Instagram-proof location: the setting for the perfect shot
Sleekly decorated cappuccinos or bright green matcha teas, tasty cakes or healthy breakfast bowls, books on pastel tables, shock-coloured walls with oversized mirrors, intimate and welcoming outdoor spaces, plants or bulb lighting hanging from the ceiling: if you are thinking of restyling your location this autumn - indoor and outdoor - it will be useful to know the latest trends set by social media. In the 1960s, Warhol predicted that everyone would have had “15 minutes of fame” and, almost sixty years later, we can say that's the case: in the era of influencers and followers, image is everything and everyone looks for places perfect to get likes and sharing.
So, why not offer your customers the perfect background for the perfect post? Thanks to the quick sharing of a photo or hashtag, an attractive image could intrigue other people and encourage them to enter your location: obviously, the quality of your menu and service proposal should remain excellent, but if it is framed by an environment perfect to take photos, even better. Are you curious to discover all the tips for a perfect Instagram-style setting?
An Instagram-friendly location: here are the latest trends
Social media have become a very useful tool to understand what your potential customers like - or don’t like. Among them, Instagram is definitively the trending social platform, so much so that in Italy, in 2018, there were about 19 million active users per month, and instagrammability has become an essential feature of anything: whether it is a place or an object, the more it is ‘Instagram-proof’, the more it will get visibility and popularity, bouncing from one smartphone to another. A meticulous attention to the location details is no longer enough: today we have to create atmospheres or moments, scenes in which we live (and photograph) the moment. So, according to Instagram trends, what do people really like when they go to a restaurant or club?
A place that excites: the outdoor space
Especially in the cities, those who have a restaurant or bar and want to increase their business must provide for an outdoor space where customers can sip a coffee or enjoy an aperitif in the open air during the summer, or protected in an intimate and warm atmosphere when temperatures drop. The cool touch, therefore, is definitively the separation of spaces - and situations - between indoor and outdoor areas.
Design and functionality must be the watchwords for your outdoor space: a solution like Maestro, an aluminium freestanding or wall-mounted pergola, available with retractable canvas or in bioclimatic version with adjustable blades, will prove to be perfect. Thanks to its well defined but essential lines and its huge versatility, it can fit into any context and catch the attention. In addition, by providing appropriate perimeter closures, you can protect your customers from the weather, offering them a welcoming space all year round, perhaps by creating a heated veranda.
Just like the indoor space, your outdoor area must be flawless, because in an Instagram-style setting, details are everything. For your outdoor area, you can opt for a minimal and essential style thanks to geometric shapes and empty spaces, or for a more vintage and nostalgic touch, with old radios, old-fashioned images and the real must-have, the velvet pouf (better if round, with golden and pink metal profile). One last piece of advice? Books are very popular - whether placed on shelves or used to create original furniture - and make the customer feel pampered, who doesn’t miss a chance to take a photo: consider that 142,907 posts have the hashtag #bookcafe!
Playing with colours and patterns indoor and outdoor
In the world of images, colours are crucial. One of the latest and most popular trends in nuances, even in Italy, is monochrome. Imagine a location with walls, armchairs, tables and napkins of a single shade: instagrammers seem to prefer environments where harmony and colour coherence reign. The most popular ones? Definitely the classic total white, or even the Millennial Pink, so audacious and nostalgic, highly appreciated on social media with the hashtag #pinkcafè. Also the Living Coral, Pantone colour 2019, has 139,789 posts on Instagram and is suitable for a lively but refined environment. If monochrome is not for you and you prefer to emphasise the restyling of your spaces with an element that won’t go unnoticed, another trend is the exaggerated patterns of the 1970s with botanical theme - palms, leaves or flowers - or precise and balanced optical geometries, in Wes Anderson style, perfect for transforming a corner of the location in a set for original shots.
When love for nature is social
In recent years the green culture has spread also in Italy, exploded in a real Garden Mania: even in urban spaces, people look for places that are able to convey a sense of connection with nature, with a focus on sustainability. How can you offer social addicted customers an environment in line with this trend? Flowers and plants can help you by giving a fresh and extremely photogenic look to your indoor and outdoor spaces: why not opt for an entire wall furnished with glass vases with different sizes and succulent plants? Or you can focus on floating gardens: this trend is a hit even in Italy and provides for an orderly arrangement of hanging plants - even upside down for an original effect - or Kokedama, the eccentric and elegant Japanese cultivation of air bonsai. In spring, instead, climbing plants, such as ivy or wisteria, will allow you to embellish your outdoor space, giving it that charming and eco-friendly allure that can capture many followers.
Lights and lighting to give personality
If playing with colours is really appreciated, the same can be said for lights. In fact, a perfect Instagram-style location cannot fail to include a careful and accurate study of lighting. But what do Instagrammers like? For an enveloping effect, the chain of lights, maybe to be hung between two walls, always give a charming effect, as well as the bare bulb lights - on Instagram the hashtag #bulblight has 5,901 posts - while, for a more contemporary environment, you should opt for neon lights. In any case, the philosophy is: any object can be transformed into a lamp, the important thing is to leave creativity free. The same rule applies to outdoor lighting: your outdoor space must be functional but aesthetically appealing, illuminating the access and passage areas, so as to entice people to stop.
In conclusion, for an Instagram-style setting, the watchword is play! With colours, lights and details to create an environment perfect for a shot, but at the same time comfortable and cosy, as design experts like to say. So, if you need to refurbish your location, these tips will be useful to engage and excite your customers: ready to leave everyone speechless?
Ph. Vito Corvasce