Interior design is more than just a fancy term.
For venues looking to succeed and increase footfall and revenue, improving interior design is essential.
And we’re not alone in this thinking.
Research from The Design Council states that “over a ten-year period, companies that put emphasis on design outperformed the FTSE 100 Index by 200%”.
So no small margin.
And, for all the sentiment is focused on Apple and the tech industry, we feel Steve Jobs summed up interior design in a nutshell when he stated, “design is not just about look and feel, it’s how it works when it’s in use.”
And it’s true. You need to make your interior design work for your business. Improving the space to meet a purpose and creating a first impression that makes an impact.
A first impression that positively affects how your customer feels, behaves, and acts.
But how do you achieve this? How do you create such an ambience that your customers not only return to your venue time and time again, but they stay, they spend, and they enjoy.
Show your personality.
The look and feel of your venue are a direct reflection of you and your business.
Adding value through brand awareness, good interior design can breathe new life into old and tired spaces, putting your brand, vision, and story front and centre.
You want to create spaces that people talk about, creating a customer experience that flows, is considered inspiring, and encourages productivity.
Most importantly, you want to use designs to show your personality and create an emotive link.
How….
Create spaces with purpose.
Make space flow and your employee’s job more convenient by positioning furniture in such a way that it maximises the amount of space you have without it feeling unnatural or packed for profit.
This means making space comfortable, functional, and appropriate.
Influencing the customer experience and, ultimately, their purchasing decisions, think about:
- For calming and minimalistic styles that motivate and offer efficiency, look for comfortable and versatile furniture pieces with round edges that come in soft colour palettes.
- For more collaborative spaces, look for thin, simple tables with flat top surfaces and angled legs, providing you with versatility and elegance.
- If you require different configurations, look for easily assembled furniture. Furniture that is minimalistic, multifunctional, and flexible.
- Consider soft seating to encourage people to stay longer, as comfort becomes key.
Use hierarchy to grab attention.
With the right design hierarchy, you can guide people through your venue.
Influencing what you want your customers to do, the focus is to place your most important pieces of information/content first.
Using larger font sizes and bright colours to attract the eye and grab attention, working down to more neutral tones and colours for smaller bitesize information.
Think about impact and areas that add value to your business.
Evoke emotions through texture.
Add visual weight to your interior design with various textures.
Textures can significantly affect the feel of a space…significantly.
For example, rough textures can create a feeling of intimacy and provide a more rustic and grounded sense. In contrast, venues with smooth (and, dare we say it, often shiny) surfaces appear more modern and sleek, adding a contemporary tone as soon as you walk through the door.
Use colour psychology.
We love the psychology of colour. The idea that you can influence how people think, feel, and behave all through the colours you use.
Having the ability to send powerful messages to your customers, colours can stimulate a better customer experience, especially if you make the right associations at every touch point.
For example, use earthy colours for eco-friendly venues or blend sustainable and renewable elements throughout the workspaces.
Fast food restaurants often use yellows, oranges, and reds in their spaces as these colours are believed to stimulate appetite…
Likewise, venues such as yoga studios or spas will have blues and soft greens to create a sense of calm and stillness.
For an intimate feeling, black and grey tones can create a clean look and project shapes and silhouettes when worked with the right lighting, providing an ambient illumination that is unique, edgy, and dynamic.
This leads us to matching the right colours with the right….
…lighting.
Lighting can make or break the feeling inside a venue.
How often have you struggled to read a menu and make the right choices? Or walked into a venue to feel the bright lights of a supermarket glaring down on you, making you feel uncomfortable and like you need an excuse to leave…and quick!
Lights build an atmosphere and allow you to make a statement while also being highly efficient.
It’s not all about the customer.
Interior design is not all for your customers; your employees are important too!
Working in uninspiring, outdated, and drab spaces makes it extremely difficult to feel motivated, creative, and driven to do and offer more.
An attractive, chilled-out zone, with staff spaces they can call their own, can boost employee productivity two-fold. Increasing efficiency and boosting morale, an attractive staff space is conducive to increasing worker output.
Look at seating (sofas in shared spaces can create a feeling of relaxation, warmth, and calm) and multi and bright colours to add depth, excitement and promote productivity.
Importance of interior design for venues
Interior design goes beyond cosmetics. It focuses on making business processes more efficient and cost-effective, increasing the value of products and services, and cutting production costs.
All through designing spaces that meet a clear purpose.
At Black Ivy Design, we create purposeful spaces that give you a competitive edge, driving results.
Providing efficient and sustainable solutions, we identify opportunities and solve design-related problems, transforming good businesses into successful ones.
With designs that put people first, we have a taste for trends that deliver.
Got a project in mind?
