As a student in Plymouth between 1999 and 2002 a major night out for my friends and I was a regular Wednesday night at the Quay Club at the Barbican.
The music defined the evening; revellers danced the night away to a blend of jazz, soul and funk at the self proclaimed ‘funkiest club South of the North Pole’. That club was the now legendary Jelly Jazz.
…the self proclaimed ‘funkiest club South of the North Pole
To get a pound off entry on the door I signed up for the Jelly Jazz mailing list in my first year and, aside from the perks of cheap entry, I also received a regular newsletter in the post. Accompanying the newsletter would be a set of colourful flyers for upcoming months’ events and sessions designed by resident DJ and Jelly Jazz head honcho Pete Isaac and printed onto a thick, tactile uncoated stock.
The illustrations, layouts and stylised imagery were evocative of the soulful and passionate music of the 70s with more than a hint of BlueNote and Saul Bass in their design. The styling captivated my imagination and intrigued me – further inspiring my aspirations to be a designer.
Here you can see a selection of my favourite flyers from the Jelly Jazz back catalogue. If you like them, there’s a whole host more on the Jelly Jazz website (322 and counting!), please go and check them out.
No. 10.
I love the quirky character with his saxophone, the delightfully muted green and dark brown colourscheme punctuated by the bright red type. So chilled out and cool!
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No. 9.
Mexicana style with overprinted, bold colours and a funky mariachi skull!
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No. 8.
Split red and white, I love the way the type cleverly follows the angle set by the neck of the double bass above.
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No. 7.
Unfortunately the visual is quite poor quality but the layers of colour and illustration that make up this design give a great effect, topped off perfectly with a rustic outline of a record deck and energetic type.
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No. 6.
Excellent homage to the classic Bluenote style.
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No. 5.
Nice to see a take on the Christmas theme without red and green forming the basis of the colour scheme! I love the illustration, particularly the Christmas tree/iceberg poking out from under the water.
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No. 4.
More Bluenote fun, but more modern and stylised than number 6 and almost resembling a Saul Bass poster with its slightly uneven, bold, solid bars of colour.
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No. 3.
A modern interpretation of the classic red and black Jazz record sleeve featuring a masked off image of a musician. Smart stuff.
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No. 2.
The image of the drummer featured on several other Jelly Jazz flyers but I always loved the colour combination and the spiral graphic uniting the ‘Bedrock’ style logo with the illustration on this one.
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No. 1.
I’m not sure when this flyer was produced but it was certainly more recent than most above, and unfortunately after my membership ran out. In my mind it captures stylishly the look of Jelly Jazz – the style of illustration; the poise of the trombonist; the bold, lively type; the strong block colours and the limited, almost muted, colour palette. Definitely my favourite!
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