The Fig Tree Website Snapshot from December, 2011.

The Fig Tree Restaurant is located inside the Lucas House within Charlotte’s Elizabeth neighborhood. This historic home, built in 1913 is named after its original owners, John Paul and Alice Craft Lucas. The restaurant first opened in March 2005 and is chef owned and operated. The restaurant’s name was inspired by the four Brown Turkey fig trees located on the property. A carefully designed website was developed in order to promote the high-quality service, French and Italian cuisine, and its overall pleasant dining experience (Fig Tree Restaurant, 2014).  

The design of the website also plays an important role in attracting customers and provides an engaging experience for the users. A snapshot from December 6, 2011 shows the official Fig Tree restaurant website and the design decisions that helped pull customers in. For example, when you first open the site, your eye is immediately drawn to images showcasing the house, dining rooms, and patio seating. These images quickly fade to the next ones to create visual interest. The website uses primarily green tones that creates a calm viewing experience while relating to the theme of the restaurant. The color palette was carefully selected to convey a sense of class and elegance throughout the website. Each page displays text over a green background that is decorated with simple line drawings of fig leaves as well. Tabs located at the top of the website are included to ensure that important information is highlighted and easily navigable. A simple San serif font is used that ensures easy readability for its users (Fig Tree Restaurant, 2011). 

In addition to visual design, the language that is used throughout the website is formal and professional. Carefully selected vocabulary is used to describe the Fig Tree’s dishes, services, and dining experience. The polished tone of the website helps to present the restaurant as a high-quality establishment. The Fig Tree Website emphasizes their special dining experience by noting what is offered, “Two dining rooms, a full-service bar, and two original grand fireplaces located on the first floor”. At the same time, information is clearly sectioned in order to establish hierarchy and guide users through important information. The professional language also intentionally establishes the restaurant as upscale, hoping to draw in a more sophisticated clientele. 

During 2011 when this snapshot was documented, there were significant advancements to web design in order to improve functionality. For example, many websites commonly use single page scrolling for easy navigation just as the Fig Tree website does. In order to provide an interactive experience, new techniques like animation and scrolling features were used. (Web Design Museum). The Fig Tree website implements a scrolling feature and different pages to be explored to highlight the advanced, intimate nature of their restaurant. 

Overall, the Fig Tree Restaurant’s website demonstrates a careful integration of design, imagery, color and language to effectively promote their elegant, upscale identity. The green color palette, font, and organized layout create a visually appealing, yet user-friendly experience. The specific design choices help to effectively communicate the sophistication of the business while drawing customers in.