Overview
The project involved redesigning the menus for The Leonardo Museum and its eatery, Salt Bistro. The primary goal was to create visually appealing and user-friendly menus that cater to a diverse audience, including museum visitors who may be elderly or have impairments. The challenge was to design menus that were easy to read and navigate while maintaining a modern and scalable design for various food and drink offerings, catering menus, and special events.
Business Requirements
- Redesign the menus for The Leonardo Museum and its eatery, Salt Bistro, to enhance the overall dining experience and cater to a diverse audience, including elderly and impaired visitors.
- Prioritize easy font legibility for a seamless user flow, considering the unique needs of museum visitors.
- Create a versatile and scalable menu design that can be adapted for various food and drink offerings, catering menus, and special events.
- Infuse a touch of Leonardo's wisdom through a carefully selected quote to enhance user immersion and connect with the museum's artistic essence.
Problem
The current designs suffer from two prominent issues—consistency and illegibility. These challenges have impacted the overall quality of the designs and compromised user experience. To achieve an effective and engaging design solution, addressing these issues is of utmost importance.
Solution
To meet the project objectives, we implemented the following design solutions:
"Atomic" Style Bubble Elements:
The menu design features minimalist and clean "atomic" style bubble elements, presented as simplistic circles. These elements add a touch of modernity to the design while retaining a solid weight for visual clarity and impact. The circular shape ensures easy scalability across different formats without compromising legibility.
Easy Font Legibility:
Considering the diverse audience visiting the museum, special attention was given to font legibility. We selected typefaces with clear and easy-to-read characters, ensuring a smooth flow for all users, including those with visual impairments. By optimizing font size, line spacing, and contrast, we created menus that offer a comfortable reading experience for everyone.
Scalable & Versatile Design:
The menu design was crafted to be versatile and scalable to accommodate various food and drink offerings. Whether it's the regular menu for Salt Bistro, specialized catering menus, or event-specific menus, the design allows for easy customization while maintaining consistency and visual coherence throughout.
A Dash Of Wisdom:
We carefully incorporated the quote "Learning never exhausts the mind" by Leonardo da Vinci into the menu design. Drawing inspiration from Leonardo's profound connection to art and innovation, this thoughtful addition evokes wonder and curiosity, enriching the user experience and encouraging exploration.
The final result is a menu design that strikes a perfect balance between aesthetics and functionality. The use of "atomic" style bubble elements imparts a modern and elegant touch, while the emphasis on font legibility ensures that visitors of all ages and abilities can easily navigate through the menu options. Moreover, the scalable design provides flexibility to adapt to the diverse culinary offerings and unique event requirements, serving as a cohesive visual identity for The Leonardo Museum and Salt Bistro.
Project Credits
Curtis Symmes - UX Designer & Researcher
Deborah Steggell - Head Chef of The Leonardo Museum
