Comment: What to consider when designing a menu

A menu is one of the first things a customer will experience in your outlet and it creates an impression of your food before anything has made it to the table. There are some simple rules of thumb that any F&B expert will advise you to stick to, namely; keep it short & snappy, talk to the right audience, consider how you display the price, and finally, make it engaging, intriguing and beguiling.

The hardest thing about styling a menu may be getting the design right; a true masterpiece would seamlessly combine the visual identity (logo, colour palette, graphic style) and verbal identity (tone of voice, personality, values) of the brand, all the while igniting the senses and creating excitement to try the dishes.

Often menus are created out of necessity and perhaps not as much care and attention has gone into the layout and styling as it should have.

Consider the paper stock and GSM (thickness), the covers, folders, materials — how does each one of these things represent your brand? Moreover, what does it say about you to your customer?

A menu filled with spelling mistakes, bad grammar and confusing descriptions probably tells customers that you have little attention to detail and are not clear on your restaurant’s capabilities. A menu should not be different to any other company literature (think brochures, business cards, flyers etc.) and should be written by a copywriter, designed by a graphic designer and signed off by your brand guardian.

It’s not a bad idea to also consider customer psychographics to give you an idea of why customers buy, and their habits. On a one-page menu the customer’s eye is usually drawn to the top right hand corner and/or the middle of the page, for a book style menu the right hand page always takes precedence (in English, the opposite would be true for Arabic).

As the ‘healthification’ trend continues to gain ground throughout 2017, don’t be afraid to update your menu regularly, offer seasonal and dietary specialities. The 2016 Aaron Allen report for the US showed that rather than the predicted ‘restaurant recession’, consumers are actually spending more in food away from home, It’s more of an evolution of consumer dining behaviour and purchasing patterns, coupled with the failure of certain segments and stale concepts.

Regardless of what sector your F&B brand falls under, the key learning here is to appeal to today’s audience we need to innovate and adapt. That doesn’t mean spending millions every quarter to have a new interior designed — it can be achieved by employing a savvy head chef who, in turn, sets up a solid supply chain, enabling the outlet to offer a high quality changeable menu. Something that on the surface seems so simple, actually requires a lot of forethought. Before pen is even put to paper you should already have a clear idea of your brand personality, what you want to communicate, who it is that you are talking to and what’s the best way to connect with them.

If you go into menu design having considered all of this then you can confidentially let the copywriter articulate your personality and the designers worry about the fonts, colours, illustrations, knowing that the outcome is going to connect with your consumers and deliver your carefully constructed brand message.

Stefan Borchardt is head of culinary at Figjam Hospitality. Visit www.figjamco.com for details.