Finished Cover Designs

For Winter:


For Spring:


For Summer:


For Autumn:

Bill of Materials

Wordmark With Highlighted Symbol

Each of the wordmark would appear on the cover of the correspondent menu design.

For Winter:


For Spring:


For Summer:


For Autumn:

Revised Wordmark With Symbols

Finished Summer Design

Finished Spring Design

Finished Autumn Design

Finished Winter Design

This design was completed during the model process around the last week in october:

Calender for Marking Period 2

Revised Selected Wordmark

Model

The menu models themselves are to size. They are created with poster board. The designs on the front and inside left flap are to scale. This is why the pictures are cropped at the edges because the actual size of the picture is greater then the printing paper. The inside right flap is not to scale and shows the entire picture that will be presented on the alternative page (left flap). Each model represents one season from one set. The first model is Autumn of set 1, the second model is Spring of set 2, and the third model is Winter of set 3.

Menu design

The front will show the name of the restaurant, the inside will have the entrees, the flap will have appetizers on one side and the side orders and beverages on the other and the back of the menu will have the espresso/dessert menu.

Selection Rejection Report

To create a design for the new Season's menu, I have sketched four different alternative solutions. Each solution is comprised of four sketches, one for each season.

Alternative Solution #1


Description: Half of a tree, land, and sun. For each season, the picture depicts what the tree and surrounding area would look like during that season. The main visuals in the picture are designed on the edges of the sheet.
Pros:
• Shows recognizable symbolism for each season
• Artistic design matches semi formal theme
• Provides central negative space

Cons:
• May be too much of a distraction behind menu text
• Might be costly because it has the most color/designs

Overall: This is the most artistically involved compared to the other designs. The scenic picture allows a clear visual to show individual seasons. The design also would help to frame the information in the middle however, because it is the most involved in terms of color and space, it would probably be the most costly to print as well.


Alternative Solution #2

Description: Swirl-like pattern decorated with symbols depicting each season on one edge of part of the paper. Colors of background, swirl and symbol are unique to each season.
Pros:
• Not distracting to a centered menu text
• Shows recognizable symbolism for each season
• Swirl is similar to wordmark style

Cons:
• If each background is a color, it may be costly to print

Overall: The solution has the simplicity matched with the wordmark as well as a similar style. The design allows a clear visual to distinguish between seasons and would also help to frame the information of the menu. Each design in the set has its own background color which in some cases may be more costly to print.

Alternative Solution #3

Description: Border of a seasonal symbol repeated. Various border choices, main concept is that the symbol is repeated.
Pros:
• Not distracting to a centered menu text
• Shows recognizable symbolism for each season
• Smallest design = cheapest

Cons:
• Repetitive/bland
• Too casual/ doesn’t fit with the wordmark and as well as the other designs

Overall: This is a rather simple design that is perfect for framing the text of the menu. Each design allows it to be distinguished by season. However it is a bit more casual then the projected style of the wordmark and the design overall is simply repetitive.

Alternative Solution #4

Description: Large symbol that represents each season and has a low opacity to blend with the background.
Pros:
• Shows recognizable symbolism for each season
• Due to its simplicity it may be only cheap to moderately priced to print

Cons:
• May be too much of a distraction behind menu text

Overall: This design heads in a different direction then the other three by having its main visual in the center of the page. This can end up being a distraction to the menu text unless the menu text was displayed in a different pattern around the main design. It can be relatively cheap to print because it is such a simple design with the possibility of no color involved.


Conclusion
The three alternative solutions I have chosen are numbers 1, 2, and 3. I did not choose alternative solution number 4 because it had the fewest amount of pros compared to the other designs. Although the cons list was matched for the shortest, the fact that both the pro and con lists are small can represent mediocrity in the design.

Alternative Solutions- Menu Designs

Selected Wordmark

Alternative Solutions- Wordmark

Brainstorming

Brainstorming sketches:

Technical Research

Expermienting with vectors in Jasc Paint Shop Pro:






Expermineting with different drawing instuments:

Background Research

Adams, Sean, and Noreen Morioka. Logo Design Workbook: a Hands-on Guide to Creating Logos. Gloucester, MA: Rockport, Inc., 2004.
• Logos= a mark to claim ownership (12)
• Why: “differentiate from competition, create a focus internally, provide clear identification, enable the audience to form a personal relationship, create merchandising opportunities, create credibility, bring order to chaos, communicate the message” (15)
• Kinds: marks, trademarks, signatures, identity, brands, wordmarks, symbols, monograms (17-18)
• Know your client and your audience, identify-don’t explain, design for longevity, create for a variety of media, (22-38)

Campbell, Alastair. The New Graphic Designer's Handbook. London: Quarto Plc, 1993.
• What to record on the first meeting with client (briefing): Client name/s, date & time, people present, job description, audience, budget. (8-10)
• Present rough (sketch, basic); “final” rough however must be a detailed and as accurate as the final product.
• Basic equipment should include: drawing board, good light, measuring equipment (71)
• Various writing instruments include drawing pencils, colored pencils, pens, felt tipped markers, inks, and airbrushes.

