Post #691563 by kkocka on Mon, Aug 26, 2013 5:33 PM

Hey there, I'm a graphic designer myself and my opinion is that if you can make it original then do it. It sounds like you have a great opportunity to do so (sorry that I'm unfamiliar if you're opening a restaurant or bar, etc) and it would be a shame to lift art from dead destinations. Now if you want, you could always do something like Hale Pele did: create a "souvenir" menu, or something that is retro and an homage to those particular venues that you're asking about. For reference here's the menu:

http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0252/7451/products/hp_souvenirmenu_072013_1024x1024.jpg

You'll notice they're pretty similar to the old Don the Beachcomber menus and yet they're entirely original drawings as done by a local tatoo artist. Maybe this is the best way to approach what you want? You can essentially get the look you're wanting, only the designer/artist is creating original art at the same time (which should save your ass for any potential legal issues as well.) I'm sure everybody here would love to see the end result when they're finally complete.