First, the principles of student menu design and production
Its design and production principles are mainly six:
1, student customer demand-oriented
Restaurant to customer demand-oriented, customers like to eat what dishes, eat what grade of food must be clear to students. Because to meet the needs of students is the fundamental restaurant business to win, so the menu design must also reflect the needs of customers, such as popular dishes or flavors, is the Sichuan or Yangzhou cuisine. Students have different needs, the design of the student menu is completely different.
2, reflecting their own characteristics, so that students do not get tired of eating the same old
The restaurant should first decide what kind of menu to provide according to their own business policy. Menu design to try to choose to reflect the characteristics of the restaurant's dishes listed on the menu, to focus on marketing. Even if the popular restaurant, there are often a few specialties, home cooking. Because if you do not have a few stable, firmly established home cooking, it will be difficult to attract old customers, new customers. Therefore, the design of the menu must highlight your characteristics, highlighting your "specialty dishes" and "fist product", put them in a prominent position on the menu, a single introduction, only reflects their own characteristics, in order to give students a deep impression of the customer.
3, constantly innovate to adapt to new situations
Change is the fundamental existence of all things in the world, conformity will only lead to failure. The continuous development of society, customer tastes and catering situation is also changing, so the menu should also be innovative. It is best to change once a quarter or half a year, if the menu is not changed for a long time, will lack of attraction, thus losing customers; menu is not changed for a long time, will affect the normal supply of dishes, because some of the raw materials affected by the season, the season is over, there will be a dish on the menu, but in fact, no supply of goods in the situation, thus affecting the credibility of the restaurant; menu is not changed for a long time is not conducive to chef to improve the culinary skills. Menu change in addition to consider seasonal factors, but also pay attention to changes in customer eating habits, such as nutrition, health and fitness and other aspects of dietary requirements.
4, the form of beautiful and generous
The student menu is not only the restaurant's promotional tools, it is also a work of art. So the menu style, size, color, font, paper, layout arrangements need to be coordinated with the level of the restaurant and the atmosphere, with the restaurant's furnishings, layout, tableware, service personnel clothing compatible. Popular restaurants, although there is no need to decorate a beautiful menu, but a beautiful and generous menu, to increase the sales of dishes is helpful.
5, can create economic benefits
The ultimate goal of the restaurant business is to make money and profit, so the design of the menu should not only take into account the sales of dishes, but also to consider its profitability. If the price of the dish is too high, the customer may not accept; if the price of the dish is too low, it will affect the gross profit, and may even incur losses. Therefore, the design of the menu, should be appropriate to reduce the high-cost dishes and improve the gross profit of low-cost dishes to ensure that the overall gross margin to achieve the provisions.
6, the ability to do, really sure
To their own ability to design the student menu, in order to ensure that it plays the best utility. Therefore, the menu designer should have a good understanding of the production capacity of the restaurant, and have a good production and service skills to ensure that the quality of the selected dishes can achieve the desired results. This requires the planning of dishes should be fully considered when the technical level of the kitchen production staff, at the same time to be equipped with the production of many dishes of specialized equipment.
In short, in the design of the menu, to take into account the above principles and bases, only then, in order to develop a more scientific and reasonable menu. And for the newly developed menu, the restaurant must also be tested, analyzed and perfected after the official put into use.
Two, the quality of the student menu designer requirements
The design and production of the menu is an artistic and technical work is very complex, not anyone can be competent. Because menu design is largely limited by the designer's attitude and ability, the menu designer should have enough knowledge of the dishes and be creative and imaginative. Menu design can not be regarded as a daily chore work, hastily cope with, so that the menu loses its appeal. In practice, many small and medium-sized restaurants to the menu design all handed over to a chef to undertake, the varieties listed out is the chef will do the varieties. Ignore the fact that many of them are not customers need varieties, in terms of its artistry, it is even more poor, no innovation, lack of attraction, and ultimately will lead to the failure of the operation.
Specifically, the student menu designer should have the following qualities:
Have a broad knowledge of food ingredients. Familiar with the varieties, specifications, quality, origin, season and price of raw materials.
Have a deep knowledge of cooking and long working experience, familiar with the production methods of various dishes, time and equipment needed to master the color, aroma, taste, shape, texture, quality, specifications, decorations, packaging (the use of tableware) and nutritional content of the dishes.
Knowledge of the production and service facilities of the restaurant, the professionalism of the staff.
