The document analyzes recipe cards from the Vegetarian Society to understand their layout and style in order to create new cards that encourage more people to adopt a vegetarian lifestyle. It examines cards for different months that feature seasonal dishes. The writing is concise and formal, using clear images and instructions. The target audience seems to be older vegetarians. The analysis suggests creating brighter, more vibrant cards featuring simpler recipes to appeal to younger people. Meat recipes are also briefly compared, finding they are less formal and allow more room for interpretation compared to detailed vegetarian cards meant to clearly demonstrate recipes.

1. Task 3
Alan Smith

2. The Vegetarian Society
The Vegetarian Society is an educational charity working to support, represent
and increase the number of vegetarians in the UK. They work constructively
with businesses, government agencies, policy makers and professionals, whilst
always remaining independent. They rely on membership subscriptions and
donations to carry out this vital work.
Here I am going to analyze many recipe cards from the vegetarian society, this is
to judge what previous work has been created and how they are set out. This is
in order to create an understanding on how to make my own recipe cards for
this client. Making something new and fresh to encourage more people to turn
to an alternative lifestyle and turn vegetarian.
Here I am looking into a seasonal collection of recipe cards that form together.
In the original documents on the vegetarian society, this has a food recipe for
each month of the year and it is from this where my idea can relate. An idea for
the client and recipe card is that of a set of 8 dishes that vary in colour and taste
to relate to one theme of Best of British for example.

3. The writing style is concise and very formal in the way it is put
forward. It is brief because it needs to be easy to follow and
not complex for the people following. The content has all that
is needed and does not explain in depth what is needed to do,
leaving the creator to be imaginative. The use of font again
suggests that it is a formal and aimed at more of middle class
people. The content of the food backs this up as it is aimed at
a much older demographic of people.
The photography again suggests that it is
targeting an older audience by the use of
the square dish and also the image
contains two or three simplistic colours
implying that it is more of a sophisticated
meal. Technical details of the
photography are that it is taken close up
meaning all the food can be seen in more
detail, also to enhance the detail a larger
aperture has been used so that depth of
field is limited to just the foreground and
where the food is. The lighting in the
image is that of artificial so it can bring
out the different shades of colour in the
food and make it look more appealing.
The layout of the text is that of a
professional manner and the same
use of the font and size suggests that
it does not want to be anything
exciting and bubbly as this does not
match the people it is targeting, that
of an older vegetarian who enjoys
simplistic food.
As you can see the copy writer of
the recipe card has decided to stick
to a very clear way of setting it out.
There are numbers for the methods
on the left hand side as well the
numbers for the amount of
ingredients needed to make the
recipe.
The colour scheme used is
that of having three main
colour components making
the dish. This may be seen as
relating to the theme of the
month which is January and
the creator wants to keep a
natural look to the food. It
may also be interpreted as
being little in colour to
resemble the weather and
starts to get more interesting
throughout the rest of the
seasons and months to come.
The overall appeal looks that it will taste nice and a good start
for new vegetarians that will be starting out. It is portrayed to
target an elderly population of the society, however it can be
a good springboard to learn how to try new things. Being such
a simple recipe and only taking 45 minuets to make and 10 to
prepare.

4. The colour scheme used is that of a variety of
tones and shades. This is to give the impression
that the meal is exciting and vibrant, having so
many aspects to the dish starts to suggest that
it can be eaten by a younger audience then that
of the last meal seen. The image is what is seen
first on the recipe card and should a new
starting vegetarian see this then they would
instantly be intrigued to start looking at it.
The font again is very formal and in relation
to the image. It sticks to the same
throughout as it does not want to take
anything away from the content.
The writing style is not using complex
language and keeping it very brief so that it is
easy to follow.
The technical details of photography used on this
image is that of being a close up, very clear and
may have been taken using a tripod holding the
camera. The shutter speed must have been at a
High setting due to the amount of detail on the
food even when zoomed in. This is important for a
recipe card as it needs to look appetising and may
not do this should it have grains in or pixels.
The layout of the cards are very similar as
they all follow the same rules of, text being
neat and tidy, Clean images that have
captions underneath and having a title the
same colour as some food on the dish.
The content explains what you should do when making the recipe. To criticise the text
on the method I would say that it could be in a bigger font and bolder, this is because if
it is aimed at an older audience, then their eye sight is often not as good as those
younger. So having a clear font such as Calibri and at a size acceptable to read.
The colours used across the recipe card are very similar such as the orange in the title
and the background to the photograph. This may be seen to have an inner meaning
such as applying to the month. As it is April in the month, the orange may be
insinuating that is the sun and bringing some bright suitable food for the occasion.
The food across this collection by the vegetarian society is seen as very formal and
appropriate for an older vegetarian that has been eating these kind of dishes for along
time. Taking this into account, for my recipe cards, having some new ideas that are
more for younger vegetarians would be better. This is because many of these recipes
are dated and need something to them up. Encouraging vegetarians is the task in hand
and these recipes looked at are quite content with keeping their same buyers.
The overall appeal from this recipe card is
that it is a vibrant and colourful dish however
the layout in the card gives the impression
that it is for an older person.

