Veganuary Evaluation

Hannah Woollaston

Planning

When I first started thinking about my booklet and how I was going to go about creating, I began to make notes on the pages and what would go on each of the twelve pages. I also thought about the colour scheme and I decided on soft, pastel colours as I thought that would make the leaflet look happy and appealing and make the subject of ‘going vegan’ less daunting to the audience, I also decided use pale/pastel colours because i found, through looking at Veganuary participant statistics, that my target audience are predominantly female, so I decided to use a style and colour scheme that would appeal to them but still appeal to men- to help get them on board. I also started to think about fonts and what would suit my booklet and tested them out, I think doing this planning allowed me to stay on track with production and made creating the things to go in it easier because I had a clear idea of what I wanted the leaflet to be like.

When looking at articles and pieces of writing on websites, I ensured that I looked at a range of writing for different ages and demographics so that I got an idea of how to write to suit a certain audience, I think this helped me greatly when writing my article because I was able to tailor the style of writing to appeal to my audience so they are more likely to want to read the articles and then take the information in.

I also started my Veganuary project by doing a lot of research, I began by looking at vegan websites and charities along with articles about veganism and celebrities who are vegan, I think this helped me to understand what writing was accurate and what wasn’t, I also think that by educating myself more about veganism it helped me when working on my actual booklet as I knew what to put in and what not to put in, as well as what's true about veganism and what isn't it.

I also started to research into Veganuary as a charity more because I thought this would help me to create a better piece of work as I would be more informed about what they are trying to achieve so I could replicate this in my leaflet. As well as planning what wanted to say in my leaflet, I planned what I was going to do on each page, this helped my because I worked put how many pages each topic would take up so I knew by the end of planning and creating I would have enough to fill the booklet- I think doing this helped me to maintain a higher standard of work because I didn’t have to worry and create last minute graphics quickly to fill any left over pages.

‘Words of encouragement’ page

I began to plan my words of encouragement page after I received all my interviews/questionnaires back from the vegan bloggers, I originally planned on just using one interview for my multi page spread but I still sent about 8 out as I thought that was better than just sending one and not getting a response, I received a lot more back than I thought I would, and I had some really good answers to my question ‘Finally, Do you have any words of encouragement for those thinking about becoming vegan? ’ so I decided to use them all and that enabled me to fill another page.

I also think that going along the lines of a words of encouragement page and a nice tone to my booklet was better than going down the route of harsh and hard-hitting facts because it makes my booklet easier and nicer for my audience to read, making it easier for them to take the information in and if they like what they hear they are more likely to take it on board and then act for it.

I decided to create words of encouragement as I thought actual vegans saying what they thought and their own ‘words of encouragement’ would be the most reassuring thing for someone to hear if they were thinking about going vegan- and I also think this idea is very motivational for the reader- especially if they were very close to becoming vegan, I think reading something like this would be really encouraging.

As for the planning and creating of this, I decided I wanted to position it near the end of the booklet so that it was one of the last things the reader sees when reading or flicking through the booklet, I thought this would be effective position because if its one of the last things they see In the booklet they are likely to remember it and the words of encouragement should stay with them- hopefully encouraging them to go vegan.

As for the design of the page, I stuck to the pastel/pale colours that I used throughout- as this kept my booklet looking consistent and professional. I also kept to the modern but happy and approachable feel on this page because I felt that by creating a booklet which seemed happy, it made the topic more accessible for the audience who might be struggling with the decision of going vegan. I made this page have that feel by featuring pictures of the bloggers and their names/instagram names so the people knew the comments were real, I did this so it was reassuring for my audience.

‘Words of encouragement’ page

I also made the page have an accessible/happy feel by using pictures of the blogger where they are all smiling, this makes the audience feel better and gives off the right message that I wanted my booklet to have, it is also likely to make the audience think further about going vegan because they page is very happy and positive which would be encouraging for something thinking about going vegan.

Also, I decided to leave the bloggers instagram address as my target audience are an age group where they are likely to use social media the most so by providing them with instagram names, It is somewhere they can follow up their curiosity and check out there instagram pages to see what being vegan is really like and the meals you can create. This is also good because it provides my readers with somewhere else they can access further information.

