Recipe Card Evaluation

Emma
1 Creative Media Production 2013
Producing Print Based Media
2
Visual Language
How have you chosen to set out your designs and why? (Reference
layout, image/text ratio, busy/simplistic etc)
I chose to set out my cards in a landscape format as I felt like this would be best for the design I was
wanting to go for. I decided to set out the front cover with the picture of the end food product covering the
entire space as this would draw you in rather than a smaller image. With the text, it was difficult to make it
stand out on every background as some of the images were darker than others, so I decided to put a faded
white background behind the text so it would be easy to read. The low opacity worked well as you can still
see the image behind the text. It was difficult to figure out how we were going to add in the banner with the
vegetarian society logo, but I felt like the slight wave of the banner worked well as it was something
different to look at and added excitement to the cards. I felt like the green was the right colour because the
colour is associated with vegetarianism so thought it tied in well. The layout of the front was initially difficult
to decide as it took a few attempts to get the layout the way that worked for me, but I think that the correct
decision was made in the end as I chose the layout that looked the best. The 3 coloured circles I chose to
colour them in green, white and red; this is because the theme I went with was Italian food so this would be
a good indicator to the customers about what cuisine they would be cooking. The back was pretty straight
forward as I was certain what the layout would look like from the beginning so it didnt take much time to
complete compared to the front.
I wanted to tie the front and back together, so thought it would be ideal to include the banner on the back
as well. You can see that it is faded compared to the front cover, this is because it looked very harsh and
draws your eye away from the main feature which are the ingredients and the method. In the background,
there is a faded image of the famous coliseum in Italy, I felt like this would be a good feature to add to the
back because it would not only give the audience something to look at, but also tells you what country the
recipes are from and adds excitement rather than a plain white background which is boring on the eye.
I felt like the green and red accents featured on the back flows with the theme as it gives you colour to look
at rather than the plain black writing. I think that the cards are quite simple, there isnt too much going on
but the way that everything has been placed makes it look full, which is good.
Visual Language
All of the images I used were located from the internet. Some of the images were of the recipes I used
whereas others I got from Google images as I didnt think the images was right for the cards. I made sure
that I chose the images that were posted as large because this would prevent it being pixelated and blurry
when it came to placing the image. All of the images were put into Photoshop so that they could be edited
to how I wanted and to also be placed in the correct template that were on the recipe cards itself. It took a
while to find the images that would be right for the cards because I wanted the food to look as fresh as
possible so that took some time. In the corner is an image of an existing recipe cards by the Vegetarian
Society. I like how the image takes up most of the space and this is what I wanted to put into my recipe
cards so I followed their design slightly as I thought it looked very formal. Their back cover also includes a
photograph of the finished product which gives you
something to look at and draws your eye in, otherwise
the back would look very plain. The back cover on my
recipe cards include a photograph of the coliseum
which is interesting and also different to another image
of the finished food product; which I think works well.
Discuss the contents of your final images and reflect upon decisions
made. (Content used- image/text/graphic, use of colour, original or stock
images. Compare to existing products.)
Visual Language
Discuss the semiotics and connotations created from the content you have
included. (What meaning or suggestions are created from the
images/colours/designs you have used? You could reference how they were used
in products you look at during the project.)
I think that the idea of having a green theme came to me as I felt like it would tie in the whole project.
Green is seen to be associated with vegetarianism, and as the food theme was also Italian which included
green in the flag, it makes sense to include this colour throughout the recipe cards.
The colour green is associated with nature and freshness, so this indicates to the audience that we only
use fresh, natural ingredients, which will make your food a lot tastier when your try them yourself at home.
I think that by adding the red accents, it brings the card to life and adds colour because otherwise I think
that people would be put off by just looking at green all over. Red symbolises love which is what women
usually associate with; as the recipe are based around women, it helps to draw them in. It also encourages
you to love the food which will definitely be a bonus.
The colour white within the food industry connotes low calorie/low
fat foods, although some of my recipes may have a higher calorie
content than people want, its showing you the ingredients that are
used are pure and simple and the colour white also connotes
purity.
