Not too fast food

Immediate recognition of the brand and the type of food on offer was the main request of the client, the fast food catering company Gastrò. For this purpose, a specific design concept based on colour choices and a unique layout of furnishings will enable the Gastrò image to supersede the American-style fast food culture of McDonald’s and other brands imported from around the world while at the same time lending unique appeal to its own restaurant spaces. Gastrò is launching a new image: popular but sophisticated, recognisable yet highly innovative and above all in touch with a European culture whose characteristics can be exported beyond national borders. Coining the slogan « fast but not too fast food », the new restaurant brand is aimed at a young target clientele and intends to forge an identity characterised by a « slow » approach to eating, behaviour that is more in keeping with the habits of Italians who are notoriously resistant to « drive-by » style dining. The key factor in meeting this objective is the unusual decoration of the ceramic floor tiles, whose labyrinth style decorations reflect the concept of spending time in socialisation spaces such as fast food restaurants, where people also meet to spend their free time in company. The choice of colours, with a clear reference to the sixties Beat atmospheres, integrates with a system of tiles to create diversified functional areas for moving around and for sitting. This lends the new brand a striking and innovative image and demonstrates how the artisan qualities of ceramic tiles are able to reflect the identity of local cuisine without falling into the « traditional style » cliché, while at the same time projecting a new language suited to a trend-conscious sector. The Labirinto series modular system allows the functional areas to be clearly differentiated, defining seating areas with a different layout of the « carpets » formed from the various decorations. The patterns reproduced on the carpets are made up of six to eight tiles that break down the decorations into their constituent components, a web of geometric figures such as lines, curves, a single and double intersection and three colours. The areas to be used for tables, chairs and lighting thus become the main theme of the internal spaces. The effective formal characteristics of the decors also inspired various three-dimensional structures such as the large painted metal grille partition that dominates the entrance to the restaurant. The decorative theme of the Labirinto series also appears in the service areas such as the bathrooms, where the same decoration is used on both the floor and the wall surfaces, creating a warm ambience with a strong chromatic impact and ensuring a user-friendly environment.