I also think making the font a hand-written style was a good choice because it feels more genuine, making the reader more likely to trust the information being provided.

I also wrote a small description on the top of each page, including this one, which acts like a short introduction so the audience have an idea of what is on each page quickly, I did this to make the design of the leaflet better so if the reader was looking for something specific in it, maybe to show someone something or to just find a particular piece of information quickly, they would be able to find it easier as they can just read the short description to see if its on that page or not, this helps to make my booklet more accessible for the reader.

As for any feedback I received from people that would be in my target audience, It was all positive: ‘The words of encouragement page is great, you get to read an actual story, which will help influence meat eaters to turn vegan.’

Words of encouragement page

When comparing my ‘words of encouragement’ page to other vegan leaflet pages, created by other organisations I chose the compare and contrast to a poster Veganuary produced to put out on social media as motivation for the people taking part.

As much as the topic of the poster is very different to my words or encouragement page because the Veganuary poster uses hard facts which I chose not to use in my leaflet because I wanted it to have a nicer, welcoming feel, the fonts used are quite similar because they both use the hand written/unusual fonts.

The colours used on both my leaflet page and the Veganuary poster are similar because they are both simple colours, I used simple colours in my booklet so that they didn’t distract from the message or topic that was being discussed on that particular page. I think veganuary have also done that for a similar reason as they wouldnt want to distract from the seriousness of the facts they had wrote on the poster, however they could of also done this to add some colour to the poster.

Another similarity in the poster and leaflet page is the motivational part to it, they both feature motivational writing which is effective in encouraging the reader to become vegan or stay vegan in the veganuary posters case.

I am happy with this page and i would say its one of my favourites, after my multipage spread because i am really happy with how that turned out, but i dont think i would change anyhting on this page because i am happy with the colour scheme and the layout- which took quite a long time to sort out as the instagram names are quite long and wouldnt fit on the space i wanted them to so i had to rearrange and move where they are positioned to the bottom of the image.

Infographic

My infographic was one of the first things I created as I knew I needed to feature one in my booklet, I came up with a number of ideas (which can be seen in my planning stages) one of which was a ‘How to get everything you need from a vegan diet’ and the other being ‘the top 5 vegan cities’. I decided to go with the top 5 vegan cities as it was the most concise and professional one, it also fit the style and feel of my booklet better than the more health based one because it is more light hearted and fun, which I wanted my booklet to be like because I knew that would be more appealing to my target audience.

When researching the facts for my infographic, I made sure to look at a lot of different sources for example I used Trip advisor and looked at a lot of different vegan websites which had information about the best places to travel on. In the end I found a site which held an awards system and they had a poll on which vegans could vote for cities they though were the best and I then used the top 5 from that site because it seemed trustworthy and their statistics were similar to others I had seen.

When researching infographics I liked that a lot of them used the same colour for everything on the infographic e.g. writing and graphics were in the same colour family with just a slight variation in shade so you were still able to see the writing. I decided to do this on mine to make it look more professional like other infographics out there, I also think this is effective because with it being like other vegan infographics it should be more recognisable to my audience so they immediately know what it is.

For the colour of my infographic, I chose to use blue for a number of different reasons, one being that because it is about travelling to different places, the blue, to me, connoted the sea and travel which I thought would pass on to the readers as an extra little detail- making it seem more professional. Another reason why I chose blue was because I wanted it to fit in with the rest of my booklet, which as I have mentioned previously, has a simple colour scheme of pale/pastel colours.

As for the font, I used the same one as I have throughout my booklet so that it was consistent. I particularly think the hand-written style works well on this page because it fits the informal-ness of the infographic well, it also works well because it is easy to read so it means the reader can get the information they need from it easy and quickly.

Infographic

When planning and creating my infographic, I had a clear idea of what wanted it to look like. Many other infographics use simple graphics which are just one colour with no detail, and this is something which I wanted to replicate in my own as I like that art styles and because the simplicity of it doesn’t distract from the facts which are obviously the main point of infographics.

