Tl;dr
In a crowded market, creative coworking spaces need strong branding and thoughtful design to attract members who, let’s face it, truly value (and appreciate!) aesthetics. This guide explores how creative coworking spaces can define their brand identity and align with the wants, needs, goals, and desires of their target audience. You’ll discover how leveraging technology, embracing local culture, and creating cohesive visual elements and member-centered experiences can help you build a distinctive space that fosters community and sparks creativity.
When opening a creative coworking space, you may have a few things on your mind.
What colors should I use for my logo? What should my website look like? Should I use a monochromatic color palette in my space or should I go bold and colorful?
All of these elements are important when starting a creative coworking space — and all of these elements contribute significantly to your brand.
In this article, we’ll discuss how creative coworking space operators can use branding and design strategically to differentiate themselves in the market and attract more members to their space.
A brand is what happens when individual elements representing someone or something come together to evoke a feeling or emotion. It includes key components of a business such as:
Your creative coworking space brand would include visual elements like your website, your physical signage, and how you design your space. Thinking strategically about each of these pieces will help shape how your business is perceived by your target audience.
For creative coworking spaces, being thoughtful about your branding and design can help you differentiate yourself from others, attract the right members to your community, and build trust.
As of October 2024, there were 7,500 coworking spaces in the United States, a 7% growth from last quarter alone. With the coworking industry growing quickly and lots of new spaces entering the market, you need to always look for ways to stand out.
A strong, relatable brand can help you differentiate your space from others. If a freelance artist is looking for a coworking space, which option do you think they would choose — the space with no social media presence and a corporate logo or the one with a beautifully designed website and a calendar full of artist-oriented events?
57% of users won’t recommend a brand that does not have a good website design.
As a creative coworking space, your target audience is likely people who work in the creative industry, be it writers, musical artists, graphic designers or all three.
You can let your audience know that they have a home with you in your space just based on your brand. You can choose a name that includes the word “creative or studio” in it. You can define your mission as empowering creative professionals to succeed. You can work with a graphic designer to create a unique, eye-catching logo.
All of these branding elements help signal to your ideal customer profile (ICP) that your coworking space is the place for them.
Take a look at the two logos below — which do you think would speak more to creative professionals?
Thinking about how the visual elements of your business come together in a cohesive way can help your creative coworking space stand out and catch the eye of your target audience.
Creative professionals are more likely than others to value a cohesive brand and stellar design elements. As visual people working in the creative industry, they are uniquely attuned to quality brand and design.
This can be hugely beneficial to you as a creative coworking space. It means that by investing in the visual elements of your brand, you’ll be better suited to attract creative professionals to your community.
While building out the visual elements of your brand and design, ask yourself these questions about your target audience:
Once you answer these questions, you’ll have a better understanding of how to design your brand so that it addresses these concerns.
81% of people need to trust a brand to consider buying from it.
Your brand is an opportunity for true differentiation. Here’s how to use branding and design to position your creative coworking space head and shoulders above the rest.
Identify what makes your creative coworking space unique, whether it’s offering a podcast studio or holding monthly meet-ups for local artists. Ensure these values are evident in both your branding and design choices.
For example, if you’re committed to sustainability, use recycled paper in your art supplies offer and eco-friendly products in the washroom. If your mission is to support the local art scene, regularly exhibit artwork from local artists to increase the visibility of the community.
Develop a brand voice and personality that reflects the culture you want to foster.
For example if you’re focused on supporting creative freelancers, you might have a vibrant, energetic brand with playful colors, plenty of collaboration spaces, and modern, modular furniture.
If your space caters more towards professional writers, you might opt for a more subdued, refined aesthetic with plenty of quiet areas and opportunity for structured collaboration.
One trend we’ve seen amongst creative coworking spaces that we love is incorporating elements of the local culture and arts scene into your space’s decor and branding.
This adds authenticity, strengthens community ties, and can be especially appealing to members who are passionate about their local art scene. It also helps support the broader art community and positions yourself as an ally in the community.
Consider how technology can help strengthen your brand and create a differentiated experience for members.
For example, Optix coworking space automation software offers a hugely popular custom branded White-Labeled App that creative coworking spaces love. Not only does a custom app create a better booking experience for members, it also helps unify your brand with a beautifully designed mobile application experience.
66% of consumers care more about experience than price when making a brand decision.
Consistency seems like a small point, but the impact can be massive. According to Marq, Brand consistency can increase revenue by 10-20%.
Ensure that your brand identity (colors, fonts, messaging) is cohesive across digital and physical touchpoints. Consistency in branding and messaging from digital communication to in-space signage reinforces your brand and helps create a strong, recognizable presence.
When it comes to delivering a unified brand experience, automation can play a huge role in maintaining consistency, especially with a growing team or member base. Here’s how.
For many creative coworking spaces, using automation thoughtfully can enhance your brand and the way people perceive you.
Not only that, it can also save your team time and increase efficiency, allowing you to spend less on tasks you don’t want to do and more time thinking about how you can improve your member experience.
Ready to learn more? See how Optix Automations can support you in growing your coworking space brand.
