that space and you didn't know a lot.
Raj Lulla:
Yeah, yeah.
Tara Miller:
You can get, I mean, I see you have some fake plants, so that's good. But you could also get a real plant that doesn't need light like a low light plant or some landscape imagery. I mean, it's good that you do have even these little light slits. It's not... So, you have a glass door and you have a glass slit, which does allow secondhand light to filter in.
Raj Lulla:
I do like that a lot, yup.
Tara Miller:
Yeah, rather than completely walled off which...
Raj Lulla:
Because even my office is right next door to where we are right now. And what Tara is talking about, we do have these glass floor to ceiling panels in the walls. And I'll get just the smallest sliver of a natural light in because it comes through the windows and through that little glass pane right there. And I mean, it does help a lot.
Tara Miller:
That's everything, yes. Do you want to know something really fun?
Raj Lulla:
What's that?
Tara Miller:
That you can do? There's these things called prism stickers, and you can put them on your exterior windows. And then, at certain times of the day when it gets direct sunlight, it actually casts prism like rainbows into your space that are super fun. My 3-year-old loves it and I love it just as much. I love prism stickers.
Raj Lulla:
My kids would absolutely love that, yeah.
Tara Miller:
It's just fun. I have a few in my studio that hit in the morning, and then one at 2:00 because I feel like those are the tired, the most tired times of the day. And then, just this burst of color coming through the window onto the carpet or the wall or my cabinets. It just this little visual energy boost.
Raj Lulla:
Yeah.
Tara Miller:
I love it.
Raj Lulla:
That's brilliant. And so, already we've talked about so many brilliant things, and that reminds me the first time we met, you taught me a very important distinction, which was the difference between an interior designer and interior decorator.
Tara Miller:
Amen. Can you preach? Are you a preacher?
Raj Lulla:
So, for our audience that may not be familiar with that distinction, can you tell them what's the difference between a designer and a decorator?
Tara Miller:
Oh, I mean, could we talk for the rest of my life about this? Okay. Interior decor is finishing touches, and a lot of time people think of it in a residential context such as fluffing pillows or hanging artwork or putting a vase or a coffee table book down. But stuff like that is decor. It's very surface level.
So, for example, if we're thinking about it in terms of a cake, it could be the sprinkles on top or some icing, radiant in letters. Whereas, interior design is all of the ingredients that went into the cake to bake the cake, to make the form of the cake and the flavor of the cake and the height of the cake and the shape of the cake, and all of the internal workings.
Raj Lulla:
Yeah, should be a round cake or a square cake? Those like...
Tara Miller:
Yeah, sweet cake or a savory. Is there crunch in there? Is it smooth? So, interior design is, you have a, void and then you have a mass. So, you have this volume of space. Do you want it to feel big and airy or do you want it to feel small and cozy and intimate? Do you want it to be bright and illuminated, or do you want it to feel like darker and more moody and a vibe? Do you want it to be loud, have materials that reverberate sounds, so it feels energetic and loud and noisy? Or do you want it do the walls and the ceiling and the floor to absorb sounds so it feels more quiet and tranquil like a spa or a library?
There are all these factors to interior design that people don't think about because they only think about the visual. But there's also the spacial experience, the tactile experience, the amount of light, size, contrast, you can use light to illuminate certain areas and darken out certain areas. There's way finding. There's certain strategic things you can do to make people move to different areas of a space in a procession through a retail space. You want them to see this product first, this product second, and then end up at the point of sale, a very natural progression.
So, there's all these different things you can do to create an interior experience through interior design, whereas interior decor doesn't think about any of those things.
Raj Lulla:
Yeah, and I think that that is very similar to our industry where, you have people who are good artists, they often maybe more the crafty space or making a card or something like that. And visually, aesthetically, they can do it really well. But graphic design in our industry, we talk about how it's art that solves a problem, that you have to have that function, that problem that you're solving or else it's just art. And that's great. It serves a purpose.
