Design
Recommendations
The First
Impression
The client and I agreed that customers' first interaction with the space will be through the reception - waiting room and fuel bar. Material consistency should to be maintained within the spaces. Visual and functional connectivity between those 3 spaces would be advantageous for product sales.
Conceptual Inspiration
Barber
Station
Barber station's look will mimic utility gym shelving. Potential to use reclaimed gym materials to build the stations. After researching dimensional requirements for salons I drafted a potential configuration.
At the start of this project the owner had chosen all-inclusive barber stations + chairs to be ordered in from a European manufacturer. The stations, while extremely nice, where extremely expensive.
I found out that my client had previously commissioned a metal fabricator to put together his container-store protein shop. I suggested that we utilize his skillset again and use reclaimed gym utility shelving and squat racks to construct the barber stations. I put together some concept drawings and worked on the details with the fabricator and we managed to slash each station's cost by 30%.
Barber Station Interior Elevation
Barber Station Plan
Station
Layout
Since the client wants a 'cross-fit' feel to the salon, I used the gym setting as inspiration. The floor treatment of the barber station echoes space markers in a traditional cross-fit gym. In an effort to draw on as much elements from the brand as possible, the floor treatment of the station is set at the same angle as the Fuel+ logo.
Since the client had yet to hone in on a location, the configuration of the stations will have to come later. They can either line the middle of the space or attach to walls.
Business
Strategies
In preparation for running Fuel Nutrition's new salon, the client had taken up a managerial position at a well-established luxury salon to learn the inner workings of how to run such an establishment. I requested that I shadow him for 2 days and interviewed the customers in order to identify pain points and opportunities. Below is a customer journey map I created from my findings.
Customer Journey Map
Social Media
Movement
At the moment, Fuel Nutrition's biggest brand asset is the owner himself. Given how active he is as an 'influencer', I suggested that he incorporated a 'social media' moment in his salon that would encourage people to post a picture at the location. He could hire a local artist to create that moment and invite people to the event to get his brand name out.
Inspiration from Nashville's WhatLiftsYou wings mural.
