A Case Study in Environmental Display Design
The Living Planet Café at the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium in Utah approached me to redesign their menu system. They sought to implement a new product line of fresh entrées while retiring older items, but faced a significant challenge: their existing menus, displayed across six smart TV screens, lacked visual cohesion and consistency, having been created ad hoc over time.
The Old Menus
The existing menu system presented several critical usability issues. The absence of consistent typographical hierarchy and color schemes, combined with frequent misspellings and redundant information, created unnecessary cognitive load for customers. Most concerning was the environmental display aspect—inadequate font sizing likely impaired readability for many visitors, hampering their ability to efficiently browse and select items.
Old "barista side" menu system
Old "grill side" menu system
Assessing the Design Goal
I established two primary objectives for this redesign:
First, to develop a cohesive menu system that would streamline the customer purchase journey by prioritizing quick text recognition and readability. This would minimize the gap between initial recognition, decision-making, and final purchase.
Second, to craft a brand personality that harmonized with the café's unique position within an aquarium setting. While the café lacked its own brand guidelines, I leveraged the aquarium's existing brand guide as a foundation, which provided flexibility while maintaining institutional alignment.
A New Layout and Typographic Hierarchy
Building upon existing design elements, I refined the typography to enhance readability while maintaining familiarity. The previous menus utilized the typeface Bebas Neue which, while suitable for display text, presented readability challenges due to its tall characters and tight kerning at smaller sizes. I selected Bebas Neue Pro for its improved width and contemporary feel, pairing it with Mrs. Eaves—a weighted serif typeface—to ensure clear legibility at varying distances.
Above: a page from the new "grill side" menu system
A New Logo and Dynamic Brand Theme
With the café's approval, I streamlined their existing logo by emphasizing the word "Café" alongside the aquarium's logomark, recognizing that customers already understood the "Living Planet" context. To enhance the environmental experience, I designed a subtle animated water effect that evoked beachside tides, carefully balanced to maintain menu legibility while adding visual interest.
Above: new dynamic Café logo
Above: the complete dynamic "grill side" menu system
Two Distinct Menus, One Cohesive Brand Voice
The café operates two distinct service areas: a barista section for coffee, pastries, and cold "Grab & Go" items, and a grill section for hot foods. Each space's unique environmental context informed different color schemes while maintaining consistent typography:
• The Barista section's dark wooden surroundings inspired a deep brown background with the aquarium's off-white brand color for text.
• The Grill section's light yellow, sandy walls complemented the beach-inspired dynamic elements.
Above: "barista side" before and after
Above: "grill side" before and after
Epilogue
An unexpected technical limitation emerged: the café's older smart TV displays couldn't support the dynamic video menu concept. In response, I provided a static menu design that maintained the visual appeal while accommodating the existing hardware constraints.
