75. MUCCA DESIGN
The next time you drop in for a bite at either the Standard Hollywood or the Standard Downtown L.A., you might see double even before ordering a bloody orange martini. On the back of each menu is a life-size color photo of a restaurant regular. Chances are, regulars will ask for “their” menu on their regular visits. Who wouldn’t?

Designer Christine Celic Strohl explains that people were selected to represent a fair cross-section of the most loyal customers. “Ramona Rosales photographed customers on-site without using any styling or makeup,” Celic says. Not all customers would be suited for makeup, judging by the Chihuahua, who probably gets sneaked under the table in a swanky Porta Cane shoulder bag.

The two Standards have distinct personalities as restaurants. “The Standard Hollywood has the nostalgic feeling of a classic diner,” Celic says, “so we used classic typography as a nod to that style. The Downtown L.A. location is visually bolder, with a modern interior and bright yellow furnishings, so those menus are a bit quirkier and more playful.”

Celic says that the most rewarding show of appreciation she can get is restaurant customers playing with the menus like masks. “And the regulars who were photographed,” she confirms, “are delighted to see their faces on the menus.” Romy Ashby