This document analyzes the layout, design, and target audiences of various recipe cards and books. It finds that most have a simple layout with the finished product photo on one page and the recipe on the facing page. Colors are usually muted earth tones and layouts are minimalistic. Target audiences can range from families to busy adults to those on a budget. Children's recipes use bolder colors, illustrations and simpler instructions. The document examines differences in recipes for specific audiences like holidays or vegetarians. Overall the analysis provides guidance on effective recipe design for different groups.

1. Jess

3.  With this recipe card the layout is quite simple. This card has been made by the vegetarian society, so it
would be a good card to look at first so we can understand what the company generally look for. In this
card the colour scheme is quite simple, for example there is only whites, greens and yellows used. These
could have been used because they tie in with the photograph of the soup. These colours could have also
be used because they look like natural, earthy colours. Which might seem to tie in with what the
vegetarian society stand for. The layout of this card is quite minimalistic. It has the finished product on
the left in the form of a photograph, and on the right there is the recipe itself. This would make it easier
for people reading this card to understand it, because there isn’t any fancy writing or bold colours. The
words have been laid out on a white background using the green colour that has been used for the rest of
the card. This shows that the card was easy to design and the design team decided to use the same
colours throughout. This recipe card also looks like it’s professionally made, and that the card has been
printed on matte card so it doesn’t lose any colour or become frayed. The photograph that has been
used also looks professionally made. It looks like it has been taken on a slr camera by a professional, paid
photographer. This makes the overall look of the card better and the effect is what we would have to try
to copy in our own cards.

5.  This next example isn’t from a recipe card, its from a book but the layout is the same. It has
the finished product illustrated as a photograph on one side of the page, and the recipe on
the other. This example is even more simplistic then the first. There isn’t any sophisticated
fonts or lettering, and there isn’t any real colour apart from the colour of the photograph.
This type of design and layout would be used in most recipe books, and even with some the
photograph itself is also in black and white. This is useful to a company that is creating
books because it is simple enough to design and print, and it won’t take up a lot of time and
money so they can print it and get it sold as soon as possible. This would be useful to most
companies that are making recipe cards because they could send the finished products out
sooner so they can make a profit. However if the company wanted cards that looked like
they have been planned out and made over a long period of time, then they would have to
include better fonts and a colour scheme. They might also have to print the cards with more
expensive card, so the overall look is better.
 This layout however is the type of layout that would be useful to use in the recipe cards that
we are making ourselves because this would make it easier for viewers to understand. This
is also the layout that every recipe book and card generally uses, so it would be a good idea
to keep to this template.

7.  This recipe isn’t from the vegetarian society, but it has the same layout and design. This
card has the photograph of the finished product on the first page and the recipe on the
second. There is a consistent colour scheme throughout, and the words are the same colour
as the banner on the top and the bottom of the card. This card also has a professional feel
to it, and it looks like it could have been made with the same card as the first to get this
matte effect. The main colour that has been used for this card is red, which is also the
colour of the finished product in the photograph. I’ve noticed that most recipe cards have a
sophisticated font on the right side of the back page, which adds a professional feel to it.
There is also a lot of text used in this example, and it is clearly laid out and is quite easy to
understand. This is generally how the text should look, however it depends on what type of
audience the recipe card is aimed at. For example a company could produce cards aimed
specifically at children. In this case the photography would be done step by step, and there
would most likely be less words and less steps to follow. The recipe books and cards that
are aimed at a higher adult audience who have more money, the ingredients would become
more sophisticated and more expensive, and there would most likely be only one
photograph of the finished product.

9.  This recipe is from the Vegetarian Society. It has the same layout as the others and the
recipe itself follows the same pattern. There isn’t any real differences between the other
recipe and this one, and most of the others that I have looked at from the Vegetarian
Society are the same. There is the same green and white colour scheme as the other card,
and the font is the same. The photograph itself also looks professionally made and the
overall card looks like it would have been printed on matte card. The audience for this
particular card would be quite broad. It would be aimed at vegetarian adults, meat eaters,
people on a budget and people who want to make something special for after dinner.
Having a broad target audience is helpful when making recipe cards because then they
could appeal to more people, and if these cards are being sold then they would sell more
and make a bigger profit.

