2. Visual Language
Composition:
With the cards that we have made, we decided to make the designs quite simple, mainly because the audience
is general. Ever since we decided that the audience should be any new or existing vegetarian looking for new ideas for
desserts, we found that the cards would appeal to a larger audience type if the designs were simple. When producing
these cards, we could have made them more interesting, as this would have caught the eye of many different people. For
example we could have made the background more interesting by using an image of chocolate or fruit. This would have
worked better than the background that is being used at the moment because it would draw in the audience that these
cards are aimed at. We could also have used different images for the cards, for example when I was doing the extension
work I found cartoon images that worked for children’s recipe cards. With the general audience of the original cards, we
could have edited my images and rotoscoped them to make them more interesting. We could have also used an image
for the whole background on the first page, reduced the opacity and only kept a small amount at 100% opacity. This
would’ve helped the overall look of the cards and it would have still appealed to the correct audience. However even after
all these changes that we could’ve made I still believe that our cards work as a set and they would be up to the standard
that has been asked.
This is an example of an existing
recipe card from the Vegetarian Society.
This card is very basic, and it would
appeal to a whole range of different
people. We decided to follow this idea
as we made ours. We used the two
colours from the logo and we used this
as a title band. I believe that the colours
that we’ve used work better because
they look brighter and the layout breaks
down the card. However I could say that
the one made by the vegetarian society
looks more professional.
3. Visual Language
Image Construction
When we was planning my cards we decided to take some of my images and use some from stock. When we was
making the product from the recipes and taking photographs of them I found that I couldn’t get the images to look like they
have been taken in a restaurant, so I decided on finding images from stock that matched this. When I was choosing my
images from the internet, I found that there wasn’t much to choose from. When I was trying to find images for the truffle
recipe, I had to search for truffles that had coconut on, and with this there wasn’t much there. There was a similar problem
when I was using my own images, I had taken enough, but they weren’t very good quality. If I had to change one thing about
my final cards, it would be the images. We would made them all ourselves, and we would make sure we plan them before
taking them, so we know that they would work with the design of the cards. However I believe that the images that have been
used do work well as a set and they look professional. I also believe that you can’t tell which ones have been found online and
which ones have been taken ourselves. None of the images contrast too much from the cards and they all work together
generally. However there are two sets of images that I’ve found are a lot different from the rest; the truffles and the ripple cake.
These images are bright and sophisticated, and since the others aren’t these stand out. This is because there wasn’t many
images on the internet that we could choose from, these are the only images that we could find.
4. Visual Language
Representation
When we was making my recipe cards we used simple colours and designs, this suggested that
these cards can be used by a variety of different people because it wouldn’t put people off from buying them. With the images
that have been used I believe that this gives off the same suggestion. We could’ve used images that look more expensive, or
used a background image or fancier fonts, but we decided on these elements because they generalize the final cards. When
we was deciding on what audience to aim my cards at we thought about the different designs that would work with the
different audience groups, and as we decided on a general audience for both new and existing vegetarians we thought that if
we kept the design simple, as well as the images, this would appeal to more people. For example people who are new to
being a vegetarian might not know any specific desserts that they could try, and even though most desserts are available for
vegetarians, some of the recipes that we’ve used are appropriate for vegans too, like the tofu cheesecake. This would mean
that a lot of people could buy these cards and try them out, so it was important that the design didn’t put certain people off.
5. Audiences
The cards that we’ve created have a quite general audience group. Its aimed at people that are about 16 –
40, however people from different ages can use these cards, and they could be used for families. Since there is a
large age range we had to keep the design basic so it appeals to many. The gender group that this is aimed at is also
quite general. Both males and females can use these cards, and they don’t focus on just one group. However this
general target audience could be a negative rather than a positive, and the cards might sell more if there was a
specific theme for a specific audience, but we think that the cards work for their purpose. These cards would most
likely be bought by people who were living in a neighborhood that is halfway between poor and rich. They would be
able to afford to buy the ingredients for these recipes and they would most likely have up to an hour to cook meals per
day. However they might not be able to afford to buy these ingredients every week. These cards would appeal to
families more, but couples or people sharing a flat, like students, would buy these cards because the ingredients are
quite inexpensive and the recipes aren’t that complicated to make. With this it is clear that the NRS Social Grade for
these cards would be working class to middle class people. I doubt that you would find people from upper classes
buying and using these cards, because they would be able to afford more expensive ingredients. The target audience
for these cards might have hobbies like family bike rides and meals out. They might be students, so these cards might
be their way to make tasty desserts that would appeal to all their flat mates, as well as them.
