Meg Holden PferdekamperDesign Critique DraftFebruary 24, 2020

Executive SummaryTo see how modern recipe sources are designed, I compared Maude’s Kitchen to two cookbooks (The Joy of Cooking and The Bob’s Burgers Burger Book) and one website (Smitten Kitchen). I evaluated the resources on their use of color, unity, balance, visual elements, and information design.

The modern resources use color and visual elements to attract attention. Compared to Maude’s Kitchen, the other resources have more balanced layouts and more unity overall. Increased attention to information design makes the other resources more usable than Maude’s Kitchen.

These findings indicate that to bring Maude’s Kitchen into the 21st century, I should focus my redesign efforts on establishing a balanced layout for all recipes. This will bring unity to the book. The template should include appropriate color for emphasis. I should also add information design elements (such as a recipe index) to help users find what they need more easily.

IntroductionI compared Maude’s Kitchen to three resources I use frequently: The Joy of Cooking (print cookbook), Smitten Kitchen (website), and The Bob’s Burgers Burger Book (print cookbook). These three resources contain different types of recipes and are designed very differently, so I wanted to see how well each one met my design criteria. Drawing from the elements and principles of design that Hagen and Golombisky discuss in White Space Is Not Your Enemy and my own experience, I chose five criteria to pay special attention to: color, unity, balance, visual elements (e.g., illustrations and photos), and information design.

AnalysisFor the competitive analysis, each resource could score a 1 (poor), 2 (average), or 3 (excellent) in each criterion. Table 1 below explains what constitutes a 1, 2, or 3 for each criterion.

Table 1: Evaluation Criteria1 - Poor 2 - Average 3 - Excellent

ColorColor is not used effectively or is lacking entirely

Color is used, but does not highlight information or draw attention effectively

Color is used effectively to highlight information and/or draw attention

Unity

All or most pages are laid out differently with no cohesive theme throughout

Most pages adhere to a standard layout, with a few differences here and there

All pages adhere to a standard layout

BalanceNegative space or content overwhelms the design

Design contains both negative space and content, but skews toward one or the other

Content is balanced appropriately with negative space

Visual Elements Visual elements are not used effectively or are lacking entirely

Visual elements are not used consistently to complement the copy and overall design

Visual elements are used consistently and effectively to complement the copy and overall design

Information Design

Medium contains few or no elements to aid in navigation (e.g., table of contents, index, etc.)

Medium contains some elements to aid in navigation

Medium contains multiple elements to aid in navigation

After establishing this ranking system, I evaluated how well each cookbook met each criterion.

ColorMaude’s Kitchen scores a 1, for not using color. Joy of Cooking also scores a 1 for the same reason.

Smitten Kitchen scores a 2. The website includes color photographs. The background is white, with most text in shades of gray (clickable links are deep red).

Bob’s Burgers scores a 3. The cookbook includes color illustrations. Headings and ingredients have colored backgrounds. Headings and the numbers in the instructions are also in a different color text. Figure 1 below shows a page spread from Bob’s Burgers exhibiting these qualities.

Figure 1: Bob’s Burgers page spread

UnityMaude’s Kitchen scores a 2. Most pages follow a standard layout, but some recipes are laid out differently.

Figure 2: Maude’s Kitchen page showing disparate recipe layouts

Joy of Cooking scores a 3. All pages follow a standard layout. Smitten Kitchen and Bob’s Burgers also score 3 for the same reason.

BalanceMaude’s Kitchen scores a 1. Overall, the pages contain too much copy and not enough negative space. Joy of Cooking also scores a 1 for the same reason.

Smitten Kitchen scores a 2. The recipe layouts are photo-heavy. Combined with the photos and advertisements in the sidebar, the overall effect is crowded, as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Smitten Kitchen recipe page

Bob’s Burgers scores a 3. Each page or spread contains an appropriate amount of negative space to balance large illustrations or longer blocks of text. As Figure 1 shows, even full-page illustrations include negative space to balance the vibrant colors of the illustrations.

