Ancillary Task 1 - Newspaper Poster - Research

Our next task we are required to do, is to create a poster advertising our newspaper that we created. Before I begin to think about the planning for my own poster, I have decided to base some of my research on existing newspaper posters, and the styles, colour scheme and images they have used. 

Here is a vintage type example of a newspaper poster advertisement that was found in 1896 for The Sun newspaper. Illustrative style posters such as this could be used in modern day advertising as well however, to give a sense that the newspaper has been running for a long time, and give it a traditional British feel. 

By picturing a woman skating across the ice could suggest it to be winter time during the time this poster would have been found. Her clothing is another key indication towards the time in which this poster would have been found, however you could argue that the image is slightly irrelevant to the newspaper or articles found in this newspaper, but this would be hard to tell if this would be the case based on this poster in particular because there is no hint to what could be found in that edition. 

Here is a poster advert again for The Sun newspaper, however this one has not used the same illustrative style as the previous poster. This decision to use a simple photograph of a man's hand grasping the newspaper is simple yet effective, as the meaning behind what they are trying to advertise is clear, even though there has been no text featured on the advert besides the masthead already printed on the newspaper.

This is an effective use of photography as a copy of the newspaper itself is featured, with a person (presumably within the target demographic bracket) holding the publication. The rolled up style of this copy allows the audience to read the masthead of the paper clearly, meaning this is all the information necessary on this ad. I may experiment with using a similar style perhaps for my own ancillary task, to see if it would be as effective with my newspaper layout design.

This is another newspaper poster advert that I have chosen to focus on in my ancillary research, in this case advertising The Daily Mail. 

 The fact that The Daily Mail is a very well known publication has meant that in this case, the title of the paper has not needed to be included at all in this poster, because the font used for the words "Indulge Daily" is recognisable enough to the target audience for them to gain an understanding of what is being advertised without great amount of text included. 

A high heeled shoe has been used as the main image on this poster, with a lipstick put in the place of the heel. These two items being generic, stereotypical items related with women that suggest that there will be content found within this newspaper that is suited to females. The word "indulge" is in red which is the same colour as the lipstick, giving this advert a sort of colour scheme. Red being a good colour when advertising to women, as it connotes ideas of power, female beauty and seduction. One feature I think is interesting about this poster in particular is the background, as it gives the effect that a light is being shone behind the shoe, further suggesting luxury and highlights the shoe itself. I also like the mirror reflection effect placed under the high heel, because it gives the impression the shoe is placed on glass further connoting an idea of female vanity and want for luxury. I may decide to use a similar effect on my own poster, if I choose to focus on the female angle to my newspaper which may not be a good design technique in my case as I have already made my poster very gender neutral. 

This is another advert for The Daily Mail, but this one is advertising the 'weekend' television listings magazine that often comes with the newspaper itself. The back ground is similar to the advert for The Daily Mail itself pictured above, in terms of the background being in a similar style with lighter colouring behind the publication and fading darker as it moves out. 
There is also a similar 'mirroring' reflection effect underneath the main image of the front cover of this accompanying publication, however this time it appears to be more faded, and less crisp than in the image above clearly directed at a female audience. This may be because this poster is not aiming to seem as dramatic as the poster above, and aim for this poster to be more gender neutral and 'friendly'.  

The text along the bottom of this poster in blue lettering is in the same font as the recognisable font for the expected masthead of The Daily Mail allowing the target audience to understand what the poster is for. This is a technique that can only be used with certain newspapers though, because if a masthead is commonly known amongst the public then this technique would lead to confusion and misguidance. 

Here is another example of a poster advertising a newspaper. This one is for 'The Irish News', and has used a similar image style to the advert I have previously used in my research for 'The Sun' newspaper's advert, in that they have also used a picture of a rolled up newspaper to advertise. 
I think I may decide to use this in my own advert, because my masthead is positioned in an appropriate place along the top of my front page, so it would show up well on my poster if positioned in this way, in order to allow my audience to clearly understand the poster.
The shadowing effect used below the newspaper on this advert is effective as it makes the image appear more 3D, and this is an effect I plan to take full advantage of using Photoshop.
"True to our words" appears to be the slogan for this newspaper, and has been written above the image in white lettering. I will also position my newspaper's tagline somewhere on my poster, "At the head and heart of our community".