6. Audiences
Since the target audience for our cards is very general, we decided to make my cards very basic. When we was planning what
photographs we needed to take we decided to edit two different photographs and put them on two different pages. We did this
because it would make the cards interesting but it would still look quite simple. With this card we found that all the images and
the colours worked together, after trying out different colour schemes, we found that basing the whole card on the logo would
work best. These two designs are very
different, and we found that the yellow
background looked like we was trying to
aim these cards at a younger audience.
So after some feedback that we got, we
decided to change this and keep the
background white, while changing the
colours on the images and the title box.
This is the same for every card that we
made; the card looked inappropriate for
a general target audience so we decided
to change the colours and the layout.
When we was making my first set of recipe cards we planned to use bright colours on the background that suited the
photographs that were being used. But after looking at them altogether we found that they didn’t work as a set. So we
decided to change the colours so they were more basic. We knew that if we just changed this aspect of my cards the whole
set would work better for the audience.
7. Historical and Cultural Context
The existing work that influenced our cards were the cards made by the Vegetarian Society. Most of them are aimed at a
general audience too and they have a green band around the top and the bottom. When we was gathering information
about different existing recipe cards we found that most of them looked quite similar. They were all double sided with an
image on the first page an the copy on the back. We decided that this would be the best idea to follow because this is the
way that people would recognise the cards. We found different recipe cards for different themes and we saw that if we kept
my designs quite simple this would draw in a wider audience.
Vegetarian products usually have the same theme. They have a colour scheme of different shades of greens and the
design itself is usually quite simple. We’ve found that the cards that we’ve created reflect the same design; the colour
scheme is mainly earthy greens and the cards themselves aren’t particularly busy. When comparing existing vegetarian
recipe cards and my own we’ve found that the overall look is quite similar.
8. Finished Products
When we was planning my cards we thought that if we used bright colours then it would draw in the audience, however after
making the cards like this we found that they didn’t work out as a set, and since we couldn’t change them to just one colour
because of the colours of the images, we decided to completely change the colour scheme and use the same two colours
as the logo and keep the background white. We found that the cards looked more professional this way, so we decided to
change our initial plans and go with this new design. When I was making my cards I found that I didn’t take any images that
could work together on the cards. If I was to do this project again I would make sure that I’ve planned out where I’m going to
take my images and make sure that they are decent enough to use before editing. I would also take all the photographs
myself, mainly because some of the stock images didn’t work with the taken images. However I believe that my work does
reflect my initial plans because we decided early on to use an image on the front page, below the title and above the
logo, and we decided that behind the ingredients and the recipe itself we was going to place another image with a lower
opacity level.
Initial Plan Finished Product
9. Finished Product
The cards that we made have followed the brief, they have the correct logo on the bottom corner of the first
page, and the ingredients and the recipe steps have been set out properly. When I was finding recipes from the
internet and putting them onto the cards, I found that I had to change some of the text so it fits the brief.
When we got peer feedback we heard that our cards didn’t work as a set; the colours didn’t match because we
used different colours for each card, so we changed this on our final cards so they were all the same. On one
feedback we got the person said that our work was easy to read and clear to see against the background, so we
decided to keep the same font and change other aspects of our cards. We did however change the layout of the
font on the cards, because they said that they were placed differently and this didn’t make the cards consistent.
10. Finished Product
When we decided to tone down the colour scheme, we found that this worked better than a background colour, and in the
end this made the cards look more professional. We also changed the opacity level of the back page, and found that this
also helped make the finished product more appealing to its audience.
