1. Recipe Card Evaluation
NAME
1Creative Media Production 2013

2. Producing Print Based Media
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3. Visual Language
How have you chosen to set out your designs and why? (Reference
layout, image/text ratio, busy/simplistic etc)
Our recipe cards are full of small details that make them realistic, making the design seem
quite busy. Depending on the recipe and how many ingredients there are and how many
steps there are, there could be a lot or only a little text. Mostly there is more text than
images. We have used the margins from the background image of a lined piece of paper
for the text but let some of the images run over to make it more realistic. We also tired to
fit the text to the lines of the lined paper, though sometimes found it a challenge due to
space. We used paragraphs to break up the text to make it easier to read. The title was
always at the top of the page, as with school work that was always
where the title would go, making the card more realistic.
On every card the banner and logo when at the bottom of
the page. Our designs are definitely busy, though the text is readable
and it isn’t overpowered by details and images. On each card there is
a different amount of text and images depending on the recipe and
how many high quality images we could get, but mostly there is more
text than images.

5. Visual Language
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.)
We used small details such as ink splodges, tea-stains and some little illustrations to give
the card a more home made feel. We also made the brand strip look like ripped
paper to fit with our theme. We put images of tape across the edges of the
images we used to make it look as if they had been stuck on to the page. For
some of our key information such as vegetarian or vegan suitability
and serving sizes we used an image of a school blackboard and
places the text on top in white to make it look as if that section of
text was written on the board. This makes the information stand
out, and adds some more detail to the theme. The images we used
Sometimes had a background and sometimes the background was
cut out on photoshop. Almost all of the photographs we
used were taken by us, though 3 of them were stock
photos. On a lot of the photos we used a drop shadow
to make it more believable that the photos were stuck onto the page.
Non of our photographs were too busy in order to draw attention to the
food rather than anything else.

7. 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.)
Though our green brand strip was influenced by the colour of the clients logo, it also has
other connotations. You could associate it with environmental politics, or the Green Party.
It could also be associated with green vegetables, which people often stereotype
vegetarians and vegans as people who eat a lot of those. The messy illustrations, small
added details and the hand written looking font have connotations of children. The tea-
stains will be a familiar sight to anyone who ever did homework.
The ink splodges could made you think of broken biros from being
chewed at by children. The blackboard used to contain some of the
important information has strong connotations of how
schools were when our target audience was at school. We
tried to come up with recipes to use that would remind
people of being back at school such as shepherds pie and
rice pudding.

9. Audiences
Create an audience profile of your chosen demographic
(Age, gender, psychographic, geodemographic, NRS Social Grade, hobbies,
sexuality [if appropriate] etc)
Our audience would be people who have left school, probably a long time ago as these are
the people most likely to feel nostalgic when looking at the cards. This could be adults
aged 25 and up. The audience could be both female or male as the cards are not
particularly aimed at either. Any member of society who has attended school would be
able to appreciate and understand this card, though those who haven’t, such as Travelers
or forging adults now living in Britain may not so much as they will not understand some
of the references. Other people who may not enjoy this card so much could be those who
didn’t have a good school experience. These people may now be working class members
of society, possibly because they have missed a lot of school so didn’t get enough
qualifications. The NRS social grades place the working class and middle class into 6
categories, A B C1 C2 D and E. A-C1 is middle class and C2-E is working class. Our audience
is perhaps in the A-C1 area making them middle class. A sociologists study showed that
working class people tended to have a “live for the moment” attitude, where as middle
class people tended to think more about the future. This might mean that our audience is
more likely to be interested in exercise and healthy eating. They are also probably more
driven people, succeeding in work life, their social life and their love life.

11. 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.
The theme would appeal to our audience as its all about reminding them of being back at
school. This would appeal to the middle class as they probably did better at school, and
were praised by teachers, liked by other students and got better qualifications. Therefore
having a generally good school experience and having good memories of school. The
language we have used in generally not that informal, making it more appropriate for
adults. The photographs we have taken look more appropriate for adults as well. We
haven’t used too much colour on the photos. The food is also all
presented well and quite formally. Rather than doing actual
traditional school dinners we did a vegetarian/vegan, more delicious
take on the old school dinners, making the food
more appealing to the audience.

13. 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?)
I haven’t looked at any other cards that have particularly inspired me, nor have they
influenced our design idea. Though we have been inspired and influenced by school, and
how school used to be when our audience was there. For example we used images of
blackboards which used to be used in schools for some of
our text. Another of our influences has been our client the
vegetarian society, which has inspired the use of the
colour green on our cards. We used green for the branding
strip at the bottom of the page to remind people of the
brand, but we continued it inside the hole-punched paper
to make it look realistic as if the page was on top of a green
surface.

