1. Evaluation
Producing Print Based Media
Visual Language:
Composition
I have decided to set out my recipe cards in a format that looks neat, tidy and quite
simplistic. I have decided to use 4 pictures on the front covers of the cards; these
images included the ingredients of the recipes and also the final image of the
product. I decided to do this so that the audience knew exactly what they were
making. As I had quite a lot of images on my recipe cards I decided that I needed to
equal this out using quite bait of text. I decided to put my images on the front cover
using not much text except the title of the product. I then decided to put all my text on
the back of the recipe cards. I think doing this evened out and make my recipe cards
have the same text/image ratio however if I was to improve the composition I would
maybe improve it by adding text on the front of the card and maybe adding images
on the back of the recipe cards would improve the composition and equal the layout
even more. It would also give my audience the chance to look at images whilst they
are making the recipes.
I think that my recipe cards are set out quite simplistically I have done this by not
putting too much photographs on and also not adding too much text. I think if I added
too much text then my recipe cards would become to look messy and very busy.
This could put the audience off reading the recipes as it will look very messy it will
also give the impression to the audience that the recipes are long and complicated to
make. I have decided to set the layout of each card the same including having the
same images in the same place and also having the ingredients and the method in
the same position. Doing this allowed my recipe cards too look neat and well-
ordered.
Image Construction
Discuss the contents of your final images and reflect upon decisions made.
In my recipe cards I decided to use a range of different photographs. I think doing
this shows the audience of what to include and what the final product is going to look
like I also think that applying images onto my recipe cards will persuade and interest
the audience as most people enjoy looking at images whilst making a recipe. Each
recipe card I have included 4 images of the product and the ingredients. I decided to
include 4 images so that there was a range of different views of the final product. My
theme was summer, and I used a consistent format throughout my recipe cards
which was circles and curves so I decided to put my images in a circle shape. I think
this made the images more interesting and unique. I got my images of Google and I
had a look through all the images and picked the best quality images. I added a
stroke to each of my images and this made my images look bold and stand out. The
colour of the stroke depended on the colour of the cards. I used specific styles in my
recipe cards which made them look professional. All styles of my photographs were
quite zoomed in and focused on the detail of the subject none of my images really
had a background showing. I decided to use photographs like these so that the

2. audience knew straight away what meal they were going to make and what
ingredients they need. I think that all my images are very clear, and bright. The
audience are able to tell straight away what the images are of. I also picked images
of a large size so that when I used them on my recipe card they wouldn’t look blurry.
The style of my images are very good quality and I have decided to do this so that it
persuades the audience to have an interest in the recipe. If I didn’t use good quality
style images then the audience wouldn’t be interested.
Representation
Discuss the semiotics and connotations created from the content you have
included.
As I have decided to use very high quality images and my images include
photographs of the ingredients of the product I think that the representation of my
images presents the recipe to be very luxurious and it also looks very tasty I think
that it is presented like this in the images. I think that using high quality images
presents the food to look better and also persuade the audience to cook the recipe. I
decided to use circles and curves within my recipe cards because I think that this
presents creativity I also think that it fits in with my theme of summer. I decided to
use the same colour as my recipes were presented in (for example I used reds/pink
for my raspberry sorbet as raspberries are also red and pink). I used a wide range of
colours within the set of my recipe cards which included yellow, red, blue and green.
I think using different colours made my set of recipe cards look bright and interesting.
Even though that I used different colours in my recipe cards I made sure that it was
still clear that they was a set. I think using the colours to represent my recipes was a
good idea as it shows to the audience what each recipe is. The audience will also be
able to identify which recipe is which. I decided to use bright colours as my theme is
summer so this represents this. I also added borders on each of my recipe cards
which was small images of suns. I decided to do this so that the audience realised
that these recipes are great in summer.
Audiences:
Create an audience profile of your chosen demographic
I decided to design my 4 recipe cards towards the middle and older generation of
vegetarians, such as 15-40 year olds however my recipe cards will also be
appropriate for young people as well. These recipes are made for summer in warm
weather so I think that the main place where people will enjoy my recipe cards will be
in hot countries and in hot places in England where catches the most sun. I have
selected a NRS Social Grade for my audiencewhich is ABC1. I have decided to
categorize my audience into this NRS social grade as I think that my cards represent
to being quite professional and up to a good standard This social grade for my recipe
cards will target people who are professional, intermediate and managerial.My
recipes cards are aimed at boys and girls as I have used a range of recipes which
can be suitable for boys and girls. I have also not specifically used the gender colour
in my recipe cards I have used a range of colours which can be fitted for both
genders. I think the people who will enjoy my recipe cards will be the people who

