Personally I have always hated franchises. For example coffee houses, I like to go to unique places with their own ambiance and feel. That was until I came to Kuwait. When you are hundreds of miles away from your home, family and friends the feeling of familiarity really does make you feel so much better. My husband and I went to Chilli’s for dinner a few days ago and I walked in and felt I was back in Egypt, the tables, the walls, the waiters’ uniforms everything made me feel right where I wanted to feel. I had never thought about it but even Costa (which I don’t like very much because they make really mundane coffee) feels soooo cozy when you are homesick. I used to wonder why the high people in the big corporations like McDonald’s are real stiff when it comes to the interior design of their little franchises and why they never try to incorporate the countries’ culture in the look’n'feel of their places, but now I get it.
Of course it is not just about making you feel at home, it is also all about the money, these places are designed to make you order more food and become more loyal to these places. Certain colors make you hungry, relaxed, happy and whatever the marketers want you to feel. Hospitals have always been associated with greys and pastel blues because they make people feel really relaxed and helps the healing process.
Since I am a geek/nerd, I decided to look it up, I mainly found articles on color and how color affects our moods and feeling, I am still looking for how designers come up with restaurant themes and how details are decided on. Because life really is about the details, the little things that tug at your heart forever and make you come back for more every time. Subliminal marketing is sly but it is very effective but perhaps a more in depth post on that later.
