The success of a bar or restaurant is hugely influenced by what’s become known as ‘The Instagram Effect’, meaning an Instagram post can have impact on a business than a written review. For operators it’s vital that their drinks, food and venues are photographed and uploaded to the platform looking amazing in order to attract the attention of Instagrammers scrolling rapidly through several images a minute.
Due to this shift in social media we have adapted our approach to designing an interior and now pay much closer attention to the details that make a restaurant quickly recognisable on social media – and of course to ensuring that the venue will be reflected in the best possible light in a photo.
We also consider how customers will Instagram the food and drink – what surface will that signature cocktail be sitting on, what’s in in the background, what will the lighting effect be? The photo needs to be immediately beautiful to ensure that the venue looks as appealing as possible in this small snapshot and becomes a stand-out image on Instagram, ready for a rush of likes and comments from your tribe of followers.
There is also now a real importance on what’s underfoot, as evidenced in the #Ihavethisthingwithfloors hashtag. A fast growing trend on Instagram (over 570,000 posts to date) is to take a picture of an interesting floor finish in a venue and upload it straight onto social media – a “Selfeet”.
There’s an amazing selection of flooring on the market currently available, which certainly makes designing restaurant interiors more interesting – I have to confess that I’ve also got the bug, and now taking photos of our completed projects or inspiration (complete with our feet) is firmly fixed as a new habit.