What's on the MENU?

In my typography class we are currently designing a menu for a new local restaurant. It's really exciting because they are going to choose one of our designs and use it for their actual menu! As part of the research we have been finding different menus and pinning them on our pinterest board. I thought I would post a few of my favorites and talk about what makes them good in my opinion.

This one is designed by Erin Jang. I love the square layout, which is a bit unusual. The organization is great, and the colorful, whimsical illustrations give it a cool, creative quality. The gray loops and vertical lines add just enough to contain each section, and the black shapes containing the categories work really well too. Overall, I really like this design a lot!!

This menu for Bill's Restaurant was designed by Kyle White. It's a fan and a menu in one, which is really creative! It also makes it easy to hold, so it's functional. Again, the square design is appealing to me, and the colors and quirky art on the back make it feel bright and happy. It's really well organized, each category in its own box of a different color. Love this one too!

This is a menu for 50s Prime Time Cafe, and the first thing I thought of was The Jetsons, especially the shapes and colors! That is the primary appeal for me. It's not one of the easiest to read, and the information could be a lot better organized, but it's just plain cute and nostalgic.

There is a lot that goes into designing a menu, as I'm finding out. The main things are to capture the mood of the restaurant and organize the information so its readable. Hierarchy is a huge consideration as well. Obviously I'm attracted to the colorful ones the most, so it's too bad the one we're designing in class has to be black and white. However, I've got some ideas and have begun sketching them out for our first critique for this project. I'm going to be paying a lot more attention to menus when (or if) I find the time to go out to eat in the next few weeks!

Bon appétit!