AAA Chinese Restaurant & Lounge
The Brief
I designed and built the website for a friend’s Chinese restaurant, including an integrated online ordering system via WooCommerce. The client needed a site that served both as a brand presence and a functional ordering platform for dine-in and takeout customers.
Design Challenge
The key design challenge was creating a visual identity that felt true to the physical restaurant — a cozy space with dark grey walls and a warm log cabin interior. The website needed to carry that same atmosphere online, so that a customer’s first impression of the brand felt consistent with walking in the door.
Visual Decisions
Colour & Typography
The restaurant’s interior — dark grey painted walls with warm timber accents — became the design palette. Dark backgrounds echo the physical space, and gold was chosen as the accent colour at the client’s request, applied consistently across buttons, highlights, and decorative elements to evoke warmth and quality. The typefaces were selected for their block-letterform aesthetic, which visually echoes the structural character of Chinese writing — connecting the brand’s typography to its cultural identity without leaning on cliché.
Layout & Navigation
The site integrates WooCommerce for online ordering with a live category filter for easy menu browsing by section, and a live search feature in the navbar so customers can find specific dishes quickly. Custom Gutenberg block patterns keep the visual experience consistent across all pages, and the layout is designed to surface the menu prominently — the primary goal for any restaurant site visitor.
Process — click to view wireflow
Screenshots