Audiences
Create an audience profile of your chosen demographic
(Age, gender, psychographic, geodemographic, NRS Social Grade, hobbies,
sexuality [if appropriate] etc)
Age: 18-35
Gender: Females with a family
Psychographic:
Geodemographic: I would think that the group I am aiming for would live in a house in a small town or
village.
NRS Social Grade: ABC1 The recipes are aimed at the working mum with a family. I am aiming at the
middle class as it is the class where people are able to afford a variety of food products so would be easier
for them to get the ingredients for the recipes compared to somebody of a lower class.
Hobbies:
Audiences
How have you constructed your work to appeal to this audience?
Include an annotated copy of an example of your work to help illustrate how you
have done this.
I have constructed my work to make it appealing to my
audience by including sections which would look interesting
and appealing to my target audience. I managed to do this by
putting a high quality photograph as the centre piece of my
recipe cards. This would help draw the eye in and shows to
the customer that these recipe cards are done to a high
standard so its easier to trust them. I definitely think that the
bright colours contrast well with each other making it stand
out nicely; I think that the simplicity of the design would
appeal to my target audience because there isnt much going
on, but what there is, is bright, colourful and informative. The
back I think would also be appealing to my target audience
because there are simple instructions and this would be
helpful because as a working mum, you would want to get
home and start cooking without any hassle; and the simple
step by step instructions would help to ensure that it goes as
smoothly as possible. Women tend to have an eye for detail
and precision and I think I have managed to achieve that as
all of my text lines up well which I think makes a huge
difference to the overall look and appeal.
Cultural context
What did you use as your design influences and why were they chosen?
(What existing media products influenced the final look of your work?)
There were a few design influence I used to help me create my recipe cards, but I focused my attention
more on the Vegetarian Society recipe cards. I felt like these cards looked very sophisticated and I knew
that I wanted to incorporate that into my own cards. As you can see from the image of the recipe card
made by the Vegetarian Society, the photograph of the food takes up the entirety of the card which helps
draw your eye to it. The image is the first thing that you see which is
what you want the audience to see.
Cultural context
Do vegetarian products have a specific design aesthetic and how does your
project reflect/contrast this? Why?
In a way, I do think that vegetarian products do have a specific design, but it depends on the product.
Products like Quorn have a certain design theme which is orange, and is seen as a very good colour to
promote food products, but if you search for other unknown vegetarian products, you will find that a lot of
them include the colour green. This image shows you that it is a vegetarian product and it contains a lot of
green. As stated earlier on, the colour green connotes nature and freshness;
this is what the companies want to get across to consumers, that their
vegetarian products are made using all natural ingredients. I think that my
project definitely reflects this because I have used a consistent theme
throughout, which includes the colour green.
Finished products
Does your finished product reflect your initial plans? How? If there are any
differences, describe why changes were made.
(You can use visual examples of flat plans and finished products to illustrate this
No, my finished product did not reflect my initial plans. This is because it took me a long time to get the
layout that I wanted, the original template I wasnt happy with so I rearranged it, still keeping the same
elements. The images indicate the different templates I went through to get the final template I used to
make my recipe cards. The back template I stuck with throughout the whole production process, so it was
the front template I took the most time contemplating over.
Finished products
Does your finished product match what you were set in the brief? How?
I think that my finished product definitely matched what was set in the brief. The client wanted a clear
theme throughout the cards with designs on both the front and back of the cards. I think that I have
managed to create a good design that flows through all the cards and that also goes with the food theme I
chose. All of the recipe cards have the same layout, so all that changed were the title of food, image and
the method/ingredients. It is important to have a page layout as this helps determine what will go where;
its also easier to place text and images as it makes sure that they are in the same place throughout all the
cards. The client also wanted the recipe cards to have either and ingredient or country theme with the food.