But if you need to accomplish something with it, giving your company an identity or selling something on your website, then you need that more strategic touch to what you're doing. So, that makes a lot of sense. So, you talking about that ingredients for the cake and the shape and function, all that with the cake, it leads us to something that is an issue with, again, your industry and our industry where a lot of times people will approach you maybe not too late in the project, but definitely later than they should have. Can you tell me about that? When's the ideal time to reach out to an interior designer if you are either building or rehabbing a space?
Tara Miller:
So, it depends if it's residential or commercial. If it's new development of an entire landscape for developers, new construction of a singular building or renovation of a current space or a tenant buildout, these are all different scales, different calibers.
So, wherever you are, you probably know which one of those scales you need. And those different things require different amount of time and different amount of attention to detail. For residential projects, I say reach out to us. So, that's homes, anything that's home, new construction, renovation. If you want our full service and you want us to help you through the entire process, we say minimum, reach out to us six months in advanced.
And we say the process could take anywhere from six months to three years. And so, it's really important to get all of the design done upfront before construction starts, because getting the design done, and then we document it, we make 3D imagery, we make a design bible, we have technical interior design drawings. We give that all to the builder, and all the subcontractors, so they can see it. They have dimensions, they have the exact products, they can order it on time, so there's no construction delay. It's all the documenting up front, which helps for smooth construction. And then, construction happens. And then, the final soft finishes go in, furniture, art, accessories, lamps, rugs, all that stuff. So, I would say full service.
Raj Lulla:
So, before construction starts for residential, for full service...
Tara Miller:
Before design starts for residential, six months out.
Raj Lulla:
Okay, yup.
Tara Miller:
Yeah.
Raj Lulla:
So, design being like with the architect then?
Tara Miller:
Yeah, with residential, we can come in right away with the architect. We prefer to come in when the architect has the plan, the architect or builder. Some builders have in-house drafters, either or. We want the plans to be around 75% when we come in because then we'll do an interior red line.
Raj Lulla:
Okay.
Tara Miller:
Because I think it's really important to have multiple eyes on the plans before it's built because the architect will look at the set of plans one way, the homeowner will look at a set of plans one way, the builder will look at the set of plans one way, and an interior designer will look at a set of plans one way.
For example, one of the things interior designers catch a lot is the, for HVAC, for just heating and cooling, the vents are always to the side of a window, which is exactly where your drapers come down. So, they always get blown up, right?
Raj Lulla:
Oh, my gosh, yeah.
Tara Miller:
So, we'll redline that and say, "Hey, can you center that on the window where there's not a drapery?" So, every time the air comes on, you don't get this huge...
Raj Lulla:
That's an option. Do you know how many times in my house I go by and I move all the curtains away from the... Oh, my gosh.
Tara Miller:
Yes. And then, for me, as a mother, I'm thinking of coming in the garage with my kid with the groceries. And then, that process of functionality of, okay, where do I drop these off? What is the process like of getting the groceries in the house then to the fridge?
Raj Lulla:
Yeah.
Tara Miller:
Right? Because sometimes, the layout or the path is too long where about functionality and beauty when it comes to residential. When it comes to commercial, like we talked about in many different levels. There's tenant buildouts, there's existing remodels, there's whole new building construction, and then there's large developments.
So, with the developers we've worked with, they have reached out to us years before the ground has ever broken because we work with the architect and the team from concept through schematic, through design development, through construction documentation. And then, when construction is happening, construction administration, and then final procurement, we do all of those stages, which depending on the size of the development, takes a few years to many years.
And then, for new construction building, depends on the square footage, but I would say minimum, reach out to us six months to a year, and ahead of time would be ideal. That is for our full service. We do have a smaller package called design direction, which is completely virtual, which is mostly popular with our residential clients. And you can reach out to us in any stage of your project for that and we'll help you where you're at.
We just don't come to the site, you don't interact with us. But you do get a lot of really great deliverables to set you on a tried and true path and where you feel confident in making those next decisions.
