The History of Menu Design

Restaurant menus are visual testaments to the phrase:“We are what we eat.” Beyond recording food and dining habits, menus reflect the history of society, culture, art, business, and technology. Join us as Kimberly Hopkins discusses the historical influences on American restaurant menu design, and contemporary strategies and technologies used to refine and redefine how Americans interact with menus, food and the industry.

Kimberly Hopkins is a lecturer of graphic design at Towson University; owner of khopdesign, LLC, a design and illustration studio creating print and digital media; and a bit of a “foodie.” Her current academic research focuses on the duality of design and its impact on language, the environment, and social issues.