3. would lie to try something new for summer instead of eating the same kinds of foods
in the hot weather. These recipe cards range different meals from savoury to sweet. I
think that the people who will enjoy my recipe cards will be people who are energetic
and motivated and are interested in having a light snack before exercising or even
wanting to cook meal for other people in summer.
How have you constructed your work to appeal to this audience?
This is one example of one of my recipe cards and how I have made my recipe cards
suitable towards my audience.
Interesting, fun
text that will
make audience
interested.
I have used
a attention-
grabbing
text for the
back of the
recipe cards
as well
which will
make the
audience
more
interested in
reading the
recipes.
I have added a sun border on the
edge of my recipe cards to represent
the theme of summer.
I have decided to put my
images in circle shapes and put
a circle background behind the
images I think that this looks
more appealing to my audience
I also think it brings more
attention to the images.
I used a
sophisticated
border at the
bottom of my
recipe card
pages to give
them more of a
professional
and classy
look.
Used words that will be
understood by young generation
such as veggie andwill interest the
older generation of vegetarians

4. What did you use as your design influences and why were they chosen?
Before I started creating the production for the recipe card I researched and found
different recipe cards. I got some of my ideas from other existing products. I also got
my ideas from the internet and different recipe websites which were aimed at my
audience. I got the colour scheme and the layout from online websites. I decided to
chose the designs and the colours that I did because I think that they advertise the
product well whilst at the same time making the product look fun to make. An
example of a website which I used to research current recipe cards was vegsoc.org
this is the official vegetarian society website and they provide lots of different recipe
cards which can be looked at. Here Is an example of one of my design influences
and one of my final recipe cards with ancompariason of how it has influenced me.
Design Influence
My Recipe Card
Historical and Cultural Context:
As it is clear to see from both recipe
cards there are some aspects of the
card which I did get some ideas from
and I did use. My design influence has
a theme of red running on the recipe
cards. I decided to base my idea
around this and use a colour on my
recipe cards which was clear
throughout the whole of the recipe
card. As it is clear on my recipe card I
used a pink theme. Another aspect
which influenced me was adding tips
and extra help for the audience. On
the design influence they use the term
‘why not try this’ and list options which
the audience could use. I decided to
use ‘top tips’ which would allow the
audience to try different things. An
idea which I developed from my
influenced recipe card design was the
images. I thought that having one big
image made the front of the recipe
card quite boring to look at so I
decided to add 4 images of the
ingredients and product which made
the recipe card much more interesting
to look at and it also was much more
appropriate for my audience.

5. Do vegetarian products have a specific design aesthetic and how does your
project reflect/contrast this? Why?
I think that most vegetarian products, meals and recipes have a specific design to
show that they are suitable for vegetarians. I think these include having a V or
vegetarian society logo. This reflects on my recipe cards as I have included a small
logo of the vegetarian society so that my audience know it is suitable for vegetarians.
Another specific point which most vegetarian products have is having a green
design. This is so that people can tell straight away who it is aimed at. Vegetarians
are associated with the colour green as it’s the colour of most vegetables. This also
reflects on my recipes cards as I have used the colour green on one of my recipe
cards.
Finished Products:
Does your finished product reflect your initial plans? How? If there are any
differences, describe why changes were made.
My Plan Finished Product
My initial plans didn’t go to plan when I was carrying out the production process I
came up with new ideas and decided to develop from the feedback that I was given.
In my initial plans I was going to have different colours on my recipe cards including
yellow, red and green. However I decided that this made the card look quite messy
and complicated so I decided to stick with 1 main colour per card however then
change the different shades of the colour. I also changed my fonts on my final recipe
card. I have changed the font titles to more of a bolder font with a shadow so it
stands out; I also changed the other fonts, instead of having Arial as the main copy I
decided to have more of a creative font. Another difference in the recipe cards is the
layout of the images. On my initial plans I was going to have one large image of the
finished product. However I decided to take on board the feedback and add more
images on the front of the recipe cards. I think that this shows more of the product
and the ingredients. One of the similarities which I have kept is using a border of
suns. This shows that the theme is summer and they are meals to have in summer.

