Playscape Journal
Workplace & Office Branding Trends 2025
Workplaces are no longer just offices; they’re cultural hubs that connect, inspire, and shape experiences. As work dynamics evolve, workplace branding has become essential for companies to cultivate identity, enhance well-being, and boost collaboration. In 2025, we’ll see a shift toward more storytelling-centered, functional, and tactile office branding and workplace branding experiences. Here are the key trends shaping the future of workplace branding:
Workplace branding is evolving to meet the demands of the hybrid work era
What’s Happening:
As employees visit the office less frequently, workplaces are transforming into collaboration hubs rather than traditional daily workstations. This shift has made office and workplace branding more important than ever, as it helps reinforce a sense of belonging and makes employees feel part of a larger community. Workplace branding is no longer just about aesthetics; it serves as a tool to bridge the gap between remote and in-office experiences, keeping the company culture alive across various locations.
What to Expect:
- Inspiring visual and physical brand touchpoints reinforce company culture, ensuring that employees feel connected to the organization’s values and mission, no matter how often they visit the office.
- Immersive storytelling-driven branding that extends beyond the logo sign above a reception desk, creating a strong sense of identity and culture for all employees, including those who visit occasionally.
- Branded multi-use spaces are designed as collaboration hubs, social areas, and creative zones that support in-person and hybrid work dynamics.
A Brighter Brand Presence—Inspired by George Harrison’s Here Comes the Sun, this hand-painted mural seamlessly blends Contentful’s identity with the lounge, complementing toi toi toi creative studio’s yellow-themed interior design. More than decoration, it extends the brand beyond guidelines—transforming the space into a bold expression of company culture. Discover more of this project →
Playful Branding with a Retro Twist—This custom 8-bit video game-inspired design brings a nostalgic, interactive feel to the workplace games lounge—adding personality and a touch of fun to the space. Discover more of this project →
Wellness-driven workplace branding is enriching the employee experience
What’s Happening:
Employee well-being has shifted from a perk to a necessity. Companies recognize that workplace branding isn’t just about applying a logo or brand colors throughout an office but about designing spaces that support focus, creativity, and comfort. A company’s branding should be translated into the workplace to enhance the employee experience rather than overwhelming the environment with visual elements that might be distracting or fatiguing.
What to Expect:
- Thoughtful brand identity integration into materials, textures, and spatial layouts rather than relying solely on color schemes defined in the brand guidelines.
- Design that prioritizes comfort and usability, ensuring the brand supports employee well-being rather than dictating the entire aesthetic.
Wayfinding isn’t just for directions—it’s a brand statement
What’s Happening:
Wayfinding has evolved beyond mere functionality to become an engaging, brand-defining experience for daily interactions among employees and visitors. However, while expressive wayfinding adds character and personality, it must also be practical and intuitive.
What to Expect:
- Creative signage that extends the brand beyond its traditional digital brand applications and guides people intuitively.
- Unexpected visual cues that make navigation fun (think color-coded paths, thematic floor graphics, and quirky pictograms).
- Function-driven enhancements like clear and concise pictograms help employees and visitors find essential spaces quickly.
Signage That Speaks the Brand—More than just names on doors, these meeting room signs create a tactile brand experience—seamlessly integrating identity into the workplace. Discover more of this project →
Beyond the Brand Guidelines—Wall graphics don’t have to be limited to brand manuals. In the Grunewald-themed meeting room, they shape the atmosphere and help express the brand’s personality within the space. Discover more of this project →
Functionality at a Glance—Thoughtfully designed pictograms enhance workplace usability, making navigation effortless and helping employees find what they need with ease. Discover more of this project →
Wayfinding with Personality—This IT Help Desk sign shows how signage can do more than guide—it brings brand character into the workplace, reflecting Contentful’s playful and quirky identity. Discover more of this project →
Purpose-driven workplace branding becomes the standard in workplace design
What’s Happening:
Branded elements in workplace design are no longer just decorative—they serve as functional and cultural touchpoints that enhance both aesthetics and usability. Glass panels, wall graphics, and architectural details offer companies an opportunity to extend their brand beyond logos and color schemes, embedding storytelling and identity into the workspace itself.
What to Expect:
- Custom-designed glass panels that turn office partitions into dynamic branding surfaces—balancing privacy, storytelling, and aesthetics.
