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Brief:
Working with an emerging cafe, bar or restaurant of your choosing, develop and produce a styling and branding strategy that encapsulates the experience of visiting this venue. This strategy must show their food/drinks and the interior atmosphere of the venue and must be articulated with current lifestyle and interiors trends. You must style and shoot the food and interiors of your chosen venue, contributing your own elements of food styling and interior styling to visually communicate the brand’s identity.

Concept:
The venue we chose is one of Melbourne's most established bar and restaurant venues having existed in it's Chapel Street location for over 20 years. Created as an offshoot of America's most loved casual dining chain, the American "Bar and Grill" design was something new and exciting for the Australian market when it opened in 1996. Flash forward to 2016 and a once thriving location now feels dated and uninspiring, with the light wood panelling, brick flooring and red and white stripes showing the venue's age.

In a climate such as Melbourne's where boutique dining experiences are key, the new look needs to bring a more localised feel to the Chapel Street venue by focusing on the bar as the centrepiece of the restaurant. The aim is to attract a younger, more energetic crowd reminiscent of the original single's bar of the 1960's. By creating an atmosphere that focuses on fluid transitions between night and day, as well as between relaxed and formal dining, our aim is to change the entire feel of the restaurant and therefore, hopefully, attract a new clientele.

Design:
Lighting is dim, yet stimulating with a focus on elegance and ambience. The natural formations of gemstones and minerals will become a feature of the dining space, creating unique reflections and light-filtered colours through their use in crystal table decor and lighting. Seating focuses on plush textures to create an "old world charm," whilst also working to juxtapose the hardness of the metallic finishes. High communal tables combined with intimate two tops will complete the space to allow for this restaurant to become a destination for both intimate encounters and after-work celebrations. Polished concrete floors and a darker, rendered wall texture will also help to modernise and connect the entire space.