This is a yogurt shop that was recently built. It’s an example of a box with a sign. There are large glass windows that allow the driver to see exactly what is inside. The real difference is in the interior. It is sleek, shiny, glossy, curved edges and simple minimal signage. Just like the minimal design, there is very minimal interaction with an actual employee. You go inside, read the signs, and prepare your own yogurt. You place your yogurt on a scale and pay the cashier. This sort of DIY, like the gas stations in which you pump your own gas & pay at the pump without even seeing a person, suggests that American society is becoming more introverted and detached from other people. It could be the American “independent spirit” or maybe we think this way is faster or maybe we just don’t trust people to prepare our food anymore. This format of restaurant is reminiscent of the automat fast food restaurants of the early 20th century.
The second is a Dairy Queen, an older example of 1970’s environmental aesthetic: note the color palette, brick walls and the mansard roof. The store even kind of looks like a barn. The sign is rather small, not neon or loud, it almost suggests a handmade quality. This is a DQ in downtown Decatur, a city known for its environmental sensitivity. The inside is typical of any fast food restaurant from the 1980s-1990s. One must order at the counter and wait for the food. There are booths rather than moveable tables and chairs.
Good observations on the yogurt place. I wonder about an emergent frozen-yogurt aesthetic--there are lots of these places now--and how it compares not just to Dairy Queen but to other ice cream parlors, 31 flavors, etc. What does the new aesthetic suggest to the consumer about the new generation of sour frozen yogurt in particular?
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