The Need:
Dio Mio Handmade Pasta was getting set to open up shop in Denver’s industrial RiNo neighborhood in the fall of 2016. I had previously worked with owners and chefs Alex Segura and Spencer White in solidifying a brand identity and designing their website. The final piece they needed was a great menu to tie it all together. The duo needed to be able to update the menus manually-with limited graphic design skills- and print them in-house at an affordable rate.
The Remedy:
I began by asking the team to send me samples of menus that they loved, and it was clear from the outset that they were big fans of highly simplified layouts that walked deliberately through the distinct stages of a meal. I began creating a series of layouts that all adhered to our developed brand standards and played off the physical aesthetic of the restaurant itself. The result was a condensed, sharp, monochromatic menu that highlighted the best parts of each dish.
At first, I designed a couple sample menus for Dio Mio’s pop up preview dinners that served as a proof of concept and began to establish a visual identity with the market. I also included quirky phonetic pasta pronunciations with the dishes to add some verbal color to the black and white menu.
I had some fun with the...
...pasta education concept.
Once the layout was set I rebuilt the menu in PowerPoint so that Alex and Spencer would be able to edit it themselves and add new items as necessary. Everything was then all packaged up -like colors, fonts, and logos- to ensure that printing would go smoothly. Finally, I trained their team on how to edit dishes while preserving menu format.
The Results:
Since their launch in fall of 2016 the Dio Mio menu has gone through numerous iterations all with new and exciting dishes, and one cohesive format. The chefs have been able to easily edit the menu and print new versions affordably, allowing them to constantly push the boundaries with their cooking. The same design standard has since been used across lunch, dinner, happy hour, and take out menus all to create one familiar experience when dining at Dio Mio.
