We are totally visual beings, in fact, we say very naturally, and as part of our culture, that “from sight, love is born”.
It serves for love: we approach whoever seems most attractive to us, although later, we may regret it when we discover what that beautiful cover hides.
In gastronomy it is equally effective: social networks like Instagram teach us the power of the image within gastronomy.
That leads us to think, logically, that we should include photographs of the food you offer in your restaurant. true?. Well, that I will tell you: why you should NOT use them, and if you do, how these photographs should be.
Yes, it is contradictory to say no, when we have come to the conclusion that love is born from sight. But it’s not like that, let’s see.
Have you seen that the best restaurants in the world do not use photographs in their menus? They also don’t use it in their display advertising. On the other hand, it is used by fast food chains such as McDonald’s, Subway, Telepizza, etc.
Let’s look at the second case: have you seen a real, physical hamburger, as shown on the menu? No, because they themselves admit that they do not exist. Here is the key: the expectation. The downside to using photos on the menu is that you create a huge expectation in the minds of your diners that may not correspond to actual food. It can be better or worse.
Experts don’t recommend doing it for precisely that. Instead, they recommend using illustrations or photos from online image banks to illustrate your menu. In this way, you do not create expectations and you do inform the customer of what you offer, especially if your menu consists of food that we all know and know how it is. Not to mention, good quality photographs are expensive.
Okay, so the question you ask yourself is… when should you include photos on your menu?
This decision is totally personal, but it is recommended that it be used under these circumstances: when your restaurant offers little-known food, and when it is a professional who takes the photographs. It is better to use illustrations than photographs of poor quality or with food that is not, for example, without a professional plating.
And, above all: if you have an exclusive budget for the design of your restaurant, and the menu will not undergo frequent changes: this service is not cheap.
Well, if in spite of everything you decide to add photographs to your menu and even to your marketing campaign, you should know which elements are the most important for them to be effective.
Of course, be clear that if you use them, the wording of your menu must change: if you sell pizza, and you have added a photograph of your pizza, then your writing must focus on something different, for example, on its qualities, and not on the ingredients, which you can already see in the picture.
These are the keys for your photographs to work in your menu and other marketing elements of your business.
1. Consistency
Imagine that a photograph is seen with a lot of light and a white background, and another in dim light and with a wooden background… it doesn’t give a good image, does it?
Make sure that all your photographs have the same personality and angle and lighting characteristics, and that, in all your campaigns, you use the same: do not use a clip art image on Facebook, and a real one in the menu, for example. Here you can find more information about lighting.
2. The classification of your restaurant defines your style
Like it or not, the style of your restaurant will determine the style of your menu design and even your photography.
Luxury restaurants do not have any photographs and we only see text in them, whereas in fast food restaurants the photographs are the main protagonists of it. Fast food involves large photographs and their names in small size, in an informal restaurant the use of text and photographs is more combined.
Depending on the classification of your restaurant, it will be the style of your menu.
3. Make strategic use of your photos
Some menus have a photo for each dish, which are used more for fast food restaurants and few dishes, and are used for craving, basically.
Experts recommend using a maximum of two photos per page, and using the photos of the dish that you want to enhance the most. If your menu is of several pages, try not to use too many photographs, in fact, the advice that designers give is to use a single, spectacular image, and combine it with the rest of the menu on the side
Even if you have a portfolio of 100 images, it does not mean that you should use all of them.
4. Leave your smartphone for Instagram
Smartphones come, more and more, with better cameras, many at the height of digital or traditional ones, but that does not mean that they are the best option to illustrate your menu with photos from your mobile.
The best thing is to hire a professional, with the right equipment for the job, since those photographs will be your brand: if they look homemade or unprofessional, it will be what you will convey and everyone will associate with your restaurant.
If your pocket does not allow it, and you still want to improve your photography with your mobile, in the link you have five tips for it.
5 Accuracy
Always remember the famous photographs of McDonald’s hamburgers against which they serve you in any establishment of the clown. The photographs must be of excellent quality, but at the same time, with tremendous accuracy with what you will offer every day in your establishment.
If the photograph retouches the food a lot, the customer will have a very high expectation, and if it does not match the real food, they will not return again. If the photograph reflects unappetizing food, you will lose the customer.
It is not about eliminating the expectation, but about realistically reflecting the food you offer.