On this particular front page of The Daily Mirror, it features a large photograph of Barack Obama and they have presented the publication as a sort of collectors-edition. For example in the top right hand corner, it reads "Historic Pullout Inside" and the word "historic" suggests that the content is important and worth keeping for future reference. This could attract people who are interested in history or culture to purchase the newspaper, as it gives it an air of importance that many other publications do not have. The fact that these words are written in gold lettering further suggests that the newspaper are trying to give the impression that this edition of the newspaper is precious and valuable. This section advertising the "Historic Pullout Inside" on the top right hand third of this newspaper cover has been deliberately located so it will hang out of the edge when the papers are lined up on the shelves, giving the target audience most chance of seeing this main attraction. Many newspapers use this technique of cleverly locating the most attractive contents to be expected inside so more people will purchase their newspaper.
The bright red background to the masthead/faceplate at the top of the page effectively stands out amongst other popular titles helping the publication to sell more copies. Red is also a colour connoted with honour, pride and is one of the colours of the American flag which obviously relates well with the main article about the American president, Obama. Red is also not gender exclusive which is one thing I have noted so far in my research of newspaper front pages. Using colours that can appeal to both genders is very important in order to attract the highest number of people, and not subconsciously make people feel too intimidated to purchase the newspaper of their choice. For example, by using the colour pink, many male readers may feel obliged to purchase a different newspaper as pink is most commonly associated with the interests of females.
"REBORN IN THE USA" - This cover line initially gives the impression of new beginnings and an important change in history; making the audience value the content further without even having read the article yet. There is a sense of pride and power in this line suggesting that by reading the article the reader will be given a new sense of hope and honour through reading it.
Overall, I think this is a really effective front page for The Daily Mirror, however I wouldn't use this style of layout for my own newspaper product because it doesn't show enough of the expected newspaper front page conventions to attract the target demographic and I don't think it shows enough information as to the articles included in the newspaper, or the various other content to be expected. By using mainly just one large cover photo, the content of the newspaper could potentially be a little lost and I may find it difficult to attract enough of my target audience by using this one technique. I will aim to use a mixture of text and photographs on my own front page, despite thinking this particular cover is effective for it's own reasons.
The Evening Post uses a ship for it's logo which is to do with Bristol's history and shows an important tourist attraction of Bristol; adding to the attraction of the newspaper. This logo is in red, helping to catch the target audience's eye and entice them to purchase this publication. The apparent colour scheme on this front page in particular is red, black and navy blue. These colours are used as they are not gender exclusive, so therefore attract both genders to buy and read this newspaper. Red is a bright, eye-catching colour which could perhaps make this newspaper front page look brighter and more attractive than other publications.
I think the layout of this newspaper front cover is effective because the picture:text ratio is roughly equal, and this gives enough information about the content to interest people, while still having an attractive, colourful front page with photographs.
The font for the masthead is according to online sources actually hand drawn in order to appear in an old English style. This style could have been used to give an authentically classic feel to the newspaper, and appeal to audiences who could begin to expect genuine factual articles perhaps often with historical content/references.
The Post also effectively uses columns and margins to differentiate between stories and show the reader the split between articles and which stories align with which sections of text on the cover. This cover also cleverly uses variations in text styles to show the importance of different sections of text.
When given the choice between creating a newspaper project or alternatively a music video project for our A2 Media tasks I decided that creating a newspaper would much better suit me for the year as it would allow me to further develop my skills in photoshop and InDesign and I had more confidence and ideas in a more print based topic. I also felt that my work from my AS Magazine project would help me to generate ideas and designs for more print work, and I was interested to add more of this type of work into my portfolio. Through personal interests of my own, I felt that I could develop my own personal understanding of newspaper layout throughout this A2 year and would easily find interest in the research we would be encouraged to do in our own spare time.
To find inspiration when creating my final publication, I have chosen to focus mainly on local newspapers based in the South West or around Bristol. I am aiming to discover how these newspapers present their articles on the cover and on their second pages, and also their photographs and adverts in an appealing way which also effectively attracts their demographic. I am also interested to find out how their articles are written, and what styles they use to target their audience. By learning and researching what sorts of articles and generic features are to be expected in these types of local newspapers, my own skills will hopefully reflect this successfully.
One local newspaper I have decided to research into is The Bristol Evening Post, now referred to as simply; The Post. I think the style of this paper would be a good one to base many of my ideas from, and will give good inspiration for the layout of my own newspaper publication I aim to create.
Bristol Evening Post - Research
The Bristol Evening Post is a tabloid newspaper sold from Mondays to Saturdays in the city of Bristol, northern Somerset and southern Gloucestershire.
It was founded in 1932, and in spite of it's name it's not really a newspaper as such; the three-star (final) edition comes out at noon! (There are two editions; the other one is the two-star edition.)
Further Research: The Evening Post
I decided to look at The Evening Post and some common features of this newspaper in particular, to build up a better understanding of some of the features which make a newspaper successful, in order to help me when creating my local newspaper at a later date.
What areas does The Evening Post reach: Bristol, Greater Bristol, North Somerset, Weston, Bath and South Gloucestershire.
Produced: Overnight
Circulation: 39,900+
Price: 38p - Monday to Friday 45p - Saturday
