This document summarizes a student's design project creating recipe cards for a vegetarian organization. The student discusses their design process, including initial plans, changes made based on feedback, and reflections on the final products. Key points include using a scrapbook theme to appeal to older audiences, choosing images and colors carefully, and structuring recipes consistently across cards. The student evaluates strengths like the cohesive scrapbook aesthetic and weaknesses such as inconsistent sizing of some elements. Lessons learned include planning templates more thoroughly and considering different target audiences.

1. Evaluation
Producing Print Based Media
Visual Language:
Composition
How have you chosen to set out your designs and why?
The layout of our recipe cards are in the styles of
a scrapbook. We have does this because it gives
the effect that it is an original, traditional recipe
that has been past down through the
generations. This fits in with our theme and
target audience, since they are part of the older
generation they would be used to the scrapbook
kind of recipe books that their mothers most
probably made.
The cards is mostly images, when researching
we found out that most people would prefer more images to text so we took this
information on board whilst designing the layout. They also said they‟d prefer a
simple and sophisticated card meaning we had had to include all the images and text
but still make it look clear and simple. I think we achieved a nice, clean looking card
which will appeal to our target audience greatly. We wanted the front to be at least
90% images. Using images, particularly large ones, will catch the audience‟s eye.
The stripes bring a nice amount of colour to the card, we did try using a block colour
but it was too overpowering. Using the stripes as banners brought the attention to
that area which held important information like the name of the recipe and how many
people it feeds. We placed the vegetarian society logo at the bottom since it is the
last place the consumer will look leaving the logo in their memory for longer.
Image Construction
Discuss the contents of your final images and reflect upon decisions made.
The images we used were taken ourselves. Charlotte and Hannah took the images
and I helped to position the food in order for it to look its best and most appetising.
We took multiple images of each item to add a bit of variety to the card. I used
different images on the same card to give the audience chance to see the food from
different angles. The other people in my group didn‟t do this as much as I did and
just used the same picture but cropped it to produce close ups. This is a negative
about the finished products but it is very hard to notice.
However, some of the images we took didn‟t look to a high enough standard to be on
the recipe cards, they made the cards look less professional so we opted to use
sourced images.
We used colours that complemented the food. We picked light/pastel colours so it
doesn‟t stand out too much, we wanted the colour to catch people attention but not
be in your face at the same time. I think the images are the main thing on the page
that catches people‟s attention and the stripes are a subtle way to keep the attention

2. on the card. Also the pictures and text are the most
important part of the card so we didn‟t want a bright
colour theme to draw attention away from them.
Furthermore, we used a darker colour for the headings
on the reverse of the card. This is so the titles stand out
more and the consumer knows where to start reading.
Representation
Discuss the semiotics and connotations created from the content you have
included.
The use of the rectangles that look like thin strips of tape help give a scrapbook look
to the card. The text also follows this trend because it is in a handwritten style. I think
this will successfully appeal to the older generation since they are from a time where
everything was hand written.
The images we use suggest the way the food should be
presented. For example, the image for the Tomato,
Mozzarella and Basil sandwiches suggests to serve the
sandwich as an opensandwich meaning there is no bread
on top. You could serve the sandwich with two slices of
bread but most of the audience won‟t and will copy the
image on the card. It also tells you to serve it with a chilli sauce but the older
generation don‟t like spicy food so they will most probably miss that part out.
Audiences:
Create an audience profile of your chosen demographic
Age: 50+ who enjoy shopping at places like Waitrose or Marks and Spenser‟s since
they have the money to spend on luxuries like going to cafes like Betty‟s. While
researching we found out that the younger generation are getting into afternoon tea
too so we kept them in mind while designing the card, they were a secondary target
audience.
Gender: Both male and female but afternoon is more traditional a female thing to do,
the cards have more of a female touch to it, it was inevitable with three women
designing the cards.
Geodemographic: Our target audience would live in more rural areas, they are the
people with most spare time since there is less to do compared to big cities. They
also have better access to higher quality foods that are organic and fresh.
Hobbies: Some hobbies our target audience might have is gardening, going to
church, knitting, reading or playing cards/board games.
NRS Social Grade: ABC1, Since they are part of the older generation they live off of
their pension, they most probably live by themselves so they have no kids at home

