In interviewing Christopher Alexander (noted architect, author of “A Pattern Language,” and much more), a human resources magazine emphasizes the importance of design to office management. I’ve posted a particularly relevant excerpt; the entirety of the article can be found here.

The first reason managers should read Alexander is that the design of workplaces has a major impact on the effectiveness of our organizations. The second reason is that his insights into the nature of order, as well as his methodologies, can be applied to the problem of managing organizations.



I’m privileged to present these ideas to you.



DC- To what extent is the design of office spaces important?



CA- The issue is a lot deeper than it might seem. The conventional way to talk about office space is to talk about efficiency criteria. Is this near that? Is this big enough? This sort of talk has its place, but it’s really minor compared to what I want to talk about.



When you are working, the quality of your work depends on the extent to which you are able to put your spirit, your heart into it. It’s not necessarily about being intellectual; it’s just a question of staying very sharp, of doing what’s really needed rather than something else. All this requires a genuine sense of well-being. It’s not a problem of efficiency. It’s a problem of whether overall—in motivation, in atmosphere, in congeniality—the well-being of the people working has been nurtured.



You can see from this very simple description that ninety percent of the workplaces in America couldn’t possibly fulfill that prescription because they weren’t thought about that way. The workplaces were talked about in quite different terms, in mechanical ways, that have very little to do with emotional, psychological, or intellectual well-being.



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CA- Let’s just talk about some very basic things, for example, is it really ok for a person to own their workspace? Will a typical management organization allow people to create a place where they feel truly comfortable? In the sixties and seventies, there were even serious discussions if it was ok for people to put family photos on their desks. So the extent to which it’s ok for someone to be at home in the office has been under dispute for the past three to five decades. And clearly, someone who is not allowed to be at home, in that very simple sense, is hardly going to be filled with a sense of well-being.



A garage mechanic in a small gas station has more freedom in this respect. Since it is a fairly ramshackle place, if they want to stick something up on the wall, as long as it’s not actually interfering with their work, they can get away with it, whereas, in a corporate environment that’s not the case. It’s not that this is, in and of itself, an important point. What I am trying to demonstrate is that there is not a culture where it is presumed that to work well, you have to be well.

Consider this study, on the effect of color on the perceived taste of coffee:

200 persons were asked to pass their judgment on coffee which had been served to them out of four different color pots, e.g. a red pot, a blue pot, a brown pot, and a yellow pot. 73% of these people found that the coffee poured from the brown container was too strong, whereas 84% … considered the coffee of the red pot rich and full-bodied. The coffee from the blue pot was regarded as having a milder aroma. The beans used to prepare the coffee in the yellow pot were said to be of a weaker blend. And yet all the pots contained exactly the same coffee.¹

Color and marketing. We all know that they go together when we stop and think about it, but how often do you stop and think about it? One experiment found that the same laundry detergent in yellow packaging is deemed too strong, in blue too weak, but in yellow and blue very effective.¹ The Wall Street Journal reported that a change in root beer cans from blue to beige prompted people to assert that the drink tasted more like the old-fashioned kind than it previously had; a change in ginger ale from red to green increased sales by 25%.

Research has indicated time and again the importance of color in marketing and branding. One study found that nearly 85% of people think color is over half of the reason for choosing one product over another. The Institute for Color Research determined, “people make a subconscious judgment about an item within 90 seconds of initial viewing, and that up to 90% of that assessment is based on color.” Still other analyses have deduced that color may increase comprehension by up to 73%.

Surveys related directly to advertisements have concluded that color is much more effective in many ways: 57% of ads in color were noticed, versus 43% of black and white; 22% of people read the ads when they were in color, versus 16% when in black and white; and in 43% of color ads the brand was identified, versus just 28% of black and white. Further, research at the University of Loyola has indicated that color alone may increase consumers’ recognition of a brand 80%.   

In some cases, a color can become the brand unto itself. You knew, didn’t you, that the headline question was the slogan for UPS? Color is a potent branding and marketing device. It is so powerful, in fact, that color psychologist Dr. Jean-Paul Favre and marketing consultant Dr. Andre November have asserted:

Color is a remarkable tool in marketing communication. It is a bait, a link, a carrier of messages. In a wider sense, colors are a kind of code which is easy to understand and to assimilate. They are an immediate and straightforward language which has the advantage of ignoring any speech barrier and difficulties of decoding. Colors have the power of communication.

