Design Context Year 3: October 2012

I have gathered a collection of visual stimulus to start off the flyer design. Many of the images do not related directly to food / drink but they caught my eye because of the strength of the design.

I found a series of flyers for restaurants, bars, and other culinary subjects. Many of which are low end, poorly designed flyers but I am just interested to make comparisons to the high and low end designs.

The flyer that I am designing has to be high end, for adults who have good taste in food and a varied pallet. It has to be sophisticated but friendly.
Glutton Club_Visual Research

Some of the designs from the pdf above which stood out for me where:

I like the colour scheme and minimalistic illustrations contrasted with the photography and sans-serif typeface of the information

I like the combination of colour, illustration and typefaces

It was the background of the designs that caught my attentnion, it gives a more natural, homely, friendly but sophisticated feel to the designs. Sophisticated and modern design without being portentous.

An example of a photograph flooding the page, the focus is on the food which is going to be the attraction point of the Glutton club, people's eyes are drawn to imagery first rather than text.

These are a couple other photographs from the project above. I really like the wooden effect, texture is something I might experiement with, especially as I have been asked to reflect the colour and feel of Darwin's study.

A higher end design for a bar, there is too much text on this page however it is an example of having a photograph in the background, and on the flyer but not making it the main focus.

This is the image that sticks out most for me. When I saw it, it made me think of evening food and drink entertainment, an evening out in a restaurant with the buzz of a comfortably crowded bar or restaurant.

Deep House

FEEDBACK (off Beatport website) http://www.beatport.com/release/what-they-say/281831

RELEASE DATE	2010-09-22
LABEL	Real Tone Records
CATALOG #	RTR042

FEEDBACKS : LAURENT GARNIER "excellent deepness C'est vraiment tres TRES bon ça JE KIFFFF" IVAN SMAGGHE "wow... pas aime un track vocal comme ca depuis longtemps.... bravo." DEETRON "Love the pads and bass in Don't tell!" AND.ID "good production..dont tell me is my fav.." RYAN CROSSON "Really nice EP... Don't Tell is magic!!!!" CHARLES WEBSTER "what they say'...very old skool MK style vibes...works well...thnx" JIMPSTER "Really like the sound of all the tracks here. definitely going to be trying these out. Think Rugged might be the one for me." DJULZ "all the tracks are dope ,i will hammer these " SASCHA DIVE "Amazing release. Need Vinyl!!" SHAUN REEVES "amazing release! im going to play all of these. a lot." EKKOHAUS "Nice grooves, tight release....thanx...Ekko" LE LOUP "great package, really moody thank you" MELON "Nice old skool vibes that what they say has... gonna check it at pbar this weekend" TONY HUMPHRIES "Nice deep house tracks.. What they say is the pick." DJ GREGORY "quand meme je me demande si y a pas un peu de franky la dedans , en tout cas c mortel, love those beats" DJ DEEP "nice tracks" ROCCO "Im in love with it ! On my all gig for a long time ! Full support" MARLON D "dope groove, could do without the vocal sample tho.. " BLACK COFFEE "Love all of them but Don't Tell my Jam...." JAMIES THINNES - SEASONS RECORDS "Loving this record, takes me back to the 90's warehouse parties. Playing this one!" TEDD PATTERSON "Great tune! Thanks for this." ALEXKID "total oldschoolness and yet so now! :) " MAD MATS "Good deepness all around but Simple Things hits the spot 4 me...dope!!!" ANTHONY COLLINS "great ep" FREDERICO MOLINARI "very nice ep!" MARQUES WYATT "Keep the heat comin fellas. Good work" RALF GUM "Simple things is a nice simple thing." HECTOR ROMERO "Some nice deep set starters here - especially What They Say" ANDY WARD "nice selection of tracks with different energies... I will definitely be behind this." AARON ROSS "nice.. old skool MK flavours... love it.." JOJOFLORES "Solid track. Full support."

http://www.residentadvisor.net/review-view.aspx?id=8300

Maya Jane Coles recently topped RA's October 50 with "What They Say," a definitive arrival for the 22-year-old London producer who was until recently something of a dark horse. She has a respectable catalog of dusky, brittle tech house going back two years, mostly on the labels Dogmatik and 1trax; you can hear her working out her vision in those tracks, carving her own particular stamp out of familiar materials—finely whittled digital production, rolling sub bass, broad strokes of sampled voice, dubby chord stabs, detuned keys.

