Founded in 1987 as a design firm with a focus on interiors, Vocon has grown to more than 180 employees with offices in Cleveland, New York City, and Los Angeles.
Vocon’s origins are quite unconventional. Sister and brother duo Deb Donley and Paul Voinovich, both with backgrounds in business, founded the firm around an ethos of bringing fire, courage and strong relationships to workplace design.
“We have a very strong workplace strategy focus, and there is an innate belief here that our designers can be fearless and courageous in design,” said Megan Spinos, director of strategy and business development at Vocon, in an officeinsight interview. “We’re a nontraditional firm – our owners are from the business world and neither of them is a designer. They work to build our client relationships, and they leave the design work to our design teams, and because of that, we come at it from a very unique place. Our designers are courageous and curious, and they’re not afraid to make bold design choices.”
In the past several years, the firm has grown like crazy. By 2017, the Cleveland office was bursting at the seams, and leadership kicked off an expansion and renovation of its current building, a former car showroom.
Across 15,000 square feet along Prospect Avenue in downtown Cleveland, Vocon sought to bring to its own space many of the workplace strategy elements it introduces to clients.
A case study of the project details many of these goals:
“Every design decision Vocon makes is rooted in its deep relationships with clients and team members, exploring new ideas, incorporating the newest technology, and involving all members of a community to ensure that a space reflects its residents. These values have continued to shape Vocon’s strategy and design choices, and are reflected throughout its headquarters project.”
“The vision for Vocon’s redesigned headquarters was to create a welcoming, activity-based work environment, that offers flexible options for employees and guests to work successfully, either independently or in groups. The adjustability allows the space to evolve as employees’ needs change, while supports the productivity of the Vocon team by providing access to natural light and encouraging movement and comfort.”
About 10% of Vocon’s Cleveland staff are mobile workers without assigned desks, and the decision to be mobile or assigned is based on different roles within the company. As an associate design director, Ann Marie Krol is one of the mobile workers in the office.
“As a design director, I touch a lot of different projects and areas, so it’s a good fit for me, and I really enjoy it,” said Ms. Krol. “For others, it doesn’t make as much sense. And, if someone starts off as mobile, but doesn’t end up liking it, they can switch back.”
Bold Branding Moments
Expressing company culture through thoughtful, intimate branding moments was a primary focus:
“The phrase “Love Your Work” is central to the Vocon ethos, applying to both employees, partners and clients. Its inclusion on the headquarters’ branded wall sets the tone for the space, reinforcing Vocon’s passion for creating spaces that positively impact people and organizations. The bold red neon sign that communicates the catch phrase grabs your attention – a signature color representative of the firm’s brand identity.”
“Our experiential brand team is exceptional at building an emotional connection between people and the brands and companies they’re a part of,” said Ms. Spinos. “For the branding moments in our own space, we wanted them to be located in the major intersections where people come together and interact. The first one people encounter in the space is on the first level, beyond the central reception commons and café. The ‘Love your work’ message is a big part of who we are, and we want to communicate that to both our own team members and clients. The second major messaging moment, ‘Crush it every day’ on the second floor, is located in a space that is more heavily trafficked by our internal staff – it’s certainly applicable to everyone, but it’s very reflective of our own culture and energy within the firm. The ceiling height and the scale we were working with in the building helped us be quite dramatic in creating a lot of these moments.”
“The dramatic skull wall in one of the conference spaces is another symbolic design elements unique to Vocon,” notes the case study. “It is an environmental graphic treatment made out of black felt laid over a red wall treatment. The skull has personal significance; it is a favorite image of Vocon’s co-owner Paul Voinovich. It represents the balance of Vocon’s owners, Paul and Deb, and their different personalities in the space. The arresting and unexpected visual demonstrates the firm’s singular approach, but features a double meaning. As one draws closer to the graphic, it becomes clear that it is composed of multiple circles, representing the firm’s emphasis on building relationships and connections.”
“The skull wall is a really cool moment because when you’re near it, you don’t have as much of a sense of what it is, and it’s more abstract,” said Ms. Spinos. “But when you take a step back and take it all in, it’s a powerful visual. Red is the signature color at Vocon, and it’s a symbol of strength, clarity and boldness. There’s a lot of white in our space, and so we knew we wanted to use the color red to add drama to the space.”
“A moss wall with letters reading “Crush it Every Day” incorporates greenery into a space and offers a fresh and energetic design element. Vocon’s founder uses this phrase often, and it reinforces one of Vocon’s key values, “together we give it our all.”
Vocon swapped its traditional reception area for an open hospitality-based experience. Visitors and staff are greeted by someone at a small concierge desk, but the reception experience is designed to promote the sense of the comfort of a living room and the creative energy-buzz of an open café.
“Guests gain insight into company culture from the moment they walk into the space because the kitchen wall is continually updated with photos of employees, employee’s families, company events and client projects,” notes the case study. “Another unique element of the office space is the lobby’s five decorative boxes. Each box symbolizes an aspect of Vocon’s history and values. For example, a piggy bank represents the charitable efforts that are central to the firm’s culture.”