Knowledge of the needs of students and customers and trends in the development of cuisine, good at combining the advantages of traditional dishes and modern catering habits, a sense of innovation and conceptualization skills.
Have certain aesthetic and artistic cultivation, good at mixing the color and consistency of dishes, good at the shape of dishes.
Good communication skills, open-minded to listen to the advice of the people concerned, with the ability to plan a competitive menu.
In short, only with high professional quality, and has a certain authority and sense of responsibility of the chef can design and produce a scientific and perfect menu.
Third, the student menu design and production procedures
The student menu production and design, step by step, in an orderly manner. Its specific procedures include four main steps:
1, prepare the required reference materials
These materials include:
A variety of old menus, including menus being used by businesses.
Standard menu files.
Inventory information and seasonal menus, best-selling menus, and so on.
Cost per serving or similar information.
Various books on cooking techniques, general dictionaries, menu dictionaries.
List of menu food and beverages.
Past sales information.
2, the implementation of standardized recipes
Standardized recipes refers to the cooking of dishes on the production methods and principles of the description of the card, which sets out a dish in the production process requires a variety of main ingredients, auxiliary materials and seasonings, the name, quantity, methods of operation, the amount of each portion of the amount of tools and plate and other necessary information. The use of standard recipes is not only conducive to planning the cost of dishes, while operators fully understand the production of dishes and service requirements, but also conducive to the purpose of product quality standardization.
3, the initial design concept
Just started the concept, it is best to choose a blank form, the dishes that may be provided to customers, drinks, alcohol, etc. first fill in the form, and then consider the factors to determine the content of the menu.
4, the student menu decorative design
In the menu decorative design, you can convene the relevant advertising and publicity, artwork, experienced chefs and related management personnel, the menu cover design, style selection, pattern text description and other work to discuss.
But no matter in which step, the designer must put the customer's needs in the first place, prioritize their consumption motives and psychological factors, and then based on this, do a good job in all steps.
Fourth, the student menu design and production skills
In the specific design and production of the menu, to reasonably use the following skills:
1, the production of student menu materials
The production of the menu material is not only a good reflection of the quality of the menu's appearance, but also to give customers a better first impression. Therefore, when selecting materials for the menu, it is necessary to consider the type and specifications of the restaurant, but also take into account the cost of production, according to the use of the menu to reasonably select the production materials. Generally speaking, the long-term repeated use of the menu, to choose a durable and wear-resistant and not easy to stain the heavyweight coated paper; paged menu, often by a thick wear-resistant cover plus the paper quality is slightly inferior to the loose-leaf core composition. The one-time use of the menu, generally do not consider its abrasion and stain resistance, but it does not mean that it can be shoddy. Many high-specification banquet menu, although only used once, but still require a good selection of materials, beautiful design, in order to fully reflect the banquet service specifications and restaurant class.
2, the student menu cover and back cover design
The cover and back cover of the student menu is the menu of the "face", how its design on the whole affects the effect of the menu, so in the design of the back cover and the cover should pay attention to the following four requirements:
The cover of the student menu on behalf of the image of the restaurant. The cover of the student menu represents the image of the restaurant. Therefore, the menu must reflect the characteristics of the restaurant's business, the style of the restaurant and the class of the restaurant.
The color of the cover of the student menu should be coordinated with the color of the restaurant's internal environment, so that the tone of the restaurant's internal environment is more harmonious, so that the menu can be used as an accent piece of the restaurant when customers order food in the restaurant.
The name of the restaurant must be designed on the cover of the menu, and should be distinctive, the strokes should be simple, easy to read, easy for students to remember, which on the one hand can increase the visibility of the restaurant, and on the other hand, can establish the image of the restaurant.
The back cover of the menu should be printed with the restaurant's address, phone number, business hours and other business information. In this way, you can take the opportunity to market to customers.
3, the text design of the student menu
The student menu as a bridge of communication between the restaurant and the customer, the information is mainly transmitted to the customer through the text, so the text design is quite important.
In general, a good student menu text introduction should be done to describe the exhaustive, play a promotional role, and can not just list the names of dishes and prices. If students compare the menu to a magazine advertisement, the text is as time-consuming and laborious as designing a great jingle. The design of the text part of the menu mainly includes the name of the food, descriptive introduction, the restaurant's reputation (including quality service, cooking techniques) and other three aspects of the content.
In addition, the choice of fonts for student menu text is also very important, the names of dishes on the menu are generally written in italics, arranged in Arabic numerals, numbered and labeled prices. The font should be printed correctly so that customers can easily read it in the light of the restaurant.
