The Color Of The Food Experience Today - and More Design Flavors
A look at the design styles and elements used to shape our real-world social experiences.
My latest report, '200 Ideas in Cafes, Bars, and Restaurants,' identifies 20 design trends shaping the hospitality and food service landscape. After studying hundreds of new restaurant and bar openings since June 1, 2024, this rather-hefty, 470-page report captures the themes that I saw running through the interior designs of incredible social spaces around the globe.
What Did I Learn?
Quite a lot about color use in these spaces. While the handy chart below presents the design themes defined from my research, it also indicates the dominant colors being employed in the cafes, bars and restaurants that fit within each theme. These are the colors of modern food experience today…. Notice the green to red to brown and a little beige to gray. No purple, sadly.
Design matters… maybe more than the food: while I was running pattern recognition across the images of hundreds of examples (that I had literally printed out and covered the floor of my dining room with) I read a fascinating piece by NY Times writer Priya Krishna about how some restaurants are valuing ambience over taste that backed up this macro theme I had been percolating.
The technology was hidden. Even in the most futuristic-looking eateries like Novu Waffle in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the tech wasn’t obvious. There were no big screens or ordering devices. It kinda feels that restaurants and their diners have agreed to camp at a technology plateau for now. Let’s hope it’s one where QR codes are only used for payment and never for menus. (« that did not appear in my research, just in my head.)
My report oversimplifies the interior design of modern restaurants and bars. What I noticed is how social spaces were employing 2 or maybe 3 different styles in one location. Sometimes a side room looked very different (in an exciting way), often the rooms in the basement embraced a darker, moodier, nocturnal approach.
A number of design elements kept cropping up: record collections, galleries of photos and art, privacy curtains, the nature mural and, of course, the olive tree. As I tried to created an image that referenced many of the design themes for the cover of the report, I also tried to reference some of these elements into the image too:
10 More Video Mood Boards
Last week, I presented mood boards for themes like Microgrid Modern, Vermilion Drama and Framing Nature. Here are more clips that I developed (along with soundtracks(!!)) to bring 10 new themes to life.
New Tuscan: Mediterranean-inspired interiors emphasizing earthy color palettes and terracotta textures for warm, tranquil atmospheres.
Continental Neutrality: Understated luxury and European-inspired interiors characterized by muted palettes and refined elegance.
Framed Rigor: Structured geometric interior designs creating visually engaging and sophisticated hospitality environments.
Eclectic Palette: Bold, Mediterranean-inspired interiors featuring vibrant colors, artistic accents, and dynamic visual combinations.
Orbital: Futuristic hospitality design concepts with seamless forms, minimalist precision, and subtle integration of advanced technology.
Urban Jungle Retreat: Lush greenery and organic textures transform interiors into relaxing, nature-infused sanctuaries within urban settings.
Open Assembly: Adaptable, open-plan spaces designed for flexible social interactions, mixing functional modularity with contemporary aesthetics.
Crimson Cocoon: Warm, enveloping interiors featuring soft, rounded forms and rich, deep-red hues to create intimate, cocoon-like spaces.
Gilded Times: Opulent, historically inspired interiors blending gold accents, luxurious textures, and refined craftsmanship for timeless sophistication.
Quiet Craft: Serene, minimal spaces emphasizing artisan details, subtle textures, and natural materials to foster calmness and authenticity.
When you download the report you can explore these and 10 more influential design themes to gain inspiration, enrich your creative projects, and elevate your hospitality space planning and interior design strategy.
What's You Get When You Buy The Report
200 Examples of the Latest Hospitality Experiences
20 Themes with Conceptual Renders
List of Trending Design Elements
Video Walk-Throughs of Thematic Concepts (access to Gumroad folder required)
Audio Mood Boards for Each Thematic Concept (access to Gumroad folder required)
AI Prompts and AI Seeds (Google ImageFX) to help you develop your own visually striking moodboards based on our trend research
