Evaluation

Producing Print Based Media

Visual Language:

CompositionHow have you chosen to set out your designs and why?When deciding how I wanted my recipe cards to look, I designed five different layouts to help me. I initially designed very simple and effective layouts that would be easy to work with and that would be easy to change last minuet if I needed to. The final layout I chose was very simple and had a basic design. On this design, I had decided to make the entire back page of the recipe card an image of the food on the card, with a ‘chefs tip’ featured on top of the image somewhere. The front of the card would have the title for the dish in the top left hand corner, a close up image of the dish in the right hand top corner and then the ingredients and the method where to be underneath this.This is a very simple design but I felt that it would be the design that would be most effective for my target audience of children aged between 4 and 13. I think that the text to image ratio on the recipe cards is well thought out for this audience, by having a well balanced mixture of text and images on both sides of the recipe cards, the child will constantly have a visual opponent to look at to go with the text. I decided on the main bulk of text being on the front of the recipe card because it is straight to the point and allows both the children and the parents the chance to look at both the text and the image on the page. I think that by breaking up the text with images, it will draw in the younger children, who might see text as being boring, and images as being fun and something interesting to look at. It also helped to separate the recipe cards up, making them a lot easy to look at and to read. The bright colours of the cards went well with the colouring of the images and helped to make them more creative looking and therefore more attractive to the children. The second side of the card was very simplistic and only featured a very small amount of text and an enlarged image of the dish. We decided to do this in order to make the cards even more attractive in the eyes of the target audience, who are children. We also did this because during initial planning and drafting, feedback from our peers told us that having a large version of the image on the back of the card was a proffered design which drew in the audience and made them want to see what the recipe was.Image ConstructionDiscuss the contents of your final images and reflect upon decisions made.From the very beginning of our planning, we had decided on using stock images for the recipe cards. We decided this because in order for us to make the recipe cards of good enough quality, we wanted to be able to spend time tweaking the layout and the copy we used on them, without having to worry too much about the images that we used. We also felt that stock images of the food would look more professional, and therefore help our recipe cards have that appearance as well. When looking for our images we tried to find ones that would look like they were part of the same set, we didn’t want a huge variation of images, they needed to be a similar size and

colour quality as each other. The colours that have been used in the images and on the recipe cards them selves vary a lot, we wanted bright, bold and eye-catching colours that would draw in the target audience, and due to our target audience being of a young age, we wanted them to be interesting to look at and creative. By ensuring that we had eye catching colours, we were ensuring ourselves that children would find them fun to look at and would want to look at them more and then maybe even look at the food on them and want to try this food. Each recipe card has a different eye catching colour that went well with the colours in the images on the card. Each card also featured colourful fonts. We wanted the text to stand apart from the colours of the recipe card itself, we decided to use clashing colours for this, such as red and green or yellow and blue, but we also wanted the, to be attractive to the audience. During the production of the recipe cards, we gained peer feedback in which one person said the loved the use of ‘eye popping colours to draw the audience in’’.RepresentationDiscuss the semiotics and connotations created from the content you have included.In the final design, we decided to use bright, bold and in your face colours, which have a connotation of having fun, and I felt that these were related directly to the target audience (children aged 4-13). The bright colouring used is also a great way to attract people to the card as they stand out and look interesting, especially if you were to walk past them in a shop. Each colour on the recipe cards also relate to the dish on that specific recipe card, for example on the veggie burger recipe card, we used green as the primary colour on the card, which is also featured on the burger itself, as the green lettuce shows through very clearly. We also thought that it would be a good idea to find images that have green in them someway, as the green has connotations of vegetarianism, and it also relates back to the vegetarian society, as well as their logo which is featured on each of the cards.Audiences:

Create an audience profile of your chosen demographicThe target audience for our recipe cards are children aged between 4 and 13, who are beginning to learn about the foods they like and don’t like. When creating our recipe cards, we didn’t have a specific gender in mind as we felt that the food we chose to show on the recipe cards weren’t gender oriented, anyone could eat them, for example if we were to do deserts that were mostly pink and featured lots of love heart shapes, then these recipe cards would probably be aimed more specifically at a female audience. Due to the target audience being so young, we don’t have a target geodemographic for them, although if we were to be targeting the children’s parents as well, then they would most likely be ABC1 on the NRS social scale grade. We also never went as far as to discuss the hobbies or sexuality of the target audience due to the young age of them and the fact that the recipe cards weren’t specific enough to need to know these things. Although if I were to think about the hobbies of the target audience now, I would say that they would be energetic sand playful, willing to try new things, whether that be sport or more creative things.How have you constructed your work to appeal to this audience?Use box below for text or page space to include an annotated copy of an example of your work to help illustrate how you have done this. You can use a combination of

the two. We conducted a lot of research in order to discover what our target audience would want from this product, in order to appeal to our target audience, we would have to think seriously about the colours, fonts and copy that we used on the product. We discovered that the colours would have to be bold, bright and eye catching in order for the children to be interested in them at all. We also found that ‘bubble’ writing styled fonts so that the target audience could look at the text and see it as being fun and playful, instead of boring text that they didn’t want to read. We also used minimal copy to try and make the recipe cards seem more image orientated, so as to draw the audience into the product. We constructed the layout of the recipe cards to be very simple; we decided this because we wanted the design to be simple and effective, using the colours as the main tool for attracting the audience’s attention. We had always decided to keep the layout and text simple, concentrating on the font and colours, because these were the two things that were always going to be more attractive to the target audience.

