Recipe card design

Research

This recipe card will be aimed at an older audience as the language is formal and sentences are written properly. The formal language will appeal to an older audience more as slang and abbreviated words will be something an older audience is not familiar with. The title font is simple but clear and the font at the side is formal which gives the whole appearance of the cards a much more sophisticated look, as well as the food. The clear font will easily catch the eye of any audience as it is easy to read and the white stands out clearly against the green. The first page of the recipe card has a large image and not a lot of text which will attract the eye more compared to one with a lot of text. The image itself appeals to an older audience as it looks like a complicated, sophisticated dish, something you would find when eating out and I don’t think this would really apply to young people who want to cook as some younger people may be starting cooking for the first time. The image shows a small, delicate looking desert with fancy cutlery and a napkin underneath; something commonly associated with restaurants. This will help to appeal to the audience as this helps the recipe card look more sophisticated and formal. The colours of the cards are quite dull and basic and everything is set out clearly but the colour green also works well with the reds in the image which brings the recipe card together. The colours are not overly in your face and stand out quite subtly. Colours that are more bright and stand out at you I think represent how quick the meal can be cooked and shows some kind of urgency. I think the darker colours in this recipe card show that this meal should have some time taken on it when cooking and eating as the colours are not as in your face and don’t scream urgency at you. The image on the front says ‘fine dining’ and looks neat and well presented. The words used are descriptive and tells the audience exactly what needs to be done in full sentences. This recipe card will not be aimed at children as the instructions are not short and simple but long and descriptive. They do not use language that children understand and the recipe is a little too advanced for children. The colours do not stand out and catch children’s eyes either.

This card will appeal to a more younger audience. It uses bright colours to catch the eye as does the title ‘perfect pasta’. This will appeal to a younger audience as they may need more persuading to cook themselves or cook all together. The bright colours will also persuade a younger person to look at the card and the colours will then guide the eye to the rest of the recipe card. The headings aren’t just on a straight line, but are slanted, in pale boxes or on their side. This appeals to the audience by making cooking and the recipe itself seem fun, laid back and easy as well as helping the heading stand out against the busy image. The font is bold and sans serif which helps the recipe seem easy as well as helping the heading be easy to read and stand out. A serif font may have looked a little to formal for a younger audience as well as be hard to read against the picture background. The image looks as though the food has been served in someone’s kitchen compared to a posh restaurant. This gives the recipe card the ‘home cooking’ look as well as the quick and easy look which the colours give it. The instructions are set out clearly using bullet points and paragraphs and the language is simply and easy to read. This gives the recipe a sense of ease and can be made up quick. This is something a younger audience will be interested as they may always be on the go and not have a lot of time for a full cooked meal. The ingredients are in bold which also catch the eye.It is also a good idea to put two recipes on one card. This makes both the recipes seem simple and easy.

This recipe card is set very simply. On the front it shows what the finished recipe will look like and what ingredients you will need. It shows clear simplistic images and the copy is clear and easy to read. The black background makes the lighter colours of the text stand out and it catches they eye. The black background overall adds a sense of sophistication to the recipe cards. The colours is not to in your face, but stands out enough for you to notice it. I also think the black background makes the recipe seem more expensive than it is. Although this would be a good layout for a younger audience, as it is very clear and makes the recipe seem easy the images and the ingredients themselves make the card look more formal and sophisticated. The ingredients shown are obviously not value ingredients and they look very precise; something that you couldn’t just throw together. This alongside the formal serif font which is also set out precisely and clearly, makes the recipe look upper class and sophisticated. This tells me that this is aimed at an older and more experienced in cooking audience. The images on the second side which go with each instruction to me looks as though it would work better in a children’s recipe. However, I also think the images show exactly what the recipe should look like when cooking and if it doesn’t look like this your doing it wrong. This is something an older, more experienced audience wouldn’t have trouble with. The actual instructions are clear easy, easy-to-do pictures with clear copy to explain what is happening. They are clearly numbered so that it is easy tell which you do first. This recipe would appeal to an audience with an age from mid 20- 30’s that want to try something different and fun. It may also appeal to an audience who enjoy dinner parties and high class meals. This would non really appeal to an audience of the working class.

These recipe cards appeal to children and are mainly found on children’s educational websites. You can tell they appeal to children as they are written in bold and big letters and the font is not too formal. The font uses a mixture of different styles and colours, something which makes the recipe stand out as being fun and easy which something educational would not seem on it’s own. The title is written in a playful font with playful colours/patterns. It has used the words ‘monster’ and ‘horns’ to appeal to children (most likely boys) to make the food and the cooking process fun and like they’re playing a game. It has used funny characters to encourage the child and make it playful. The use of cartoon pictures over photographs also appeal to a child audience. They will be able to relate to a cartoon as most things they look at, like television, will have cartoons on them. Cartoons will be something they feel comfortable around and it will disguise the fact they are learning while cooking. The use of characters makes the recipe seem as though the characters have written this recipe themselves. Children’s imaginations will thrive from this. The colours a bright and catch the children's eye. However they do not go over board with colours as this would distract a child’s eye and the recipe would then not be as clear. They use clear bullet points to show the instructions so the children find it simple to read and follow. The instructions also include clear safety instructions- something which a child would need to know. You also would not find this type of information on a recipe card designed for adults as they will not have to learn about safety in the kitchen.

