1.0Overviewso, basically...

Jing Restaurant wanted a new website that highlighted its unique culture and cuisine. I designed a non-traditional WordPress theme that did just that, including a unique navigation system that was both functional and eye-catching. By building on WordPress, the site was also easy for Jing staff to maintain.

Services

Details

  • Non-traditional WordPress theme conveyed unique restaurant culture.
  • Interesting navigation system proved unusual but highly usable.
  • WordPress allowed client easy access to update content.
Screenshot of website designed for Jing restaurant

2.0Special Highlightslet me draw your attention to...

2.1Elegant by Design

Jing takes a lot of pride in the presentation of their dishes as well as the atmosphere of their restaurant, so my approach to design was to show full-page photos from the menu and dining area as the background for every page on the website. Page content then appeared as a semi-transparent overlay, making text easy to read without fully obscuring the photography behind it.

I’ve found it’s often difficult to work on restaurant websites, most often just before lunch and just before dinner. The stomach starts to growl and the mouth water at each new photograph placed into the website. When this happens, of course, is when you know the design is truly doing it’s job!

2.2Pretty Symbols

Jing wanted the site to be simple and elegant, so I came up with a navigation system that stayed out of the way until needed.

I started with just the Chinese symbols visible, which looked really cool—however, it was also really hard to navigate unless you read Chinese… so I reworked it to show simple text labels that revealed the Chinese symbols when hovered over with the mouse.