Week 1 Mao

I have always been the kind to judge the quality of something-- whether it be a restaurant, a book, or even a bottle of Vitamin C pills, chiefly by its typographic layout. In my view, if an item appeals to my visual senses, I will buy it without further questioning the true quality of its content. (I know, this is very shallow of me).
With that said, this weekend me and group of friends wanted to go somewhere "bon appetite" for a girl's night out. After searching numerous restaurants on a local directory, we narrowed it down to a few, one of them being Pastabilities, an Italian homemade-style eatery located in downtown Armory Square. Though, I vaguely remember how delicious their focaccia dipped in white clam sauce was over the summer, I did recall the few postcards I had taken at the time, which are now hanging on my overhead bulletin for decoration purposes. However, being a type freak, I carefully scrutinized the two post cards (which I have uploaded below) before making any last minute decisions.

The first one has a picture of a man wearing a team "pasta's" shirt striking a juicy bowling/meatball down center lane. Underneath is a caption titled "Another in our Evolution of the Meatball Series", in a sleek modern sans serif font. This is a good choice--does not distract from the image rather adds clarity. To the left of the post card, in all caps, spells "PASTABILITIES" which is rotated 90 degrees and slightly justified to both top and bottom margins. This type combines a modern typeface with a slab serif edge for emphasis on the "P, A, L, E" letters. Underneath is a contrastingly sleek, geometric sans serif font (perhaps Futura) that tells the location, address, and telephone number of the place. Together, I think this captures a sense of up-scale, wine and dine sort of elegance. The picture and designated type combines luxury and enjoyment, which may appeal to a variety of audiences--families, friends, and even couples. Lastly, aligned right in small bold letters we see what this restaurant really stands for-- homemade pasta, bread, and food. From far away, I would have completely glanced over the "meat" of the postcard had I not known this was actually an ad for an Italian restaurant. Personally, the message could have occupied the entire bottom area, leaving lesser negative space, whereas the picture formatted to a smaller ratio. Also, notice the words "pasta", "bread", and "food" have been tracked to fit across the word "Homemade". I believe this could have worked better if instead they were justified and aligned center to "Homemade", with the addition of a larger font to emphasis what their meals truly encapsulates. By decreasing its tracking value may also improve the overall readability (this comes in handy during last minute decisions!)

The second postcard I snatched is polar opposite from its counterpart, in terms of typography, layout, elegance, and style. Here we have the "Pastabilities" wordmark, but this time in a white, old roman font that takes us back to the Medieval ages. This text adorns every letter with squiggles and extended lines, almost as if someone hand drew it. Notice the "P" and "S" are both capitalized and strikingly larger than the rest. This creates a visual balance, evening out the descender in the letter "P". The illustration underneath fits well with this old English typeface--a
depiction of what looks like a Trojan war in which "cannonballs" have been replaced with gigantic meatballs as weaponry force. The text and picture give this restaurant a rich, full of life quality--an experience "Pastabilities" ultimately wants their customers to enjoy. Even the watermark that frames the drawing centers around this embodiment of wealth and splendor. The rest of the text are featured in small caps--a cleaner serif font, which nicely contrasts the old English wordmark; this works as a nice supplement to balance the opulent illustration and bring back the formal aspects (message, address, location).

All in all, Pastablilities offers not only hearty meals, but visually captivating postcards that draw curiosity to what their menu really has to offer. Their postcards convey a wide assortment of the dining experience--from elegantly modish, to a rich, full throttle escapade of endless possibilities (which by the way holds truth after tasting their famous carbonara :)