How Designers Maximise their Interior Landscaping Options to Ensure Maximum Effects

Taking a stereotypical office and turning it into a place that inspires staff and enhances the commercial activities inside, requires more than just a few potted pansies on a window sill. In fact, there is a lot more to interior landscaping than just plants and bowls. For designers with ambitious concepts to bring to life, a variety of other options are also used. However, while many office managers may expect a few nice pictures to complement the potted shrubs against the wall, the art of landscaping is much more precise and far less obvious. In fact, while the choice of office plant is certainly a key component in an overall concept, the best interior designers also turn to scenting the air and choosing specific art work to hang on the walls. Of these additional aspects, art is arguably the most expected. After all, for anyone who has waited in the reception area of a successful company, art is generally used to impress. It may be something as basic as a floral oil painting on canvas, or as elaborate as a piece of contemporary sculpture, but it can leave a definite impression in ones mind, convincing us that the company is modern and cutting edge, or perhaps traditional and accomplished. The range of art that can be used as part of a landscaping concept is extensive, with limitations set only by the area available to fill and the preferences of the company in question. For example, a giant sculpture is hardly going to fit in a sixth floor office reception area, while an abstract painting is perhaps not the best choice to hang on the wall of the offices of an international toy company. It is more likely that a small table sculpture and a child related photographic theme, respectively, would be more suitable. In fact, custom photography is one of the most popular options, with the designer able to have exactly the snaps he or she wishes to complement the concept. Also popular is branded photography and branded art, which uses the company logo or name as its theme. The image may be exaggerated in size, be seen from an unusual perspective or may be represented in such artistic styles as cubism, impressionism or abstract. It may even be presented in a clever, creative way within the landscape, or cityscape form. Of course, corporate identity is all important and art can make a valuable statement in that regard. Some companies may feature art work by an artist of their home country, such as a Dutch firm featuring work by van Gough, or a US firm having a painting by Andy Warhol. Meanwhile, local art work can show an affinity with community values. It is a somewhat similar case with regards the plants that are chosen too, with identity and image key factors. For instance, the national flower of the country of a particular company may feature prominently in table arrangements, such as the orchid for a company from the Philippines. The idea, of course, is not to make a nationalistic declaration, but instead indicate a pride in origin, similar to ones pride in family. This attribute is admirable and, therefore, cannot help but to make a positive impression. Easily, the least obvious aspect that interior designers make use of is fragrance. It may seem a little unlikely but, in fact, scenting the air is one of the most effective sensory marketing techniques around. It is not designed simply to make an office, or even shop, smell nice but is strategically developed to invoke a certain response based on a particular association. For example, if we smell freshly baked bread, we automatically relate that with home, a fact that many estate agents are willing to make the most of when trying to sell a house. The same works for the office, with scents released into the air via discreetly positioned pre programmed scenting dispensers, so that prospective clients will have a pleasant association with that office in the future, or shops, where customers are enticed into the premises by a smell. Between the use of art work, the purposeful selection of an office plant and the willful addition of pleasing scents into the office air, it is clear that interior landscaping is significantly more than just potted plants and open windows.