I think my infographic suits my audience because I have written the information in a way which would appeal to them, using language which is usually associated with younger generations. I have also used short sentences which help appeal to them because its not too much information to take in. I also think my infographic will appeal to my audience because it is based on travelling which is something that my teenage/young adult target audience are likely to want to do.

In terms of time management, my infographic took me the least time (apart from my back cover) to create as the graphics are so simple in design, this enabled me to make up some time as I fell behind on my schedule in the first week when my front cover took me a lot longer than planned., I was then able to use the time I had left over to dedicate to checking everything and make sure I was happy with it at the end.

The feed back I received on my infographic was all good, with a lot of people saying its their favourite aspect of my booklet, including the people from veganuary, when looking at the responses from my feedback a lot of people said they liked the colours and fonts used and thought that the art style went well with the rest of my booklet. ‘The infographic is really smart and suits the rest of the booklet. Its one of the strongest pages in the booklet.’

Infographic

When comparing my infographic to other similar products, I have found a vegan infographic that has some similarities and some differences to the one I have created.

The topic of the infographic is different to mine but i did think about doing one like this before I came up with the vegan cities idea because I found it is a common vegan myth that they struggle to get the things their bodies need such as protein and nutrition, however I decided to go with the vegan cities idea because I thought it was more ‘fun’ which was the feel I wanted to my booklet so that it appealed to my target audience more.

A similarity in the two infographics would be the text used, although it isn’t exactly the same, I used a hand-written style font and so has the protein one. A particular similarity in fonts is that we have both used a different font for the focus word/most important word on the poster e.g. I made ‘vegan’ larger and in a different font because I wanted it to stand out more from the other writing on the page, I also did this so it filled up some of the empty space I had on the page, the protein poster creators have also done this, I think they have done this because they wanted to make the poster more eye-catching and aesthetically pleasing rather than to fill up space like I did.

Fact File

The idea for my fact file came quite easy as I knew I wanted to create something that would appeal to my teenage/young adult audience and instead of doing a fact file on vegan myths etc. I thought that ‘vegan celebrities’ would be more interesting and if their ‘favourite celebrity’ Is vegan, that may encourage them to go vegan themselves if they are already thinking about doing it. I also thought that if my target audience picked this booklet up to flick through they are more likely to take it with them if they see something of interest in there.

A problem I encountered during making this Fact file was getting an image for each celebrity which was taken in a similar style so that the images where consistent to help make the booklet look professional. Another struggle during production was finding an image of a celebrity that wasn’t really close up, this was an issue with some of the more popular celebrities I featured like Ellie Goulding because a lot of the images are close up pap shots but I wanted full length ones that weren't too close up so when I cropped them to fit them in polaroid outline they weren’t too close up.

I wanted the art style of my fact file to be like a scrap book or a teenagers wall with posters on etc. so that it was more appealing to my audience and more familiar to them so they found the information in the fact file and subject of veganism easier to take in. In the feedback I received it appears I have managed to make it seem like that: ‘? Its really cool, it’s kinda like a kind stalker or budding journalist has covered her bedroom walls in pictures of vegan celebrities – using little polaroid prints and rough sellotape – in a good way though!’

Again, as I am trying to appeal to a teenage audience I wanted the information to be easy for the audience to take in and exciting/interesting for them to read, from the feedback I have received from people the age of my target audience they all said that I had managed to write it in a way they found interesting to read: ‘It adds a very personal touch – again like I mentioned earlier, it veers away from the official boring facts and instead looks like passion and excitement has been used to collect the info!’. This was exactly the feedback I wanted to hear because, with it being from someone the age of my target audience, if that person likes it- it is likely other people their age will.

Fact File

A similar fact file I found was on the same topic but varied in style, I found it on a website because I could find any versions which were made for posters of leaflets which is one reason as to why it varies from mine.

A similarity to mine would be the image style it uses, square images I think help to make both of the fact files smarter and more professional looking. The fact file I found online is also similar to mine because it has quotes underneath the images which is that particular celebrity saying why they decided to go vegan.