Raj Lulla:
And that's great. I feel like I won't speak for the rest of my family, but I'll say that for me, I'll find little pieces that I like. And I think this goes in our home, and then you get it there and it's like a hodgepodge of things that I liked all of them individually, but together nothing really works. So, yeah, that's great.
Tara Miller:
Yeah. So, stress and then option overwhelm are the two pain points that we see a lot of our clients having. Option overwhelm is huge and we help you narrow down based on your style, based on your budget, and based on your timeline, what options are available.
And since I'm looking at example, a tile every single day of my life, you don't have to go to seven tile stores across the city to try to find a backsplash tile. When I have a library full and reps coming to me constantly with new stuff and I know what size you need, what colors could work, so I can narrow thousands of options down to three. And then, put it with all the other materials in your room, whether that be paint, cabinetry, countertop, a rug sample, a dining chair, leather sample. So, I can literally show it all to you physically, and then we can do a 3D rendering, so you can walk through it in real time.
Raj Lulla:
That's amazing, yeah.
Tara Miller:
You're welcome.
Raj Lulla:
I actually asked Ben to buy the rug in my office because I got so stuck in options that I was just like, "I can't do it." And so, I was like, "You just pick, I need a rug because it's too loud in here," but I end up having to have him do it.
Tara Miller:
Yeah, that is so funny.
Raj Lulla:
That's a real pain point.
Tara Miller:
Yeah.
Raj Lulla:
So, one thing that I'm sure you run into is this idea that design, we run into this too, is isn't design just superfluous? Isn't it an extra, it's a nice to have? We have a lot of business owners that listen to our podcast. And why is design, interior design worth investing in? Why is it worth making part of your process for your space?
Tara Miller:
I think it depends on the area of business you're in. We so far have been blessed to work with a lot of small female business owners, particularly in the retail or hospitality space. And what's been amazing with working with them is they had a really solid branding presence already online through social media website, and then physically through local pop-ups, throughout the community.
So, I loved was seeing what these ladies had already established because that's what their clients already knew and loved about them. And so, then how my job is when they decided to take that leap and turn their baby into a brick and mortar, how can we help translate that look and that feel into a 3D built environment to where when a customer sees them on Instagram, and then steps foot into their door, there's no disconnect and it feels the same.
Raj Lulla:
So, in retail and hospitality, it really brings the brand to life. You talked about engaging all five senses. Also, helping draw people to certain products, and also to check out. I always think about how I've been fascinated by how an airports, the design is supposed to be such that you don't even have to look up at the sign that you just know where you're going based off of the carpet and the lines and all of those things.
And that same thing happens in a physical store too like, you walk into Target and you have a sense of where the checkout is, no matter where you are in the store. In fact, I was told by a Target employee, I don't know if this is 100% true, but the super Target on Maple was one of the first super Targets in the United States, and they started making them smaller after that because people were literally getting lost in the store.
Tara Miller:
Wow.
Raj Lulla:
And, again, this came from a Target employee, I don't know if...
Tara Miller:
Yeah, I believe it.
Raj Lulla:
Yeah. But so, that way finding that experience of, because I mean, ultimately, somebody could get frustrated enough that they're just going to leave a cart full of stuff in the back of the store and just try to wander their way out because they're like, "I don't have time. I got to go pick up the kids from the sitter or whatever."
So, in retail hospitality, we can definitely see how that matters. In a B2B business to business environment, I think it'd be easy for a business owner to be like, and again, it's a nice to have, but it feels a little extra, especially in this economy, whatever. What should an office environment be thinking about in terms of their interior design?
Tara Miller:
Yeah, there's two things. There's company culture, and then there's also how you want your clients to feel when they come in or your customers to feel when they come in, or if you host a community event, how you want the general public to feel when they're in your space, when you're hosting them. So, first impressions are so big, not only in relations but also in spaces. And I read one time that it takes 13 good interactions to overcome a first bad impression.
Raj Lulla:
Wow, yeah.
Tara Miller:
So, that's a lot. So, and immediately, when you walk in with reception or waiting or whatever type of a threshold you have from the outside world to your inner world is huge because that is the first impression of your business, your quality of service, your level of service. Are you laid back casual and approachable? Are you really high-end and refined and more exclusive? There are different lighting materials, signage, colors, materials that can give both of those feelings.
