CAFE CENTRAL COLOGNE editorial menu design
Mira Hospitality Concepts, Inc.
Client:
Year:
2025
Café Central — Editorial Menu System
Café Central in Cologne is closely linked to the city’s artistic and cultural history. For decades, it served as a gathering place for artists, musicians, and writers. Its connection to the painter Martin Kippenberger, who was a regular here for many years.
Under the direction of the gallery owner Alex Flick , the café was revitalized as an artists’ café, with a conscious effort to preserve its historical identity. The goal was therefore not a complete redesign, but a precisely targeted contemporary intervention.
The project focused on developing an editorial menu system that draws on the establishment’s cultural history while also creating a clear typographic structure for day-to-day dining operations.
The design combines the café’s historic, hand-drawn lettering with a modern typographic system. The monospaced font Input Mono Compressed was used as a conceptual counterpoint; its archival, mechanical appearance lends the menu a clear and structured layout.
A splash of red ties the printed menu inserts together with elements of the interior design—particularly the velvet curtains at “Peter’s Bar.” The striking contrast between black, white, and red creates a visual tension that feels both classic and contemporary.
Through our collaboration with Café Central, it became clear that menus are a unique type of printed material: they must meet both aesthetic and tactile standards, remain durable in the day-to-day operations of a restaurant, and be cost-effective to reproduce.
The system we developed therefore takes into account not only typographical and material aspects, but also the practical operational processes. Changes to the product range, additions, or seasonal adjustments can be implemented quickly without compromising the visual consistency of the system.
The result is a designed object that bridges the gap between editorial design, a functional tool, and a cultural artifact.
Project Credits
Client
Café Central, Cologne
Design
DIFFERENT PROGRESS
Creative Direction
Stephan V. Schupp
Photography
Hendrik Poggenpohl
Year
2025
Location
Cologne, Germany