We found that when we changed the colour
scheme the logo also stood out more, but it also
blended in with the rest of the card so it didn’t
look out of place.
When I was choosing my images from stock I
found that there wasn’t much to choose from, for
example with the truffle recipe card, there wasn’t
many images taken of truffles coated in coconut,
so I had to use these two images. These images
work well together and they make the card look
bright and appealing, but the overall look didn’t
particularly work with the rest of the recipe cards.
This was the same with the ripple cake recipe
card; they both looked too bright to work with the
rest of the set.
When we was choosing our
fonts, we thought it would look best
if we used a fancy font for the
titles, and a simple font for the
recipe itself, and we found that this
worked in our favour because it
suited the theme perfectly.
I believe that the skills that I have developed from this project would be how to
use Photoshop. I knew how to use basic tools before, but because we decided
on taking our own photographs, I was able to figure out what some of the other
tools could do, and I believe that I could use these tools again in other projects.
Another skill that I believe I have developed would be the use of planning.
When doing this project I found that I didn’t really plan out my work
properly, and when it came to editing the photographs that I took and finding
images from stock the photographs were either blurry or they didn’t match. So
when it comes to planning work again I will take my time to plan out properly
what I need to do.
11. Production Processes
When I look at the finished cards as a whole I believe that they are creative and technically competent, this would be
because we haven’t seen a lot of people take their own photographs and edit them like we have. I believe that this helps our
work to be more creative because we were able to put more of our own work into the finished product. We also changed our
cards a lot throughout the weeks because we knew that some aspects needed changing to make them the best that they
can be.
I believe that we managed our time well; we took the photographs that we were going to use before the production stage of
our project, so we didn’t have to worry about taking them when we were making the cards. I believe that this helped us keep
to our schedule; we had all the images the we needed to complete the project and we could use them when we wanted.
When we were making our cards we found that we were making them quicker than expected, and this was extremely
helpful because then we could get feedback and have the time to improve our work and see if other people think our work is
up to the right standard.
If we were to do this project differently we would change the images that have been used. We didn’t plan out exactly what
we was going to take our photographs or, and we would make sure that these images work together as a set. If we were to
use stock images again we would find these first and make sure that they work with the images that we take ourselves.
12. Working to a Brief in the Creative Media Industries
Constraints Experienced:
Since we took our recipes and even the images from the internet, we had to make sure that they didn’t breach any copyright
laws. Since this project was for college I don’t believe that we had breached any copyright laws and we made sure that there
wasn’t any logos or names on the images that we used from google. We didn’t encounter any regulatory problems, but we had to
make sure that the product didn’t have any images or copy that would be insulting to a specific group of people. I believe that the
work that we’ve created achieves this. The colour scheme was quite broad and the images used would appeal to a range of
people. We didn’t really encounter any financial constraints either; we were able to afford all the ingredients that we needed, and
we had cameras already. We also had all the other equipment that we needed at college, like Photoshop.
Management
I believe that I worked quite well in the group that I was in, we planned out what cards each of us was going to do, we planned
what fonts to use and how to layout the cards without any problems. We managed our time really well and we got all of our work
done at the same time, meaning that we both had the same amount of time for extension work.
When working in a group I believe that it is very important to be able to communicate. If the group couldn’t do this, then the whole
project would fall apart and the grades wouldn’t be very good because they were go off and do different things. When we were
completing our cards we found that we had used two completely different layouts, so we talked about it and decided to use a
green band for the title and put the images in the same places. This helped us make cards that worked as a set.
I have found that sometimes its easy to disagree on certain aspects when working in a group, and I’ve learned that with every
group project there needs to be a lot of compromise, and I will make sure that I compromise on every other group project, and
make sure that all the work is the same with each person.
I’ve learned that when working to a brief there is a lot of things that I can’t do because it is not allowed in the brief. When doing
future projects to a brief I will make sure that I read through the brief and base all my work on this, because it is quite easy to
stray from what the brief says.