However, a major difference between the two would be the colours used, I think mine is a lot more vibrant and eye-catching which makes it nicer to look at and read, (which was mentioned in some feedback I received from someone in my target audience: ‘The factfile colour scheme is really nice and helps give the information in a more aesthetically pleasing way.’ whereas the one featured online Is quite dull and plain with just a white background and black text, this would maybe be aimed for an older audience who wouldn’t really care what it looked like.

The font used in for the text of my booklet is in a hand written style and is quite casual/informal whereas the one used online is quite boring and like a typical ‘Arial’ font etc. which isn’t very eye catching and it doesn’t make the information anymore interesting or nice to read for the audience.

As I mention previously we have both included quotes as to why that celebrity is vegan, mine are in depth and some of them are quite lengthy so I am able to provide the reader with as much information as possible to help make my booklet more professional and informative whereas the other factfile just has short sentence quotes like ‘I just decided, no’ I get that way of doing it is more concise but I don’t think the reader would be interested by that enough to keep on reading the rest of their factfile.

I have laid the images out in my fact file so they are slightly tilted each way, I think this helps to make the page just a bit more interesting and adds more small details to my booklet, the way the other factfile have displayed their images is more of a grid layout, this looks professional but is slightly basic and boring for the reader.

Multipage Article

When planning my multipage article I decided I wanted to do it in an interview style, as this is a style of writing I am comfortable with and I have experience in so I thought I would be able to write an interesting piece for the reader. I began doing some research into what vegan bloggers is could interview, I looked on instagram and a lot had emails I was able to contact them on, I wrote a set of 11 questions and emailed out 8 copies to different bloggers, I emailed out 8 copies because I thought I would be lucky if I got one response but I ended up get five replies- even though I didn’t use all 8 I was able to use those other responses for other things in my booklet (words or encouragement page) and getting so many responses also helped educate me on veganism which I think has helped my booklet seem more professional because I now have a better understanding of the topic.

When thinking what questions I could ask the bloggers I tried to keep in mind what I thought would be most beneficial and persuasive for my reader to hear, so I tried to ask positive questions which I knew would get a positive response from them, so I asked questions like ‘What is the best thing about being vegan, in your opinion?’ because I thought any answer I get to that will be positive/inspiring for the reader so would possibly encourage them to go vegan which is the aim of my booklet. Other questions I asked the blogger, I asked to get more of an informative type of response from them so that my reader actually learnt something from the article instead of it just being a pushy piece of writing, trying to get them to go vegan a question I asked to gather that sort of information was ‘Do you think that companies and brands accommodate for vegan customers well? Or is this something that still needs to be improved upon?’ this got a really strong response from most bloggers as most thought that a lot could be improved but they also put a positive spin on it by saying that they often see new vegan meals coming out all the time in there favourite restaurants and that soon get used to looking out for things that are suitable for vegans so it gets easier in that sense- which is still persuasive for my audience without being off putting for them.

The design of my article is something that I wanted to suit the style of the interview and the blogger themselves so my article looked more suited and well put together, I used images taken from the bloggers instagram and twitter page, I also included a lot of images of the blogger herself so that my audience could see the person who was giving them the information- out of curiosity, a lot of other magazines and leaflets do this as well so it helped my article to look more professional. The other images I used where also all taken from her instagram to keep the style of the images the same to make my images more consistent throughout the pages of the article, I also turned the images on there sides slightly so they weren't straight, this helps to make the pages more interesting, it also appeals to my target audience as some feedback I received states: ‘wonky pictures and birds eye photos of food scream ‘im 17 and I love food – freedom and animals’! – the perfect target audience’. The colour of the pages the article is on is lilac, I did this to suit the style of the interview which ended up being quite girly, just because of how bubbly the blogger was, however it also helps to appeal to my teenage target audience as the feedback previously states.

Multipage article continued…

For the font of my multipage article I used a standard black font, because I had a lot of writing in one space so I wanted it to be easy for my audience to read- although this does look quite plain I think it works well, because it is easier to read, meaning my audience are more likely to take in the information and act on what she has to say. To make some of the writing more interesting I decided to use a sketchy/hand written font the pull quotes, this helped the font fit in with the girly feel that started to happen in the article, I also made them a deep purple colour so they stood out so when the reader saw them they would be intrigued- making them want to read the rest of the article to find out more.

