Korean Sol food.

Source: http://designhomes.pics/best-restaurant-menu-design/28/view-full-size/
Title: Hoban Korean Cuisine

Lets start with the text, the meat of the menu. There is so many items on this brochure it becomes hard to read what items belong to what category. A common problem among popular and big chain restaurants. The white category titles are good start although I don't know why they feel slightly tilted compared to the rest of the alignment. Sizing also helps to conserve space as well as difference descriptions from their dishes. Another helper is the addition of icons beside the dish text bodies to help further identity spices, origins, and allergens.

The pictures may seem a little too much on certain pages. One or two pictures would suffice. And the temple on the third page in the top row seems out of place with the rest of the consistency. The front cover shows an excellent use of space because you don't need to fill it up. No bells or whistles here. The title name with the same name in Korean helps to create that distinct region of the orient. A bowl of rice in one corner with chop sticks parallel in the top for balance.

Triforce Pizza power.

Source: http://www.tuhindesigns.com/print_portfolio.php
Artist: Mohammad Tunin
Title: The Perfect Pizzeria

Not every menu has to be a masterpiece. It's purpose is to present a delightful description of the house specialties and meals with pictures and typeface. Most menus are simple, easy to read brochures that make the customers happy to eat here in anticipation of their meals. So too does this menu. It's not meant to be fancy but it's clean enough to show some family friendly class to its' intended audience of middle to upper class families who enjoy brick oven style pizzas. How does it achieve this? Lets take a look in the next paragraph.

Food is divided into categories based on appetizers, entrees, specialties and pastas. These categories are then placed into one of three rectangular boxes, divided by two gutters symbolized by wine glasses. The categories are further segregated by color and spacing to show name, basic description and even sizes. Quite organized  even with the three pizzas acting as a triangular focus to draw attention to the main entries: Custom pizzas.

It's a good piece. Simple but it works.

Pirate themes are always tacky.

Source: http://www.ofifacil.com/en-ideas-examples-restaurant-menu-design-menu-layout.php
Title: The Portelet Inn

Themes can be difficult to present if the artist doesn't put enough thought into the design. And abstract themes such as pirates tend to be hardest to convey. Often the sight of ridicule and tackiness, most are wild and so rowdy that once wants to gag at the sight of them.

Lets start with the CGI. It's shiny and the shadowing effect is too strong. The barrels just clash too much with the photoshoped background and don't get me started on the tacky cutlass sword in place of the letter P with its lens flair. The rope gutter slots actual causes the text bodies to feel clumped and take up space unnecessary. The food shown is simple and all at the same size, meaning no close ups or blown ups images to incite the desire for eating.

Now for the text. It all follows a left alignment sans serif style format. Yet some are crooked far too much to conflict with the main bodies.  This is especially true with the parchment texts boxes that float around the menu like loose bubbles. They seem to take up odd spaces and just distract. All signs of an amateur take for a professional menu.

Karma's a colorful B**** and then you get slapped by the rainbow.

Source: http://www.ofifacil.com/en-ideas-examples-restaurant-menu-design-menu-layout.php
Title: Karma Cafe & Restaurant (variety)

Now, I'm not a fan of Indian food but the colorful variety of this menu does peak an interest to take a look inside. Oranges, royal purples, vivid reds marked with golden yellows is something you don't see in most restaurant menus chains. Most like to stick to one style and color palette so to see this many colors shows creativity.

Now the inside is inscribed with imagery of classic Hindu architecture serving as backdrop along with statues of men sitting down Indian style looking all sorts of uncomfortable while smiling. Each section of the menu's courses are grouped into yellowish-vanilla boxes spaced evenly. And lets not forget the border resembling fine embroidery. Overall, a decent colorful presentation but very tiny print that fades with the background illustrations.

Ride the red wave....not its not what you think.