It's not hard to see why "What They Say" has been her biggest success so far; the descending organ riff, almost an acid house motif, gives it an anthemic quality, but with restraint—buffed and blurred, with a brushed-steel finish. The "D'you know" vocal offers just as much hook as it needs to, while another voice in the background (Tracey Chapman?) lends a deeper, more melancholic sensibility. There are a lot of possible reasons it works as well as it does; I'd put my money on the way the organ's descending spiral works against the upturned vocal melodies, but that's all academic. What's certain is that the trebly, trembling synth that enters halfway opens up yet another dimension in the track, a masterstroke that completes the whole thing.

Deep House, Indie & Alternative

REVIEW - YOUR MUSIC RAIDAR http://www.yourmusicradar.com/florence-the-machine-spectrum-maya-jane-coles-remix/

Now if you know us, you will know that we are MASSIVE fans of Maya Jane Coles and everything she puts her magic touch on. Well, we heard this mix a month or so back in a sneak preview format and we very excited to hear it. But in the true form of YMR, we can’t bring it to you in a post without some audio for you to get your fix.

This mix is as lo-fi and downbeat as you’ll get for a Florence & The Machine track and it is simply sensational. It’s a sation for the senses!!! It’s definitely an essential listen for YMR and it should be for you too!!!

Deep house

http://www.xlr8r.com/news/2012/05/listen-new-remix-maya-jane-coles

RELEASE DATE	2012-05-25
LABEL	Bo Rush
CATALOG #	BORUSH01R

Bo Saris releases his first UK single, remixed by one of the biggest names in house music right now, Maya Jane Coles. Reminiscent of classic Motown, She's On Fire's soulful grooves and slick vocals are manna from heaven for multi-award winner Maya Jane Coles, who drives a beat akin to a rolling steam-train underneath Bo Saris's sweet, love-sick harmonies. Fans (and there are many) of Coles distinct brand of house music will instantly recognise her hand in the proceedings. She's On Fire is a certified dancefloor weapon, guaranteed to earn a permanent home in the best DJs boxes and soundtrack sunshine moments in bars and on terraces across Europe this Summer. Whilst Bo Saris sound pays homage to the classic sounds of legends such as Bill Withers, Prince, Marvin Gaye and Amy Winehouse, he wears their influence lightly and with such a fresh and accessible approach, youll soon be remembering Bo's name in the same esteem.

ALBUM - DJ KICKS

http://www.residentadvisor.net/review-view.aspx?id=10794

Even in the inhumanly fast-paced world of dance music, it's hard to see Londoner Maya Jane Coles' rise as anything but meteoric, from releasing catchy house tunes on French label Real Tone to helming the BBC Essential Mix and remixing MK for Defected less than a year later. The widespread attraction to her own tracks is obvious: sprightly melodies, springy basslines, a knack for catchy vocal hooks (often her own), there's a sensual playfulness that comes across just as well in her DJing. Her brand of house is a smart blend of deep, tech, retro and eminently melodic, a logical meeting point between growing juggernauts like Crosstown Rebels, Hot Creations and Hypercolour. Her turn at the DJ-Kicks series—her first commercial mix CD—is a confident showing as agreeable and accessible as it is distinctive.