Visual Elements Maude’s Kitchen scores a 1. Some recipes are accompanied by illustrations, but the illustrations only occasionally relate to the recipe content. The front page of each chapter includes an illustration that is not related to the chapter topic.

Figure 4: Maude’s Kitchen page showing illustration

Joy of Cooking scores a 2. Some recipes are accompanied by illustrations that show a technique, the cooking process, or the final product. At the beginning of each chapter is a small illustration that relates to the chapter topic, as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5: Joy of Cooking page spread showing illustrations

Smitten Kitchen scores a 3. Each recipe is accompanied by multiple photographs showing the process and final product.

Bob’s Burgers scores a 3. Many recipes are accompanied by an illustration showing either the burger in the recipe or relating to the episode in which the burger is featured.

Information DesignMaude’s Kitchen scores a 1. The book does not contain a table of contents or an index. Recipes are loosely organized by source (e.g., “Maude’s Goodies”) or type (e.g., main dishes, desserts, etc.)

Joy of Cooking scores a 3. The book contains both a table of contents and an index. Recipes are organized by type and further organized by technique (e.g., bagels and pretzels are on the same page, as both require the shaped dough to be boiled before baking).

Smitten Kitchen scores a 3. The website is searchable. Figure 6 shows the website’s dedicated “Recipes” page, which organizes recipes by type, technique, ingredients, tools used, and more.

Figure 6: Section of Smitten Kitchen “Recipes” page

Bob’s Burgers scores a 2. The book contains a table of contents. Recipes are not organized in any notable way.

Analysis ResultsOverall, Maude’s Kitchen predictably scores lowest, with a total of 6 points out of a possible 15. Joy of Cooking scores second lowest with 10 points. This low score is largely due to the book’s lack of color and crowded page design resulting in a score of 1 for both the “Color” and “Balance” categories. Smitten Kitchen totals 13 points and Bob’s Burgers totals 14 points, with high showings for both books in the “Unity” and “Visual Elements” categories. Table 2 below compiles the points scored by each resource in each category.

Table 2: Point TotalsMaude's Kitchen

Joy of Cooking

Smitten Kitchen

Bob's Burgers

Color 1 1 2 3Unity 2 3 3 3Balance 1 1 2 3

Visual Elements 1 2 3 3Information Design 1 3 3 2Total 6 10 13 14

Design RecommendationsThe results of this design critique highlight the “trouble spots” in Maude’s Kitchen’s design and give insight into solutions for them. By emulating the techniques and elements the other cookbooks use successfully, I can redesign Maude’s Kitchen to be a more attractive and more usable cookbook.

Color: Bob’s Burgers uses color to attract attention and to highlight specific information. After choosing a color palette, I can easily change the color or background of some of the text to add visual interest, like Bob’s Burgers does to make the recipe names and ingredient lists stand out.

Unity: Establishing a standard page layout is essential to ensure unity throughout the book. Though many of the pages in Maude’s Kitchen are laid out similarly, I will need to decide on a standard layout and update all pages to match this layout.

Balance: The standard layout I decide on must have an appropriate balance of content and negative space, like the layout used in Bob’s Burgers.

Visual Elements: Because I will not be able to reuse many visual elements from the original Maude’s Kitchen, adding illustrations or photographs is a stretch goal for my redesign project.

Information Design: A table of contents and/or index makes printed cookbooks easier to use. In a web format, a search bar, thorough tagging, and an “index” page like Smitten Kitchen’s “Recipes” page will help users find information.

The first decision I must make is what the final format of the redesigned Maude’s Kitchen. Both print/e-book and website have their advantages, but I must decide which path to take before committing to any other decisions. Once I know the format, my next steps will be to decide on a standard recipe layout and a color palette. The layout must balance content (including copy as well as any visuals I am able to include) and negative space. With these decisions made, I can begin the work of redesigning Maude’s Kitchen.