Creating an excellent designed menu is the key to success for a restaurant, cafe or bar.

The customers see the menu as the first thing on the table, website or menu display board outside of their premises. Great menu design can enhance a dining experience, help customers makes satisfying choices and stimulate appetite. However, a menu is more than just a list of the dishes or drinks a restaurant, bar or cafe has available; it is an advertising tool capable of communicating a restaurant’s identity, if its design is impressive, people have a good impression of the services and foods at the place.

Tip #1 – Divide the menu into logical sections

Make it easy for customers to search for dishes by arranging items sequentially and in logical groups, starting with the appetizers.

Tip #2 – Consider using illustrations

Instead of photography, try using illustrations – they are more likely to be universally appealing and can help communicate the restaurant’s personality. Also food and drinks don’t always come out as they are in a photograph, it’s better to leave the quality of the food to the customer’s imagination, because not all food photography will appeal to everyone.

Tip #3 – Typography

Effective typography will communicate a restaurant’s brand and result in a legible menu. Using more than one typeface – say, to distinguish the names and descriptions of menu items – may help to guide customers through the menu.