IBI Group – Sunlight on a Blue Monday
20 January 2020
By Alex Harrington
Up at dark, I was looking forward to a bright morning learning how much light impacts our daily health and wellbeing through stations of various sensory experiences. All courtesy of those at the IBI Group London office!
Marking my first physical visit to IBI, the events’ clear and established visual identity ensured I arrived stress-free. E-campaigning to wayfinding in its finest (figures 1 and 2).
Figure 1: IBI Group (2019)
Figure 2: Harrington, A (2020a)
Upon arrival with my name badge (figure 3), I received an ergonomic booklet (figure 4) which I could take away with me, giving the written breakdown to the sensory stations I was about to experience.
Majorly impressed by the dressing of station one – food curiosities (figure 5), little did I know until Mazuch’s (2020) lecture on ‘Healing benefits daylight’ (figures 4 and 6) that eating chocolate contains serotonin, the ‘feeling good’ drug, which gives our bodies the same neurological effect as raising our bare rears to the Sun for twenty minutes! Our lecture concluded with the importance of having regular access to vitamin D, as otherwise the demise of bone density, which has been linked with underground workers, and the decline of dental health may become a reality. The Romans even knew how important sunlight is for us with their proverb ‘Where the Sun does not go, the doctor goes’ (translated, IBI Group, 2020).
Figure 3: Harrington, A (2020b)
Figure 4: Harrington, A (2020c)
Figure 5: Harrington, A (2020d)
Figure 6: Harrington, A (2020e)
Whilst at the fourth station – energise room, I had an instant flashback to being on the back of an ambulance from momentarily using an oxygen bar. As our booklet states, we can easily retain memories linked with smell rather than sight.
Afterwards Flatt (2020) stated that the then citrus smells around us are known to improve mood and consequently productivity… hence the implementation of diffusers in the IBI workplace!
As a qualified Graphic Designer, the introduction to the next experience, station three – lighting room, seemed familiar due to the displayed use of RGB hex codes to combine and/ or change colour for the featured lighting*. MacDonald (2020) from amBX further explained that this smart lighting has the ability to replicate the circadian rhythm; following the natural cycle of daylight; which has evidently improved the behaviour of those whom experience it (figure 7). Therefore, I gathered that vulnerable places to behaviour change such as prisons and care homes are at the forefront of installing such technology in a bid to reinstate control (price permitting).
Figure 7: Harrington, A (2020f)
Just before visually analysing the various exhibited lighting and dementia diagrams in the hallway by Mazuch (figures 8 and 9), I enjoyed participating in a live sample of meditation at the second station. It was here where the well known app ‘Headspace’ was thoroughly recommended to all… highlighting the importance of body scanning, visualisation and morning meditation to improve mood, focus and reduce stress.
With my lavender bag in toe, I left the IBI office with a wealth of information which visually, aurally and tastefully suggests that we as a healthcare industry need transdisciplinary action to ensure that the users, the nation, receive the upmost care and of course feel guilt-free for having their daily chocolate fix.
Figure 8: Harrington, A (2020g)
Figure 9: Harrington, A (2020h)
*A hex code refers to the numerical value of a colour whilst RGB (Red, Green, Blue) is the correct mode to use when creating colour for any digital platform.
List of figures:
Figure 1: Harrington, A. (2020a) Photograph of IBI Group poster. [Accessed 20 January 2020].
Figure 2: Harrington, A. (2020b) IBI Group name badge amongst IBI business cards.
Figure 3: Harrington, A. (2020c) Station 1 in IBI booklet.
Figure 4: Harrington, A. (2020d) Table dressing at the IBI Group London office.
Figure 5: Harrington, A. (2020e) Mazuch lecture in progress.
Figure 6: Harrington, A. (2020f) Station 3 in IBI booklet.
Figure 7: Harrington, A. (2020g) Lighting a day in the life research poster by Mazuch at IBI.
Figure 8: Harrington, A (2020h) Dementia a day in the life research poster by Mazuch at IBI.
Figure 9: IBI Group. (2019) Sunlight on a Blue Monday. (E-campaign) [Accessed: 18 December 2019].
References:
MacDonald, N. (2020) At Station 3 - Lighting room. Spoken word. [Accessed: 20 January 2020].
Mazuch, R. (2020) Healing benefits daylight. Industrial Lecture. [Accessed: 20 January 2020].
Flatt, K. (2020) At Station 4 - Energise room. Spoken word. [Accessed: 20 January 2020].
What are your thoughts? Get in touch!
Thank you!