DIGITAL CONSISTENCY

pex-logo-alpha-900x900

In 2021 PizzaExpress overhauled its entire digital presence with the agency Truant, the brand’s first redesign since 2006. The old site had been built in ’06 and had functionality bolted on ever since, so in practice this was a design from scratch. The roundel logo was the only asset carried over.

I was responsible for the UI and UX across that whole presence: the website, online and digital menus, email campaigns and receipts. To keep it consistent as the new look rolled out across PizzaExpress, its Irish sister brand Milano and platforms like Click & Collect and Pay at Table, I also wrote the Digital Consistency guidelines below. They set the rules for navigation, logo placement, CTAs, modals, menus, and header and footer variations.

Services
Ui, Ux, Digital Menus, Online Menus, Email Campaigns, Receipts, Website Design, Author of the Digital Design Guidelines
Client
PizzaExpress
Agency
Truant

1NAVIGATION

Top line navigation always sits in an orange header, with text links set in VTC Martin in black and a white hover and active state.

Layouts differ slightly between platforms (PE.com, Milano and Pay at Table), but the primary navigation stays the same throughout, so it reads as one brand wherever you land.

Header/footer

BACKGROUNDRGB 232/119/34HEX E87722

Navigation font: VTC Martin
(Inactive RGB 0/0/0 HEX 000000
Hover/active RGB 255/255/255 HEX FFFFFF)

PE.com example

PizzaExpress website header and navigation

Milano example

Milano website header and navigation

Rollover / active state:
white

Rollover / active state:
white

3CTA HIERARCHY AND
INPUT FIELDS

There are two types of CTA: primary, for the most affirmative action, and secondary, for anything of lesser importance.

Their colours are summarised below, and every CTA uses Nunito Sans Regular, the brand's functional ‘detail’ typeface.

They come in two widths. ‘Standard’ is the default and by far the most common. ‘Wide’ only appears alongside input fields and runs to the same width as them, so forms line up cleanly.

On the odd occasion a button has to sit in an orange footer, a yellow button would get lost, so a white Primary Exception CTA is used there instead.

Primary CTA(As per existing)

BACKGROUNDRGB 248/174/53HEX F8AE35HOVERRGB 216/157/68HEX D89D44TEXT COLOURRGB 0/0/0HEX 000000

Secondary CTA(As per existing)

BACKGROUNDTRANSPARENTBORDERRGB 0/0/0HEX 000000HOVERRGB 216/157/68HEX D89D44TEXT COLOURRGB 0/0/0HEX 000000

Primary Exception CTA

BACKGROUNDRGB 255/255/255HEX FFFFFFHOVERRGB 226/228/216HEX E2E4D8TEXT COLOURRGB 0/0/0HEX 000000

Standard CTA example

Digital menu with a standard width primary CTA

Wide CTA example

Log in screen with wide primary and secondary CTAs

Primary Exception CTA example

Terms screen with a white exception CTA in the orange footer

Primary
‘Standard’ width CTA

Primary
‘Wide’ CTA

Secondary
‘Wide’ CTA

4MODAL POP UP WINDOWS

Modal pop-ups are always white, with headlines in VTC Martin and body copy in Quadraat Pro, both in black.

They appear on a dark overlay, so the message stands out clearly from the menu behind it.

CTAs inside them follow the same primary and secondary hierarchy as everywhere else.

Modal panel

BACKGROUNDRGB 255/255/255HEX FFFFFF

Primary CTA(As per existing)

BACKGROUNDRGB 248/174/53HEX F8AE35HOVERRGB 216/157/68HEX D89D44TEXT COLOURRGB 0/0/0HEX 000000

Secondary CTA(As per existing)

BACKGROUNDTRANSPARENTBORDERRGB 0/0/0HEX 000000HOVERRGB 216/157/68HEX D89D44TEXT COLOURRGB 0/0/0HEX 000000

Headline font:
VTC Martin (RGB 0/0/0 HEX 000000)
Body copy font:
Quadraat Pro (RGB 0/0/0 HEX 000000)

Example with headline

Digital menu modal with a headline on a dark overlay

Example with no headline

Digital menu modal without a headline on a dark overlay

5MENU LAYOUTS, COLOURS
AND HIERARCHY

Headers and footers are orange on every platform, from the websites to table booking. Secondary information, such as collection times (see sections 6 and 7) or sub navigation, sits in a blue strip beneath.

