How to Make a Printed Menu More Appealing

Psychological techniques in marketing have long become an integral part of the profession. So the design of printed materials is often based on the desire to push the client to some thoughts, feelings or actions. And the restaurant menu is no exception. Here too, marketers are looking for ways to influence the client’s choice. Let's take a closer look at what menu design specialists offer, who carefully study both psychology and order statistics, in order to increase the income of restaurants and cafes.

First impression

Visitors usually prefer not to study the menu from cover to cover, but rather scan it with their eyes, noting the most attractive images. On average, a typical visitor spends 109 seconds studying the entire menu. Therefore, it is necessary to properly structure the menu, highlight sections and names of dishes.

The most readable parts of a vertical menu are the top and bottom of the page. By placing the most marginal and interesting dishes in these places, you can thereby increase the restaurant’s income.

Also, analysts say that very often attention is concentrated on the upper right corner of the menu. This place even got its own name - “sweet spot” or “sweet spot”. That is why you can often see an expensive dish that is profitable for a restaurant and its photo or illustration - to enhance the non-verbal effect.

Highlight the main thing

Just like in newspapers, in the menu you can and should highlight the most significant parts of the text with an increased font size or other methods. This could be framing, playing with bold, bright colors, adding illustrations or photos. However, it must be remembered that the more often you use this technique, the less effect it will bring. Experts recommend using it no more than once per dish category. For example, once in first courses, second courses, desserts...

Use colors

It has been scientifically proven that different colors evoke certain moods in people. For example, the color red attracts attention - this color can be associated with danger or passion. Red texts are the first thing that catches your eye. It is not necessary to use red, but bright, contrasting with the main text, the title color will attract attention.

Photos

Photos of plated dishes can be very effective in promoting certain menu items, increasing sales by an average of 30%. The main thing is not to overdo it: no more than one or three per spread. Photos must be of high quality (otherwise they will look blurry in print) and fit seamlessly into the overall menu design. The ideal scenario is to invite a professional photographer.

Quality descriptions

Content is no less important than illustrations. Descriptions of dishes or the method of their preparation should be written in such a way that the client, while reading, literally feels the taste of the dish. Dry listing of ingredients is not good for sales. It's good to use epithets that describe hardness/softness, quality of ingredients, freshness, geographic reference, words that appeal to certain feelings, say, “homemade” or “traditional.” Here it also doesn’t hurt to hire a journalist or copywriter with the appropriate skills.

Beautiful printing

An attractive menu should not only be beautifully “drawn”, but also high-quality printed. It is good if glossy paper is chosen for the circulation (it increases the brightness and contrast of the illustrations). It is also worth thinking about post-printing processing - for example, lamination will help preserve the menu from moisture or greasy stains, and selective varnishing will highlight the most important places.

Thus, by combining design “tricks” and high-quality printing, you can get a menu that will stand out among competitors, delight the customer’s eye and increase sales of exactly those dishes that you want to focus the buyer’s attention on.