Apple Cafe - Part One

New Look
EN Organic Smoothie Bar is getting a new name and a new look: Apple Cafe. Compliments of yours truly.

EN Organic Smoothie Bar is a smoothie bar/cafe, located in Harbor Athletic Club. It's menu boasts over 20 different smoothie flavors, all divided into handy categories like 'fat burner' or 'protein' or 'just fruit'. Best. Smoothies. EVER.

It also offers delicious coffees, hot chocolate, and teas. Additionally, there are rows of shelves full of the very best nutritional supplements, vitamins, whey protein, etc. And the customer service is amazing.

Have I mentioned that the owner/manager of Apple Cafe is my husband? And I am oh, so proud of him. Yes, he is a 24 year old entrepreneur extraordinaire.

The original design work for the smoothie bar was created before I came along, and there really wasn't any sort of consistent theme, just a bunch of mismatched signage -- and lots of red and black. So, the first step was to determine a cohesive theme for Apple Cafe.

We analyzed our customers and age demographics and determined that we wanted Apple Cafe to emanate a trendy, modern feeling, while still being warm and family oriented. This was especially important, as we realized that our audience ranged from toddler to senior citizen. Harbor Athletic Club is a very family oriented gym, and not overly frequented by hard core muscle builders or professional weight lifters. Our look needed to appeal to men, women, and children. Our goal was to find a way to mesh natural and modern; classy enough to appeal to Middleton adults, but bright and colorful enough to catch the eyes of kids walking by. Our business is located in a gym, so we already have an advantage. Our problem is not how to get the customers IN, but how to catch their attention as they hurry in and out.

New Name
Wait a second... you're probably wondering, why Apple Cafe? Well, we chose the name Apple Cafe for several reasons:
1) Apples have a very healthy reputation, and we want everyone to know that Apple Cafe is healthy, too!
2) Apple Cafe indicates that there is more to our business than just smoothies, with the name pointing to the other items on our cafe menu.
3) We are planning to open a nutrition store named Apple Nutrition in 2010. We want Apple Nutrition and Apple Cafe to be a unified chain, sharing the same name and look.

Inspiration
Sometimes all it takes is one glimpse of an object, brimming with inspiration, and you know, just know that you've finally got it. And by "it" I mean, the completion of all the mismatched design thoughts whirling around your mind.

I found the perfect fabric.

This perfect fabric line is named Arcadia, designed by Moda fabrics. It is deliciously unique and modern. The colors are perfect. And, in an instant, I had the entire Apple Cafe look planned out in my mind.

When I came home, clutching several yards of Arcadia fabric, I proudly showed it to Timmy with a huge smile, full of ideas. He stared at it for a while, but didn't really understand how a pile of fabric could become anything very wonderful. I guess it is something only a designer can understand, although I will try to explain it the way I explained it to Tim.

Every design starts with an idea, and every idea starts with something to inspire it. From that first spark comes a series of sparks and thoughts, but all you need is that first spark to get the chain reaction going. So, when I look at this fabric, I see more than just a bunch of material. I see clean lines and geometric shapes, mixed in with natural silhouettes. I see a beautifully harmonized color palette that perfectly shouts "nature! apples! modern!" I see simple color and shapes, curved lines and repeating patterns. And this is all a starting point, leading to where my designs will eventually end up. I may not even USE the fabric for anything other than inspiration.

But it is a good starting point.

To be continued...