How can we turn our company values into wall graphics without simply putting a list of words on the wall?

Start with what each value looks like in everyday work. Use those real behaviours to develop a visual idea, then choose a small amount of wording to make the meaning clear. A strong values wall connects with the organisation’s people and purpose rather than decorating a list of abstract words.

Translate the words into something specific

Ask the team for an example of each value in practice. What does care look like when a customer needs help? How does collaboration change the way a project is delivered? What would someone see if the organisation were living its commitment to quality?

Collect short examples and choose the ones people recognise. This gives the design useful substance and can reveal when several values are saying almost the same thing. Keep the final wording consistent with the organisation’s approved language.

Choose a visual approach that fits

• A connected illustration: useful when several values contribute to one wider story.
• A family of symbols: useful when each value needs a recognisable identity across different rooms or sites.
• A local or organisational narrative: useful when the company’s place, history or work offers a meaningful starting point.
• Typography with selected graphic details: useful when the words are strong and the room calls for a simpler treatment.

These are starting points, not fixed templates. Avoid stock symbols that need a long explanation or could belong to any organisation. If imagery involves cultural stories or motifs, involve the appropriate people and confirm permission and attribution.

Give the wall a readable hierarchy

Decide what someone should understand at a glance and what they can discover up close. A clear headline or central image can establish the idea, with smaller details supporting it. Putting every workshop note onto the wall usually makes the result harder to use.

Think about the audience too. A staff area can use shared references that would confuse a first-time visitor. Reception needs a message that makes sense without an explanation from a colleague.

Make the design belong to the building

Use the room’s architecture, materials and sightlines to guide the composition. Flat graphics can carry the broader scene, while dimensional elements can emphasise selected details. Colour and scale should relate to the surrounding interior rather than only to a presentation slide.

Our work in the Hawke’s Bay Hospital Perioperative Unit connects a specific narrative with a mural backdrop and wooden sculptural forms. It is a cultural storytelling project rather than a company-values wall, but it illustrates how a meaningful story can guide material, composition and detail. That story and its imagery belong to their own context and should not be reused as a generic workplace theme.

Check authenticity before approving artwork

Show the concept to a representative group of staff. Ask whether they understand it, whether it feels like the organisation and whether anything seems forced or misleading. A graphic can express a commitment, but it cannot establish that the business lives up to it.

Send us your values, a few practical examples and photos of the intended wall. Through our commercial murals, graphics and signage, we can help shape a visual direction that your team recognises and your visitors can understand. Our guide to how a commercial project works explains how the brief and approvals are developed.