And so, you want that to be known right off the bat because if you are a business that's in alignment with yourself and you know what your business stands for and who your target market is, then you can use your interior to just keep aiding in that and keep in alignment with your business, your brand strategy, which is not things I know of, which is your specialty.
And so, that's why I love when businesses that we work with come in with their branding package already ready to go, and we'll take that baton and keep running the course and stay in alignment with the brand and feeding that narrative and that feeling of the brand with the interior. So, that was a lot just to talk about an entryway.
And then, there's the conference room, which is where a lot of business happens, both internally as a team. And when you do have clients coming in, it's one of the most public facing areas outside of reception. And the conference room can say a lot in person, but it can also say a lot over Zoom as I'm doing a lot of Zoom conferences, even with architects down in Texas or property managers for apartment complexes that we've worked on, we'll Zoom.
And same thing like is their office large? Does it have natural light? Is there a really modern light fixture? Do they have tons of chairs? Do they have a big team? Are they progressive? Are they forward thinking? Or are they a little more understated and conservative and they're not very loud or flashy? Are they more laid back relaxed? There's just so much brand ethos that you can say through a space, and that I think specifically translates in person and digitally in the conference room.
One of my favorite things because it's very fundamental and every human does is use the restroom. So, I think restrooms are the biggest tell to how a business is doing because it's the last place that people will invest, and most people will use the restroom at some point in their life. So, if you pay attention to that, that's really great.
Raj Lulla:
Yeah.
Tara Miller:
The bathroom experience can aid to, again, the level of sophistication or playfulness or whimsy or naturalness or recycled content. There's so many different things that a bathroom can make you feel. And not only do you know use the bathroom, but you also can see the quality of materials you see yourself. The lighting in there, is it very bright and airy and straightforward? Is it more dark and moody?
And then, it's interesting because even down to the hand soap you use, the scent of it and the dispenser that it's in, is it attached to the wall? Is it a hand pump? Is it in glass? Is it in plastic? All these tactile experiences aid the memory, especially smell because smell is a huge memory trigger. And so, then once people leave, they remember that front desk, they remember the office, they remember the bathroom. And then, all that shapes their perception of you, the business and what it would be like to do business with you. And so, I think all of those things create a lasting impression for not only the people who work there, but people who come in from a client perspective as well.
Raj Lulla:
I'm going to go scrub down Fruitful's bathroom. No, it is interesting though, because that is a place that we haven't been able to invest in as much yet, but there were some very specific things that we did. We replaced the stock mirror with one that was a little bit more aesthetic.
And then, in partnership with access period that we have had a great branding and marketing partnership with, it was important to me that the restrooms that period products were available as well. And that does speak to the values of a company, of just making sure that we recognize the people who are going to be there, even if we don't have millions to spend on making every square inch of this place as perfect as we'd want to be. You can have those little things that do communicate who you are.
So, I'm not a designer, but our company started purely as a graphic design firm. And now, we do design and strategy, but all very related to design products. Things are supposed to be out in the world. And you've got design in your title as well. Do we have to have a cage match here or are these... So, no, but you get that question a lot. We get that question a lot of where does interior design start? Where does graphic design end?
I know we get asked a lot about interiors, about where signage should go and all those things. And we certainly have some opinions, but there are also things that we don't know because we didn't study the fire codes and all of those things, and it wasn't part of our training and what we do. So, talk about that, if you would, it was just like, where do you see the difference in the interplay between graphic design and interior design?
Tara Miller:
Yeah, I think the value here is really helping the audience and the general public understand what is graphic design, what is interior design, what do we do differently? And then, where is the brief area of overlap, right?
Raj Lulla:
Yeah, yup.
Tara Miller:
So, I think a good place to start would be you defining graphic design, and then me talking about interiors. And then, we'll talk about where we overlap and how we think that overlap is brief, but super beneficial. And you building yourself up really helps me build myself up and vice versa, which I think ends up in the best possible scenario for a business owner.
