Howard Johnson | Restaurant Menu

The Brief
Howard Johnson’s restaurants may have disappeared in 2019, but food has always been an important part of the brand’s story. As part of my work leading the brand, we began piloting new food concepts at Howard Johnson hotels across the U.S.—creating an opportunity to reimagine what a modern HoJo dining experience could look and feel like.

The Solution
I designed a new menu that intentionally taps into Howard Johnson’s mid-century visual heritage without feeling like a reproduction of something from the archives. Bold blocks of orange and turquoise, retro typography, playful illustrations and nostalgic menu items—including the brand’s iconic fried clam strips—create an immediate connection to HoJo’s restaurant roots.

The goal was to make nostalgia feel fun and relevant rather than dated, using the brand’s history as a creative asset while introducing a food program designed for today’s hotels.

The Craft
Created using Adobe InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop, I developed the menu from concept through final execution, combining layout, typography, custom illustration and image work into a cohesive piece of branded collateral.

The Result
A modern interpretation of the classic Howard Johnson restaurant experience—one that celebrates where the brand came from while exploring where it could go next.