15. Cultural context
Do vegetarian products have a specific design aesthetic and how does your
project reflect/contrast this? Why?
I don’t think that vegetarian or vegan recipe cards have a specific design aesthetic. It varies
depending on the target audience. Though one thing that most vegetarian or vegan
products have in common is the use of the colour green, as seen in the two examples
below taken from the vegetarian society website. On our recipe cards we also used the
colour green for our branding strip and inside the holes in the page. The colour green
often represents nature and the environment,
which is why I think it is often used on
vegetarian and vegan recipe cards.
Although these example
cards were made by the
vegetarian society, and
their logo is green
so this could be another
reason it has been used.

17. 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
Looking at our first style sheets
and flat plan, we tried to stick to
one specific style sheet for our
design, though we seemed to end
up using a combination of a few of
the sheets. For example we used
the colour scheme from one style
sheet and the font from another.
We also decided on one particular
flat plan to use for our recipe
cards, however we ended up
changing a few small parts along
the way.

18. We also decided on one particular flat plan to
use for our recipe cards, however we ended up
changing a few small parts along the way. We
were originally going to have the vegetarian
society logo at the top of the page, though due
to what was asked of us in the brief we had to
place it at the bottom. We also didn’t necessarily
place all our images in the places we thought we
would originally, this could have been due to the
quantity of photos we took. Though we kept all
the places the text would go the same, so the
changes don’t appear too drastic.
Looking at the test cards we did, we ended up
keeping all the text in the same place on our
finished cards, though some of the font sizes are
a little different. In our finished cards we used
an image of a blackboard to section off some of
the text where as on the test cards we just made
a box around it. The text we sectioned off on the
text cards is also different to the text we
sectioned off on the finished cards. We also
used
bullet points that looked like ink blobs on
the test cards, but we didn’t use those on
the finished cards.

19. Finished products
Does your finished product match what you were set in the brief? How?
The brief stated that we needed to include a branding strip with their logo on the recipe
cards. They wanted interesting and creative designs, with a set theme so it was clear that
they were a set. They wanted to have cards with a front and a back. All the food needed
to be suitable for vegetarians, and some for vegans. Recipe cards needed to include vegan
or vegetarian suitability, serving number, preparation time and cooking time.
The ingredients needed to be listed in the order in which they are used in the method. We
needed to use metric rather than imperial measurements. We should have left a space
between the number and spoon abbreviations but not between the number and metric
abbreviations. We should have left out the degrees symbol and the term ‘mark’ when
referring to cooking temperatures. We should have also left a space between the word
‘Gas’ and the temperature but not between the temperature and the degrees
measurement abbreviation. The method points should be numbered but not the
ingredients.
Our cards featured a branding strip with their logo on it like they asked. I also think our
cards were very interesting and creative, and it did have a set theme. All of our recipes
were suitable for vegetarians, some were vegan and some were adaptable to be either
vegetarian or vegan. All of our cards included a front and back design. At the top of the

20. We did state weather the recipe was suitable for vegetarians or vegans, and we stated the
serving number. I think that almost all of the ingredients were listed in the order they
needed to be used in the method, though there could perhaps have been a few mistakes.
Some of the we made used imperial measurements though the others used metric. Some
of the cards has the method stages numbered however some did not.
Branding strip + logo
Serving
number, prep
time, cooking
time and
vegetarian/veg
an suitability
Method steps
are numbered
Front and back page

21. Finished products
How did the use of peer feedback help you in your production?
(Reference specific examples and their final outcome in finished product)
During the planning part of this project, within our group we gave each other feedback on
each others ideas. I think this was definitely beneficial because we managed to come to a
compromise on our final designs of the recipe cards. It also gave us an opportunity to hear
ideas we may not have thought about before. During our initial ideas development where
we were choosing the theme we were going to use for our cards, we gave each other a lot
of peer feedback. We each created 5 ideas and we would give feedback to each others
ideas. From each of our 5 ideas we would pick 2 to develop, and then pick our favorite
one. We would asses each others favorite ideas until we came up with our final idea. This
was how we came to decide on our school dinner theme.

23. 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.

24. We needed to learn how to use certain
effects on phototshop to create the look of a
tare at the bottom of the page that we used
for the branding strip.
We used a drop shadow on some of the images to make it look
as if it had actually been stuck on the page. We also used a drop
shadow under the tare in the page so it looks as if it is actually
on a green surface.
Reduced the
opacity of the ink
splodges, tea-
stains and the
tape so you can
see the lines and
images slightly
through them,
making it look
more realistic.
We mostly
took our own
photographs.
Edited photos to improve the quality

25. 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.

26. Made the blueberries look like they are actually
on the page by cutting them from the original
image and adding a drop shadow, adding to the
cards messy look.
Date at the top of the page to make
it look more like school work.
We tried to fit the text between the
lines on the page to make it readable,
but also realistic
The
blackboard
sections off
important
info so you
can see it
clearly, but
it also looks
fun how it
looks as if it
has been
written on
the board
Ink splodges and text are in the colour
are in the colour of blue biro, making it
look realistic.

28. Finished products
What skills/knowledge have you gained/developed in this project? How could
these be applied in future practice?
During this project I have developed my creative skills further. Before this project I had no
experience in creating recipe cards, and I had never though about what themes you could
use and interesting things you could do with a recipe card. I had also never done food
photography, though now I have and I have learned about what sort of lighting, colours
and angles look good when taking photographs of food. I have definitely learned how to
manage my time better than in previous projects, as I have managed to keep up to date
with all of my tasks.

