A Little-Known Truth: The Pros and Cons of Designing Your Menu Book Without a Professional Designer

Creating a menu book without hiring a designer can definitely help reduce costs. However, it comes with trade-offs. When budgets are tight, page design is often the first element to be simplified—especially if the brand doesn’t place strong emphasis on visual identity.

That said, cover design offers more creative freedom. With a bit of effort, you can combine original illustrations, logos, and photos with thoughtful fonts and layouts to create an attractive and impactful front cover.

Advantages of DIY Menu Design

  • Faster production
  • Lower overall cost
  • Full creative control—especially useful for small businesses and startups

Disadvantages

  • Lacks professional visual sensibility
  • Layouts may appear cluttered or inconsistent
  • Poor visual hierarchy can negatively affect brand perception

Smart Design Tips Without a Designer

Even without professional help, you can maintain a clean and appealing look with a simple structure. For example:

  • Left page: Full-page photo
  • Right page: White background with clearly arranged text

This minimalist layout helps preserve visual impact while keeping design resources to a minimum.

In short, yes—you can create a menu book without a designer. But it requires extra care in layout and presentation to ensure your brand still feels polished and professional. Even with limited resources, it’s possible to express quality and style.

If needed, I can help optimize your layout or simulate design styles based on your restaurant type. What kind of cuisine or concept are you working with?

Important Design Note for Screw-Post Binding

If you’re using a hardcover menu book with internal brass screw binding, there’s a key layout consideration:
You’ll need to offset your inner page design by 25mm to the left or right.

Why Is This 25mm Margin Necessary?

This binding method uses three screw holes to secure the pages, which means each sheet will have fold lines and screw placements. The outer 25mm of each page may be partially obscured or unusable.

  • For images, a bit of margin is acceptable
  • For text, however, placing important content in this area can compromise readability and functionality

Also, due to the nature of screw-post binding, full-spread images across two pages may appear misaligned and are best avoided to prevent visual distortion.