Layout is the key (Post#13)

I've altered the layout of my menu as the one that I had before was quite boring and not creative. With the layout that I have now, the foods' names and descriptions are separated from each other, with vertical rule in between.

I've decided to have the names of the food ranged right and the description ranged left in order to create a nice balance. Here, I've made the first column narrower so that there would have enough room to get the page header in.


Looking at the menu, I think this layout is better because it is more exciting and creative. It is stronger than the one that I had before as it got a nice starting point, strong connections and better balance (i.e. the names of the foods are ranged right to the ranged left information which is giving good readability.).


Today, I've also figured that having grid lines is not enough to support the idea of Cicero. People who would have this menu, and doesn't know anything about typography wouldn't be able to get the idea that I am trying to connect as those grids would only appear to them as lines. Having said that, I think having typographic measurement marks, that suggest where all type goes, is a good idea.

Indicating the distance measurement between the baseline of the page header

and of the first line of the copy will help to reinforce the idea of Cicero a bit more.

This idea will also be applied to my wine labels

This actually confuses me because based on my research, the symbol for Cicero is "cc", however, according to Adobe Indesign it is only "c". I think at the moment, I'll just follow what the software says as this might be the one that designers are using nowadays.

It is more likely for those typographic marks to appear in red, but I've decided not to as I don’t want them to appear stronger than the menu. I’ve decided them to be in grey as they need to appear secondary and in the background. In reality, the main thing that I would want to see is the menu. These are ought to be just a reference (a reference to the idea that Cicero is all about typographic measurements) in the background.

In my opinion, it is better if I'll have the price underneath the food's name because I think it is good when people would see the name and then the price.

I've got to make sure that people can actually see what would be there if it wasn’t for the guides, so I have decided to have the vertical rule in stronger colour.

My menu will going to have devisional pages that define each of its section. And because I've decided that my wine list is not going to be in separate menu booklet, the page that will introduce the wine lists is going to look like the one below.

I actually dont mind if the image would be on the fold of the dps

Here,the header is standing on same place where it usually stands, and being accompanied by big images of food. In order to give a reason of keeping the red vertical rule, I've decided to have an image of a very nice looking drink on the right hand side. Having it in isolation  and bigger size is my way of saying that my restaurant do special drinks for people.

In terms of the distance of the page header from the left edge, I just place the page header where it where it feels right.

Then when you turn over, you'll go back into this typographic stuff.

I like the way that the colour of my type is working against white background. I got rid of the gradient effect as it makes my menu look very old fashion (very 1990s). I want my menu to look modern and quite traditional.

Keeping the type in grey, to me, is a great idea. It is not hard on eyes and therefore provide good contrast with the background.

I am determined to keep the same grid system that I've used on the inside pages for the entire menu and this includes the cover.

To make my cover exciting, I've decided to have my restaurant's marque on the background. I don't want it to appear stronger than the word "Menu" so I've made it really subtle.

I actually like the way that I've ended up with "Cicero" and then "Menu".

Here, I got the words "Starters", "Mains", "Desserts" etc. aligning with "Menu" (same way that the food description in the inside pages is aligning with the page header).I like it as it gives a feeling of dimension.

Here, "Starters","Mains","Desserts" etc. are going to be subtle and in slightly smaller type
as I don't want them to overpower the word "Menu"

I'm quite pleased with the design of my cover as it has relevance with my wine labels. Having a big letter on the background kinda gives continuity between my menu and bottles.

I think this design of my menu is more effective than the one that I have before. With this design, people would be able to understand the concept of my restaurant as it is showing what Cicero is. I was actually planning on putting text like "range left" or "range right", "Italic", "helvetica" and then an arrow pointing to those text. However, I've decided not to as this will interfer with my menu. Apart from that, people might don't get the idea of typographic measurements as they might think that I am addressing the concept of marking up type.

I actually love how the typography in my menu works with space. Handling the space this way allows the typography to breath and the readers to focus on text and images. I think having small amount of space will make the design appear too busy, and difficult to read. Therefore, I think that this layout is efficient.

I think this idea is good becasue if somebody who doesn't know anything about design,comes in to the restaurant, upon seeing my menu, he/she would understand the idea that I am trying to employ.