The original menu was not doing the restaurant justice. It was hard to read and visually inconsistent. Sushi California — a Japanese restaurant in New Britain, CT — needed a clean, professional menu that matched the quality of their food. I was brought in to redesign it from the ground up.
Project: Full menu redesign for a local sushi restaurant.
Client: Sushi California Restaurant, New Britain, CT
The Process
Research & Discovery
I started by looking at Japanese art styles and traditional Japanese art to understand the visual language. I also researched recent menu design trends to see what was working in the industry.
The goal was to find a balance between cultural authenticity and modern functionality.
Sketches
My sketches were minimal — closer to wireframes than traditional concept sketches. I focused on layout, hierarchy, and how to organize an extensive menu list without overwhelming the customer.
Digital Concepts
From the wireframes, I created three digital concepts.
The first was very minimalistic — clean, open space, easy to scan. The second was busy and unpredictable, with more visual density. The third landed somewhere in between.
The client preferred the minimalistic direction. Given how long their menu list was, a clean layout made the most sense for readability.
Refinement
We went through several manor adjustments, including price changes across multiple items. The layout was tweaked to improve scanning speed. Font sizes were adjusted for legibility at arm’s length.
Once the client was happy with the layout and pricing, I finalized the design.
The client wanted a menu that was easy to read and professional to look at. The final design removed the pixelated, hard-to-read look of the original and gave Sushi California a menu that matched their food.
Client work. Used with permission for portfolio.