- Architectural branding elements that go beyond traditional visuals, incorporating materials, textures, and spatial design to create a cohesive and immersive brand experience.
- Thoughtful wayfinding and spatial branding that seamlessly integrate identity into the built environment, making workplaces more intuitive and engaging.
Where Brand Meets Function—Glass surfaces offer a unique way to translate brand identity into the physical space. At UP42, Earth-inspired abstractions from satellite imagery transform meeting rooms—seamlessly merging aesthetics, brand, functionality, and privacy. Discover more of this project →
Workplaces are moving beyond screens—tactile brand experiences are in
What’s Happening:
Screen fatigue has become a genuine concern. In a world oversaturated with digital interfaces, employees seek visual experiences that don’t overload their senses or demand constant attention. Many companies overuse digital elements in the workplace, only to become outdated or ignored. Instead, workplace branding will focus on tangible, crafted experiences that stand the test of time, such as bespoke murals, company timelines, textured wall graphics, and custom-built installations that enhance the environment without overwhelming it.
What to Expect:
- Fewer screens, more tangible experiences. Instead of relying heavily on digital displays, workplaces will embrace custom-made, artistic elements with which employees can interact.
- Bespoke murals, 3D installations, and sculptural wayfinding make spaces feel immersive without relying on screens.
- More emphasis on craftsmanship and materiality, from hand-painted graphics to dynamic textures, which make workplaces feel more human and engaging.
A Bold Tribute to a Female Tech Pioneer—At Contentful, a 12-meter mural of Ada Lovelace—the world’s first computer programmer—offers a unique way to bring the company’s inclusive and diverse values into the workplace, celebrating innovation, progress, and the impact of women in technology. Discover more of this project →
Workplace branding is becoming the heart of company culture
What’s Happening:
Workplace branding is not just about visual identity but about reinforcing company culture through experiences, shared spaces, and community-driven design. The office is becoming a storytelling canvas where employees can see, feel, and engage with their company’s values.
What to Expect:
- Branded team zones that reflect company identity and encourage collaboration.
- Murals and installations that tell a company’s story in an engaging and meaningful way.
- Cultural storytelling through materials, messaging, and spatial design creates a deeper connection between employees and their workplace.
A Workplace Rooted in Its Surroundings—At Contentful’s Berlin office, this Bauhaus-inspired mural pays tribute to Peter Behrens, the pioneering Bauhaus architect behind the neighboring AEG Kleinemotorenfabrik. More than branding, it connects the workplace to its cultural and historical context, creating a deeper sense of place. Discover more of this project →
Workplace branding specialists are becoming key partners for workplace leaders
What’s Happening:
Many companies have internal brand and design teams, but translating a brand into a physical environment requires specialized expertise. Often, when these teams try to implement a brand in a physical space, the result can feel more like a literal application of a brand manual rather than creating a fully immersive workplace branding experience. Workplace branding requires the expertise of specialists because it goes beyond brand design system—it’s about spatial storytelling, aesthetics, functionality, and creating environments that employees and visitors can engage with and be inspired by daily.
What to Expect:
- A shift toward strategic, experience-driven spaces that authentically reflect company culture, moving beyond gimmicky executions. This trend is driving Workplace Experience Team Leads and People & Culture leaders to seek external expertise.
- More companies partnering with workplace branding specialists like Sentiform to ensure their branded environments go beyond surface-level applications.
- Specialists bringing deep industry knowledge and a trusted network of fabricators, eliminating the burden on internal teams to manage sourcing and execution. This ensures branding elements are not just conceptually strong but beautifully executed and seamlessly integrated into the space.
Expertise That Elevates Workplace Branding — Translating a brand into a physical environment requires more than applying a design system—it’s about spatial storytelling, aesthetics, and functionality. Specialists like Sentiform bring deep industry knowledge and a trusted network of fabricators, ensuring branding elements are not just conceptually strong but seamlessly integrated into the space.
Conclusion
As we move into 2025, workplace branding will be more strategic, human-centered, and experience-driven than ever before. Companies that embrace thoughtful wayfinding, tactile brand touchpoint design, and culture-first branding will create great spaces and enhance engagement, productivity, and employee well-being.