3. meaning they don‟t have to spend a load of money. This concludes to them having a
lot of spare money to spend on luxuries like going to cafes and restaurants, however
they won‟t always have the money to afford this so these recipe cards will help them
be able to enjoy the same food but for cheaper.
Sexuality/Ethnicity: Our cards are aimed at all types of religion and sexualities.
How have you constructed your work to appeal to this audience?
The text and colours appeal to the target audience by being
elegant and sophisticated. We used a
font called „fishfingers‟ which will appeal
to the younger generation, that are our
secondary target audience, because it is
unique and creative bringing an edgy look to the card.However
the other texts help to create the elegant look. The curly hand
written text adds class while the other fonts are basic and easy
to read whilst still adding a sophisticated look.
The images we used on the front of the card are large, this is so it
is easy of people to see what the food looks like, this particularly
helps the older generatiion as they have poor eye site. The image
takes up most of the page and the copy on the front is also large
so it is easier for the elderly to read.
The recipe themselves are aimed at our target audience.
Afternoon tea is a very british thing and the older generation are very patrotic so they
enjoy british food most this means that our choice of an afternoon tea menu will be
very appealing towards them.
Historical and Cultural Context:
What did you use as your design influences and why were they chosen?
While researching recipe cards we found some with little quotes about the card that
added a bit of humour. We thought it would be a good thing to add these to our own
cards as the elderly enjoy an innocent little pun joke.
Another influence was the vegetarian society‟s past cards. Since they
had to be for this company we thought that we should check out there old
cards and how they usually set the cards out. We found out that on the
front of all the cards there is a large image of the food. We wanted to
include this in our own cards but we also wanted the cards to stand out
as a collection so we included close ups on the front page too. The
banners along the top and bottom of the cards were also inspired by the vegetarian
society‟s recipe cards.

4. Do vegetarian products have a specific design aesthetic and how does your
project reflect/contrast this? Why?
Vegetarian products usually have the colour scheme of green to represent the
vegetables and eco-friendly aspect to the product. They also include bright colours to
show how healthy and energising the food is.
We used pale pastel colours to appeal to our target audience, bright colours would
be too over facing for the older generation. However, we did base the colours on the
ingredients in that certain recipe, reflecting on the link between the food and the
colours other products use.
Finished Products:
Does your finished product reflect your initial plans? How? If there are any
differences, describe why changes were made.
The finished product is very different to the first draft. The
first draft was mostly about the layout and what would be the
best places to have the copy and images. We discovered
that having the card all one block colour made it look boring
and uninteresting.
We then tried to use the image of the food as the
background and layered boxes over the top as
banners for the title and other information about the
recipe. We also tried to use images for the bullet
points and separators. As you can
see from the example to the right we
used blueberries because it was a
main ingredient in the recipe making
the whole card link together. We got the idea from a recipe card by
the vegetarian society.I think it looked very effective and professional
but we decided against it for the final product as it didn‟t look
sophisticated enough causing the card to lack in elegance. We need
the card to look this way instead so it would appeal to our target
audience.
We also tried to turn the card horizontally and
mess around with the effects Photoshop allowed
us to create. We turned parts of the images black
and white. This was so the
colour part stood out more. I
think this effect would have
made our card stand out against the rest as they
aren‟t as creative and unique as the ones we
created with the black and white parts. However,
an all colour card is more likely to catch
someone‟s eye and that is a very important
factor for the cards. We tried different ways of