Source: http://www.ofifacil.com/en-ideas-examples-restaurant-menu-design-menu-layout.php
Title: Medialuz cafe and Restaurant

To get people to water their mouths for your food, one has to create a design that appeals to the target market. I'm guessing the target market is artful, Latin dish loving folk. First the cover. The red swirls like a tidal wave to invite movement and spice. The flowers with their contrasting stretching leaves add a sense of countering movement to draw attention from the audience.

Now on to the internal pages where the meat of the menu is located. Groups of similar dishes are kept in ideal spaced proximity. Though a little tight, everything follows in a unified, left alignment with a healthy trinity of tasty dishes. Both transparent and solid backgrounds do well to keep the audience glued to the menu.

White + Blue + Black = GreyHound.

Source: http://designandi.co.uk/print-design/the-greyhound-food-drink-takeaway-menu-design/
Artist: Martin Hyde
Title: The Grey Hound Food & Drinks menu

An adult menu for clear thinking adults. The layout of text is clearly separated and a distinct imbalance of white to black for the background that works; It allows to highlight both the name of the bar and the menu without having to separate with different colors or typefaces. The blue is a good subtitle while the rest of the text in the white zone is black to contrast for easy reading. And the best part is all of the text is the same typeface which helps for consistency and context.

Compared to the Big boy menu (See previous), it's quite bland and unbalanced. Everything is meant to be for the relaxing adult mindset looking to unwind.

Fat Big Boy Hamburger Slim.

Source: http://www.esquire.com/blogs/food-for-men/menu-design-in-america-6273766
Title: the Big Boy menu.
Artist: Unknown
Contributed to: Esquire Magazine.com
Original source: Menu Design in American: 1850-1985

Big Boy franchise was quite popular in the 1950s to the late 1990s. I don't know if the franchise is still alive but that matters not for the subject of this post. The menu is simple and cartoonist to resonate with the simpler times of the mid twenty century living. Red cursive lettering for titles with black bold food selections for a good start but the close proximity of some items make them blend too much. There's also the abundance of red in the back ground. That works with the dull cream color in the foreground but due to the shape of the menu it makes it seem too excessive. If it was a normal 8x11 menu size then the red would balance out. Finally, the outline of the menu resembles the once famous Big Boy icon to present a family friendly atmosphere upon the menu.

It gets the job done for a family restaurant. No alcoholic drinks so children don't accidentally order one and the print is large enough for easy reading.

Cafe soft soft yummy.

Source: http://naaj.deviantart.com/art/Cafe-Loret-Menu-Card-Design-Inside-View-331864953
Artist: Naaj
Title: Cafe Loret Menu Card Design inside view.

Soft vanillas color the background as cursive type titles act to grab your attention; at least the attention for the soft spoken. The items are aligned and arranged so neatly they border on the OCD side.  Pictures are aligned along the center across a light brown strip but to be fair I think this would work better without one.

This is to portray a calm, relaxing place where every sort of delicious afternoon snack food. Not for the night owls nor the loud and vulgar. It is about a place you stop by for a cup of coffee and a scone before shopping hour.

Olive you glad this a short review?

Source: http://redlorymenuandcatalog.blogspot.com/
Title: Olive cocktail & music bar
Artist: RedloreyStudio

It's rare to see a restaurant so devoted to drink service, specially to certain drink mixes. But not so rare that it's unheard on the drinking scene. With its mass of colorful cocktails parading across a lime green background fizzling with bubbles, this menu indulges to the youthful, late night metro sexual crowds looking for nightly pleasures. It's for an adult bar, meant to relax and fizzle away one's worries.

Background color of Olive green isn't usually chosen because of its often sickly appearance to one's own eyes. Text hugs the left side of the menu with uncooperative styles and bars. Even with contrasting colors to distinguish sub titles from descriptions, they become a mess. And there's the pantheon of margaritas and cocktails across all of the pages. They seem to just be space takers, not to mention they don't follow to any proximity pattern. Colorful as they are, I think only three per page would suffice. Any more would be distracting.

Green is the new...trend setter?