Color has the very power of communication. How is your company using color to establish brand recognition? Are you building a visible identity? Have you considered how color might be affecting your clients’ experience?

Do you want to be thought of as the full-bodied coffee or the weak coffee? Remember, there was no difference in the coffee itself, only in the perception of it.  

When I saw “Good Design Can Change Your Life” on the bookshelf at the library, I just had to pull it out. It’s a new book by Ty Pennington of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, with lots of pictures and idea-provoking tips. I love it because Ty asserts that “changes in your home can completely change your life.”

    Strong, yes, but not too overstated. It’s pretty easy to see that a drastic change like going from a flooded, rotting trailer to a beautiful 5 bedroom mansion is life changing, but not many people apply a scaled-down version of that lesson to their own lives. Do you get that stale, blah numbness while sitting in your living room? Maybe it’s because your house is in all “neutrals,” leaving you feeling as washed out as that cream color, with no exciting, warming, or otherwise fun burst anywhere. Maybe, if you live in New England, it’s because it gets dark at 4pm in the winter, and your lighting is either as dim as the outside or so bright and cold you could be in a warehouse. Do you get frustrated, even angry, as you’re trying to leave the house? Maybe it’s because your things are so cluttered you can’t find what you need or are tripping on your way out. Maybe it’s because that awful puke color the previous owners left the bathroom makes you upset every morning as you’re trying to shower and brush your teeth and generally get clean. Do you get anxious and uptight every time you have to sit at your computer? Maybe it’s because your chair isn’t properly adjusted and the desk isn’t the right height and that makes your shoulders cramp and your back hurt. Maybe it’s because it looks so sterile you feel cut off from your coworkers or family members.

    Little changes can make such a big difference in your life. Try finding colors that make you happy, rearranging furniture to suit the way you actually use it, using lighting that reduces eye strain and increases warmth. Clear the floor, get a bookshelf, put your bed against a different wall, do something to make your home the place you want it to be!

People often tell me they’re afraid to choose a bold color in their house either because ‘it might be too dark’ or ‘it’s not good for resale value.’ First—Don’t let fear dictate a boring home! Paint can be painted over again. Really. The worst thing that happens if you end up disliking a color is you have to repaint. A pain, yes, and a little bit of a time and money waste, but it is worth the attempt at an inviting, warm, interesting home that you love. Second—Don’t live your life in your home for an imagined future person! Again, you can repaint in 2, 5, 10, or 30 years if you really think a house has to be in neutral colors in order to sell (I happen to disagree, but that at another time).

Let your home be a vivid representation of the life you want to live. Most likely, it won’t look like anything I would have chosen—and if you really love floral prints and pink, that’s fine! As Ty says, “a home is so much more than the place where you eat and sleep. It is—or it should be—a reflection of all the things that matter to you.”  

A hundred or more paint chips have been scattered across my table, floor, couch, etc for the past several months. I am not a ‘pick whichever color looks best in the store’ kind of person. I can’t just take home ‘the two best options.’ I have to see every option in every light with every piece of furniture. And since my husband and I were moving into a new apartment where we wanted to repaint 5 rooms, there were a lot of options.

Eventually, we decided on a scheme and picked out the actual colors (a warm beige for the living- dining area, with a purple accent wall in the living room and a red one in the dining; gray in the office; green in the library/guest room; orange in our bedroom). As you might imagine, after all this effort we were pretty certain about our choices. Until we started painting.

The gray looked blue. As in baby blue. Yes, some grays tend toward blue, but ours didn’t. At least not until now. I liked the color on the chip, I liked it in the can (my husband says I’m the only person who would open a can of plain gray paint and say, “ooh, pretty!”), I liked it in the roller tray… but that color on the wall I just could not live with. But here’s the thing—we were painting over yellow walls, and the influence of that color changed our perception of the gray. We trusted our choice and finished the room—and now it is a lovely gray, nothing like baby blue.

Similarly, in our bedroom we had picked out an earthy, clay orange, the paint chip of which we both loved. As it went on the walls, though… at first it looked really orange. Then I was convinced it had a green cast. Wait, no, it was a bit too red. My husband thought it wasn’t brown enough. I thought it was already way too brown. Again, we were forced to trust (very nervously, on my part) the paint chip. Now, after two coats, it’s exactly the color we were both hoping for.