After a lot of planning and creating different versions of the article I decided I wanted to write it up in a journalistic style instead of a Q and A because I thought this looked more professional and helped me to fill up more pages in my booklet. When writing my article I looked at the answers she had provided me with and then wrote it up to make it sound more like a proper interview, it also helps to make the article more informative for the reader. I think writing the article in a journalist style also helped the article flow better from topic to topic instead of a harsh stop and start between a Q and A style article.

As for layout of the text in my booklet I wanted it to be in different places on each page but for it still to flow from paragraph to paragraph so the information is easy to get and take in for the audience, I like that it moves about and isn’t in the same place on each page because it makes the pages and the article as a whole more interesting.

The images I used in my article are only of food and the blogger herself so they are suitable for all ages, instead of being the usual harsh images you might find on Peta’s website where they tend to be quite powerful images which show what happens on farms etc. I used images which had a nicer connotation to them because I think it makes my article readable for any age, helping to keep my target audience open. The style of images I have used also fit the style of my booklet better because I think if I had used harsh images on this page it would be random and unexpected and could put the reader off reading any further.

As for any improvements I would make to my multipage now I have seen it finished, I would maybe think about changing the font because it is quite boring and basic at the minute and I think it would benefit from being in font that would better suit the rest of the booklet, something like Helvetica etc. because that has quite a modern feel to it which I feel would of gone with my booklet better because it’s a thin font and is easier to read.

Multipage article continued…

When comparing my multipage article to another multipage article to do with veganism I have found some similarities and some differences between the two. I think the meat vs vegan article uses more variations of colour than me e.g. the blues, greens and reds. Whereas I have chosen to stick with just the one main colour through the multipage article, I chose to do this so that it is obvious to tell what pages belong in the multipage article and which ones don’t because I thought it could get confusing for the reader if the are all different throughout (I chose to keep the page colours the same per topic e.g. both pages of the fact file are yellow)

I have also chosen to use more pastel and pale throughout my booklet and on my multipage article because I think it makes the information easier to read and taken in, especially when there is a lot of writing on the page- as there is on my article pages. However, they have chosen to use a lot more vibrant colours , I think this looks good because it helps to make the page stand out, however I think you would have to really focus on the text to be able to take it in properly.

Even though I have used a lot of images in my own article, they are a lot smaller than the meat vs vegan page as the design of that page is made around two large images, which I like because it is eye-catching, however I think it distracts from the information.

The font they use is also quite bold/powerful which would suggest they are eager to get the point across which could come across quite pressuring to the reader. I chose to use a light and hand written looking font because I thought that suited my booklet and would appeal to my target audience. The only similarity in font would be that they vary from bold to italic fonts to make the page more interesting, this is something I have done in my own booklet and on my multipage article.

Front cover

My front cover probably took the longest out of everything to create as I basically lost the first week of production to this, it was because there were so many layers to the document so it was time consuming and made my computer and laptop slow. When creating my front cover, I had to rotoscope 9 different vegetables/fruits/animals that I could put together to make a collage to fill to brain shape I had created on the cover, I started by just rotoscoping fruit and vegetables but then as I started to piece together to cover I realised it looked more like a healthy eating booklet so I decide to add in some animals as well so it made it more clear to my audience (after reading the title) what the booklet is about. I then had to duplicate each animal whenever I wanted to use it again somewhere else on the cover which meant I ended up with a lot of layers.

I got the idea of using the outline of a head and a brain because I thought that becoming vegan is a big decision and it is something which takes a lot of thinking about because it isn’t just changing your diet, its about changing your clothes and lifestyle etc. as well. So I thought using a brain as the front cover this displayed that decision process white well but also in an interesting way which will appeal to my target audience.

Even though using graphics to fill the brain shape to a lot of time and effort, I’m glad I chose that instead of filling it with words that related to veganism as I think you see that a lot of posters and leaflets so using graphics makes mine a bit different and I think its more eye catching compared to using words as the detail and vibrancy of the colours used draws the viewer in, making them more likely to pick a copy up. When looking at my feedback, someone that would be a part of my target audience said: ‘I really like what you have done with the front cover. You’ve took an image which represents where our brain is, and instead of filling it with thoughts, you filled it with vegetables which helps the audience know exactly what they will find in this booklet from just looking at the picture.’ which I agree with and is the exact response I wanted my audience to have when looking at it.

