Inspiring Creativity – Our Perfect Work Environment

March 10th, 2016 | 3 min

“You are a product of your environment. So choose the environment that will best develop you toward your objective. Are the things around you helping you toward success — or are they holding you back?”

– Clement Stone

Being a creative agency, the environment we work in is imperative to our productivity. Therefore, we put a huge emphasis on getting it right. It’s proven that in order for our brains to be in the best place for creativity (also known as the ‘alpha state of mind’), we need to feel relaxed and comfortable. An office mise en scène must reflect the workforce’s needs. This remains our sole focus when thinking about the structure and layout of our working environment.

How Brave Increases Productivity

Listed below are a few steps we’ve taken in order to ensure our working environment is the best for inspiring creativity and for spreading an all-round positive vibe amongst our colleagues.

Creating A Pure White Space To De-Clutter The Mind

Minimalism and ‘white space’ are very important in allowing creativity to breathe. When our brains are distracted our creativity is interrupted and stagnated. When someone’s creative flow enters a ‘zone’, one is able to block everything else out and concentrate solely on the task in hand. Distractions, just as much in the form of a busy interior layout as a talkative co-worker, becomes detrimental to flowing productivity, because attention is divided.

This is where the theory of white space comes into play; the less clutter there is surrounding someone, the less likely their attention is from being diverted elsewhere.

We’ve invested in some Orangebox office chairs as, not only are they some of the best in terms of comfort and style, but they also use limited materials to create a very minimalist look.

Our desks are plain white and kept clear at all times (minimal stationery is needed as we have everything available on our desktops). This all contributes to the condensed environment our creative brains need.

Using Music To Provide A Creative Space In The Office 

Other ways to reach the ‘alpha state of mind’ comes in the form of music. Music has been around for thousands of years. It makes us feel relaxed, or pumped, or happy; whatever we need to reach a productive state. 

This is why we listen to music throughout the day in our office. Recently, Brave invested in an Amazon Alexa so that the team are free to call out music requests to their heart’s desire. For those looking to get their head down and zone out of outside noise, we encourage the use of headphones. Another reason we encourage the use of headphones, especially within the more creative roles, is it enables staff to zone out and fully immerse themselves, without distraction, in their ideas.

Our ideology is to create a more casual working environment, and music has never failed us. Furthermore, music is a key trigger in keeping the right side (creative side) of our brains stimulated.

“The logical brain is a limited brain. The right side is unlimited; you can do and be anything you want’ “

– Madan Kataria, The Laughter Guru.

Showcasing Highlights To Ease Creative Blocks

Another proven way to inspire and nourish creativity is to draw from previous creative peaks; past moments when everything just flowed well and a project was successful. This helps trigger our memories to follow the same processes again. It also drums up some positivity; rather than parading faults or ‘bad’ examples, we believe that success should always be celebrated. This is just one of the many reasons why we have TV screens scattered around the office displaying slideshows of previous work that we’re really proud of.

Plants and Greenery

Research has found that adding plants and greenery in an office helps to increase productivity by around 15%. It helps to foster a more natural environment which is essential in creating the feeling of relaxation, keeping our creative minds in gear. Such added touches go a long way in showing employees that the company really cares about their working environment, boosting overall morale.

Our offices here at Brave are scattered with various plants on and around the desks. Not only is this good for our minds and mood, but NASA has reported that live plants can have a significant impact on reducing toxic chemicals in the air emitted from rugs, furniture and so on.

To Conclude…

Living in this distracting world of hyperconnectivity means our brains find it harder than ever to stay focused and settle into a true creative flow.

Our aim here at Brave is to create a working environment that promotes freedom, peace and creativity. With the combined application of these elements (and plenty more), we have produced a calming but effervescent atmosphere for our employees to successfully immerse themselves into their work.