To redesign the Brooklyn menu I began looking at the current menus to see what was wrong with them and how they can be improved upon. There is a clear link to the american theme of the bar with the use of the american flag on the cover.
The inside is quite dull in design with a simple list of the cocktails and information about its' ingredients. The design could be improved with the addition of colour, yet this may not fit with the brands identity. The use of colour and type can easily make a menu more enjoyable to read.
The trifold menu design uses a thin coated stock which becomes quite flimsy after a bit of use which means it will have to be replaced often to make sure the audience does not have a scruffy menu. This is one aspect that I plan to address during the design.
The Food menu features a brick image on the cover of the design which keeps in tone with the brickwork from the inside of the bar. The brick image makes it very hard to read any text on the menu from any distance, especially the white which they have chosen. The thicker stock choice and taler dimensions gives this menu design a better user experience, but the stock easily wears away the print and creates a scruffy design.
The main things to take away from these menu designs is the poor stock choice, the dull use of type and lack of brand identity. Both menus are very different and do not work well together as they are often arranged. I would like to change this by making them obviously part of a pair. The use of illustrations or decorative flourishes could add the high quality look to the menus so that they could formalise the menus with the use of a sans-serif font.