5. presenting the cooking information, turning it to the side and placing it different
places. One of the ways was apart of the design, we placed it in a one of the many
lines that went down the page. We thought this merged too much into the card and
that it would be easier for our target audience to find and read if we placed it under
the title. Our target audience are part of the older generation so they don‟t want to be
turning their head and damaging their neck to be able to see the information they
need.
Does your finished product match what you were set in the brief? How?
The brief required that “interesting and creative designs” were to be createdfor their
new series of recipe cards. I believe that the recipe cards we have product are in fact
interesting and creative. The design is very different from professional cards helping
it to stand out.
“We need designs on both the front and the back of the card. There should be a
clear theme across all the cards so it is apparent that they are a set” We have
followed this by creating a template that we used for all of the cards causing them to
have the same design. We just changed the colour scheme on all of them so you
can easier tell them apart. This will also help the customer pick the right recipe card
if they keep them in the folder we also designed. The different colours will also help
the collection to be more interesting.
Our cards have also met the presentation needs that are stated in the brief. “List all
ingredients separately on a new line, in the order in which they are used in the
method. Use metric rather than imperial measurements” We have also numbered the
method but not the ingredients and have set out the measurements and oven heats
in the way that is asked on the brief.
How did the use of peer feedback help you in your production?
One of the things we changed because of the peer feedback was the font for the
cooking information on the front of the card and the lists on
the back. The first text we used for the cooking information
was too computerised and didn‟t fit in with our theme. Our
tutor suggested that we use „dafont.com‟ to find a suitable
font. We decided on a font called „fishfingers‟ as we thought
it was still keeping in with the handwritten font we chose for the title.

6. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of your final product regarding its
technical and aesthetical qualities.
A strength about our cards is the theme and how well each aspect joins together to
create the finished scrapbook look. The drop shadow on the thin strips of tape helps
to give a 3D affect giving the card more of a real feel to it. Making the tape look 3D
helps to make the scrapbook look, lookreal and not just a design. The clipping mask
I think the lines that go across the picture on the back of the card adds a
graphic aspect and makes the card more interesting but I believe it isn‟t
necessary. Maybe if the opacity of the lines was lowered it might look more
subtle and technical.
I like the fact that I have included a
second recipe on the card. Instead of
having another image of the food on the
card I decided to add another recipe that
would be a good alternative to tea in the
summer months. We thought that this
was a good idea since it is close to
summer. The striped background helps to
separate the two recipes whilst keeping in
with the theme that is spread out through
all of the cards.
The stripes are a nice way to add
colour to the card without it being
overpowering. The stripes are
sourced images off the internet
meaning there wasn‟t much
technical work behind them.
Although it was hard to make sure
that the stripes were similar sizes.
It might have been best to create
our own stripe template to ensure
the stripes are the same size and
that all the cards look the same.

7. allowed us it ensure the pictures looked the right size.
What skills/knowledge have you gained/developed in this project? How could
these be applied in future practice?
I have developed on my Photoshop skills, I already knew how to create the effects
we used on the cards but doing them over again has enabled me to produce the
effect quicker.
Production Processes
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)
I think that most of our card looks very creative,
especially the scrapbook aspect we have given it
by adding the rectangles to the corners of the
pictures making it look like the image had been
stuck onto the page with tape. The drop shadow
helps with the 3D aspect which makes the card
also look technically impressive. The back of the
cards also show some technical work with the
clipping masks making the images turn into
circles. The stripes going through the picture
helps to bring the graphics on the card to the next level. The image at the bottom on
the back of the card also looks technically impressive. Changing the opacity of an
image is very easy to change but it creates a very impressive effect and adds an
extra bit of elegance to the card.
How effectively did you manage your time?
This unit took quicker than expected. The schedule included contingency time which
we did not need. This meant that we had two weeks scheduled for production but we
only needed a week, therefore we used this extra time to make sure our cards look
very similar and to make sure everything was written the same way.