Raj Lulla:
I agree. And we certainly, wouldn't have had you on the podcast if we thought this was a competition here. But no, yeah, so graphic design I talked about a little bit earlier is creativity that solves a problem. And, of course, with it being graphic, it's in the visual realm more specifically branding we think about as giving identity. So, that's in messaging and in visual to specifically a company and/or a person, an individual, but thinking of them as an entity.
Tara Miller:
Yeah.
Raj Lulla:
And so, that takes in into account your core values, your DNA, who your customer is, what your price point is, what your product offering is, where your positioning yourself in the market, who's like you, who's not like you, all those things. And it distills it down to some very foundational pieces. On your messaging side, you're going to have a one-liner or a story brand script that tells people very quickly who you are and what you do.
Tara Miller:
Yes.
Raj Lulla:
On the visual side, you're going to have a logo, you're going to have fonts, colors, you're going to have some rules around those things like, how close things can be to the logo without it encroaching on all of those space.
Tara Miller:
Space name.
Raj Lulla:
Yeah, what fonts you should use. And I think, I mentioned colors. If I didn't, colors are another big one. What is compatible with your visual identity and what's not? You get those rules, those guidelines, the foundation of what your brand looks like.
And people should be able to tell sometimes by seeing, if you saw a Coca-Cola advertisement and they didn't put the logo at the end, you would still know it's a Coca-Cola advertisement. If they only showed the silhouette of the glass bottle, you would know that it's a Coca-Cola advertisement.
And funny thing is probably even if it were a Pepsi bottle, you'd probably get some people who could go like, "Is this a Coke commercial?" Because just using a bottle at all is a great icon. It's a symbol of their brand. And that's a lot of what graphic design does in branding is, it boils it all down to these almost irreducible elements. This is the essence of your visual identity.
And that I think is a great place to pause, and then go to what interior design is because that's where we try to stop after everything's on a website and printed material, all those things. Then, we get asked those questions about, or the start to encroach on your world of signage and environment and all that. So, yeah, let's hear from your side then.
Tara Miller:
So, we love to take that, like you said, the messaging, the core values. We also focus on target market, which is one of our overlaps. But looking at your logo, your brand colors, all those things that you've already talked about, we'll do also our own research on target market as far as what other venues of the same capacity and caliber have for interior spaces.
But things we focus on are obviously building codes like human safety, fire codes, ADA accessibility codes, and making sure that the space doesn't break any codes and can open for business. And we also focus on circulation, and then how the space is going to function like what's the goal? Is it sales? Is it connection? So, do you want sociopetal environment or sociofugal furniture arrangement?
We think about sequence of events, different thresholds, different sizes, different lighting conditions, all to aid the goal of this space, and how you want a person to feel in this space or what you want them to be doing in this space, you can really control a lot. And then, the tactile things such as the touch, the texture of the wall of the floor, is it natural? Is it more like vinyl? Is it so more mass produced? Is it more elevated and sleek? And is it like a hand varnished, metal, or is it a printed sticker? Those are two different levels for a signage or a logo.
And then, the soft finishes is the last thing. We build the base with all the hard finishes. And then, the furniture, if it's a linen wrapped sconce that makes it a little more natural or earthy or elevated. And so, we focus on how that looks, how that feels, how that's experienced as you move through the space and how it connects to the neighborhood or the nature outside, whatever is beyond. We want to definitely compliment and not fight that. We want to build with that.
And so, I think where our overlap comes in is obviously, color, and then, signage. And so, one thing that I think is really interesting is that the biggest flaw that I see people have is always putting the restroom sign on the door itself on a swinging door, which someone who's in a wheelchair literally can't go up to a swinging door to start feeling braille, there's strict codes to where it has to be the side, a certain height off the floor, certain inches away from the door, so that someone who is in a wheelchair or has a cane or has a walker can safely read, and then strategically place himself in front of the door to move through it without getting hit by someone else coming in or out, so it's more able-bodied.