The one thing you can't deny about Coles' music is its unerring penchant for earworms, and her DJing is no different: almost every single track here contains some sort of vocal hook, whether it's the usual melange of syllabic soundbites (her own jaunty exclusive "Not Listening") or more elaborate full vocals (Bozzwell's wounded "In My Cocoon"). It rarely feels crowded, however, and Coles' careful grip on her watercolour brush means the splotches of colour and melody are spaced out by a gently ebbing, bubbling groove that gives way at all the right times. Her blends are the kind that bestow tracks with genuinely new and unseen dimensions—take the mix's opening stretch, where Jimmy Edgar's barebones remix of Kris Wadsworth's modern classic "Mainline" provides Chasing Kurt's slightly anemic "Money" with a chugging oomph that neither track carries by itself, propelling the mix from its earliest moments into a solidly bumping plateau.

Despite the inherent approachability of Coles' work, she's not afraid to get a little weird. Phil Kieran's "Never Believed" throws psych rock guitars into the mix, Caribou's remix of "It's A Crime" drops everything for a few bars before exploding into acid spurts and the mix's last third is a schizophrenic tour through frantic mood swings, settling down with Claro Intelecto. But as ever with Coles, her own idiosyncrasies are her strongest attribute, and the mix takes a turn into metallic dubstep with the top-heavy "Meant to Be," which throws the trajectory into a tailspin before things re-collect almost effortlessly with Zenker Brothers' "Berg 10." Combining dubstep with techno isn't anything new, but the way Coles' throws it in so briefly only to duck back into 'regular' mode is a sly and irreverent nod to the variety she's already proven capable of so early in her career.

Much like Scuba's instalment last year did with "bass music," Maya Jane Coles' turn here is a kaleidoscopic display of house music varietals united by a single but indefinable vibe. Coles isn't concerned with exclusivity, nor staying particularly up to date with brand new tracks, and she doesn't need to be—her mixing carries enough personality to make it distinctive without any of that contextual baggage. It's not a particularly flashy or technically thrilling mix, it's just one of the UK's most intriguing young DJs at the peak of her powers, a well-timed snapshot of a burgeoning big name.

http://www.laptoprockers.eu/music/p1/review-dj-kicks-maya-jane-coles/

The DJ Kicks mix by Maya Jane Coles takes you on a lovely & laidback Spring flavored journey - hinting to a sunny Summer yet to come, but not without a bit of Winter sting and frostbite here and there.

After the laid back warm groove on opening tracks by Deft and Kris Wadsworth, a few housey vocal tracks take you to an early dancefloor mood. Chasing Kurt's Money and Bozzwell'sCocoon (great twisted voice effect) keep you happy there. After a brief touch of Africa in Larse´s Karoo you return to a lovely early 90´s groove by Milscot (Angela Sheik vocal): All Alone.

Adam Stacks and Phil Kieran show you some different angles but keep the funky flow going just as Sigward enters with Nuerd. The pace goes up a bit and Maya Jane Coles' own Not Listeningtakes you into a more dark mood: the more square and electronic, somewhat less housey section of the mix. Virgo Four and Roberto Bardini introduce some techno flavor, with Tripmastaz and Standard Fair taking you back to the funkier groove. Mix section three takes off now, with moody broken beat tracks by Nocturnal Sunshine and Zenker Bros, a haunting Last Magpie (No More Stories), Gerry Read'sRoomland - more of a soundscape really - when T. Williams pours some acid into the mix (Analog Tour).

Returning to a four to the floor beat, Coles keeps the end section in high-tech spheres through Marcel Dettmann and Claro Intelecto leaving the funk behind.

Exploring 71 minutes of cross-over moods and tracks, Maya Jane Coles delivers a mix album that gives you a good insight in a range of different styles. Her DJ-Kicks stays sort of laid back throughout the mix - it doesn't really turn loose anywhere (no smashing end track) - and might be a bit too diverse for some. Quite a few smooth and interesting tracks however, put together in a somewhat surprising sequence. Nice one!