The lesson here seems to be: select your colors carefully, and then just push through until it’s done (even if your magenta looks crimson because you’re painting over indigo). Those little sample jars that are all the rage would have made the situation worse—we would have painted a 2′x 2′ section of gray, and as it was surrounded by yellow, would have decided it was the wrong color and picked out a different ‘less blue’ shade.

However… my friend Krista is also repainting her house. She picked out a beautiful deep turquoise for her living room, along with a lighter blue that was supposed to go with it. I didn’t get a chance to see the paint chips, but she thought the two colors looked really nice together. The turquoise wall got painted, and then a sample of the blue was brought home and put up next to it… and they just don’t match… at all. If she had already bought 2 gallons of the blue, well, she’d be stuck (or out of money). Those little sample jars have been a huge help for her (they also settled a ‘which shade of green’ dispute with her husband).

So what to do? On one hand, the existing color of a room greatly affects the appearance of any color in it. Even if you paint your sample on a separate board (which I’ve never seen anyone actually do), the surrounding walls in your vision and reflecting on your sample will color (excuse the pun) your decision. On the other hand, if you’re not exceptionally good at visualizing larger swaths of color from a 1″x 3″ card, you could save yourself a big disaster.

My thought is: know yourself and/or get some help. I should know by now to trust my instinct and judgment. I can envision a room from a paint chip. Not everyone can. If you can’t, go ahead and try the samples. Better yet, find a friend who can. Either way, make a choice and stick to a carefully thought out decision. Panicking and changing your mind halfway through a project only makes things worse.

Let’s say you move into a new office building. You’re a little uncomfortable with the bold colors your designer is recommending, so you think, “We’ll just leave it white. That’s neutral.” Wrong. White is not nothing, white is something. In fact, some researchers have found that an all white room can be more stressful than a brightly colored one, because in the absence of exciting external stimuli the brain will actually invent it.

On top of that, employees appreciate when their needs are considered (the famous Hawthorne studies showed that productivity increased just because researchers were paying attention to the workers), and nothing screams disinterest louder than “just leave it all white.”

The color of a room, the layout of a page, the use of a particular font, the arrangement of furniture, the music while on hold—these things matter, and they say something. Some choices shout while others only whisper, but either way you’ve got a voice which either adds to or detracts from the conversation.

Sometimes white is the right decision, and sometimes you should defer to the status quo. But these are just options among others, not inherently safer, more effective, or less offensive.

It’s comforting to think that there is an available choice that will offend no one, that will have no effect. It doesn’t exist. The truth is, there’s no such thing as neutral.

A quick search for the Toyota Prius “Harmony” commercial will provide you with scores of people saying how wonderful, captivating, and clever it is. Sure, you’ll find some who think using people as plants is a little creepy, but even most of them conclude that it “makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.” Apparently, it was the most liked new ad in May, according to Nielson.

Has the blatant sexism of their new slogan escaped everyone’s attention? “Harmony Between Man, Nature, and Machine”? I don’t care what your 5^th grade teacher told you, “man” does not refer to the entire human population. It is 2009, and it is not okay to exclude (over!) half of the population for a cute, tidy little tagline, especially by the “world’s most respected company” (if you believe this research).

There are plenty of people who will—and have—told me that “we know what they mean,” so I should just let it go. Intent and reality are not the same thing. In reality, using the gender-specific word “man” is limited, in exactly the same way “woman” is if we swap the words. Would men feel included in the slogan “Harmony Between Woman, Nature, and Machine”? I would say not. Women should not be expected to tolerate this kind of unacceptable linguistic treatment.

And by the way Toyota, you might want to have a look at who really buys cars. As of a 2004 survey, women buy 52% of new vehicles and influence 85% of car buying decisions. According to another study the same year, “82 percent of women think environmentally friendly vehicles are ‘extremely’ or ‘somewhat important.’” An 05 study showed that 20% of women consider fuel efficiency a top priority in buying a new car; overall, it was second only to reliability in the decision to choose one car over another. By now those percentages are probably even higher. So who do you think is going to be buying a Prius?