I decided to go with an Italian food theme. This definitely complied with the brief because Italy is a country
which will fit with the recipe cards. I also came up the Italian theme because from my research and
questionnaire, Italian cuisine was the most popular food to be enjoyed by the public. This made my
decision easier.
The most important part of the recipes cards was that they had to vegetarian. I decided to aim my recipes
at vegetarians who had given up meat years ago. They were aimed at the working mum and the recipes
were simple to make. All the recipes were suitable for vegetarians although a vegan would not be able to
use the recipes as some included ingredients such as eggs and cheese.
The client also wanted to see some high quality photographs and I think I achieved that very well. I didnt
use my own photographs but with the photographs I did use, I made
sure that they were of high quality and edited them in Photoshop so
that they would fit exactly into my template without any pixilation.
Finished products
How did the use of peer feedback help you in your production?
(Reference specific examples and their final outcome in finished product)
After I had handed out my questionnaire to the public I got a number of responses which really helped me
to come up with my final product. By using these responses, I managed to come up with 5 ideas of which
my favourite one I decided to pursue. The peer feedback really helped me to finalise my decision and their
favourite idea happened to be mine to. I used the answers from my questionnaire to determine what
recipes I would use as well as the audience and design of the card. The most popular cuisine happened to
be Italian food, which is why in decided to go along that route as I also felt like it would be very popular
amongst a lot of people.
Finished product
Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of your final product regarding its
technical qualities.
Use box below for text or page space to include an annotated copy of your work
to help illustrate how you have done this.
Reference what you like and dislike about the work with consistent reference to
correct terminology of tools/effects used. Reference existing products.
On my recipe cards, I decided to put a green border around the whole page, I felt like this would make the
image stand out more. The border along the bottom of the page is larger and contains the vegetarian
society logo. The border was made in Photoshop by creating a green rectangle and then using the warp
tool to create the dip on the left hand side. This was an easy process as it didnt use many technical
elements. With the image, I decided to use ones from the internet as I felt like the images would look more
professional than if I were to take them myself. I made sure
that I got large images as this would reduce the chance of
pixilation. I put the images I wanted into Photoshop and
edited them by first resizing them to the size in my
template, I then adjusted the brightness/contrast and also
the colour balance as well as sharpening it as this would
ensure that my photographs were perfect. On the back
cover, the image and border have been faded to make
sure that text stands out which is what you want. I thought
that the opacity would look better if it was lower than on the
front cover.
Finished product
Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of your final product regarding its
aesthetical qualities.
Use box below for text or page space to include an annotated copy of your work
to help illustrate how you have done this. Reference what you like and dislike
about the work with consistent reference to correct terminology. You can
reference existing products here and compare your work to them.
On the previous slide, I indicated that I created the green wavy border using Photoshop. I think that it
works really well with this recipe cards because its interesting; I dont think it would have the same appeal
if it was a straight rectangular border. As the cards are aimed at females, I think the wave adds a feminine
touch which helps to draw in the correct target audience. The photographs were definitely time consuming,
but I think that it was worth it as I feel like they came out looking very professional because when you look
at the image, there is no pixilation or uneven colour
variations etc. I think that if you dont have a high quality
image, its very difficult to produce a professional look.
The opacity on the back cover I think looks better than if
it were to be at full capacity. I think if it were then it would
detract from the ingredients and method which is the
main part of the back cover.
Finished products
What skills/knowledge have you gained/developed in this project? How could
these be applied in future practice?
I have definitely gained a few skills throughout this project which will help me in the future as I will be able
to apply those skills to similar projects I end up doing. As I used InDesign a lot during the project, I have
learnt a lot about the programme as it turned out to be a perfect programme to make the recipe cards in. At
the beginning it was a challenge to try and locate all the buttons I would be using, but as I got used to the
programme, I found it very easy to complete the project and I know that next time I use InDesign, I would
be able to find everything I need in a short space of time. As well as learning these skills, I have also
managed to learn how to budget for a project like this, it will help me in the future when I will have to
budget for another project.