5. The colour scheme used is that of
sticking to 2 main colours. The colours
may have a hidden meaning of relating
to month, such as the red going with
October and Halloween.
The content of the recipe is set in a formal
manner and the writing is very concise, as said
before the text is similar throughout the recipe
collection, And it is this that helps the person
reading them develop and understanding of
consistency. If the text and way it is set out
appears that it has been thoroughly analysed then
the reader will feel more reassured to making the
recipe as they feel that it will more then likely
look like the image on the left hand side. The
ingredients of the recipe again contain food that is
not very popular with young people and again
targeting an older group of vegetarians, ones that
can afford the food to make the recipe. Middle
class families will be targeted as they are more
likely to buy Lentils and sesame seeds.
The font changes through every recipe. Here the
font is a slim and bold style, one that is similar to
the food on the left hand side. Not only does it
match in colour and tone but the way it is
presented can show similarities. It is very slick and
clean. Like the sweet chili sauce.
Overall the product is up to a very high standard
and will as it may have already, have many
readers on the vegetarian society website. The
clear nature of how it is set out throughout each
recipe is commendable and the way the images
are all similar in technique yet so different in
content is very well done. However, to attract
more people into these recipe’s and stop them
being so dated would be to making the method
less brief as well considering using different fonts
to attract the reader more.
The details of photography that can be picked up
on from this image is that is has been taken with
a low ISO due to the clearness in the image and
no Noise what so ever featuring in the
photograph. All the images are very similar and
taken by sticking to a certain rule of showing the
front of the food with the surface it is placed on
as well the dish. The camera is zoomed in on the
food and taken at an angle where it looks bigger
then they could be.
The layout of the instructions is seen to
have the right amount of information
needed to make a similar style dish. It
allows room for independence on the
food and how it can be made, but this
is where I disagree. If the person is a
newly starting vegetarian, they may
not take discretion lightly and may
move away from the healthy
alternative. In my opinion the method
should explain exactly how to make
the food and show clear and easy
guidelines showing how you are going
to do it. An issue would be having too
much text but spreading it out and
making it more readable would be a
better way of interacting with the
reader.

6. When looking at another recipe card such as this
one from the vegetarian society themselves, you
can see how it contrasts with the previous set of
cards, here the way in which is it laid out differs
because it allows room for the image again to be
next to method, thus allowing the reader to look
there at what the food is meant to look like rather
than referring to the front page.
On the overall appeal I prefer this style to the
previous as this offers a friendlier approach rather
than a more formal design, this therefore can be
read by a younger audience and giving the food
involved it further backs the claim up. Using
raspberries and a dessert can encourage more
people to become vegetarians then having a lentil
recipe.
The quality of the photography is very good, it is
similar in quality to the previous work, however the
style contrasts. Here the camera has been taken
from above, creating the impression that it is not as
big meaning that you feel you can eat it without
being conscious of putting on weight. Also the style
of the plate and the way it is presented with the
fork suggests it is for many families not just middle
to higher class.
The colour scheme is very stylish as it relates to
having an alternative meal. The use of the colour
green gives the impression of healthy eating and
the wild, may be referring to the raspberries being
freshly picked. It sticks to a few colours such as
white and green because it does not want to take
anything away from the content by making it too
colourful.
The use of the variety of fonts can suggest that the meal has a variety of tastes as well implying
that the higher the font, the more important that is. For example the raspberry tarts being in a
very clear font and size whereas the contact details found at the bottom right being smaller, it
may refer to the importance and relevance in the recipe card rather then overall need for
being there.
I like how this recipe card is not afraid to go away from the basic fonts of Arial and Calibri and
have it’s own unique style. The way the faint writing goes from the top of page to the bottom
makes the card look more personal and adds something different then other recipe’s. Here the
clear guidelines are put in place so you can follow step by step, however this gives you more of
an idea of how you are going to incorporate the ingredients into the image that is seen before
you.

7. Comparing the Recipe’s
When looking at a meat recipe it becomes clear that
presentation is less formal. Many recipes are found in family
homes past down from generation. As so called secret
recipe may occur. This differs from a vegetarian recipe
because it is not as clear in reading the information.
Obviously there are many meat recipe’s in contrast to
vegetarian, but the fact is that vegetarian ones make up for
the no meat by spending time on design and image. This is
because they have more of reason to get people reading it.
With most of the population being meat lovers, the
presentation of the card is not so important as they will
know what to expect already before trying the food. Where
as with new introduced, fresh recipes no one will have seen
anything similar before and some may be put off. The use of
photography is therefore important as this can explain a lot
instead of words, showing exactly what it can look like.
The recipe, like many meat ones is less formal in the way it
is presented and the method is less organised as the
vegetarian cards. This is because there is a change in fonts
and he way it is laid out on the card. The images are often
close up to the food so you can see the meat at much detail.
Unlike the vegetarian cards which allow room for
presentation and show the surface on where the dish is, to
offer a much greater understanding on who it is targeting.
These meat recipe’s offer a brief insight to the dish and how
you could make it, allowing room for discretion, whereas
the vegetarian ones have simple steps that you can follow.