Be careful not to alienate a large portion of your client base. Women are “hardly a ‘niche’—they’re the majority.”And there’s just no excuse for being overtly sexist these days (yes, we know, covert sexism still permeates many areas of life, particularly advertising. The very least you can do is make sure your language reflects equality). Women really do make and influence more buying decisions than men; in fact, The Economist recently stated, “female consumers make more than 80% of discretionary purchases.” Do your research and don’t be offensive, unless that’s really your schtick.

A week or so ago, Lay’s/Tostitos was offering a “buy 2 bags of chips, get a jar of salsa free” deal. This deal was the first thing on my personal “Scan it!” screen (more about that device at another time), it was advertised on several posters in the chip isle, and it had its own dedicated end-cap display, front and center. No one could have missed this special. Since we happened to be planning to buy tortilla chips that day and we knew we’d be going to a friend’s later, we thought we’d take advantage of it. We made sure to get the right size and brand of salsa (it was hard to go wrong, since the display was full of that one item) and proceeded to a self check-out lane (more about that at another time as well).

After scanning both bags of chips and the salsa the screen said, “savings: $.63” (or some such number). Uh… 63 cents off wasn’t exactly free. So I pushed the “help requested” button and continued scanning other items. Eventually a clerk came over, and I pointed out that the salsa was supposed to be free. She said it would come off the total at the end. I was a bit skeptical, but said okay and finished checking out. After pressing “finish and pay” and seeing that my total did not, in fact, change, I called her back over. She tried to assure me that it really would come out of the total, that she’d “had this happen with another customer earlier,” and I must admit to resisting a bit—after all, it had given me a $.63 discount, wouldn’t it have given me the full $3.99 discount then if it was going to? Finally giving in, I agreed to just finish the transaction.

Shockingly enough, it did actually come out of my final total. Whose incredible lack of foresight was this? If you have a special deal—especially a heavily advertised one—your customer should not have to wait until after they’ve given you their credit card to find out whether or not they saved the money you promised!

Clearly the computer knew I had fulfilled the requirements of the deal, and it was capable in other situations of giving feedback. How hard could it possibly be to change “savings: $.63” to “savings: $3.99”? This little change in interface design could have prevented a great deal of frustration for your customers and saved your employees a lot of grief.

Pay special attention to your checkout procedures: large, obvious things and small, easily-overlooked details are equally important. I feel like I shouldn’t have to say this, but: do you have enough registers open? Is your customer getting immediate feedback on prices, sales, etc.? Is ‘cancel’ to the right of the signature line, instead of ‘okay,’ causing people to accidentally have to go through the whole credit card process again? If the last few minutes spent in your store are aggravating ones, that’s how your customer is going to walk out feeling, and that’s what they’re going to remember. I don’t know about you, but I try to avoid places that aggravate me.

Walking out, we heard, “Miss? This salsa…”

Why “vividmargin”? Well, in trying to settle on a name I made a long list of ideas, attributes, things, and descriptors that I think of in connection to design—specifically, graphic and interior design. On my page were dynamic, genuine, form, deliberate, template, accessible, interaction, structure, ignite, and many others. At one point I was captured by the word kerning—a technical term for the space between letters—as something that might symbolize my approach to design (focusing on details that most people don’t notice but which nonetheless have a significant impact on one’s experience; thinking about the space between elements on page, between people). The meaning of the word, however, is not the only important element of a name. It should roll off the tongue, people should know how to spell it, and it should incorporate familiar words to help people remember it. So, I started putting words together—relevant frame, defensible form—that had meaning to me and might be able to represent my firm.

I landed on margin as the thing, the noun, that my firm is about. The margin stands between the content and the edge, instilling a certain level of comfort and safety where there would otherwise be chaos (imagine how you would feel if the text ran off the side of every page in that novel you’re reading). The margin gives your eyes a place to rest. The margin provides boundaries to give something form; it is the necessary negative space for the positive element to be effective.

Of course, I didn’t want just any kind of margin. There are bad margins, and bad design. In the broadest sense, everything is designed, whether a conscious decision was made or not. I believe in and aim for conscientious, thoughtful design, striving not to let “the way it’s done” make decisions for me. For a design to be vivid, someone had to make a deliberate choice—it doesn’t have to be colorful or even all that interesting, but vivid doesn’t happen by accident. I respect design that captures your attention, makes a statement, is bold, or maybe even sparks someone’s passion.