6 Benefits of Using Environmental Graphics

Environmental graphics – also known as experiential graphics – encompass a mix of signage and visual aids spanning from graphics to architecture, as well as interior design, to tell your company’s story and to illustrate its culture. They promote your company’s services by creating memorable experiences while connecting your company with the client. Environmental graphics also instill employee pride and recognition, and reinforce the positive collective thinking of your organization. Retail and corporate spaces create a more welcoming and engaging atmosphere by implementing a complete branded experience using environmental graphic design-focused interiors. Public buildings such as hospitals, universities, and museums are more informative and easy to navigate with the addition of experiential graphics that create brand awareness and further company values.

Environmental graphics take on various forms such as being printed and flat – like wall wraps or floor graphics. Meanwhile, they can also be dimensional in the form of a display or timeline exhibition. The sole purpose of environmental graphics are to enrich the space in which they are placed. As stated above, experiential graphics help in the wayfinding process and displaying company culture. Additional benefits include improved placemaking and boldly thanking donors. Let’s dive into some key benefits of incorporating versatile environmental graphics into your corporate space. 

1. Environmental Graphics Help in the Wayfinding Process

Environmental graphics at Alabama Zoo by signgeek
Environmental graphics double as identity signage in the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo.

Wayfinding signs help people find their way within a company space. The purpose of a wayfinding sign system is to assist visitors to determine their location while helping them find out how to get to where they’d like to go. Opting for environmental graphics can aid in this process by laying out directional cues in unorthodox ways. For example, infusing arrows into the floors or walls of an environment can subtly get visitors going in the right direction. This can be seen implemented in high stress and high traffic areas such as hospitals, airports, urban areas and parks. Environmental graphics can transform a traditional wayfinding system into a memorable navigational experience for your customers. 

2. Showcase Your Company Culture

Timeline wall and environmental graphics for Navy Federal. Fabricated and installed by signgeek.
Military training timeline and company ethos wall graphics for Navy Federal. Fabricated and installed by signgeek.

Using experiential graphics is an excellent way to keep your company’s messaging front and center. Displaying your core beliefs builds organizational camaraderie as well as tell your customers what your business is all about. How can we achieve this through environmental graphics? Envision wrapping a long hallway wall with a brand mission statement, like pictured above. You could even fill a stairwell with your company values. Promoting company culture also plays a big role in the positive effects of placemaking. (We will cover that a little later on.) The possibilities are endless when sharing company values with environmental graphics.

3. Display Donor Recognition

History donor wall by signgeek
History donor wall at Manna Food Pantries. Manufactured and installed by signgeek.

Highlighting individuals who’ve played a role in getting your brand where it is today can easily be done with environmental graphics. Donor walls and timelines can utilize empty wall spaces while showing thanks to your biggest supporters. Furthermore, donor recognition can be tied in throughout a branded environment with wayfinding and directional aids, too. Imagine room signs, sidewalk graphics and wall murals all showcasing your gratitude. Together, these items will bring together your corporate environment to acknowledge your loyal donors. 

4. Environmental Graphic Design Plays a Role in Placemaking 

Branded environmental graphics at University of West Florida
This wall wrap lets students and visitors know where they are with the UWF Nautilus Shell design.

Similar to wayfinding, placemaking through environmental graphics can improve a branded space. Placemaking uses the assets and spaces at hand to gradually better the environment for everyone. Filling a wall with brand-centered designs or filling an empty window with aesthetic values sparks interest in a potentially otherwise boring work space. All of the previously-stated benefits of environmental graphics combine in placemaking to ensure that visitors and employees will know exactly where they are – and enjoy being there, too. Company logos, colors and values envelope individuals and show them what organization truly surrounds them. Placemaking through environmental graphics enriches the work space for all those who enter and spend time within. This is important for employee longevity, as well as returning customers and guests. Everyone enjoys interesting and engaging surroundings. 

5. Environmental Graphics Can Take On Many Forms

Environmental graphics for Locklin Technical College IT program in Sims MIddle School classroom
Branded environment for Locklin Tech IT program in Sims Middle School.

While they do make up half the name, environmental graphics don’t just stop at printed graphic products. You can also create brand continuity and inform visitors throughout a space with identity signage, directional cues and exterior signs. These items are all included in the EGD world, as they, too, meet at a point between design and architecture. Any signage that connects people to their location can be put under the umbrella of environmental graphics. What does this look like in everyday life? A dimensional logo on a bank wall, exterior identity building signage or a corridor wayfinding sign all qualify as environmental graphics. They include far more visual communication aids than just printed graphics.

6. Brand Identity through Environmental Graphic Design

Environmental graphics inside Engineered Cooling Services classroom
This photo-turned-wall-wrap shows the local company roots of Engineered Cooling Services.

When having the proper technologies on hand, you can efficiently and accurately match brand colors and artwork by projecting them onto a large-scale wall wrap or sign system. Using a professional paint system – such as Matthews Paint – will allow precise color-matching alongside a product that stands the test of time. The customization of experiential graphics is one of the reasons why so many brands are starting to incorporate them into their space. You can easily choose the dimensions of the wrap or signage, as well as what material is best suited for the situation at hand. Together, these precisely-matched brand elements can bring a space together and create memorable moments with your company.

signgeek Can Cover Your Environmental Graphics Needs  

Sidewalk graphics can improve the appearance of an otherwise ordinary walkway.

Ready to start enhancing your corporate space? signgeek can help make your dream a reality. We’re a national brand with over 25 years of experience in the industry. We specialize in a variety of printed products, as well as signage and displays. We’re dedicated to be the best in all that we do. After all, we are the geeks of signs.

You can expect us to promptly deliver work and meet or exceed your expectations for quality. Browse through some examples of our environmental graphic displays to get ideas and see our body of work.

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