30. 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 productd work and compare your products to them)
I believe that our work is creative. The school dinner theme of our recipe cards I think is
interesting and fun. We put a lot of thought into small details such as putting a date at the
top of some of the pages, ink splodges, tea stains and using little pieces of tape over the
photographs which makes the card more fun for the consumer as
it is realistic. School dinner themed recipe cards are not
something I have particularly seen a lot of, so we had to think of
all our own ideas rather than getting inspiration from existing
cards, which I think demonstrates a lot of creativity. One of my
favorite and most creative aspects of our cards is the brand strip,
as we managed to make it realistically look as if the page had
been ripped at the bottom. The cards I think are also technically
competent. We have tried to make the text as easy to read as
possible by spacing it out so each line fits within the spaces in
the lined paper. Another way we made sure our text was
readable was by sectioning off some important information using
an image of a blackboard to enclose it. This is not only practical
but I think very creative as it adds another fun aspect to the cards

31. and will make the consumer feel nostalgic of their time at school. We have made sure all
of our images are high quality and make the food look its best. We made sure of this by
taking the photographs in good lighting and making sure the food is well presented on
the plate, and also by editing the photographs on photoshop.

32. 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 we managed our time very well. We managed to meet each deadline without any
problems. We during the production period of this project we seemed to find plenty of
time to mess about with our designs and make a few versions. I know that I needed to
start my cards again a few times in order to get the design perfect but I managed to meet
the deadline for putting the final designs on my blog. Though it took us a while to get all of
our photographs together we still managed well.

33. Production process
If you could repeat the process what would you do differently?
If I were to do this project again I would try to follow the brief a lot more closely. Though
most aspects of the cards fitted the brief, a few didn’t. For example, we didn’t have the
cooking time and prep time on all of the cards, some cards didn’t have numbered method
steps, and also some of the cards used imperial measurements rather than metric. This
was down to not reading the brief carefully enough. Next time I would definitely read the
brief more than once, perhaps keeping it open while I was working just to check I was
following it correctly.

35. Working to a brief
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36. Constraints
What constraints did you encounter and how did you consider/avoid them?
Legal: We could have had some copy right issues if we had used stock
photos or photos from Google images. We managed to avoid any of these
issues by taking our own photographs for the recipe cards. You can avoid
copy right issues and still use stock photos also by asking the photographs
owner for permission to use their photograph, and they may ask for you to
pay a fee to use their photographs. We also ensured that we were being
truthful that all of the food we used in our recipes were in fact vegetarian or
vegan.

37. Regulatory: We made sure to avoid any regulatory issues by ensuring all
the recipes were vegan and vegetarian, just like the brief stated they
needed to be. We stated clearly on the recipe cards weather they were
suitable for vegetarians or vegans. The ASA (advertising standards
agency) states that “Commercial product advertising cannot reasonably be
expected to perform the same role as education and public information in
promoting a varied and balanced diet but should not undermine progress
towards national dietary improvement by misleading or confusing consumers”.
We have taken steps to ensure that all of our recipes are healthy and balanced,
though we haven’t stated an wild claims, such as our food will help the consumer
to lose weight.

38. Financial: In order to make our food to photograph we needed to buy the
ingredients, which ended up costing a fair bit. Though we did manage to
cut back on costs by doing all of the work ourselves, rather than hiring
anyone to come and do work for us such as a chef to cook the food we
needed to photograph or a photographer to take photographs.

39. 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?)
In our team we managed to split each task between us, so we both played an equal role in
the team. I think that this was beneficial to us as we both got the opportunity to try out
every aspect of the project and develop out skills in different areas, for example graphic
design and photography. I thought that working as a team was good as it allowed us to
collaborate ideas to make the best recipe cards possible, and we could also get every task
done faster than we would have on our own, meaning we were able to meet deadlines on
time.

40. Management
How important is communication when working in a group?
(Use specific examples from working in a group on this project)
Communication is essential when working in a group. It is important to communicate with
your group members so you come out with work that is the same style as one another's.
Without communication you cannot get your ideas across and the product not be up to
the standard it could be.

41. Management
What have you learnt about working in a group and how will you apply this to
future practice?
I have learnt how important it is to communicate with team members in order to come
out with the best outcome, and therefore I will definitely consider this when doing team
work again in the future. I have learnt how to compromise on ideas, such as when we
where in the ideas development stage of the project and we had to decide on which idea
was then best out of the original 5 and who’s idea we were going to use in the end. I have
learnt that it is important to consider each others strengths and weaknesses and work
around them to your advantage in order to achieve the best outcome. In the future when
working in a team I will remember that compromise is important otherwise the project
cannot be developed, and I will consider team mates ideas before my own. I will also know
to asses my team mates strengths and weaknesses and asses my own so that we can do
what we are best at and achieve the best outcome.