5 Brand Accent Wall Ideas For Modern Spaces

We’ve all seen accent walls, from office accent walls to your local Starbucks. However, in the design and planning stages, where does the idea and concept of an accent wall come from? Who “decides” the function, purpose, and decor? 

The answer: there is no standard “source” or set style of “planning” for an accent wall. Sometimes, accent walls are introduced to address the limitations of a new space or to “spruce up” a commercial area, adding more personality and visual interest. Other times, organizations want to create a memorable “first impression” or “first look” for clients coming into the office. And often, accent walls are added as a fun afterthought.

But here’s what many people don’t consider about accent walls: they can be a functional component of your brand story. They can serve a real purpose in the customer journey. Otherwise, without a direction, an accent wall can become cluttered, unorganized, or unfocused. With a strategic approach, an accent wall can make a lasting statement that resonates with customers, visitors, and guests long after they leave your space.

Transforming Accent Wall Ideas Into Action: Can They “Convert” Your Next Customer?

If you’ve ever created or redesigned a website as a B2B or B2C brand, you’ve likely heard this question before: What if your website could serve as a 24-hour lead generation tool or salesperson? The idea of design converting website visitors into leads is exciting and feels full of opportunity. However, in an age when everything feels digital, many overlook one of the most obvious places where design matters: the physical brick-and-mortar environment. 

We’ve all experienced a flawlessly beautiful commercial space or “third place”. It’s always the design that feels organic and seamless, yet familiar and welcoming. It feels effortless, but in reality, it is anything but. A space that checks off all the boxes is achieved through intentional, thoughtful design, which in the planning stages of a public space, is an intricate, careful process that considers every step of the customer journey, from A to Z. 

So how can you replicate that process for your own commercial space? It starts with an accent wall that does a few key things at once. 

Accent Wall Design Ideas: Where to Start for Brands

If you hear “accent wall”, you may envision funky wallpaper or a collage of frames. While these can be components of an accent wall, they’re not the “lever pulling” design tool in themselves. For us, it all starts with answering this question: what does your space need to communicate to your customer?

Since that can be a very open-ended, head-scratching question with many different answers, maybe try this one instead: what is your space currently not saying to your customer? 

In our experience working with brands, this typically triggers responses such as:

“My space is not communicating our brand’s history.”

“My space is not communicating who we think our customers are.”

Or merely:

“My space is not communicating quality, comfort, or warmth.”

Visually, that last question can inspire visuals like hard, awkward seating, mismatched artwork, conflicting colors and materials, or simply, a space that does not live up to your brand promise or communicate anything, really. So when you’re experiencing those uncomfortable pain points in interior branding, or looking to prevent that in your upcoming space, here are some “jobs” that accent walls usually fulfill:

• Making a bold brand statement with a Statement Wall 
• Paying tribute to contributors using a Donor Wall or Recognition Wall
• Telling a rich story of the people behind the early days of a brand or organization with a Legacy Wall
• Leveraging the heritage and story behind your company or space with a History Wall
• Introducing people to your brand’s visual identity with a simple Brand Wall 
• Providing a tactile and visual overview of your geography with a Relief Wall 
• Introducing prospective customers to the people, products, and services that make your company great with a Company Wall
• Inviting people to join your charity, company ethos, or mission with a Giving Wall

A Brand Wall can turn your products and services into a powerful visual asset.

Chroma Flap, our color-based Split Flap, cascades through a 50 Pantone color palette to transition through the Nespresso logo, illustrations, and seasonal sayings.

It’s a lot of walls, we know. Who knew you needed so many walls to tell a story? Well, you don’t really. You just need one, chosen carefully and strategically from the list. If nothing jumps out at you, consider:

• Do you wish that your organization’s unique value proposition were reflected in your interior branding?
• Are you frequently telling “the story” of your space or company across your marketing materials, both print and digital?
• Do people walk into your space, and are “unable” to immediately understand what it’s for?
• And most importantly, while visiting your space, what’s the one key place people stop in their tracks and say, “wow, this is really cool.”

If you answered “YES” to every question except for the last one, you’re in the right place. 

Choosing Your Brand Accent Wall Function or Purpose

Showing is easier than telling, so with that in mind, consider these brand examples and how certain organizations may use one of the accent wall ideas above.

Statement Wall

A brand like Diaspora, which aligns high-quality, delicious spices with a promise to bring “money, equity and power into the best regenerative spice farms across South Asia,” has a big brand statement. Here’s how it could translate into a centrally placed Statement Wall at their HQ in Oakland, California:

Diaspora sources 30 spices from India and Sri Lanka. With over 150 farms partnering with the brand, Diaspora pays average of 6x above the commodity price.

Diaspora sources 30 spices from India and Sri Lanka. With over 150 farms partnering with the brand, Diaspora pays average of 6x above the commodity price.

Recognition Wall or Donor Wall

Similar to our friends at the University of Arizona, a university supported by alumni and donors, such as Yale University, could benefit from a vivid Donor Wall in a student or alumni center, with elements such as:

The University of Arizona, in partnership with architecture and design firm Ayers Saint Gross, created a dynamic wall “flipbook” with brand imagery including logos, photos around campus, and university stats.

Movement and subtle sound, compared to a light rain, brings Donor and Recognition Walls to life, bringing a kinetic focal point into static or screen-saturated spaces.

• The names, photos, or logos of big donors on a rotating image display (plus financial initiatives to be included in the display)
• Images that tell a visual “student life” story through on-campus photos, students, college branding, faculty, activities, and facilities, thanks to big donors
• Shadowboxes featuring college paraphernalia, such as a Yale University letterman jacket, sports jerseys, and a vintage school flag 
• Mounted Yale University artifacts, borrowed from the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, such as pennants, political pins, old brochures, and academic catalogs 
• Display cases with signed footballs, helmets, and a stuffed Handsome Dan animal
• Underline the importance of sustainability with low-power, low-heat mechanical displays in place of screens, for branding and school updates, great for a donor wall set at the Yale School of the Environment

To carry through the “simple” and minimal design of a Yale University donor wall, a white or neutral wall color will make the silver and navy elements pop. 

