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Food and Cooking Magazine

Content:
Food and Cooking Magazines tend to have recipes that are easy for the regular home cook to make while also considered to look professional or restaurant-worthy. Many of the receipes will embody the season or holiday that is approaching, such as Thanksgiving recipes for the November issue.  The magazine may also recommend local restaurants or dining experience to their readers.  Content may also cover nutrition and diets that are intended to inform reader to keep them healthy.  Another popular topic that many food magazines all seem to have is a travel and culture section that talks about food around the globe .

Production Techniques:
Food and Cooking Magazines tend to use close-up shots of the food items so the audience can focus on the images.  Images are clear and deep focus on the food item.  Many magazines utilize white/black backgroungs in order to draw attention to the bright colors of the food.  The color palette often used consists of warm hues to generate a mood of warmth and excitement over the dish.
The sub-headings tend to consists of topics of

Example #1:

This cover for Fine Cooking utilizes warm hues in order to create a sense of warmth and comfort with their audience.  The color combination of burgundy (background) and orange (sub-headings) are colors taht are generally associated with the autumn season, hence why the magazine chose these colors for their Fall issue of the magazine. The overall color theme used in the cover is cohesive.  The magazine uses an analogous color scheme to create an overall harmonious and cohesive message of comfort. The use of the white plate against the burgundy background draws the reader's attention to the food onthe plate. The deep focus of the image draws attention to the detail of the dish shown.

The sub-headings on the cover cater to the needs of Fine Cooking's target audience.  This magazine's intended audience is the general public and home cooks; not professional chefs.  Hence, the sub-headings are on topics that may interest the general public.  The word choices of 'easy', 'showstopper' and 'perfect' are positive and reassuring to make the reader feel that by listening to the advice in this magazine they will not only learn how to make easy receipes, but they will also look elegant and professional.


Example #2:

The color theme for Cooking Light magazine uses juxtaposing complementary colors which distinguishes the heading and sub-heading while also creating a sense of balance in the image.  The black (background) with the red and white (heading and sub-heading) draw the attention of the eye around the whole cover.  The black highlights the brightness of the other two colors, which makes them pop out to the reader.  The color red symbolizes desire passion but is also a color that stimulates the appetite.  The white balances out the red and the black, creating a harmonious overall tone for the cover.

The cover utilizes a variety of fonts.  The plain, bolded text is intended to jump out to the reader and grab the attention.  It also indicates what the major articles inside the magazine will be.  The fancier script is meant to bring a look of elegance to the overall magazine.  The plain, bold text conveys to the audience that the recipes and advice given in the magazine is simple and easy to understand, while the fancier script makes the reader think while the recipes may be easy to follow, they will also look sophisticated

Examples of Food and Cooking Magazines:
Cooking Light
Gourmet
Saveur
BBC Good Foods
Bon Apetite
Food and Wine
Fine Cooking
Naked Food Magazine