I decided I wanted to keep the amount of text on the front cover as minimal as possible and just have the title on there and let to graphics I had created draw the audience in. As for the font I decided to use two for my title to create an eye catching, contrast. I used a hand written font and then for the most important word on the cover I used a bolder and bigger font to catch the readers eye. I also decided to use a different colour to pull the word ‘vegan’ out of veganuary to make it bolder and more obvious to the reader.

Front cover continued…

The colours I have chosen to use on my font cover are pale and fresh, this makes it more related to the topic the booklet covers and also makes it more appealing to viewer/reader as its not to vibrant and in your face.

As for any improvement I would make now that I have finished, I would make my cover have a bit more detail to it because apart from the brain it looks quite plain everywhere else. I would maybe add more to the outline of the face because If I would’ve had longer I would’ve used the graphics I rotoscoped to fill the whole face because I think that would look really eye catching and interesting but that would’ve taken even longer than it already did.

When comparing my front cover to another vegan leaflet front cover I have found one which is similar to mine in the sense it uses graphics instead of real life photography of fruit etc. I decided to do this because it is easier to create your own art style in graphics than it is to take images of different things and try and make them all look similar in terms of style. I also think using graphics is more of an iconic style for leaflet covers.

As for the amount of detail on the cover they are both quite plain but still eye catching which I think works well, even though I would improve mine by adding a little bit more detail.

The colours are also quite similar on both covers because they both use pale/washed out colours which I think has a nice, calming feel about which could help to make the subject easier to take in for the reader.

I think the font is quite different compared to mine as I think the one they have used is quite difficult to read as its not the clearest of fonts, they have also chosen the place the text at the bottom of the page- whereas I have put mine at the top so it is eye catching and draws the reader in. it also ensures they see the writing straight away so they immediately know what the booklet will be about.

Back page

When planning the back page of my booklet I did sort of leave it to the end of my planning but I knew I wanted to create a page where people could find out more information after reading my booklet as I thought that my booklet may of raised some questions that they need answering before they decide to go vegan. So, when planning this page, I thought about what websites I had used the most when trying to find out more about veganism and which ones I had found to be the most helpful and accurate.

The ones I thought were the best were:- The Vegan Society- I included the vegan society on the back page because they are one of the most popular, trustworthy

and established websites about veganism there is and they have a lot of informative information about when to get your nutrition from and how to stay healthy as a vegan.

- Vegan.com- I included this one because they have a lot of help and support to help people stay vegan after trying veganuary which would be useful for my audience if they decide to do veganuary.

- The Vegan Resource Group- I thought this site would be beneficial to my audience because they have the largest online resource of vegan recipes for people to use, which would help my audience find out things they can eat when going vegan because I think that is a common worry/question that people have when thinking about going vegan.

As for the colours used on the back page I decided to make it the same as what my Multipage spread, if I had the chance to improve or change anything, I wish I had used a different colour for this because that is what I have done for all the other pages and I think it works well with each topic being the different colours.

I decided to use the same hand written looking font for the headings because I have used that font throughout my booklet and It helps to make it look more consistent and professional, I think that font also helps to appeal to my teen target audience because its quite casual and informal.

Back page continued…

The feedback I received on my back page was mixed and I agree with both comments because I do think my back cover could be improved to be made a bit more interesting but I also think it is good in other respects because it is very informative. One comment I received was: ‘I think the back cover could be improved slightly, I think you need to think about it a bit more. Your whole booklet is so creative, colourful and interesting. Then the back cover is a bit dull. Also, your back cover and your front cover are different colours, it will look a bit odd when your booklet gets printed out.’ I agree with this but I had already thought about the front and back being different colours and I didn’t bother me because I think it will make it more interesting and different which will appeal to my teenage target audience. Another comment I received was: ‘the simplistic colour scheme and design sits really nicely and allows the reader to focus on the information being proposed to them.’ which is strange because they like what the person who made the previous comment didn’t like.