Raj Lulla:
Oh, that's great.
Tara Miller:
So, I think it's important to, yes, consider the right font for the sign and the right colors to stay in brand. But then, there's also materiality that could elevate it or make it more playful or casual. There's certain size restrictions when it comes to the braille signs for code as well, but I think that's an area of overlap.
Another area of overlap is the signage behind the front desk or on the building. And I think same thing, if we're sticking to those colors, if we're sticking to the right fonts, we're sticking to the building codes, then it comes down to a visual textural thing like, is it reflective? Is it glossy? Is it matte? Is it reclaimed? Is it a recycled product like recycled wood? Or is it a high luster copper? Is it a hammered copper versus a smooth copper? All these things indicate a different quality, a different level of feel, a different level of time spent on it. Obviously, a different price point. So, I think signage and color are a huge overlap for us, but I don't see them as contention. I see them as compliments.
Raj Lulla:
Yeah, I agree. So, Fruitful, we have obviously a lot of botanicals in our brand. Our pitch decks, all that have plants in them because it matches our brand really well. We have a fair number of plants around here as well. But where that interacts with, is it in a metal pot? Is it in a terracotta pot? All the materials that could compliment that. And we might have some instincts as designers about, I'm saying we collectively are designers. But...
Tara Miller:
Family of us.
Raj Lulla:
Yes, but we might have some instincts about we think that whatever the vessel is for that plant, that it should be impossibly using some white or some neutrals or whatever. We might have some ideas there, but like you said, you have that whole catalog of finishes and textures and actual materials to bring into that world to make that vision come to life.
I really liked how you talked about it as a 3D experience, and so much of what we do starts on screens. Thankfully, a lot of it gets printed and fabricated into designs and those things that do bring us into that 3D world. But there will be times where we'll send it to signage companies and say, "Okay, we want this on a metal background or something like that."
But just like you said, it's like there's a lot of options there. Is it stainless steel? Is it copper? Is it brushed nickel? There's so many things that that's where our world start to interact. But just like you, I don't think that's competition. I think that's like, I'm going to call Tara, you know what I'm saying?
Tara Miller:
Yeah.
Raj Lulla:
Help us, tell and direct us. This is what the brand feels like. What would you recommend?
Tara Miller:
Yeah, let's brainstorm together to find the best solution for the client that feels in alignment with the branding, in alignment with the feeling of the interior design and something that stays on brand to the point where when customers or clients or just the general public interact with it, it feels right.
Raj Lulla:
Yeah.
Tara Miller:
And I'm not talking tactile, I'm talking like experiential, it feels right.
Raj Lulla:
Yeah, because I actually think you can go overboard on branding a space. So, our brand being on black most of the time, it would be a mistake for us to paint all of our walls black and put a Fruitful logo on every one of them. It would be a total disaster.
Tara Miller:
Yeah, I think there's really something to say about focal points and not only primary, which is what most people think of, but secondary and tertiary. And then, also having a place for the eye to rest because a successful room is when a person's eye can carry about it, and stop and rest on certain things without being overwhelmed or under engaged. And that comes with creating a balanced interior.
And a lot of times, people can step in into an interior and say, "Oh, I really like this space," but they can't exactly tell you why. And that's when you know the space is well-designed because it's not one element. It's hundreds of puzzle pieces working together from lighting to wall to floor to countertop to cabinetry to plumbing to up light versus down light versus task light versus ambient lighting versus the acoustics like, what is the absorption level of the ceiling or the walls or the upholstery? There's all these different pieces that create a finished interior, and that creates the overall experience that a person's going to have there.
Raj Lulla:
And you can redo our office, it's okay. I know, I mean, seriously, so many of those things just stand out. And I think, one thing that I would just advise our listeners is that this very much marketing, very much design is an area where you need a guide. I would love to be good at this by myself. I know that I'm not. I have little instincts of, like I said, some things.
I think this needs to, maybe have this color involved or there needs to be a plant in here, but I don't have the whole picture and would very much need a guide to put together a cohesive and successful space, especially without banging my head against the wall a million times before I got all those puzzle pieces right. If I ever got them right.
