Menu Illustration by Andreas Neophytou

More on my pinterest board for this project on the link below

Menu Illustration + Design Pinterest Board 

When researching for this exercise I looked at different menu designs and also at examples of different restaurants. A lot of these restaurants lean into the ‘sea’ theme but still retain a modern and upscale image. I think a lot of this is achieved through a very clean and minimal look, but also a very light and bright colour palette – often featuring white, blues and greens. Gone are the 1970’s prawn cocktails and instead are oysters and champagne. A lot of the menus/illustration/designs are clean and minimal but still retain an element of a rustic/informal nature.

 

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When I was researching I also made a start with my mood board and mind map exploring what I thought of when I thought of a contemporary seafood restaurant and what a modern seafood restaurant does actually look like.

I started my illustrated mind map, looking at different types of seafood and the garnishes. I really enjoyed making these illustrations, I’m not sure why but both times I have looked at food illustration now I have really enjoyed it. I think food can be special to people and it really is at the heart of so many things, including family, getting together with friends, weddings, parties, etc. I think maybe I enjoyed this research and sketching so much because the restaurants are all closed and the idea of being out to eat seems like so much more of a treat now than it did before! I suppose these modern chain restaurants play into that – it should feel like a treat regardless.

After sketching I took the elements I was happy with and started working on my thumbnails for the logo. I was very conscious of the fact that this will be used on both a large and small scale so I knew that I wanted to keep it quite simple.

After deciding on an image I was happy with I drew up the final line art in procreate and put that in my sketchbook along side the thumbnails. When comparing that to the sketches I decided to add the same ‘garnish’ to the top of the image also, I think it helped create a sort of border to the image of the prawn.

I decided to work in watercolour and pen for this drawing. I decided on this choice of media as I thought it would reflect that ‘fresh’ and ‘contemporary’ feeling that the restaurant was looking for. I do think that watercolour is quite trendy at the moment as well, you often see a lot of logos and food illustrations these days that are a little bit more expressive – which I think is also the case with the actual dining experiences. It is not as ‘strict’ as it once seemed, especially with something like a modern chain.

I worked mostly wet on wet and kept the background white as I thought this would help transfer it over to the ipad/computer more easily when I began to work on the finished files for the menu and logo. When I was painting I did add some blue watercolour splashes as a detail, I think it looked nice and played on the spontaneity/flow I was trying to achieve by using watercolour. When I took it through to the final file however I did decided to remove this. Although it would have worked well for the actual menu illustration I didn’t think it was going to work well with the logo. Especially as the logo was going to be potentially used on both a large and small scale – I just thought it wasn’t going to translate well.

Logo;

Small Size;

Large Size;

Menu;

Free Menu Mock Up Source and Download link here

I kept the images mainly the same for both but I did add a green border to the menu to match the restaurant theme and the ‘mock up’ but the illustration and logo are very much the same. I think if I were to do this project again I would perhaps experiment with a more ‘graphic’ look – a vector style image or something. I think that would be something that would be effective with being made at all different sizes. I do however like the look of the watercolour, and I am happy with the overall drawing. I feel like I am reaching a balance in my work between traditional media and digital. I have also adjusted how I use line more in this part after receiving my tutors feedback and looking at the recommended artists. I hold the pen higher up and a lot lighter in my hand and allow the pen to touch where it does – rather than pressing down and having one solid line all the way round.