Unless the special requirements of students, the menu to avoid the use of foreign languages to indicate the dishes. That is, the use of foreign languages should be standardized according to the standard dictionary spelling, in line with the grammar, to prevent errors.
Of course, the title of the menu and the description of the dishes available in different models of fonts to show the difference.
4, student menu illustrations and color
In order to enhance the artistry and attractiveness of the student menu, often in the cover and inner pages using some illustrations. The use of patterns, must pay attention to its color must be coordinated with the overall environment of the restaurant.
Common illustrations in the student menu are mainly: the pattern of the dishes, famous Chinese monuments, the outside of the restaurant, the restaurant's famous dishes, pictures of important people dining in the restaurant. In addition, geometric and abstract patterns are often used as illustrations, but these patterns should correspond to the business characteristics.
In addition, the use of color is also important. Pleasing colors can make the menu look attractive, better introduce the key dishes, but also reflect the style and mood of a restaurant. Color can produce different reflections on the human psyche, can reflect different implied characteristics, so the choice of color must pay attention to the nature of the restaurant and the type of customers.
5, the specifications and length of the student menu
The specifications of the student menu should be coordinated with the content of the meal, the type of restaurant and the area, the size of the table and seating space and other factors, so that the customer is comfortable to pick up and read conveniently, so the menu of the open book and the choice to be careful. Survey data show that the most ideal open book for 23cm30cm. operators to determine the basic structure and content of the menu, and the list of dishes listed, select several sizes more suitable for the open book, arranged in different models of lead for comparison. In the length should maintain a certain amount of space, usually the text accounts for the total length of the area can not exceed 50%.
6, student menu photos and graphics
In order to increase the marketing function of the student menu, many restaurants will feature dishes in kind photos printed on the menu, can add color to the menu to increase the aesthetics, thus speeding up the speed of customers to order food. However, when using photos or pictures, attention must be paid to the shooting and printing quality of the photos or pictures, or else they will not achieve their expected results. In addition, many menus on the color photos there is also no right number of the fault, that is, not the color photos, dish name, price and text description listed together. The simplest way to solve this problem is to use black lines to frame it, or use small pieces of colored surface to make it stand out.
Fifth, the student menu design and production of common problems
Although most of the restaurant operators or managers have spent a lot of effort and energy to design the menu, but there are still many restaurants menu is not satisfactory, so that there are such and such a problem, to the restaurant business has a great impact. The main common problems are:
1, the production of improper choice of materials
Some restaurants in order to save costs, the use of colorful book products, including folders, handout clips, but also useful for letter mailers and photobooks to serve as a menu, rather than a specially designed menu. Such a menu not only can not play a role in decorating the restaurant environment, the effect of restaurant atmosphere, but with the style of the restaurant is out of place, it seems incongruous.
2, specifications and framing is not appropriate
Many small restaurant menu body is 16K ordinary paper production, this size is undoubtedly too small, resulting in the menu on the name of the dishes and other content is arranged too closely, it is difficult to distinguish between the primary and secondary, and some menus and even only the size of the exercise book, but the number of pages is actually dozens of sheets, which is the same as a small magazine. The vast majority of the menu paper thin, poor printing quality, no illustrations, no color, coupled with the custody of the use of poor, looks extremely simple, dirty.
3, font selection
Many menus are typewritten mimeographs, even if it is a printed book, but also most of the use of No. 1 lead. Sitting in the restaurant is not very bright lights, read the 3 mm size of the lettering menu, the feeling will be very uncomfortable, and moreover, mimeographs are easy to be wiped fuzzy. At the same time, most menus have a single font, ignoring the use of different sizes, different fonts and other techniques to highlight and publicize important dishes.
4, randomly altered menu
Randomly altered menu is one of the most common drawbacks in the use of the menu. Alteration of the main methods: with a pen, ballpoint pen directly altered dishes, prices and other information; or with computer print paper, tape cover-up. The most altered part of the menu is the price. All of these, so that the menu looks extremely unserious, very ungainly, causing great resentment of customers.
Many primary and secondary school student restaurant menus in addition to the above common problems, sometimes there will be too simple text introduction, the menu does not match the dishes, artificially omitted or careless omission of certain information and other issues. These students on the operation of the restaurant have brought not too small impact, so the restaurant managers or operators must pay attention to its shortcomings and fill in the gaps, to avoid the emergence of the above problems, so that the design and production of the menu to do the best possible.