8. If you could repeat the process what would you do differently?
If I could repeat this process I would make sure that the template doesn‟t get altered
too much. On some of the cards the circle
has been morphed to allow room of the
ingredients and method. A way to prevent
this is to make sure we use recipes with
similar sized methods. Some of them
are a lot smaller than others, we fixed it
by adding an image to the bottom of the
card but this has made some of the cards look different to the others and the brief
ask for them to be similar.
I would also make sure that all the close up images on the front of the card were the
same size and in the same order. Some are longer than others and some are more
stretched out. This means the template has been altered again to make sure things
fit onto the card. This makes them look less professional. A way to fix this problem is
to create a clipping mask so the images are cut off in the right places and to make
sure they are the same size.
The photography for the cards has been taken in to different locations since one of
our team members could not get to the location. This caused us to split the recipes
up so she could do the same amount of work as the rest of us. This means that the
pictures of different backgrounds making it obvious that they are not from the same
shoot. Since the cards are part of a collection they need to be part of the same shoot
in order to show a clear link and that they will all go together nicely.
Another think I might change is to aim the cards at students or the younger
generation. This is because we have a better understanding of the target audience
as we are part of it. I would also add in some meat substitutes into the recipes to
make the meals more nutritious and balance the meal out a bit more. This will be
more appealing the people who are trying out vegetarian food to be healthier.
The last thing I would change is maybe the font for the title, I think it is a nice font
that fits in well with out theme but I believe that we could of found a nicer one off
„dafont.com‟ that would look more traditional and handwritten.
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
Something that could constraint us is the sourced images we used. If they are
copyrighted then we need to either get in contact with the company who copyrighted
them and ask if we can use them or try to find another image that isn‟t copyrighted.
We avoided this on most of our cards by using our own images.
Regulatory Constraints

9. This is about making sure the product is up to advertising standard, this means that
the cards need to be very neutral and make sure we don‟t put anything offensive on
the cards.
Some recipe cards have nutritious value on the card so the public who care about
that information can have easy access to it. However, if you lie about this information
then that false advertising and is against the law. We avoided this by not including
the nutritious values on the card as we would not know if they were true ourselves.
Financial Constraints
We had to buy the food ourselves. We made sure we could afford the ingredients by
using the cheapest items available. Although we did find out from our questionnaire
that people would buy products that are medium priced we opted for the cheapest to
ensure we could get hand of all the ingredients required.
I also had to pay for the transport to college. We had to come to college in order to
use Photoshop since none of us have Photoshop on a home computer.
Something that in constrict us was how much it costs to hire people, like chefs and
graphic designers. This meant we had to do it ourselves in order to save money to
stay on budget.
Management:
How did you work as part of a group?
We all worked nicely as a team, completing most of the work together and putting all
of our opinions together to create a product we were all happy with. I was mostly in
charge with the cooking between Charlotte and myself. Hannah worked by herself
because she was unable to attend due to illness.
I did enjoy working as a group because the workload didn‟t feel as much and the
work didn‟t feel difficult to do since I help from the other team members. On the other
hand I think the project will look more similar if one person made all the cards.
Making them look more similar makes them look more professional.
How important is communication when working in a group?
Communication is very important when working in a group. If someone doesn‟t like
an aspect of the product then they need to say something about it. If they don‟t like
that aspect then there is a good chance that other people won‟t and they might
belong to our target audience. Also there is no point making a product that not
everyone in the group is happy with.
What have you learnt about working in a group and how will you apply this to
future practice?
I‟ve learnt that working as a group can be easy when you are friends with the people
but it might be a different case if you aren‟t. I think that when you are working with
friends you are less likely to point out things that are wrong with the work they‟ve
done. This will lower the standard of your work, causing the finished product to

10. lookslightly different from each other, if each card looks slightly different from the
other then it would no longer fit the brief.
In the future I won‟t be afraid to point things out that aren‟t correct. Getting the
product done to a high standard is more important than trying to keep everyone in
the group happy.
What have you learnt about working in to a brief and how will you apply this to
future practice?
I learnt that you need to have a copy of the brief visible while designing and creating
the required product. Whilst writing this evaluation I found out that there was a lot
more requirements than I thought, luckily we had followed them anyway and no
changes needed to be made but this has caused me to pay more attention to the
brief in the future.