South London Shout (A2 Media): 2010

Tuesday 14 December 2010

Week 9 (w/c 15/11/10)

I have created another nameplate and I think I like this one the most out of all the others I have made. It breaks conventions because of the fact that it uses more than one colour and the picture is in the background, this helps identify the audience.

The nameplates below are the same but I was unsure of which way looked better. So I wil be doing a mock up that includes both.

The new nameplate will challenge some conventions in the sense that the name plate is not made up of just one colour; it uses a gradient. This isn’t usually the case for newspapers. Local newspapers some times use a small logo, an example of this is the South London Press, and their nameplate is below:

Another way I have broken from typical conventions of the local newspaper is that I have used a different typeface. I used a font called ‘Britannic Bold’, where as other newspapers use fonts such as ‘Franklin Gothic’ and ‘Century Old Style’. The reason I decided that I want my newspaper to have a different typeface from all the others is that I think it will stand out more, look different and make the newspaper look more attractive that other newspapers.

Week 8 (w/c 08/11/10)

This is another layout I did which should work well with either of my nameplates; it also allows room for more articles as I was told I needed during previous feedback sessions.

I tried to make a mock up with this layout.

In order to see what it would look like I put everything in place, as I was doing this I realised that there were several things wrong with this layout, I also asked a few people to look at my it and tell me what needed improvement and what could make the magazine better, this is what I was told:

· Doesn’t look like a local newspaper cover page.

· Nameplate needs to be better/ more attractive.

· Should have ONE main central article, everything else evolves around it.

· Put articles side to side not top and bottom

· Add image on nameplate that links to the target audience.

· Not enough room or a healine.

With the feedback I have been given I have decided that my newspaper will have to conform to the conventions of a local newspaper in order to sell, this means I will now be changing my newspapers price from 10-20p per issue, to free. I will still keep my demographic the same because I still believe this will appeal to them, maybe even more now because it is free.

Now that I have seen what I don’t like about it I will be changing it. I have decided that the first nameplates I made are not good so I will not be using them anymore. I will be creating a few more new ones and I will be using a different type of layout.

Monday 13 December 2010

Week 7 (w/c 01/11/10)

I am now considering different types of name plate, as I think that what I have done is too simplistic, so much so that it is unattractive. This new nameplate will go along with a new layout that I am currently working on.

They have an image of a local landmark in the back ground, Battersea power station. This will appeal to my demographic because of the face that this is the place they know and are accustomed to. This nameplate is also much more attractive and sticks to my initial plan of having a simplistic nameplate.

I have also changed the name of my newspaper slightly, it is now called South London Shout, rather that The South London Shout, and this is because it is catchier, easier to say and can be abbreviated.

My newspaper will be challenging some conventions of local newspapers, but at the same time these conventions will be the base for my ideas and design. The convention I will challenge is the nameplate. My nameplate is not going to be in a typical font, also, I have noticed that some newspapers use a logo or emblem, I will be doing something similar but it will be a picture of a local landmark, thereby defining my audience.

Monday 29 November 2010

Week 6 (w/c 18/10/10)

I have been working on the nameplate for my newspaper. I have already decided that I will name my newspaper ‘The South London Shout’. I chose this name because I noticed that the names of local newspapers usually included words such as (and dictionary definitions):

· Herald - a royal or official messenger, esp. one representing a monarch in an ambassadorial capacity during wartime. A person or thing that proclaims or announces: A good newspaper should be a herald of truth.

· Express - to set forth the opinions, feelings, etc., of (oneself), as in speaking, writing, or painting: He can express himself eloquently.

· Guardian – a person who is entrusted by law with care of the person or property, or both, of another, of a minor or someone legally incapable of managing his or her own affairs.

· Echo – Any close repetition or close imitation, as of the ideas or opinions of another.

· Gazette – An official government journal containing lists of government appointments and promotions, bankruptcies.

· Observer – a delegate to an assembly or gathering. Who is sent to observe and report but not take part in activities.

· Journal – a daily record, as of occurrences, experiences, or observations.

I wanted to use a name that was similar, yet not directly related to those listed above.

Below are the designs I have come up with so far. They are quite simple but this is because I wanted the name plate to stand out in its simplicity, just as the South London Press does.

I decided that I wanted there to be emphasis on the words south and shout, this is because they contain the same letters and can be seen as a clever remark which will amuse some readers and hopefully coax them into buying the newspaper.

The first of these three uses the font named ‘shadow tag’.

The second one uses an the font named ‘Arial’

The Third one uses a font named ‘Dora do’

Thursday 25 November 2010

Week 5 (w/c 11/10/10)

I have been looking at the conventions of a name plate. For this I will be looking at two newspapers; the south London press and The Sun newspaper. This is because the South London Press will show me the conventions of a community newspaper and The Sun newspaper will show me the conventions of a national tabloid newspaper. This is relevant to my newspaper because I want it to be a local newspaper that operates as a tabloid.

South London Press:

The Name plate of this newspaper is white words on a blue background. This was done to allow a prospective reader of this newspaper to easily recognize it.

From looking at the name plate I think that the newspaper is informative and has a high readership. The simple contrasted nameplate gives off a simple, yet stylish, impression.

