Isn’t it obvious that I’m putting off doing something more important?

Number 5 – Custard Creams

These are plain biscuits with a layer of cream in the middle which isn’t too sickly sweet. I like the pretty pattern they have on the outside too. They are perfect when dunked in tea because they don’t immediately go soggy.

Number 4 – Bourbons

Similar construction to custard creams, but with chocolate biscuit and filling. These are also lovely dunked in tea. They do go a bit mank if left open though!

Number 3 – Oreos

I used to find it almost impossible to get these anywhere in the UK, now they seem to sell them all over the place. These are dark chocolate biscuits with a custard-cream-like filling. In the US, they make loads of different flavoured ones, and even ones with double the filling! They’re quite expensive though, so nice as a treat!

Number 2 – The Pink Wafer Biscuit

Incredibly addictive. The biscuit consists of layers of pink wafer, sandwiched between layers of vanilla. The problem is they are very very moreish and I often find myself feeling ill after demolishing an entire packet because they’re so sweet.. Dipping them in tea can result in a lot of soggy pink stuff at the bottom of the mug.

Number 1 – Chocolate Caramel Digestives

These are immense! They take the chocolate digestive template, but have an inner layer of caramel, which really complements the chocolate and the biscuit components.

…that was way too many big words!

Every friend I have introduced these to has become completely obsessed with them. Sometimes we’ll have conversations like this:

“do you want to come round for a cup of tea?”

“..mmm… naahh, I’ve got some really important..”

“I’ve got caramel digestives…”

“OOHH! OK!”

Because of the properties of the caramel, the biscuit does not tend to crumble as much as others, but the chocolate is very melty and sticky (especially when dunked). Mmmmmmmmm……

So, what are your favourite biscuits?

The design process for the menu was very informal. I chatted with my client on MSN, sending designs every few minutes, and adjusting them to her specifications. This made communication a lot easier because the design was being made in real time.

Initially, she sent me a Publisher document with the content, and an intricate pattern which she had drawn down the side. She explained that she wanted this strip to be visible when the menu is closed.

This is one of the first designs I came up with. The font I chose of the name of the takeaway is more sylised to give it a fresh and personal appearance. The ‘dishes’ heading text uses the same font, but in black to give it a professional look. I replicated the drawing to be set behind the titles and in gold to make it look like a more high quality take-away.

Then I thought I’d play about with the colours a bit. The pink was inspired by a very unusual and striking Japanese restaurant near where I live which has a hot-pink and purple colour scheme. My client preferred the green and gold design because of the connotations with lemongrass, so I continued with this design.

In the design below, I brightened the colours to make them look more fresh and appealing. I also tried a swirly image behind the name of the takeaway.

The next design looks very similar to the one before it, but the swirly pattern behind the takeaway name is slightly different.

One of the things I wish I’d asked sooner was what sort of paper the menus would be printed on. I assumed it would be on standard white paper. At this point, my client said they would be printed on a glossy paper, which changed the way I thought about how it should look. On standard matte paper, small printed text doesn’t work well if the background is darker than the font colour, but on glossy paper, the text is much sharper and easier to read. So I tried a black background, and changed the ‘dishes’ headings to gold.

My client really liked this design, and used it as a template for the real thing.

On Tuesday, she gave me the printed menu. Below are a couple of photos of it.  A few elements have changed as more content was added.

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