Tara Miller:
For sure. I think that's a big thing about business is making sure you surround yourself with the right people because we can't do it all ourselves.
Raj Lulla:
Yeah, and it's faster if you get the right people. We think we're going to save money, but we end up, "Duh." I'm sorry, I cut you off. But...
Tara Miller:
Yeah, no, that's so true. A lot of times I say, do it right the first time because you'll save money. And so, I think if people are scared of making the upfront investment because they think it's going to cost too much, well, it's worse if you do it wrong one, two, three, four times by yourself. You think you're going to get it right. You don't like it, it doesn't feel right. It's not there yet, and it bugs you every time you see it.
Raj Lulla:
Right.
Tara Miller:
Whereas, if you do it right the first time, you get the team, we get it in alignment, we set you on a correct trajectory to where you can stay in alignment, I think that is worth its weight and gold. It's like, putting an LED light at first. There is a more money up front. An LED light costs more up front, but the life is so much longer versus an incandescent, it's super cheap. You can put it in quick, but then the life is short, you have more maintenance, you have to buy another thing, you have to take the time to put in the bulk...
Raj Lulla:
Energy costs.
Tara Miller:
Yeah, exactly. So, it's really thinking about the long term, setting yourself up for success long-term, and knowing that you and your business are worth that investment.
Raj Lulla:
Yeah, that's great. There are a lot of small business people who listen to this. And so, they may not, first of all, be building out a full space or I think those are dreams for a lot of our clients. And you've talked about this already, but what are the options for somebody who is not doing what you would call your full service package of working with architects and all the really awesome things that we aspire to, but instead, "Hey, we've signed the lease, we got to be it in in a few months here, how do we at least make the space better than we would do just ourselves wandering around IKEA?
Tara Miller:
Hundred percent, yeah. So, we have a smaller option called Design Direction. We have two signature services, full service and design direction. Full service, you get us the entire time. It's a long process, it's very detail oriented. Design direction is much quicker with set deliverables and it's all virtual. So, we give you basically all the billing blocks you need to create a successful space on your own with us giving you the foundational tools.
Raj Lulla:
That's so great.
Tara Miller:
Thank you. I'm very happy about it. And so far, people have loved it. I used to have five services pre-pandemic and pre-baby. And then, I boiled it down to two based on what was most helpful for our clients and based on their feedback.
Raj Lulla:
That's a whole podcast right there. Boiling down services to the two most valuable things. It's great.
Tara Miller:
Yeah, so with design direction, you get a custom, curated mood board from us. We have a whole intake thing, so don't think we're just pulling this out of our heads. But we do a custom intake where we ask you a lot of strategic questions to learn about you and your business and your target market, and just how you operate and what your goals are.
And then, we create, our team develops a custom curated design for you and your business, which has a lot of different visuals depending on the needs. Could be a lot of hard surfaces such as ceiling paint, trim paint, door profile, inspiration for ceiling or threshold transitions, signage all the way down to soft finishes like, rugs, furniture, plants, accessory lighting, artwork, signage, stuff like that.
And then, we do a space plan, which is not a floor plan. We do floor plans and technical interior design drawings with our full service. But with our design direction, it's like a fancy hand sketch, but we do it on the computer. So, there are no dimensions, but it gives you a goal, an outline of how the space can be laid out to where there's still circulation, there's still moments of interest, there's still intention.
And then, we can give you a purchasing document full of links where you can click it, and it'll take you to the website or take you to the vendor. And we put in the vendor, the manufacturer, the item number, the item name, the finish, the size, the quantity. If there's pricing on the website, we'll put that on the sheet too.
So, it's really a design bible of everything you and your little team or your builder, or if your friend is a painter or your dad is a woodworker, everything you need to take, and then go from there and implement that design yourself. It's like the ultimate DIYs guidebook.
