You may have already known that the food industry is one of the most competitive sectors, especially when it comes to restaurant design and development. The competition in the restaurant industry includes the rising trend of Chinese takeaways, Indian takeaways, Mexican restaurants, and the ever-popular pizzerias. However, it should not mean that you cannot have a successful restaurant despite the tight competition. For you just need to know the tips and the techniques in applying the right design elements and strategies.
Read more as we are going to talk about the restaurant design concepts and development considerations in today’s article.
Development Of Restaurant Concept
Concept development comprises the overall design as well as the remodeling and planning. And these aspects are often conceptualized based on competitive and market research, emerging and waning trends, financial considerations, what-if scenarios, branding, brand evolution, supply chain considerations, and brand portfolio management.
Regardless if you are remodeling an existing design or developing a new prototype, you should be involved in the process all throughout. Of course, you may hire a restaurant interior designer, but you must see to it that you work hand in hand with these professionals so they can accurately turn your vision into reality.
Restaurant Design Considerations
There are literally thousands of elements to consider when designing a restaurant. In fact, it’s not just about offering good food, a comfy ambiance, and excellent service because almost all other restaurants are probably offering the same things to their customers. So you must offer something unique in order for your business to stand out among the rest.
Below is a list of the things you should strongly consider in your restaurant design and know the importance of being intimately involved in your project so that professional design consultants will be able to successfully bring your concept to life:
1. Brand Personality – Brands, like us, have personalities. And if certain individuals are known for their skills, behavior, and talents your restaurant should do the same as well.
That’s why it’s important that your brand’s personality should be programmed and well-defined right from the start, even before the first sketch of the design is even drawn.
2. Brand Promises – Integrity is crucial so customers will patronize your food business. And the best way of establishing integrity is by creating set of promises that can differentiate your brand from your competitors.
If these promises are well defined, and you’ll always deliver them to your customers, then you’re also making your brand strong in the process. And if your business is known to have integrity, then you’ll be able to attract more customers sooner than later.
3. Silverware – Most people don’t often notice about silverware when dining out. But the good thing is you can make a good impression by using the right cutlery according to your design concept. In short, refrain from using light and cheap silverware will also make the customers think that you have cheap food choices on your menu. Instead, your cutlery must complement the kind of food you are serving as this will also affect their overall dining experience.
4. Uniforms – Uniforms are essential to make your staff look professional. And it’s also necessary so that customers will be able to recognize your employees if they need assistance.
The uniform is actually an extension of your brand. Hence, it should also be looked into the same way as the overall design process of your restaurant.
5. Ventilation – Sure, the kitchen will emit appealing and appetizing aromas from the foods being cooked in there. But if you’re not taking into consideration the proper ventilation of the place, your restaurant will be filled with smoke and unpleasant odors that can deter customers or make them lose their appetite. Even worse, the place will have aroma pollution in which various odors are floating around the air.
So make sure your design includes proper ventilation. And aside from that, we also suggest you make use of aromatherapy to introduce certain aromas that can stimulate and arouse the appetite of the customers before entering the dining area.
6. Bathrooms – The location of your bathroom should be accessible to customers no matter where they are in your restaurant. And the design should be communicative of your brand.
A good example of this is the bathrooms in Starbucks. Even if the customers don’t see their Starbucks logo, they know they’re inside a Starbucks bathroom. Now that’s a clever bathroom design where the look of the bathroom is utilized as a marketing tool to reflect the brand itself.
Also, make it a point to make the bathroom clean at all times, because a messy restroom will give an assumption to customers that you also have a dirty kitchen.
7. Doorknob Design – Doorknobs may be inanimate objects, but the thing is you can actually make use of their things to work on your behalf.
The truth is the correct texture, style, weight, material, and understated nature of a doorknob can be used to communicate your brand to incoming customers even before receiving a warm greeting from your staff. So choose wisely and use a doorknob that “speaks” well to your target consumer base about your brand.
8. Storage Needs – This aspect must also be included in your plan so you can create that storage room based on business needs, whether you’re planning to have a high inventory turnover or store in bulk to save money.
Likewise, you also have to consider certain security measures (if needed) as obviously, you won’t be storing your most expensive bottle of wine along with the table napkins.
9. Lighting Design – A food business without a well-conceived lighting design is like Disney minus the fireworks. That’s why this aspect holds a special area in the whole design concept of your restaurant.
To be specific, set up a lighting plan that complements your overall design and have something that can captivate the mood and the wallets of your customers. It can be any like using warm-toned lights to create a warm mood, red lights to attract customers and make them feel hungry (incidentally), candles for a romantic vibe, or low lighting to create a calm and relaxing ambiance.
And don’t forget to consider task lighting as well as your staff will need appropriate lighting in the kitchen, particularly LED lights so they can do their job correctly.
10. Restaurant Menu Design – And finally, the design concept of your restaurant must also extend to the design of your food menu. It is the most important marketing item that showcases your food offerings with corresponding prices, brand attributes, and culinary philosophy.
Therefore, the paper, size, weight, font, presentation, photos, typographies should be displayed in such a way that represents your brand personality clearly to your patrons.
Overall, your menu must also be seen as an extension of your food business’s design concept to strengthen your brand and make your restaurant more recognizable to your target consumer base.
If you’re looking for an interior designer in UK, you can visit Decodence Design’s website for more info.