Historical and Cultural Context:

What did you use as your design influences and why were they chosen?There were many different products that helped to influence my designs and the overall look of my recipe card. These existing products helped me to think of an appropriate layout and design of the recipe cards. The main products I found that helped me were children’s books and children’s games. I found that I was hugely influenced by the colours and illustrations used in the children’s books, specifically, ‘The day the world went Loki’ influenced me the most, if was filled with bright primary colours and the layout of the book itself was very simplistic with minimal text.Do vegetarian products have a specific design aesthetic and how does your project reflect/contrast this? Why?When researching vegetarian products, I found that they mostly used a variety of shades of green on their products. I found this in most of the vegetarian products that I analysed and found that it was very common, and was rarely strayed from. I think that this is very stereotypical and in our recipe cards we wanted to stray away from this somehow, by using green but In smaller areas, so that it still showed it was vegetarian but not overtly in your face. Our recipe cards are very bright and colourful, with each one featuring the colour green somehow to relate back to vegetarianism.

Finished Products:

Does your finished product reflect your initial plans? How? If there are any differences, describe why changes were made.We found that our final products ended up looking exactly the way we had panned in our flat plans. The images, text and title were all in the same places as we designed and stayed like this throughout each of the recipe cards.

Does your finished product match what you were set in the brief? How?Our final product meets the brief that we were originally set. We made sure of this by constantly going back and checking the brief to ensure that what we were doing was correct and on the lines of what the company wanted and that we were meeting the requirements. Even though we were always checking, when we had completed our product, we found that we had missed some of the requirements that the vegetarian society needed on these products, for example we didn’t put whether or not these recipes were vegan friendly. Although when we found that we hadn’t done this, we went back at a later date and changed the recipe cards, ensuring that we had these details on them.How did the use of peer feedback help you in your production?The peer feedback we received helped us massively when it came down to final production. We received a lot of feedback that was specifically about the fonts we chose to use, and how they were hard to read with the colours we had chosen. Originally we had used two different fonts for the method and the ingredients, but the feedback we received told us that the ‘method’ part was very difficult to read and that in order to see it properly you would have to really concentrate on the words to be able to understand what it was saying. We took this feedback in and immediately decided to change the font to a more readable one. We then asked for peer feedback once more, and it was established that the font was much easier to read, which made them think that the recipe card was much better. Another piece of valuable peer feedback that we received was regarding the colours we chose to use on some of the recipe cards. Because of the brightness if some of the colours, the audience found it difficult to concentrate on the text, which was also written in bold colours, so we decided to change the more bight and intense colours to lighter/darker shades so that they were much easier to look at.

Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of your final product regarding its technical and aesthetical qualities.I think that the strengths of the recipe cards we designed were that they were

colours, eye catching and attractive which makes them ideal for the target audience. I believe that this is a massive strength because it will help the cards become more popular with the target audience. I think that another strength of the recipe cards is that after editing, they became very easy to read and the instructions are very easy to follow, which is good because of who they are aimed at. Another strength would be that each of the recipe cards are clearly from the same collection, which I think shows how good the planning and designing was, due to the fact that they were produced by two separate people. I feel that the planning was also a great strength of the recipe cards as they wouldn’t have been completed If we didn’t have successful planning.

What skills/knowledge have you gained/developed in this project? How could these be applied in future practice?I feel that my skills in photo-shop have been further developed whilst working on this project. I think that I would now confidently be able to use photo-shop in any of my future endeavours as I feel I have the basic knowledge to be able to complete tasks using it. I also think that I have learnt how to work more efficiently and effectively within a group, including how to plan effectively so that the work is completed to the best of both our abilities. I think that developing my knowledge and skills when planning something has improved greatly, and I will be able to apply this to all thing that I do in the future. Each new skill I have developed or gained can be used in the future, especially in the creative industry.

Production Processes

Do you believe your work is creative and technically competent? Why?I think the recipe cards were

creative due to the

colours and the

images used on them. The colours were bold, bright and

attractive to the audience. I think they were

technically competent because

the recipe cards do the job they were

made to do, and each one features the required details given by the client. A specific example of this is on the first page of the recipe cards, we decided to make the main title curved and have the edges darker as well as having it in a childlike font, which would help to make it more attractive to the audience. We felt that doing this would make the pages more visually impressive, as well as a way of showing which recipe was being shown on this card. Another way we made the recipe cards more creative was by using one main colour on each recipe card, and then using variations of that colour for the text on that card. For example on the ‘veggie burgers’ recipe card we used green as the primary colour, we used this throughout the page, changing the shade of green each time. We also added a dark green border around the edge of the cards in order to make each card look individual but also part of a set.

