
I missed NeoCon in June, first time since 1988. It was difficult to break that streak because NeoCon has always been a pleasure for me, not a burden. For those 30-odd years of making the trek to Chicago in June, I was never staffing a showroom or a booth space. Instead, I spent the entire show seeing as much as I could see, and meeting up with so many prized colleagues that I might only encounter once per year. That made missing NeoCon 2024 a serious disappointment. However, I had a good reason.
I had been invited to an arts conference for writers, painters, musicians, etc. in Postignano, Italy, a tiny borgo northeast of Rome in the mountainous countryside of Umbria. I would gather with an amazing array of gifted and warm-hearted attendees to nurture our creativity, absorb unsurpassed beauty, and consume languorous dinners prepared by a chef with four Michelin stars. Not a terrible reason to miss NeoCon.
For my long flight to Italy, I dove into a book I thought would help me prepare for those stimulating days ahead, “Your Brain on Art,” by Susan Magsaman and Ivy Ross. While it was great preparation for my days in Postignano, it has even more value for the industry that was simultaneously gathering in Chicago. Magsaman is a professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the founder of their International Arts and Mind Lab. Ross is a senior vice president of hardware design at Google, an artist, and her jewelry designs are included in the collections of over a dozen international museums. Don’t be put off by the serious intellectual and professional pedigrees of these two women, their book is imminently understandable and exceedingly valuable. Read it today.
In “Your Brain on Art,” Magsaman and Ross document the foundational neuroscience that underpins what many people, especially designers, experience as fundamentally true; that art and aesthetic experiences of beauty, in all their varied and diverse manifestations, change us and actually change our brains, and all for the absolute better. Without summarizing all that science in this column (did I mention, read the book), one concept is central and relevant…neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is the trait of the human brain that enables it to form and reform its neural connections, the connections that are essential to advanced cognition. In short, the more neuroplasticity our brains can develop and employ, the smarter we are. Neuroplasticity enables the synaptic connections that, in turn, enable our best thinking. And, here’s the kicker, arts and aesthetic experiences are one of the primary ways to increase and enhance neuroplasticity. That means increasing our experiences of art, our contact with all forms of beauty, our practice of any artful activity has the absolutely crucial potential to re-wire the synapses of our brains and make us smarter. This documented scientific reality was not merely a useful construct for justifying my ten days at an arts conference in Umbria, it has profound implications, I believe, for each of us individually and for our industry.
Recently, one of the leading textile companies in our industry, DesignTex, promoted (on these pages even), a new collection that they assert will actually engender joy, leveraging the connection between aesthetics and emotions. Before you snicker at that marketing, consider the science I just referenced. In fact, a number of other textile companies are paying careful attention to the science of neuroaesthetics. And for the workplace, this issue goes well beyond a bold and bright portfolio of textiles.
Designers, no surprise, have a natural inclination toward beauty, but perhaps it’s time to place an even greater emphasis on the importance of the science of neuroaesthetics for the workplace. If we truly believe that the artfulness of a space can impact the cognitive development of the people who use the space, and thus positively impact their performance for their organization, it may be a powerful reason to pay a new level of attention to elements such as:
Color and Texture — this may be a category that comes to mind easily, and gets a fair measure of design focus, but it is also one of the most important sources of artfulness and beauty in the workplace; never minimize the impact of these elements on the people who use the space and their brains
Shape and Shape Combinations — furniture designers and manufacturers are giving increasing attention to the contours and angles of their products and how they create combinations and overall visual landscapes; designers have more choices than ever to create beautiful settings that inspire by their mere contours
Art Objects — this may be the area that gets the most resistance from clients and others who are inclined to train their attention on functionality only (and budgets); an artful blend of dimensionality, color, and creative placement can enhance the overall impact of a space on neuroplasticity; the science says so
Tool Selection/Signage — details such as the quality, color, shape, weight, material, texture of even the smallest elements of a space can heighten the impact on beauty and artfulness, again impacting neuroplasticity
Lighting — a visit to any museum or gallery will unmistakably reinforce the importance of lighting for the appreciation of beauty; lighting selections (color, temperature, intensity, control, angle, etc.) certainly must provide high-performance functionality, but attention to highlighting beauty and creating an overall artistic impact will deliver cognitive benefits
Talented designers are always attentive to these (and many other) sorts of spatial elements, but the science referenced above provides an irrefutable rationale for budget allocations and client priorities to support a more artful workplace design. We owe it to our brains.