A menu is the most-read page of any café. Most brands still treat it like an afterthought. ☕✨ I d...A menu is the most-read page of any café. Most brands still treat it like an afterthought. ☕✨ I d...
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Ahmed Shoaib's avatar
Ahmed Shoaib Touqeer
• Sep 25
A menu is the most-read page of any café. Most brands still treat it like an afterthought. ☕✨
I designed the full Specialty Menu for CHOCOCHAI, a 14-page journey through the world's most iconic drinks. Here's how I approached it.
The brief: CHOCOCHAI brings Tokyo's matcha, the subcontinent's chai, Spanish lattes, and Taiwanese bubble tea under one roof. The menu had to feel just as global, and just as premium, from the first page.
1️⃣ Start with the cover, not the categories Deep charcoal, warm brewed coffee, a minimal gold emblem. Before a guest reads a single price, they already sense: this is a serious café.
2️⃣ Open with the brand's story first Page one isn't a menu item. It's a welcome: who CHOCOCHAI is, what "globally inspired, locally brewed" means, plus a table of contents that sets the tone for the journey ahead.
3️⃣ Build one disciplined system, then repeat it Full-bleed photo on the left, clean typeset list on the right, a subtle botanical border framing every spread. Fourteen categories, one visual language, so a long menu still feels effortless to navigate.
4️⃣ Let photography do the selling Pour-over coffee mid-pour, matcha with delicate latte art, boba glasses on rustic wood. Every image is chosen to make guests crave the item before they even see the number beside it.
5️⃣ Choose typography like a boutique magazine An elegant serif for headers, a refined sans-serif for lists. It's the difference between "menu" and "experience."
6️⃣ End the way you began The back cover echoes the front, a soft watermark emblem, contact details, quiet confidence. First impression and last impression, matched.
💡 The takeaway: A menu this considered doesn't just list what's for sale, it tells guests the brand is worth the price on the page.
Building a café, restaurant, or hospitality brand that deserves this level of design? 📩 Let's talk. Message me here or find me on Contra.
What's the best restaurant menu you've ever held? Tell me below 👇
#MenuDesign #BrandDesign #GraphicDesign #CafeBranding #HospitalityDesign #PrintDesign #FreelanceDesigner
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Artur's avatar
Artur Mikhov
pro
• Sep 25
Point 4 has a side effect worth naming: shooting every item at that quality lifts the perceived price of the whole page, which is great until there's one cheap anchor drink you actually need to move volume on. Did the entry-level items stay in the same photographic treatment, or did you let them sit as text?
Ahmed Shoaib's avatar
Ahmed Shoaib Touqeer
• Sep 26
𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭! 𝐈 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲-𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐮𝐩𝐬.. That was my oversight when preparing the presentation. Thanks for catching it!
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