For the first task in this project, we learnt about the different brief types there were. I have gained a lot of
knowledge in this department as I didnt realise there were 8 different briefs available. It was interesting to
find out about the different briefs as this will be very useful in the future, not only for future projects but a lot
later in life if this occurs in my job.
In one task, we had to collect data by making an online survey for people to fill out. I did this by using the
internet site called Survey Monkey. I had never used this site before so it took me a while to know where
everything was but once I got comfortable, it was fairly easy to navigate around. This was how I managed
to come up with my theme for the recipe cards, so this helped me a lot. If I have to create surveys for
future projects, I will definitely be using that website as it made it easy for me to create my survey. I
also had to create a vegetarian fact file. This meant that I had to research into vegetarians and the reasons
for becoming one, as well as researching demographics which came up with some interesting results. This
may be useful in the future as I can look back on these results if I am asked anything about being a
vegetarian or any statistics.
Production process
Do you believe your work is creative and technically competent? Why?
(Reference specific examples (use images if this will help) of where you believe
your work is particularly visually or technically impressive. Reference
professionally product work and compare your products to them)
I dont know if my work is creatively and technically competent. I believe that some of the programmes and
sources I used were somewhat technical, although Im sure that my recipe cards could easily be produced
by someone else. I think that the front cover used more technical components, like the border, the circles
and the image, but I dont think that anything during the production was too difficult to master when given
time to complete it like I did. I think that there is some creativity on the front cover such as the circles. I
decided to go with the green, white and red because they are the colours of the Italian flag and I felt like it
went with the theme well.
Production process
How effectively did you manage your time?
(Could you have used time more wisely? Did a particular aspect of the project
take longer than expected? Did you complete everything on schedule?)
I think that I managed my time very well as I managed to complete the project in the allotted time that was
set. There were some aspects of the project that took longer than I was expecting, for example. The layout
was probably the most time consuming aspect of this project as it took me 3-4 attempts to get a layout I
was happy with; this included rearranging and resizing the text and images numerous times which was
really time consuming. This did put me off track a bit but as the back cover took less time, I used the extra
time I had to complete the front cover, which in turn worked out well. I did go a bit off schedule but in the
end it didnt matter as much because I managed to complete the recipe cards in the correct time. The
image on the left is the original template I was going to use, as you can see there are some aspects that
are used in the final cards, such as the circles, but on the right is the final product. I felt like I made the right
decision in changing the template as it turned out the way I wanted it to.
Image
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Production process
If you could repeat the process what would you do differently?
There are a few things that I would do if I were to repeat this project. For starters, I know that I would have
to stick to my original plan as I changed it numerous times and this caused me a lot of confusion during the
process. I know that I would have done the recipe cards portrait instead of landscape because I think that
there is a lot more you can do with a portrait page. I definitely would have experimented with the back
cover as I think there is a lot more I could have done to make it look more appealing, like having different
images so you arent looking at the same one all the time as I think that might be boring for some people.
I know that I would choose a different theme. Although I did enjoy working on the Italian theme, I felt like it
was a safe option which meant it was easy to find recipes and deciding things like colours. Italian food is
widely available which means that the recipe will be easy to do, although I think that if I had decided to go
with another one of my themes such as, picnic themed, it would have been more exciting and would be
more interesting than the typical Italian cuisine.
Working to a brief
21
Constraints
What constraints did you encounter and how did you consider/avoid them?
Legal:
The brief that we had chosen was a formal brief.
This involves A client will provide a media company with a brief that simply tells you what product they
want making. The brief will only contain the necessary information that will be needed to make the product.
If there is any additional information then they will need to be discussed during a meeting with the client.
Similar to the contractual brief, the people involved will agree on the project, also the brief will not always
be legal.
After this brief has been decided, its very difficult to change or add things to it. I felt like I stuck to this brief
well as I managed to complete the project in hand within the allotted time set. Nothing in the brief was
changed to suit me and I included everything that the client wanted. If I hadnt stuck to this, it would have
been a breach of contract and could have resulted in the client suing me.