Rabinowitz, Tova. Exploring Typography. Clifton Park, NY: Thomson Delmar Learning, 2006.
• Typography - “the study, use, and design of sets of identical repeated letterforms” (1)
• Terminals are end points of a stroke, serifs are extensions of terminals (56)
• Pica is used for measuring lines of type, one pica is equal to 12 points. 1 inch equals 6 picas. The point size of a typeface includes the type size and the leading. (64-65)
• Typeface-a collection of letterforms that have been especially designed to go together, font- all the characters of a type face necessary for typesetting, type style- modified version of type face, type family- a collection of type including the original type face and all type styles or a category type is classified into based on historical origin. Common classifications- blackletter, humanist, old style, transitional, modern, eqyptian, sans serif, script, and display.(75)
• Serif fonts are easier to read than sans-serif as a body text. (174-175)
• Words that describe different characteristics of a design’s form: balance, unity, contrast, color, value, texture. (200)
• 5 basic Laws of Gestalt: The Law of Similarity, Proximity, Common Fate, Closure, and Continuation (207-217)
• you can emphasize an object by varying the size, color, texture, shape, or orientation (221-222)
• when designing for legibility keep in mind the top half and the right side because they are most crucial to character recognition (287)
• standard guidelines for designing typeface: baseline traditionally divides em square at 20%, cap height is usually between 75-85% of em square, x-height is usually 50-80% of cap height (288-290)
• connotative elements- “evoking emotions or suggesting associations with familiar experiences or memories” graphic resonance- “the underlying tone of a design, set by utilizing connotative elements in the design” (348)

Testing Procedure

Expectations:
At the end of my project, I expect my client to be happy with the final designs for their business. Also I expect for the graphics to appeal to their target customers, causal/fine dining people of all ages.

How to Test Results:
Step 1: Create survey for client and targeted customer. On the survey for the client, include the questions "Are you happy with the outcome of the final design?" and "Is there anything you would change with the overall design?". On the survey for the target customer, include the questions "Are the designs appealing?" and "Does it fit with the overall theme of the restaurant?"

Step 2: Present the questionnaire for the client to the client. Have them complete it without you present to receive the most honest details.

Step 3: Repeat step 2 with the questionnaire for the target customer. Hand out at least 5 surveys to casual/fine dining customers between the ages of 16 and 70.

Step 4: Collect surveys upon completion and analyze response.

Specifications & Limitations

Specifications:
For Wordmark (to be used on business card)
• Must be semi-formal looking
• Must not have any obvious serifs
• Must be one color and that color needs to be dark
• Must be rather simple
• Must be professional quality
• Must be copyrighted
For Menu
• Must have a design for each season
• Must be professional quality
• Must be copyrighted
• Must be full color
• Must be easy to hold
• Must be simple to open
• Must include a cover with the wordmark
• Must use a readable font style and size


Limitations:
• Menu must have no more than 6 sections
• Business card must be 3 ½” x 2”

Background Information

Graphic designs in the marketing world are used to appeal to a targeted audience, attract attention, and advertise a product, company, or organization. They appear in the form of letters/words and pictures. All businesses use graphic designs whether complex, establishing a logo for a world corporation, or simple, deciding what font the name of a school should be written on a sweatshirt. One business, currently the Manalapan branch of the JavaMoon Café franchise, is looking to remove itself from that particular franchise and start a brand new restaurant called Seasons. This would require a new set of graphic designs, which is the basis of the Capstone Design Project chosen.

The first JavaMoon Café was started by Nicholas and Marilyn Dalia in 2000 with a location in Jackson, New Jersey. They then created JavaMoonCafe Franchise Services, LLC allowing them to expand their business. JavaMoon Cafes are privately owned business part of a franchise. There are JavaMoon restaurants across the state of New Jersey and two locations in Florida. The restaurants serve an eclectic selection of dishes as well as a wide range of coffee and espresso drinks, teas, and specialty desserts. The JavaMoon Café of Manalapan, located on Route 9 South in the Design Plaza, was started by L.S. Persie, LLC in 2004 and has been opened ever since. The owners of the business are Silvana and Lawrence Persie. Aside from Mr. Persie working at a pizzeria during his adolescent, this was the first experience the two have had with the restaurant business. Currently they are looking into removing themselves from the JavaMoonCafe Franchise Services, LLC and open up a new self-owned business.

This new restaurant would be called Seasons. The inside of the restaurant would be visually split into four sections. Each section would be decorated according to a different season. Lunch would be casual, and dinner more formal with tablecloths. Lunch and dinner would each have their own menus, and the design of the menu would change to match the current season. The type of cuisine served would be nouveau, an Italian style with a contemporary flare. It would also serve a wide range of coffee and espresso drinks, teas, and specialty desserts similar to the original JavaMoon Café, seeing that the equipment is already there to produce such products. The details are still in the making and so the overall idea is still a general one.

This business is starting from scratch and so must the graphic designs. A wordmark will be created to represent both the typeface of the business and the logo, as well as a menu design/layout for each season. All of these items must appeal to causal/fine dining customers of all ages.

When a clientele hires someone to create graphic designs for their business, usually more than one graphic designer is called upon to present their work. For this project, three solutions will be created to be presented to the clientele to make up for the competing graphic designers. After all three solutions are presented, the clientele will chose one, and the graphics will be edited if needed to fit the final need of the business. The final solution will then be tested by both the restaurant owners and customers the graphics are to attract by way of a survey. This process would conclude the project.