How effectively did you manage your time?We created a very strict time schedule that we would work by to ensure that each task and page of the recipe card were completed on time. By working to this schedule as well as extensive planning we found that we were completing tasks ahead of time, which would give us time to go back and edit aspects of them and receive feedback for them. I think that we used our time very well and we completed our project on time, with contingency time to go back and edit the cards further.If you could repeat the process what would you do differently?If we were to repeat the project I would try and be even more creative with what we put on the cards and how the cards were designed. I feel like there was too much text and not enough images for the target audience. I might also change the theme and target audience completely, for example having a valentine’s theme recipe card set aimed at an audience of only females. I think that this would make the cards aimed at a more niche market as well as being for a specific time.

Working to a Brief in the Creative Media Industries

Constraints Experienced:

What constraints did you encounter and how did you consider/avoid them?Legal ConstraintsThe legal constraints we would’ve come across would be copyright of the stock images we used and the recipes we used. Both the recipe and images were not our

own and were taken from a vegetarian recipe website. We could’ve prevented having the legal constraints by making the recipes and taking the images ourselves. Doing this would prevent us from having to worry about the images and the recipes not being our own and having to gain permission for them.Regulatory ConstraintsWe didn’t feel that we encountered any regulatory constraints, although one we might have come across was whether or not we were able to use the vegetarian society’s logo on our work. In order to use the logo our recipes must be:- free form animal flesh (meat, fowl, fish or shellfish) meat or bone stock, animal or carcass fats, gelatine, aspic or any other ingredients resulting from animal slaughter.-contain only free range eggs, where eggs are used.-be free from genetically modified organisms (GMO’s)-there must be no cross contamination with non-vegetarian products during the production process.Financial ConstraintsThe financial constraints that we would’ve come cross would be the cost of production, including the distribution of the cards, as well as wages for the staff helping to create them and the printing costs.

Management:

How did you work as part of a group?I found it very difficult working as part of a group due to the fact that my partner was absent for the majority of the pre production work, and again absent for much of the production time. Although I enjoyed being able to share ideas and be able to divide tasks equally between the two of us, I felt that it was kind of pointless because I then ended up doing the majority of the tasks anyways, whether that was improving/re-doing the parts he did or just having to do all of them. It was especially difficult during larger tasks because in order to make sure he was completing the work, I would have to constantly be emailing him to make sure that he knew what he was doing and that he was up to date with tasks that had already been completed by myself. I also had to make sure that I had copies of his work in order to submit them, which weren’t easy to come by as he often took a long time to reply to emails requesting work. A specific example of this would be when we were actually producing our recipe cards, due to us having a lot of pre-production planning, we knew exactly how our recipe cards would look, the layout of them as well as colour and font choices. This didn’t seem to make a difference as I found myself having to change the recipe cards he had designed as they didn’t match the plans, therefore didn’t match the work I had completed. I think that the reason for the differences was because he completed the work at home, therefore wasn’t here to double check what we were doing or be able to compare work with me. Working with this particular person has put me off of working in a group because I felt like I was left to complete the majority of the work independently, so I felt like I was working alone anyways. I also feel that if I had been working independently from the start I would’ve been able to make the cards look more attractive to the target audience, because I would have been spending my time completing late work from other people. I also didn’t like having to rely on someone else to make sure that I would have the work I needed on time. An example of this would be the final recipe cards, I would have to pressure him

constantly to make sure they were don’t in order to be able to submit them on time.How important is communication when working in a group?For us a group communication was very important due to my partner’s absence, on a project like this you need to be able to talk to each other every time you do some work to make sure that your works are matching. With him not being there for the majority of the project, we had to make sure that we were emailing each other to make sure that we were completing work at similar times and to a similar standard. I think that our good communication was the reason that the work was submitted on time and was completed on time, if we hadn’t of been communicating from home then I don’t think our project would have been submitted on time.What have you learnt about working in a group and how will you apply this to future practice?I have learnt that you need to be very clear and organised, knowing exactly what it is that you need to be doing. I think that you also need to be constantly in contact with each other, to ensure that the work produced is matching. I will apply this to future practice by ensuring that who ever I am working with and myself know exactly what we are doing, how it needs to be done and when it needs to be completed by.What have you learnt about working in to a brief and how will you apply this to future practice?By working to a brief I have learnt that clients want a specific thing and you must complete the job how they want it doing. I enjoyed working to a specific brief because it allowed me to be more disciplined in what I was doing, having to make sure that I was complying with the brief at all times, but I was also able to be creative and put my own spin on the work. I will apply this to future practice by ensuring that any work I do is what is asked of me by the brief, and doesn’t differ from that.