Brand Wall

Reminiscent of our work with Netflix, we would love to partner with A24 to create a Brand Wall that leverages the production company’s memorable visual identity, complete with:

• An “archaeology” of props such as a rock with googly eyes, a Scandinavian rune stone, and a diamond-encrusted Furby doll, all set with museum putty and mounted in display cases. 
• An expansive flipbook-style display that rotates through hand-drawn iterations of the iconic A24 logo, photos of script revisions, and movie stills. 
• A dynamic, marquee-style mechanical board that shares film fun facts, teases upcoming projects, and “hosts” a Q&A with visitors. 
• Framed scripts with autographs from stars like Mahershala Ali and Florence Pugh

As a bonus, museum-style lighting can help set the scene and mood of the custom installation.

History Wall

Fishwife has become a universally recognized brand, with their colorful tins appearing in grocery stores and retailers. To leverage the history of the brand and the term “Fishwife”, a History Wall at their HQ in Pacific Grove, California, could include:

• A rotating display of high-resolution photos featuring iconic “fish wives” throughout maritime history
• Custom coastal style shelving with brand “artifacts” like vintage tinned fish containers, bobbers, and fishing nets in shadowboxes
• A tactile brand message board (also works for tradeshows and food festivals) that rotates through recipes using Fishwife products, ingredients of their fan-favorites, and clever maritime sayings and facts
• Framed vintage maps depicted bodies of water where the Fishwife fish are actually caught
• An abstract or eclectic wallpaper accent wall with illustrations of fish or fishermen 

In our experience, we’ve seen Split Flap-style message boards be very successful for iconic food brands such as Nespresso, Starbucks, and Momofuku, available in a range of sizes and styles. 

Geometric Wall or Pixel Wall

A brand like Nintendo is all about imagery, interaction, and imagination, with the brand advantage of a rich, nostalgic history of pixel-style video games. A Geometric or Pixel Wall, centered on this nostalgia, is a great way for Nintendo to welcome guests, either at its headquarters in Kyoto, Japan, or at any of its flagship retail stores. In practice, this version of a Statement Wall includes:

• A sensory tile board with colored flaps that transitions through pixel-style illustrations of characters like Pokémon’s Pikachu or Animal Crossing’s Tom Nook (bonus if it’s interactive for guests)
• A flipping photo display of Nintendo’s founders, early game sketches, and company milestones
• Custom shelving with game artifacts like vintage consoles, vintage games, character trading cards, stuffed animals, and figurines 
• A vintage television that automatically flips through cartoons inspired by the classic Nintendo games, such as The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros

A geometric wallpaper accent wall that captures the colors and designs that inspired their most iconic games would be the perfect backdrop, tying the entire look together.

Vibrant, dynamic brand art no longer needs to be synonymous with screens. In place of an oversized monitor or video wall, a Geometric or Pattern Wall, using Chroma Flap, can rotate through pixel-style illustrations. In the featured Chroma Flap, a city skyline appears in silhouette to a sunset. 

Chroma Flap transitions from one pixel-style illustration to another, drawing from a rich 50 Pantone color palette. The size and scale of Chroma Flap turns these illustrations into a stunning Geometric or Pattern Wall.

Accent Wall Ideas by Industry

If you’re looking for something more industry-specific, in our experience, a good jumping-off point is a signature focal point. In practice, this looks like a centrally placed, custom installation that communicates branding or essential messages using a text, image, or color-based mechanical medium from Oat Foundry. 

We’ve worked on focal points for Statement Walls for industries ranging from stadiums, retail stores, restaurants, museums, schools, and much more. 

Here’s a brief overview of some industries and additional Accent Wall options:

• Legacy Walls for Stadiums and Sports Teams – A flipbook-style image display can tell a sports team’s story through vivid photography. Alternatively, a color-based display could rotate through a pixel-style sports logo or ball, trophy, and court illustrations. 
• Company Walls for B2C – At a retail flagship, a rotating Picture Flap introduces customers to different product styles and finishes. Alternatively, a dynamic branded Split Flap can also provide engagement prompts, with our companion Algorithm enabling customers to engage directly with the display. 
• Color Walls for “Color” Brands – If you’re a brand where color is the brand identity, our  Chroma Flap can display color in a vivid, tactile way. Chroma Flap can also create pixel-style logos and illustrations that truly bring the full possibilities of color and brand palettes to life. 
• Feature Walls for Restaurants – Inspired by our frequent collaborator Buck & Rider, an interactive Split Flap menu can become a critical part of brand identity, with displays at multiple locations, centered within a Feature Wall. 
• Welcome Walls for Hospitality – An accent wall that isn’t only intended to provide aesthetics but also to effectively welcome and onboard visitors can be a great fit for hospitality spaces. Perfect behind a reception desk or concierge area, a dynamic text or image wall can provide much-needed guest information through kinetic visuals.

The possibilities that come with a mechanical medium are truly endless, and can be further explored using our Mechanical Matchmaker Quiz or a complimentary consultation with our Sales team (book directly through our kinetic wall installation page).

Bringing Brands to Life with Accent Walls 

Ready to enhance your space with a functional, sensory Statement Wall for guests, visitors, and prospective customers alike? We’d love to talk to you about your specific project and how a signature focal point, such as our Split Flap, Picture Flap, or Chroma Flap display, can be the perfect fit.