Featured Project: Miller Zell at Forefront of New Chick-fil-A Concept Design
The design was meant to blend the traditional with an eye for the future, in keeping with the spirit of Chick-fil-A founder S. Truett Cathy.
Atlanta-based Miller Zell, a full-service graphic design and branding shop, which calls itself a “retail experience company,” was approached by the Georgia-based fast food company Chick-fil-A to provide a fresh retail design for a new Chick-fil-A concept restaurant called Truett’s Chick-fil-A.
Miller Zell, along with its partners on the project, ai3 and Selser Schaefer, collaborated on the look of the Truett’s Chick-fil-A, the first one of which opened in 2017 in Newman, Georgia. The design was supposed to have an aesthetic that was both familiar and forward thinking, the company says, to reflect the vision of Chick-fil-A’s iconic founder, S. Truett Cathy.
According to the company, Miller Zell’s process began with store tours, brand immersion and research. After designing, manufacturing and installing the new elements, the team continued to work with Chick-fil-A and its partners to evaluate and measure the redesign’s impact.
The result was an interior that “mixes masculine notes-woods, brass, brick, and plaid-with deeply personal details. Elements such as daffodils, ukuleles, hula hoops and Ford cars reoccur throughout the restaurant in homage to the concept’s namesake.”
The restaurant also features an interactive 20′ x 70′ mural that highlights Chick-fil-A’s early days as a start-up concept in Georgia, and there are also digital photo frames that stream user-generated content.