I have a love/hate relationships with menus. I do believe that a restaurant's menu is where it gives their patrons a view into how committed they are to providing an excellent experience. So, with that in mind I designed a menu that I would appreciate when I am out to dine. I love mussels and when we lived in Bethesda, MD, my wife and I would go the the Mussel Bar at least twice a month for some tasty mussels. I also like to design from an international mood, so my ficticious restaurant would be a modern french bistro that was focused on designing mussel dishes.

 

Moule is the French word for mussel, so that seemed to be a natural fit that could provide a clean and modern look. 

There was no need for anything other than a stylized vector of a simple mussel. I love the bules and deep black of mussels, so itried to mimic the blue to black hues of the mussel, but without the complexity of a gradient. Simple and effective at drawing attention was my goal.

The back of the menu is always the most important part of the design for me. My wife can verify that I critique every menu I am handed, and most of the time I am left disappointed. I can't stand a menu where I ahev to hunt for items, or find myself looking at a menu I can't read due to poor typeface choices. I used the same two typefaces for the entire menu. i minimize design elemnts for ease of use. Too often we are confronted with a menu that has 20 different typefaces on it. Yeah, I get it, you are trying to create heirarchy and to direct people to certian items. This is not for me. Some of the menu items are real, and some are from recipes that I have crafted in my own kitchen.

The following photos are from my mood board/inspiration file. Look at the lovely musses...YUM!!!

I have to say, I love the menu design and restaurant concept for The Winey Cow. It is just simpley wonderful and the menu items...WOW!!! You can't go wrong with wine and cheese.