6. Does your finished product match what you were set in the brief? How?
I do believe that my finished product of all my recipe cards matches the brief that we
was given at the start of the project in different ways this include creating a new
unique and creative design of recipe cards I think I have doing this because my
recipe cards look professional and high quality standard. I have made sure that the
theme looks creative by using different shapes, fonts and decorative images. The
vegetarian society asked for all the recipe cards to be made and shown that they are
in a set. I have made sure that I have completed this by keeping the same theme,
layout and format throughout each card. The only things which I changed were the
text, the colour scheme and the images. I believe that my images are high quality as
none of them look blurry or low quality and I also think that my images advertise the
food. I followed the correct presentation method of presenting the ingredients
method by using metric measurements rather than imperial. I have made sure that
every recipe is suitable for vegetarians and I have also included a vegan recipe in
my set of recipe cards therefor I think that I have fulfilled the brief.
How did the use of peer feedback help you in your production?
I think that the peer feedback that I got give was useful as it gave me information
about what other people thought about my recipe cards. An example of where I
decided to take on board the peer feedback and change my recipe card is when a
peer stated that I could improve my recipe cards by making some of the text a
different, darker colour I agreed with this point made as some of the text on the
yellow recipe card was quite hard to read as it was the similar shade of colour. I
decided to make this colour a darker yellow so that it was more noticeable and so
that my audience would be able to understand and read my recipe cards. Another
point made of how I could improve my recipe cards was by using a more formal font.
That would appeal to an older audience I decided that this wasn’t needed however I
did change to font to make it look more suitable to older people by adding a stroke
and a drop shadow this made my text stand out more and made it much more
refined.

7. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of your final product regarding its
technical and aesthetical qualities.
I think that there have been many success’s of my final recipe card set. I think that
my successes of making this recipe card includes carrying out a very stylish and
consistent theme throughout creating my recipe cards. I decided to do the layout of
curves as I think that this makes my recipe cards looks creative. I firstly decided to
get a curved border from Google images. Instead of using the exact border I used
the magic wand tool and changed the colour of each section in the curved border. I
made every border the same size and shape however changed the colour of the
border to fit in with the design of each recipe card. I think that adding this border on
my recipe cards makes it look more professional. I also decided to create a circle
shape to put my images in. To do this in Photoshop I used a ellipse tool to create a
circle I then put my image layer on top of the circle layer and then clicked ‘create
clipping mask’. This then allowed my image to be in the shape of the circle. I did this
for all the different images on my recipe card to make them look the same and so
that it was clear they was part of a set. I think that the layout of my recipe cards is
clear and understandable so I think this is another success of my recipe cards.
Some of the weaknesses of my recipe cards include that it uses the same colours on
my recipe cards. Even though that each individual card has a different colour on it. I
think that I could use different colours on the cards such as adding a yellow or a blue
to contrast so it makes the recipe cards look more interesting. Another weakness I
think that occurred when making my recipe cards is when I tried to make the images
and the borders ad the text the same size and in the same place. I thought that this
was a weakness as my audience may be able to tell that not all the images and the
layouts are in a accurate place I think I could improve this next time when making my
recipe cards. I don’t think that in my set of recipe cards it is that clear what the theme
is which is summer. To improve this I think I could include more images of summer,
suns and hot weather to show the audience that he recipes are suitable for summer.