11.  This card from the Vegetarian Society is different however. It still has the finished product
photographed onto the front of the card and the recipe on the back, but it doesn’t have the
same layout or colour scheme. With this example the photograph takes up the whole front
page, and it leaves a small amount of space at the bottom for the logo. This attracts the eye
to the photograph and it looks less bold than the others. There is also the use of the stars
and baubles. This gives it a seasonal feel to it, which is what the company would have
wanted since the recipe is for a Christmas pie. Another aspect that is different is the use of
colour on the back page. There is a blue colour that is used for the background, and still no
border. This makes the overall look more festive and there still isn’t any bold colours used.
Since this recipe card is for a seasonal food then the overall look is more creative. Even
though we are allowed to be creative when we make our own cards we aren’t allowed to be
too creative and we have to stick to their template.

13.  This example was taken from a recipe book for seasonal recipes. It is quite simple and it
only takes a few steps to make. The layout of this recipe is also quite simple; there is the
photograph of the finished product on one page, and the recipe on the next. There isn’t any
fancy fonts used in this example and background is really plain. This shows that the target
audience would be adults because there wouldn’t need to be any creative elements added
in. from looking at the photograph I could say that the recipe is aimed at people on a
budget. This is because there are objects in the photograph that people can use daily. It
isn’t taken at an expensive restaurant and it could mean that the ingredients would be quite
cheap. Overall this example would be aimed at adults on a budget, because the style and
colour scheme is quite simplistic, but the photography looks quite professional.

15.  This example was taken from recipe book for children, and it shows with the use of creative
aspects like the notebook background and the drawings. This example uses a colour
scheme of green and orange, and even though they aren’t primary colours they are used in
blocks and they are all quite bold. The layout is quite creative, something that you see in
everything that is designed for kids, but there is also the same basic layout as the rest. By
this I mean that the photograph is on one page and the recipe is on the next. This is where
the similarities end however because the words that are used label each stage more clearly
and there is the use of headings that would illustrate more clearly to a child exactly what it
is they are doing. Breaking down the recipe into sections would be common in a children's
recipe card, and if I was to aim a recipe at a younger audience I would use this method and
use more illustrations and pictures to show them how to do it.

17.  This example is quite similar to the last, it has the same colourscheme; green and orange,
and it also has the same layout. This is taken form the same recipe book and it shows that
the whole book is consistent in the way it lays out a page. The recipe is on one page, with
the title at the top, and the recipe at the bottom. There is also drawings and other aspects
to this example that you would only find in a recipe targeted at children, for example the
post it note. This would make it more appealing to children because there is a lot of block
colours and interesting and creative aspects that would draw them in. If a company wanted
to creative recipe cards for children and they made them in black and white with barely any
pictures and a lot of text, then they would become uninterested and they would stop
reading. So using bold colours and drawings would be necessary for a company making
children's recipe cards. Another aspect in this example that would be a necessity for recipe
designed for children would be the use of children's cutlery in the final photograph. In a
recipe card that is designed for adults there would most likely be a wine glass with
expensive looking kitchen utensils, unlike a recipe card that would be designed for kids
where there would be kids sized knives and forks with maybe a face on them like in this
image.

18. This example is quite different then the rest, it
only has one page of both the image and the
recipe and there isn’t many steps to take. This
shows that the recipe itself can be made quite
quickly and it would be most likely be aimed
at a whole range of audience types even
though its for vegetarians. For example it
could be suitable for younger people to make
as well as older, and it could also be suitable
for meat eaters. This recipe is quite common
and because it looks quite simple to make
then it could also be suitable for people who
have a busy lifestyle. When creating my own
cards I could find recipes like this that can be
used by a wh9ole range of people to get a
bigger audience, while still letting it be known
as vegetarian.

20.  This recipe, by the Vegetarian Society, is a festive recipe for Christmas. It has a similar
layout to the other Christmas recipe card for the Vegetarian Society and the overall look is
quite similar. It is most likely aimed at adults that have a lot of spare time, this is shown
with the amount of steps that have been put in. the overall look is quite sophisticated; it
doesn’t have any bold and contrasting colours and the font is quite fancy. The photograph
that has been used looks like it has been taken by a photographer and it looks like it has
been taken in quite a posh setting.