Text links at both levels of navigation are black, with a white hover and active state. Primary links are set in VTC Martin and secondary links in Quadraat Pro, so the hierarchy is clear at a glance.

Header/footer

BACKGROUNDRGB 232/119/34HEX E87722

Secondary menu

BACKGROUNDRGB 0/163/224HEX 00A3E0

Standout panel

BACKGROUNDRGB 248/174/53HEX F8AE35

Primary navigation font: VTC Martin
(Inactive RGB 0/0/0 HEX 000000
Hover/active RGB 255/255/255 HEX FFFFFF)
Secondary navigation font: Quadraat Pro
(Inactive RGB 0/0/0 HEX 000000
Hover/active RGB 255/255/255 HEX FFFFFF)

Digital drinks menu with orange header, blue sub navigation and yellow standout panelDigital Pizzeria menu with orange header, blue sub navigation and yellow standout panel

6CLICK AND COLLECT MENU
TYPOGRAPHY AND COLOUR

The click and collect menus on both the PizzaExpress and Milano websites have their main navigation on the page, down the left hand side.

To stay consistent with the brand guidelines, every H1, such as the ‘Menu’ header and the ‘Pizza’ category header, is set in VTC Martin. The navigation is set in Quadraat Pro, with a yellow background on hover and for the active item.

Menu cards have a green keyline and green icons.

Header/footer

BACKGROUNDRGB 232/119/34HEX E87722

Time stamp

BACKGROUNDRGB 0/163/224HEX 00A3E0

Menu hover/ background state

BACKGROUNDRGB 248/174/53HEX F8AE35

Menu card

BACKGROUNDRGB 0/145/73HEX 009149

H1 font: VTC Martin
(Inactive RGB 0/0/0 HEX 000000
Hover/active RGB 255/255/255 HEX FFFFFF)
On page navigation font:
Quadraat Pro
RGB 0/0/0 HEX 000000

PizzaExpress click and collect menu page

7HEADER/FOOTER VARIATIONS

Headers and footers vary between some platforms.

Milano and PizzaExpress have different navigation, for example, but in both the footer links are set in VTC Martin in black with a white hover and active state, which keeps them recognisably part of the same system.

Header/footer

BACKGROUNDRGB 232/119/34HEX E87722

Secondary menu

BACKGROUNDRGB 0/163/224HEX 00A3E0

Footer navigation font: VTC Martin
(Inactive RGB 0/0/0 HEX 000000
Hover/active RGB 255/255/255 HEX FFFFFF)

A

PizzaExpress click and collect header and footer

B

Milano click and collect header and footer

USER EXPERIENCE

Order at Table let diners use the new digital menu on their own phones: find their restaurant, add a table number, log in or carry on as a guest, then add favourite dishes to a basket as a reminder before calling a member of staff over to order, and pay via Pay at Table. The user flow and wireframes below map that journey, with the decision points along the way.

PizzaExpress Order at Table user flow, with decision points
Order at Table user flow · diamonds mark decision points
PizzaExpress Order at Table wireframe – Welcome
01 Welcome
PizzaExpress Order at Table wireframe – Find restaurant
02 Find restaurant
PizzaExpress Order at Table wireframe – Confirm restaurant
03 Confirm restaurant
PizzaExpress Order at Table wireframe – Table number
04 Table number
PizzaExpress Order at Table wireframe – Log in or guest
05 Log in or guest
PizzaExpress Order at Table wireframe – Digital menu home
06 Digital menu home
PizzaExpress Order at Table wireframe – Allergies check
07 Allergies check
PizzaExpress Order at Table wireframe – Share table
08 Share table
PizzaExpress Order at Table wireframe – Menu: drinks
09 Menu: drinks
PizzaExpress Order at Table wireframe – Menu: pizza
10 Menu: pizza
PizzaExpress Order at Table wireframe – Your selection
11 Your selection

Slightly different layouts exist between platforms (e.g. PE.com vs Milano vs Pay at Table) however this primary navigation remains consistent throughout.
PizzaExpress Digital Consistency Guidelines, 2021