Restaurant Research - Chez Jerome

Chez Jerome is a contemporary French Restaurant

http://www.chezjerome.co.uk/about/

'Chez Jerome has established a reputation as one of the finest restaurants in and around Dunstable. Jerome and Lina Dehoux took over the restaurant in October 2007 and they have developed Chez Jerome into a contemporary French Cuisine restaurant.' The atmosphere is warm, professional but friendly with rustic surroundings.

Name and logo

I love the colours used in this design, as it looks very professional yet so simplistic. The maroon colour in the negative space creates a warm feeling, and the reverse type creates a shine, it's eye catching to the public. The reverse type is a lot easier to read and understand against the maroon background. If if was to be black or blue for example, the target audience would struggle to read it easily, therefore decreasing the professional feel. The increase in tracking in between all of the characters

This is the top of the website. I took this screenshot because it includes both the name and the new logo in each corner. This is a simplistic yet effective layout design, because is isn't busy, meaning there is a calm vibe. The new logo in the right hand corner looks more professional, as it is the same style as the name, making it link better. The white outline creates a shine to the middle of the flower making it instantly eye catching. A flower is such a basic design, yet it creates a calm feeling. Flowers mean devotion, 

This is the old logo. It is a lot different from the present design, taking the colour, typeface and layout into consideration. There is more going on, which I am not keen on as it looks less professional. I feel that the tree doesn't sit well with the words, as it gets in the way too much. It is a good idea, however I think that the image is too big a size. If it was smaller, it would sit better with the type and look more eye catching. I feel that the colour theme is a lot less effective, as it doesn't catch my attention as much as the current design. The brown reminds me of a calm atmosphere, however it gets lost in the plain negative space. It looks dull and unexciting. The typeface is gorgeous, which does give me a sense of professionalism, as it is legible and fancy. It does remind me of the french language, which to me is romantic. The layout of the type looks really good as it fits perfectly with each other. The capitalisation for the bottom two words makes it clear to the target audience what style of restaurant they are. 

Website

There is a lot of imagery used in the first page design of the website, which is good as it catches my eye instantly. There's nothing worse than opening a website to a page full of text! There is a good amount of body copy, letting me know a bit about them. It is very easy to navigate around, meaning any age is able to use this easily. 

 Website menu

The online website is very simple, with no representation of the food they offer or any design. I feel that it is a little (or maybe a lot) on the plain side! The design is lacking colour, attention and imagery. The layout is okay as I am able to read the contents easily, meaning I am able to come to a decision quickly. However, that seems to be the best thing I can see. Hierarchy is not even best show on this page either, as the text is small for each area, there is not much of a colour change/theme going on, and the bold type doesn't stand out to me much in a black font against a plain, white space! It is so boring and normal. it isn't what I want at all, regarding my own design. 

Exterior

The exterior is very classic, as I love how sophisticated it looks. The colours used creates a simple theme, however this doesn't link with the colour theme used on the website and logo design. The type of the name is legible and looks inviting, along with the large windows.  

 Interior

This is the only decent image I could find of the inside on the website, which is a little disappointing as they have created a filter on top of the photograph. Apart from that, the interior looks gorgeous! The cabin look that the wooden beams give the restaurant creates such a relaxed atmosphere! The tables are evenly placed, with a little decoration, giving it the homely feeling, which I love. The colours used gives it an exciting vibe, linking to the French theme of the restaurant! This is the exact feeling I want to create in my designs! So the idea of the wooden beams are definitely going to be included during the development stage, as they create such a cosy feel!