Thursday, June 4

Byron's Delicious Aesthetic




Leicester has all sorts of groovy and tasty places sprouting up around town and Byron Burgers has always appealed to me. Now, here’s a thing, I don’t like burgers. I do love the strong sans-serif font they’ve used for their sign, which gets my design senses tingling. If they have a fab exterior, surely they will have a fab interior?!

As Jams and I were waiting to be seated, my eyes glanced over at the pile of menus and they greeted me back with an array of vibrant colors and styles. The décor of the place fitted the whole ‘kitsch’ theme too, with copper pipes trailing the walls, ‘grandma’ style tiles complemented with old wallpapers. The kitchen is open, bustling with chefs and burger buns. To the back of the restaurant is more canteen style; a sense of a community becomes present. Once we had sat down on our little table, I could finally feast my eyes on the menu’s details that caught my attention from afar.









1 - The Main Menu
So the first thing I noticed? YELLOW. And lots of it. This color sums up summer, perfect for a summer menu. The same typeface that is used on their outside sign is also used on the menus, subtly bringing everything together. I find the illustrations that are dotted around the page to be fun and inviting, bringing a smile to my face. Jean Jullien is the man responsible. Jullien lives in London but is French through and through, he primarily illustrates with a brush “there is something quiet visually sincere about a brush” giving the lines personality. On the menu we can see a big old dude chillin’ on burger under a parasol, he’s got his shades on, everything is bliss. Miniature versions are distributed over the page; one has a burger version of an inflatable pool toy, some guy is kickin’ back and relaxin’, and another is consuming a hella big milkshake. Jullien’s quirky doodles lift the menu from being a bit flat, into something entertaining to look at.


2 -The Drinks Menu
This bad boy is duplexed, I know, that’s exciting isn’t it?! White uncoated card is seen on the front, but flip it over and you have a lovely natural, raw card staring back at you. Told you it was exciting. Jean Jullien’s scribbles are also present within the text; the same guy as on the main menu has hopped on over to surf on a strawberry and take a dip in a pint of beer.


3 - The Kids Menu
Illustration station. Jam packed with crazy creatures and one-eyed unicorns this makes me wish I was a kid again, grab them Crayola’s. As I did not have any half-humans with me during this restaurant visit, a waitress jumped at the chance to give me this when I asked if I could keep the menus. “Omg let me show you the kids one!” were her exact words. A Southampton based graphic designer/illustrator by the name of Tom Joyce has formed this magnificent paper piece, thank you Tom, it has brightened my life. His works consist of mythical beings and comical scenes all squished into one place. This man owns that white space.


4 - Byron Burger Club
Peeping out between the condiments was this postcard-sized promotion. A deep sky blue is eye-catching but not too harsh on those peepers, and works well with both black and white imagery printed onto it. I really like this card because of the simple idea of sign language being put into play. The letters spelling “Byron Burger Club” are in white below the signs, so for those who don’t read sign language (aka me) know what the hell is going on.


5 - Takeaway
When we had devoured our burger goodness, we asked for the bill (urgh) This little single fold leaflet is placed with your receipt (probably to soften the blow) Printed onto another type of raw card is a wee image of a telephone, and I feel this may also have been illustrated by Jean Jullien, but alas, we shall never know. This pocket-sized menu finished off my Byron design experience in a humbling manner.




A close up of Jullien's and Joyce's groovy doodles



Oh yea, the food wasn't too shabby either!



Creep on the cool illustrators I mentioned....

Jean Jullien



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