There’s nothing like an awning to make a restaurant look great. It doesn’t matter if you’re a “seafood shack” down by the water or a grandly elegant dining room. A restaurant awning can be a subtle addition to your exterior or it can boldly stand out, but the right one will set you apart and help grow your business.
Great restaurant awning design takes some careful thought, however. Your awning is an important business investment and it will reflect on you and your restaurant, so it has to be just right. Here are four key elements you’ll want to consider as you plan your awning:
1. Know what you’re getting into.
That means doing your research. Learning about all the different kinds of awnings that are available and understanding the pros and cons of each will help you make wise decisions when it comes time to design your restaurant awning.
You should study the various functional and framing options as well as the aesthetics, because strength and durability will protect your investment.
2. Talk to an expert.
Choose a company with broad experience designing and producing awnings and a reputation for quality and personalized customer service. They’ll be able to help you ask the right questions so you don’t overlook anything, and they can give you “insider” tips and recommendations down to the finest detail. Unless you have the time and desire to become a restaurant awning expert yourself, getting professional help simply makes the most sense.
3. Don’t go it alone when it comes to graphic design, either.
Even if you just want something simple, simplicity can look smart or it can look weak.
Talk about visual considerations with your professional consultant. Their staff designers will work hand-in-hand with you, using their skills and experience to help create a unique design that will look and perform well on your type of restaurant awning.
That’s important, because although your awning should match the colors and artwork you use elsewhere, working with awning fabrics is not the same as working with paper or other typical marketing collateral media. Awning fabrics aren’t even the same as the vinyls you see used for banners or billboards.
The right awning company can help you achieve virtually any look you want, using the latest “any image, anywhere” digital technology. They can even help you create matching digital signage for your front windows or delivery vehicles, if that fits your restaurant.
4. Decide up front what you expect from your restaurant awning.
An awning offers numerous opportunities to promote your restaurant as well as provide practical solutions. But you have to know what you want, and the company that makes your awning has to know what you expect.
Why do you want an awning? It can cover your walkway to protect patrons from the elements as they’re arriving. It can define your entrance and make it more welcoming. It can simply dress up your exterior.
A restaurant awning can help you generate more revenue, too, if you use it to create additional outdoor seating. Perhaps you want a sidewalk café to expand seating streetside during warmer months. People love to eat outdoors, and passersby can see and smell your tasty food. Talk about marketing to all the senses. Or maybe you have a courtyard or patio in the back you could use more often or year round with the right awning in place.
Have you thought about these restaurant awning details?
- Will it be seasonal or permanent?
- Will it be retractable?
- Will it need additional lighting? From the front or the back? You want to be as visible at night as you are during the day.
Whether your awning serves one purpose or several, it will cost the same. So make the most of it, by using these keys to unlock great restaurant awning design.
Photo Credit: danxoneil via Flickr