Source: http://possector.com/en/blog/menu-ideas
Artist: Unknown.
Restaurant: Enlightenment

Coming across this after looking for decent examples of typography in food advertising; a balancing of space, word proximity, and alignment to present higher quality meals. The type face has legibility with spread out tracking and art deco inspired times new roman word style on the front and back covers. The multi-shade colors of green demonstrate nature or natural food and the photo of cooked shrimp helps to moisten the audiences taste buds.

The inner pages are much more text dominate as the meat of the menu is presented. Each item reads down a literal column as the lettering appears squished together and tiny. There is three pictures of the meals for mentioned, hugging opposing ends of the pages like a wiggling pattern. No lack of room here because space is occupied. Gutter lines are used well to divide the information into three pages instead of one massive big page.

All in all a decent menu that serves it purpose.

A little too much photoshop.

Source:http://brochure.designcrowd.co/contest.aspx?id=116534&page=2
Artist: C23design Company
Menu: Chai Traditional Thai Cuisine

The layout makes me feel like Im at a kitchen counter top, ingredients hugging around the edge ready to be diced, mixed and sizzled into eye catching dishes. Bright colors of reds and yellows and greens dancing around the papyrus like an encircling rainbow vortex. In the center the text is divided into cursive sub headers and small red cherry wood serif font meals. The cursive is a little hard to read thanks in part with the italics and thinly lines of the lettering. While the red text has an issue with tight spacing  between lines.

While the ingredients do their job, it also makes one think if they are necessary. It may help to establish an Asian culinary atmosphere but it greatly limits the size of space for the body of the text to the center. And why ingredients? Only one image here is an actual dish and frankly I would like to see more examples of the meals then what it took to make them.

B Frank and get sloshed

Source: http://www.designer-daily.com/25-brilliant-wine-label-bottle-package-designs-1808
Title: BFrank Wine label
Artist: Talia Cohen

It's nothing special. That's why I like it. The reverse capital B resting on top like a pressing weight to the smaller, opposing aligning body of text. It's not supposed to appeal to city slickers or yuppies or snobs. It's a working man's wine.  Its a wine for people with sarcastic humors.

The font is semi bold and san serf because it is meant to be easy to read and not fancy. The background is just white so the bold font can be read. The blank lines can easily be a distasteful detractor but the appeal of a customizable wine label would negate this to some. A blank label to serve as a canvas for a potential mixer that can be imaged to fit to the right mood.

For the flower lover in all of us.

Source: http://www.designer-daily.com/25-brilliant-wine-label-bottle-package-designs-1808
Title: Sicani Wine bottle (Clear white bottle)
Artist: Social UK

There's movement in the flowers. They seem to be thrown across the glass surface like they were launched from the grasp of a angry lover who just walked in to her cheating spouse's affair. The direction is spread out between leaves, stems and blooming buds as they cascade. The red flower is a seductive hue; the red is dull on the outer edges of the flower but the center is a warm yellowish red  to draw attention to the center of the bottle. The lighter highlights give a taste of early twentieth century oil/acrylic paintings.

The type below is center spaced in a descending, almost shrinking order. Normally, this is a no no because it would make the audience think their in an optometrist office getting a vision check. But the cascading flowers are the pull here so the center text is not supposed to distract the audience from the almost still life painting. The typeface is easy enough to read even down to the tiniest of fonts.  The white wine adds a clean, serene feel.

Too minimalist for my tastes.

Source: http://www.designer-daily.com/25-brilliant-wine-label-bottle-package-designs-1808
Title: Sheva wine bottles (center bottle)
Artist: Nine99 Design

This style doesn't try to be striking. It plays a little too safe with the minimalist approach. The droplet image slowly cascading across the log is fine but the rest of the logo is too dull of a selling point. I can't tell if the red blob is a thought bubble or a wine stain. The title type is too small to read and just lacks a pulling to the intended audience, which could be evening partygoers or solitary drinkers. Almost as if the artist lost interest and just slap a shape there.

There is room for improvement. Perhaps rid of the red blob and enlarge the text to fill in the space. Maybe different complementary color schemes or more modern type style of the city going drinker.