8. Production Processes
Do you believe your work is creative and technically competent? Why?
I think that in some ways my work is creative and artistic in the different formats I
have used and also the way I have used the images. I think the way I have stuck to
one colour however changing the different shades from dark and light makes the
image look professional. I also think that the way I have used a drop shadow and
stroke makes the main title of the dish looks impressive. To create my border I used
suns and put them on the sides of the recipe cards I think that this makes my recipe
card look more creative and interesting. I think the quality of the images which I used
is very high and clear to what the recipe is. Instead of using one main image of the
dish I decided to use 4 I think that this makes my recipe cards look inventive.
How effectively did you manage your time?
I managed my time by following my schedule by making sure everything was
completed to the best standard it could be and by following my schedule day-by-day
to make sure that everything was on time. My recipe cards took quite abit longer
than expected as I didn’t realise how long it would take to create the border for my
recipe cards. I thought that it would take a couple of hours however instead it ended
up taking a day or two too finish the border and the format on my recipe cards.
What skills/knowledge have you gained/developed in this project? How could
these be applied in future practice?
I have learnt a range of different skills that I could use in different projects these
including working like I was in a professional environment, this is because I was
given a brief at the start of the project it was my task to make sure that my finished
product matched everything which was on the brief and also making sure that my
project was completed on time. This experience of making sure that projects are
completed on time can be applied in future practice if I was working for a client and
they needed me to completed a project this has given me relevant experience and
knowledge that I need to completed a project on time otherwise I will suffer
consequences. I have learnt a wide range of skills of making sure that a product is
suitable for a target audience otherwise it will not sell, this can also be applied in
future practice if a client needed me to make a product for children then I would have
to make sure that everything was appropriate for the children. When carrying out this
project I also changed my audience by making my recipe cards suitable for children.
In this process I had to change the layout, the font, the colours and also the
language which I used in my recipe cards. This is good experience as it puts me in a
situation as if I had to change my target audience quickly. It shows that I can work
quickly on time and too a professional standard.

9. Although that it took longer I still made sure that I had time to finish everything as I
left myself contingency time incase anything went wrong.
If you could repeat the process what would you do differently?
I would make sure that my recipe cards fit in with my theme more. I think that my
theme of summer was quite hard to show in recipe cards. Although that I have
relevant recipes that are suitable for summer it was quite hard to show the theme in
pictures and the colours.
Working to a Brief in the Creative Media Industries
Constraints Experienced:
What constraints did you encounter and how did you consider/avoid them?
Legal Constraints
Copyright of images could’ve became a problem when making my recipe cards as
copying someone’s images can cause issues however I made sure that it was
avoided by changing the images and also getting them from a free website which
allowed me to use the images for personal use. Another legal constraint was the
copy right of recipes, I made sure that the recipes I used could be used by other
people and that I wasn’t creating any issues when using the recipes.
Regulatory Constraints
I made sure that I didn’t come across any regulatory constraints in this project by
making sure that my project was controlled by health and safety regulations and also
other law regulations that may of occurred.
Financial Constraints
In this project there were many financial issues that could’ve occurred including the
cost of ingredients, Photoshop and other software, the cost of images and also the
printing costs. I managed to avoid this as this project was free however if I was
carrying out this then I would have to create a budget and manage my money to pay
for the project.

10. Management:
How did you work as part of a group?
I worked in an individual for this project however this was quite a challenge as I had
to lead the whole project by myself and take in charge and also make my own
decisions. Working as an individual allowed me to create my own ideas and develop
them also by getting feedback from other peers this allowed me to decide on the
designs for my recipe cards. A disadvantage of working as an individual included
that it was all down to me. I had to rely on myself and I didn’t get any other support
or help from a person in a group.
How important is communication when working in a group?
(Use specific examples from working in a group on this project)
Communication is important when working in a group as it is important that different
ideas are shared. Another aspect about why it’s important to communicate in a group
is that it allows different ideas to be developed and improved as the people in the
group will have different ideas about different things so helping each other will give
the advantage of making the designs better. Another important factor to why it’s
important to communication in a group is that if anything goes wrong then
communicating within the group will help solve issues and problems that could occur.
What have you learnt about working in to a brief and how will you apply this to
future practice?
I have learnt that working to a brief is very important and to make sure that the
project is completed and everything asked by the client is completed in the project.
The brief states what the client wants and how I need to work so I have learnt the
importance and I have also learnt the organisation of working to a brief that
everything need to be included in the project to make sure that the clients product is
accomplished to what they wanted it to be. I could use this experience of working to
a brief in future practice if I become a freelance journalist or other media freelancer I
will now know how to approach the brief and I will know how to complete a project by
making sure that the client is satisfied.