For the Typography class, we made the print and digital signage menu for the restaurant. I was so excited since just looking at the nicely designed menu gives me so much satisfying feeling and menu design is the best place you can glace the hierarchy among typefaces. With different sizes, colours, and leading spaces, they harmonize to make a hierarchy that helps readers grasp the contents easily. I was sure that this assignment would be a great chance to learn how to make a great contrast and hierarchy among typefaces. I chose to create my own fictional restaurant so that I can fully build the concept and embody it on the menu. I created a Korean fusion restaurant “MASIL” which means ‘out for a good time’ in Korean. I chose to make the tri-fold menu so that it has the cover which is for design and inside part for the contents.
Roles: Graphic Designer
Final Design
I chose “Nagasaki” for the logo and PT Sans Narrow for the body copy. In general, I made a minimal and simple menu design which is a great choice for a fusion restaurant. I used burgundy and yellow colours for the background and logo so that they would create a beautiful contrast. I tried to choose some design elements which help to create an oriental mood and they include some geometric patterns people can find in Korean traditional window frames. When customers open the menu, they find little text about the restaurant’s philosophy.
Lessons
It was my second time to design the restaurant menu and this time, I could learn the function of typography and the relations between heading and body copy. Giving different styles and weights to text creates both contrast and customer-friendly atmosphere. The menu is the very first opportunity for customers to explore the service offered and it should be inclusive and understandable. From this project, I’ve learned how to juggle design and function on the tri-fold paper and good design should let both coexist.
leh923@gmail.com