· 5 min read
Designing menus for older guests: contrast, size and simplicity
How ageing eyes read a menu and what to change: type size and weight, contrast, paper colour, layout density and lighting, with numbers a designer can apply today. · 5 min read
Menu design for terraces and outdoor seating: glare, wind and weather
How to design a menu that works outdoors: matte paper against sun glare, weight and holders against wind, materials that survive rain, and type sizes for bright light. · 5 min read
Dark or light menu backgrounds: mood, type and ink
When a dark menu works, when it fails under restaurant light, how reversed type prints, and what a full-bleed background actually costs on a short run. · 6 min read
Menu cover design: the first three seconds at the table
What a restaurant menu cover should do in three seconds: name, mood and material, plus the mistakes that make a bifold look like a brochure. · 5 min read
Menu design for small restaurants: polish on a tight budget
How a 20-seat room can look as considered as a branded group: type, paper, one accent, honest photography and a reprint you can afford twice a year. · 6 min read
Redesigning an old menu: a checklist before you touch a single dish
What to photograph, count and decide before redesigning a restaurant menu: sales, kitchen load, allergens, format and the brief that keeps the reprint honest. · 4 min read
Menu design trends worth following (and the ones to skip)
Which current restaurant menu design trends improve readability and sales, which are fashion, and how to adopt a trend without redesigning your whole identity every year. · 5 min read
Luxury menu design: what fine-dining menus do differently
The conventions behind fine-dining menus: fewer words, no currency symbols, one typeface, heavy uncoated paper and finishes, and why they cost more per copy but less per year. · 4 min read
Rustic menu design: kraft, hand-drawn lines and warmth without kitsch
How to design a rustic restaurant menu that feels warm and handmade rather than themed: kraft and uncoated papers, slab and script type in moderation, and clichés to skip. · 5 min read
Minimalist restaurant menu design: doing more with less
What makes a minimalist menu work: one typeface, two sizes, generous margins, honest paper and a short list. Settings and the traps that make minimal look unfinished. · 5 min read
Menu borders, ornaments and dividers: decoration that helps, not distracts
When rules, borders, fleurons and dividers improve a restaurant menu and when they clutter it, with line weights, spacing and print advice for each kind of ornament. · 4 min read