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ART DIRECTOR ATTENDS RESTAURANT MENU DESIGN SEMINAR
JAN 2002

Dux D'Lux Art Director, Haley Montgomery, recently attended a menu design seminar hosted by one of our long-time clients, Eat With Us. This was the second seminar Haley has attended featuring Gregg Rapp, a menu profit expert who has developed the concept of "menu engineering" based on classic retail selling techniques.

"Menu Engineering" involves strategically placing items on a restaurant menu so that patrons are encouraged to order more high profit selections. Mr. Rapp has received high praise in the Wall Street Journal and numerous food service publications for his straightforward, proven approach.

According to Mr. Rapp's plan, the process of optimizing a restaurant menu begins with several management decisions. The first step is determining the profitability for each item on the menu. Then, by comparing each item's profitability versus popularity, you can determine a rough menu profile. This profile identifies menu items that should be promoted, and items that should be downplayed or taken off the menu. He also offers a variety of creative ideas for expanding your menu based on items that show the most profitability and popularity.

This is where the designers come in. Haley learned a wealth of techniques for laying out a menu to encourage more sales of high profit items. These techniques included learning to utilize standard eye motion patterns, putting menu formats to their best use,creatively highlighting particular menu items, using typography to encourage upselling, and more.

At the request of the Eat With Us, Inc. management team, Dux D'Lux immediately put the seminar's ideas to work in a re-structuring of the Harveys Restaurant menu. For a look at other menu designs and restaurant collateral pieces designed by Dux D'Lux, visit our Restaurant Design Portfolio.