Raj Lulla:
Yeah, even just that list that you gave of all of the different things to think about, let alone to have suggestions for them. I mean, both of those things are so valuable because we've all had the experience of moving into a new space, whether it's an apartment or a house or an office where you go, "Oh, shoot, we don't have any silverware." Or it's like, "I guess we all need to go get some doormats because the dog just tracked mud inside," and it's like there's the things we don't think about until it's too late.
And so, just to have the list is great. But then, to have a cohesive set of recommendations and where to buy them, what kinds of things you should be thinking about. That's amazing.
Tara Miller:
Yeah. Oh, and I forgot, the bonus is, you get a one-hour Zoom call with us where we walk you through the entire custom design, the entire space plan and the purchasing document. And then, you have one week for one round of edits where if there is a few things that you want us to tweak in there, we do that. So, those are the two bonuses, I guess.
Raj Lulla:
That's great.
Tara Miller:
Oh, one-hour Zoom call with a designer from our team. And then, one week for one round of edits.
Raj Lulla:
I know that you have a gift for our listeners because we live in this world, that's not just physical, it's also virtual.
Tara Miller:
Correct.
Raj Lulla:
And so, we all have to have these awful things called Zoom backgrounds, and I know some folks solve it by having a virtual background where their hairs cut out weird and everything. But there are things that we can do to our spaces, even at home, even at home offices, to give greater dimension, to give a different feel to our clients, the people we're speaking with, coworkers as well.
And so, Tara has put together a guide to how to improve your Zoom background with either things that you already have at home or just small purchases or paint or whatever that can make your space better than make your communication better by not having it be distracting, present yourself the way that you want to present yourself. We're going to include a link in the show notes, so that you can get that. And thank you so much for making that.
Tara Miller:
You're welcome. Yeah, I think using some of the fundamentals of design of space, color, pattern, size, scale, contrast, those things, doing them right and having them balanced in the background can keep people much more focused on you and what you're saying. Or you can do the opposite and create talking points if you want to be really interesting and out there.
Raj Lulla:
Please don't look at me.
Tara Miller:
I mean, it's fun to use design in a way to make it feel more professional or make it feel more casual, laid back, more colorful and vibrant, or more calm and tranquil. It really depends on what industry you're in and what message you're trying to put across, but no one wants to give the impression of being unorganized or in disarray or unkept, untidy. So, there's a lot of simple things you can do, and there's also some things you can do to elevate the way your background looks in a Zoom call.
Raj Lulla:
Yeah. Tara, thank you so much for being on Growing a Fruitful Brand.
Tara Miller:
Yeah.
Raj Lulla:
And I look forward to hopefully having you back in the future. I know you've got so many other things to talk about as a woman leading a business and identity and getting sales and all those things. So, thanks for sharing your expertise with us. Again, that Zoom background thing is going to be a link in the show notes.
I would also recommend sign up for Tara's email list because you may not be building a building right now or building out a new office space, but hopefully, by listening to this show and just following great business principles, your business is going to grow and you're going to need those things in the future. And one of the best interior designers in the business is sitting right next to me, so make sure to sign up and stay in touch with her, because then when you need it, you'll know exactly who to go to.
Tara Miller:
Thank you. Yeah, I try to keep our newsletter really simple once a month, and it's mainly for inspiration's sake, and then a little bit of education. I'm not pitchy. I don't use our newsletter for sales. I really just want to fuel people's inspiration and creativity, and then educate them a little bit on the design and construction process, so that when they are ready, they feel like they have more wisdom and more knowledge on the topic.
Raj Lulla:
That's so great. Even knowing what questions to ask is really helpful.
Tara Miller:
Yes. Yes, it is. Thank you so much.
Raj Lulla:
Tara, thank you so much.
Tara Miller:
Thank you so much for having me.
Raj Lulla:
Thanks for joining us today on Growing a Fruitful Brand. If you found today's show helpful, don't forget to subscribe and consider sharing it with someone who might also enjoy it. If you'd like to work with Fruitful on a branding website or messaging project of your own, you can always reach out on our website, fruitful.design. So, until next time, don't forget to grow something good.