“The staircase anchors the space, and is designed for more than utility. The intricate pattern on the stairwell signifies that Vocon’s design process is multifaceted, collaborative and nonlinear. The main wall behind the staircase features an environmental graphic similar to the skull image, with overlapping circles. This motif represents the way relationships adapt and expand, another example of the importance of Vocon’s values in their design choices.”
“The heart of the office is the work cafe that is energized throughout the day with teams, individual employees, partners and guests working and interacting. The family-style tables and booths, used for eating, or for individual work, are social hubs that facilitate spontaneous and organic collaboration. The cafe wall, modeled after the photo-filled front of the refrigerator of Vocon’s founder and owner Deb Donley, features updated photos of employees and their families, company events and client projects.”
Culture Club
“The Vocon design team chose to incorporate personalized design touches throughout the new space to reflect the firm’s unique brand identity. A wall filled with a collection of Pez dispensers, for example, is a personal collection of a long-time Vocon leader and provides an irreverent and lighthearted design choice.”
While Ms. Krol has spent the majority of her career in Chicago, she recently returned to her hometown of Cleveland, and the pace and culture of work is a noted change.
“Chicago is the everyman city, but Cleveland is Cleveland-proud. Family and relationships are very important to Vocon. Instead of looking to larger manufacturers if we need something custom, we’re more interested in finding local companies and artists to work with, and in putting money back into the local community.”
Vocon leadership has created a rich, close-knit team culture. In addition to many social outreach and charity programs, one of the ways they maintain that culture is through the “Culture Club”, a rotating team of people that design events for the entire company throughout the year. The events often center around monthly themes, such as Earth Day, Valentine’s Day, staff/celebrity look-a-likes, and staffs’ pets.
“It’s a way for you to learn something about your fellow coworkers that you might not know otherwise,” said Ms. Krol. “Our leadership wants to celebrate everyone on our team, and they’ve created a culture that makes that happen naturally.”
One of the most striking elements Vocon designed for their new headquarters is a fiery conference room coated in red, from floor to wall to ceiling, known as the “Red Room.” Notes the case study: “The bold color and minimal decor communicate Vocon’s laser focus on projects, without distraction, and also demonstrate that the firm thinks outside of the box and is willing to push boundaries and explore new ideas.”
“There’s definitely a mood in the red room,” said Ms. Spinos. “You can brighten it and dim it, and get play with different color and light temperatures. Is it 100% utilitarian? No, but we have other rooms that are, and that’s not what we wanted to achieve with this room. We knew some people would love it, and some people would hate it – but that’s design.”
Added Ms. Krol, “They really wanted to create a fully immersive experience. It creates a certain energy in the room that you can feel when you have a meeting there that makes it more intense.”
Investing in Virtual Reality
Vocon introduced cutting edge technology into its new offices, including a state-of-the-art virtual reality room that is also equipped with Bluescape technology. Notes the case study:
“Vocon uses this virtual reality space to accelerate the design process through 3D design and heightened visualisation capabilities, and to improve collaboration across Vocon offices and clients through the two interactive digital screens. The technology is highly beneficial to clients; it allows them to be a part of their future design and better visualize the space by experiencing their design choice in virtual reality.”
“We put a lot of thought and financial investment into that space,” said Ms. Spinos. “We want to be a forward-thinker in our industry. We wanted this room to be a very powerful tool for us to help us connect with our clients. We’re already designing in 3D, but the VR room lets us invite our clients into the design process with us in a new way, a way that is so valuable to us.”
“It’s helped to shorten and streamline our design process. And the benefit of taking that fly-through experience with your client, and them being able to use it as a change management tool with their own teams. People loathe change, but if we can give them something that helps ease that process and builds excitement and brings the employee voice into the process. We have been blown away by the level of detail and the types of experiences we can offer our clients.”
What does an efficient VR room entail?
“In designing the room, we needed to make it deep enough to accommodate a virtual reality experience,” said Ms. Spinos. “It’s deeper than a normal conference room would be, and all of the furniture is movable. We wanted to be able to spread out drawings and finishes inside the room, and there’s whiteboard space. There’s also a full spectrum of colors we can adjust with the lighting in the space.”
Once the VR room was complete, Vocon organized a series of training sessions for their designers to learn how to use the technology and the room in general.
“The VR room definitely requires getting past a learning curve, and at first there was a little hesitation in using the space, but now it’s constantly being booked by teams,” said Ms. Krol. “Being able to take clients into that type of room for a fly-through experience of their space – it’s something that sets us apart in this market.”
From Vocon co-founder and design principal Deb Donley herself:
“The renovated Vocon headquarters is a complete 180 from the original space. It flows better, it’s more conducive to group work, and it is designed to grow and adapt with the company. It was exciting to combine Vocon’s workplace and brand strategies with our design expertise and execution to energize our own environment and to showcase the mission and personality of the firm.”
Congrats to the entire Vocon team, and we look forward to seeing more exceptional work!
