Challenge

Housed in a premier André Balazs hotel of the same name, The Standard Hollywood and The Standard Downtown L.A. are restaurants with the kind of impossibly fashionable atmosphere that L.A. is known for. When Balazs needed a new concept for the restaurants’ menus, he asked the Mucca Design team to create a fresh and original design.

Action

Focusing on international comfort food, the restaurants in each location wanted their menus to reflect the diversity of the dishes, as well as the clientele. And since the most beautiful thing about Los Angeles is its inhabitants, we decided to feature the Standard’s patrons on the menu covers. We enlisted the lovely and talented Ramona Rosales to photograph portraits of customers in the hotel, capturing them as they were. And luckily for us, they all looked fabulous. 35 different faces were chosen and printed to scale on each menu back, giving each diner a playful “mask” to wear when choosing from the the daily specials.

Results

The menus have become an engaging part of the restaurant experience, almost enough to compete with the beautiful people walking by.

Recognition

• AIGA 365 Year in Design 25
• Art Director's Club Annual 83
• STEP Inside Design Annual
• Type Director's Club Annual 26
• Type Director's Club Annual 26
• James Beard Nomination for Outstanding Restaurant Graphics