This recipe card is good for women/men with families. It tells you how to make decent sandwiches that may come in handy for pack ups or days out. It shows clear recipe ideas for hot and cold dishes. This is good for families, especially large families as not everyone will want the same thing and may be looking for more than just the basic cheese sandwich. The recipe offers many different types of sandwich which makes it easier to cater for a lot of people. It has 3 main images that show the recipes and how they look when finished. The front page shows two large images of both hot and cold sandwiches. This will help to appeal to the audience as there is little text. The images will stand out against the light coloured background. The images also show the sandwiches looking appealing and show what they look like on the inside as well as the outside. This will appeal to the audience by persuading them to look with the tasty looking food. The images can also be used to spring some inspiration and will persuade them to look inside for more ideas. The images also show the sandwiches looking pretty simple, especially on the first image the sandwiches are shown clearly stacked in layers which makes the recipe seem easy and simple. The title is written in lowercase letters and this makes it easy to read as well as make the recipe look laid back and easy. The colours used on the recipe card appeal to an audience with families. The colours are basic beige, oranges and white which comes across as simple, something that can be related to a sandwich. The ‘cold’ is written in blue and ‘hot’ is written in red which indicates the temperature of the food and this catches the eye.

This recipe card will appeal to middle aged women who want to ‘try something new’. It will mainly appeal to women as it uses feminine, light colours like pinks and blues. This can be seen clearly with the use of the floral and feminine napkin. The muffins look small and dainty and perfect for ‘afternoon tea’- something normally related to women. The use of the mug and pattern in the image makes the recipe look really relaxed- like it is perfect for after work or while at work. It makes what could be a complicated recipe seem that much easier as they can have a cup of tea with them after they have been made. The muffins are shown on a pink and blue mat, patterned with flowers which also appeals to women. Women also have a lot of weight loss products aimed at them and although this isn’t one of them it appeals to them more as the cakes seem completely innocent. This is achieved by the use of the light colours and how big the muffins look on the card. The font is informal and clear and easy to read. The copy uses a serif font making it clearer for the eyes to read. Although the font is serif (usually related to formal looking stuff) it is bold and in a bright colour. This adds a bit of style and jumps out at an audience that are looking for a little more than just a cake. As the font is casual it also makes the recipe seem as though they won’t take much time to make and this will appeal to an audience of women as they may not have the time to bake a big fancy cake. The font say that this isn’t just a big, expensive cake but a little treat that is just as good and takes half the time. ‘Take me home’ is written in capital letters and is in an orange circle which looks like it is jumping off the page. This attracts the audience’s attention. I am assuming this is only the front page to the recipe card and if so they have fitted a lot onto it including the list of ingredients. This will appeal to the audience as it gets straight down to business. There is no need to stop and read a paragraph about why these cakes are good- the picture say it all so go and buy the ingredients.

These recipe cards are for young girls to do with their mothers. You can tell this straight away by the use of the girly, playtime colours and the image of the girl and her mother. The instruction numbers and background on the images are pink/purple which are colours which are normally associated with girls. The images of what the recipe needs pops out of the page which will attract the eye of the young audience. Using images of food they will know such as chocolate bars, cakes and ice-cream will also help to appeal to the audience as this something they will want and crave. The images also show the young girl and her mother looking really happy while they cook. This appeals to the audience by making the whole process look fun and like playtime. It has bright colourful pictures and clear and easy to read instructions. There are also only 2 or 3 instructions with each recipe. This will help the younger audience to understand and learn due to the lack of long, complicated instructions all cramped on one side. The pictures help explain what to do easily by showing a girl of the same age of the audience doing each instruction clearly as well as making it look easy. The colours will appeal to children and make them think that cooking is fun and the images of the food will be something that attracts a young audience as everything looks sweet and like a treat. The food uses bright colours themselves such as pink and yellow and this will attract a young audience especially an audience of mainly young girls. The font used for both the name of the recipe and the instructions all look as though someone of a young age has written it. This font will attract the audience as it makes the cards on a whole seem as though they are relaxed and fun. The font will also make the audience believe that the recipe is easy and as though it has been written by kids for kids. The use of a sans serif font makes the recipe card seem more unintimidating than it already was- something which a serif font wouldn’t due to it looking to formal and proper for children.