The Sun

The name Plate of this newspaper is similar to that of the South London Press, but The Sun uses a bright colour, red. They might have used such a bright red because it links to the name of the newspaper.

Saturday 20 November 2010

Week 4 (w/c 04/10/10)

I will now be looking at The Sun newspaper. I want to look at this newspaper because it is a very popular tabloid newspaper. This relates to my newspaper because I want my newspaper to carry some conventions of a tabloid newspapaer.

Layout

The Sun’s layout has a large picture that takes up most of the page, the headline is on top of the picture and then there is a small box that contains the first few lines of the article that redirect you to the inside of the newspaper to read more. Next to the large picture there are one or two articles that redirect you to the inside of the newspaper. The Name plate uses block colours which is simple yet attractive because of the bright colours.

Headlines

The headlines are usually very simple and catchy. They take up a lot of the page and cover part of the main picture. The headline may often be a joke or play on words, for example, “How do we solve a problem like Korea?”. The Sun often have ‘exclusive’ stories or pictures.

Advertisements

There aren’t any advertisements on the cover of The Sun. There only advertisement-like thing on the cover of The Sun is content, this is next to the name plate.

Presentation

“A pleasing start”

Blog/Evaluation

(Target Audience, Decision-Making, Semiotic Analysis, Multimedia, Engagement)

“Focus here is on national newspapers that have established identity and different design conventions”

Main Task

local newspaper

“At an elementary stage at present more stages required. Remember it is a newspaper launch”

For my main task I learned that I need to make my newspaper look more like a local newspaper. In order to do this I would need more space for articles and more pictures.

I was told that I should not have to many advertisements, as the task dictates I should make a launch copy of a newspaper. This would mean I should put as many articles as possible to appeal to a wider range of people.

Wednesday 17 November 2010

Week 3 (w/c 27/09/10)

I’ve been doing more research about newspapers:

· how they are made

· common names

· conventions

http://nie.brownsvilleherald.com/newspaperterms.htm - This website has a list of newspaper terms.

http://www.jhuapl.edu/education/elementary/newspapercourse/forteachers/documents/layout.pdf -This website talks about newspaper layout.

http://www.rigby.com.au/fasttracks/pdf/newspapersII.pdf - “Newspapers are divided into three sections—fact sections, opinion sections and persuasive sections.”News stories provide accurate and up-to-date information that is presentedaccording to the “inverted pyramid” model. This meansthat most essential information is to be found in theheadline and the first paragraph of a news story—the“Who, What, When and Where”.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/2552318/The-Front-Page-Conventions - this talks about the conventions of newspapers.

Conventions of newspapers

I have begun looking at the conventions of newspaper front pages. I am not only looking at the front pages of community newspapers, I will also be looking at the front pages of tabloid newspapers such as the sun, and broadsheet newspapers such as The Guardian.

Layout

In The Guardian they have pictures of content on top of the name plate. The nameplate uses a block of colour and has the name of the newspaper in two different colours; light blue and white. I like this type of layout because it allows room for more articles than my layout would.

Head Lines

Main headline in The Guardian usually have something to do with politics, business, finance, sport and art. I think this kind of headlines appeal to adults who may be middle class or above citizens. Broadsheet newspapers also discuss business and politics, so broadsheet newspapers are normally aimed at business people and politicians.

Advertisements

There are little to no adverts on the front covers of these newspapers. This may be because they don’t need as much funding from advertisers, since the newspapers are quite highly priced (£1.30) and a lot of people buy it.

Week 2 (w/c 20/09/10)

I am now in the research phase of my project. I will begin by looking into local newspapers(also called community newspapers).

There are two different types of local newspapers: Regional newspapers, and Local newspapers. Regional newspapers include: Evening standard, City AM, and Metro. Local newspapers include: Ealing Gazette, Kilburn Times and South London Press.

I looked on some of their websites.

http://www.wrx.zen.co.uk/london.htm

http://www.wrx.zen.co.uk/soupress.htm

I created my first layout, however I think I will be changing this soon because I would like to explore and experiment with several different layout formats before deciding on a set format.

Over the weeks I will be changing this so that there will be more room for the articles.

My genre is: Tabloid and Community Information

My newspaper will be named: South London Yell/Shout

The target audience is: People living in south London and are interested in what goes on in their community. Mainly Working - Middle class people aged 20 -50

Tuesday 9 November 2010

Week 1(w/c 13/09/10)

I have done my digital storyboard, but due to a change in groups I have decided that I would be doing a newspaper for my media project.

Things I will be considering for my newspaper are:

· What will it be called

· What will the nameplate be like

· Will the articles be written by me (will I put a different name at the top of each article?)

· What genre will it be?

· Who will my audience be

For my research I will be using the internet to see what the websites are like, I will be using real community/local newspapers to get an idea of common features used in articles and appearance of the paper, this will help me decide what my newspaper will be like.

I have found some community newspapers that I will want to look at for further research, these newspapers are: Wandsworth Guardian and Wimbledon Guardian. Below are screenshots of their websites.

The two look really similar, later on I will research more in to whether or not this layout is a convention of local newspapers websites, or if it is because they are both in the south of London. I that is the case u may have to do my own newspapers website design so that it is similar to this.