The Food Safety Legislation Act played a large part in this project. There are certain rules which you must
follow to make sure what you are doing is legal within the Food Safety Act. Under this Act you must not:
Provide food that is unfit for people to eat
Cause food to be dangerous to health
Provide food which is less than the quality a customer has a right to expect

The Act covers a range of activities including Food Handling and Preparation, Storage, Temperature
Control and Cleaning. You must be able to demonstrate that an effective cleaning protocol is in place, to
assist in maintaining the highest standards of hygiene.

http://www.deepclean-hygiene.co.uk/cooking-equipment/legal-compliancedue-diligence
Regulatory:
The main regulatory body for our recipe cards is the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority). There are
different rules when promoting products towards adults and children. Our product is aimed at women with
young children, so we would have to follow certain guidelines which are tailored at children.

15.14.1 Except those for fresh fruit or fresh vegetables, marketing communications must not seem to
encourage children to eat or drink a product only to take advantage of a promotional offer: the product
should be offered on its merits, with the offer as an added incentive. Marketing communications featuring a
promotional offer must ensure a significant presence for the product.
Financial:
Working out the budget was difficult as I had to do a lot of research into certain costs to hire people and
equipment. After considering the budget, I felt like it was dearer than it should be because I didnt consider
the hiring of the studio needed to cook the food as well as taking the photographs. That was a very big
mistake as if this were to happen realistically, we would have lost a lot of profit. The total price came to
2296.35 to produce the recipe cards. When researching into certain cost, I tried to use the companies
which were the cheapest, but which also came out with great results so it would really help us budget wise
and would also please the client. Before starting production, I wasnt sure about how much time it would
take to produce the cards, although they were completed earlier than thought. The photographs used were
from the internet so we didnt take them, if we had taken the photographs ourselves Im sure it would have
taken us a lot longer to produce the recipe cards.
We did end up changing the design various times, which meant having to spend more money on our
resources. I think that we should have got paid more than we worked out because we ended up hiring an
expensive photographer, but it was worth it because the photographs came out very well, which is what we
wanted.
Management
How did you work as part of a group?
(Did you lead the project? What parts of the project did you take charge of? Did
you enjoy working as part of a group? Why?)
I thought it was good working in a group because you all got to share the workload which meant that you
wouldnt have as much pressure on yourself for the whole project. I felt like we both lead the project
equally and both had some good inputs throughout on both planning and the practical side.
I felt like we each had the same amount of responsibilities which
meant that neither of us had more work than the other, with is fair.
I enjoy working as part of a group because there was always
someone there who I could turn too if I wasnt sure what to do next,
although it can sometimes be difficult if you both have different
ideas and cant decide on a final one, it definitely puts you behind
schedule which is very frustrating.
I felt like we both took charge at different points because I was in
charge of writing out the ingredients and method whilst my partner
was in charge of editing the photographs. This showed that we can
both become team leaders in certain situations.
Management
How important is communication when working in a group?
(Use specific examples from working in a group on this project)
Communication is very important when working as a group. You need to constantly be talking to each other
so that you keep on track. I would ask my partners opinion on how to do something, like she would ask me.
The job gets done quicker if you have good communication. For example, if we hadnt had discussed the
correct colour scheme, we could have ended up with two different colours throughout the cards, which
would look very unprofessional.
We would ask each other how certain things would look which was very helpful because when some things
were changed, they looked better, which proves that communication is vital if you want to achieve
something that looks professional.
Its difficult to judge your own work, so by having a partner, it gives you more confidence that your work is
good or bad when they tell you the positives and negatives about it.
Management
What have you learnt about working in a group and how will you apply this to
future practice?
I have learnt a lot about working in a group. You definitely have to compromise with each other to get the
most out of your experience. If you trust your partner, it shows in your work as it will come out better than if
youre always interfering and not letting them get on with it.
I think that maybe I was too intense on my partner by giving her advice on how to do what, which I think
which is why it look us a while to come up with the final design. In the future I will let my partner get on with
it and wait until they ask for my help or advice.