Mock up of Front Page Layout - Sketch

Here is my quickly sketched mock up of my front page layout. 
(this isn't my decided font, just used this one for a template!)
The tagline on my newspaper will read; "AT THE HEAD AND THE HEART OF THE COMMUNITY" which I have positioned just beneath my masthead. The date will be just beside this. 
I have decided to have my main image positioned to the left, with my cover lines being layered over the top of this photograph. For my main image on the front page of my newspaper, I was considering using a photograph of The Mirage building in Portishead, which is designed in a tiered way, which I thought would work excellently on my front page as my headlines would be able to fit in the space around the building, being written over the sky/space behind the building in the photograph. This technique of text and picture layout will help give my front page the professional edge I want it to have, and will show I have thought through the best way to make everything layered effectively in order to attract my target demographic.
Surrounding this will be my main article, as shown in my sketch. (The long columns with horizontal lines on them)
Along the bottom of my front page I will have 3 adverts, two small ones to the left side and a third larger one to the left. Starting from left to right, these adverts will be advertising Portishead Marina boat trips, Local car specialists, and a local hair and beauty salon. I think these are three useful adverts to include on my front page because there is one appropriate for each gender. Hair and beauty will help to attract my female audience to purchase my newspaper, cars could attract both genders but perhaps more men than women, and Marina boat trips could attract both. By targeting my audience when considering my chosen advertisements, I can maximise the newspaper's potential readership. 

Headline Ideas

Ideas for Headlines: 

• "Facebook Friends? Facebook Foes for One Local Girl"
  Good use of alliteration in this particular headline, and use of rhetorical question which is common in newspaper headlines! As it's a local newspaper, featuring the word "local" is useful because it allows people to know that the article will be featuring people from their area.
  
• "Turnaround Triumph! Local Hockey Team Goes For Gold"
  
  Again, good use of alliteration for the first two words in this headline. Again, as it's a local newspaper, featuring the word "local" is useful because it allows people to know that the article will be featuring people from their area. As the Olympics have been so recent, having a headline/article talking about "going for gold" is useful because people have sport already on their minds.
  
• "Fury at Local Burglary"
  
  Slight rhyme in this headline! Between 'fury' and 'burglary'. Helps this headline to roll of the tongue and allows readers to immediately understand the nature of the article as key words have been used to suggest theft.
• "See No Evil, See Stunning Art!"
  
  A play on words including the name of the Bristol Art Exhibition of graffiti "See No Evil". The word 'stunning' encourages people to go see the work as it makes them curious to witness the greatness for themselves. The exclamation mark also suggests excitement to not only purchase the newspaper to find out more, but to also see it in person.
• "Olympic Pride Spreads Through The Nation"
  
  The Olympics have been a very popular topic over the last few months and so having headlines about this is very effective as people always want to read more about it following all the events and previous media coverage it has received. The word 'pride' gives a warm, glowing feeling to the article and local people will want to read about a story that refers to them; 'The Nation'.

Font Ideas - Headlines

Headlines 

It is important for headlines to stand out on newspaper front covers as it's often the main stories that attract people to purchase that particular newspaper, if they come under that person's interest. Often, the headlines are larger that the masthead of the newspaper, which suggests the importance of the story, and persuades people they need to read this story. For example on this front cover of the Evening Standard, the headlines are noticeably larger than the masthead, aiming to attract people to buy the paper after having an interest in this main article. The letters are in a serif style font, giving readers the impression that the Evening Standard is a newspaper which aims to be portrayed in a traditional manner. 

Here is another example of a newspaper front page where the headlines are made to seem more eye catching than the masthead itself. In this example the headline "Fight For Life" is in thick, bold lettering which I think is an effective way of making the headlines easy to read, and clear for their target audience. In this particular example, the headline is roughly the same size to the masthead, however the boldness of the lettering allows these words to be most dominant on the page. I may choose to use a similar style in my own newspaper publication. 

Font Ideas - Main Body

Newspapers' use of font in the main body of text can give a strong impression of what feel they're trying to give through their newspaper.

For example if they use a serif font, they often are aiming for the newspaper to come across as traditional or slightly old-fashioned, or perhaps aimed at an older audience. 
For example, Times New Roman:

"The police were interviewing suspects yesterday."


However, if they use a sans serif font, they often want the newspaper to appear more modern and up to date with trends and aim to attract a younger audience. 
For example, Arial:

"The police were interviewing suspects yesterday."


In my own newspaper publication I will use a sans serif font such as Arial or Calibri, as I want to attract a range of ages including young people to widen my target demographic. 

In order to find out whether this was a good decision or not, I decided to ask three people what they thought of each font, and whether they thought a font such as Arial or Calibri would be appropriate for my newspaper. 

Here are the questions I asked, and their responses:

Person 1

• Do you believe that using a sans serif font to help target a younger audience and give my newspaper a more modern feel is a good idea?Yeah, I do think that type of font would help attract a younger audience because it'll give the paper a more modern feel to it.
  
• Would you personally be attracted to purchasing a newspaper with this type font?
  Yes I think it makes it easier to read and would make me prefer to read it.
  
• Could you give any other suggestions of ways to target my audience effectively?
  You could have pictures featuring people the ages of the target audience you're aiming for.

Person 2

• Do you believe that using a sans serif font to help target a younger audience and give my newspaper a more modern feel is a good idea?
  No, I think all fonts in newspapers should be something more like Times New Roman because that's the most common feature of newspapers and it would be better to stick to expected conventions.
  
• Would you personally be attracted to purchasing a newspaper with this type font?
  Depending on what was in the newspaper, for example what stories were in it. I wouldn't base my whole decision on what sort of font was used.
  
• Could you give any other suggestions of ways to target my audience effectively?
  Large titles and headlines so people know what's to be included. 

Person 3 

• Do you believe that using a sans serif font to help target a younger audience and give my newspaper a more modern feel is a good idea?
  Yes, a much more modern feel! People would get the impression of a more modern publication just by looking at this type of font.
  
• Would you personally be attracted to purchasing a newspaper with this type font?
  Yes I think it would make it more attractive as a newspaper.
  
• Could you give any other suggestions of ways to target my audience effectively?
  Short, sweet and to the point! Keeping articles focused on the story would attract readers to purchase a more modern paper.

Font Ideas - For Masthead

Planning

 



To attract people's attention and effectively when creating newspapers, the font used for the masthead is very important as it gives an initial impression of the newspaper and can even give a feel as to what sort of newspaper the reader can expect. Bold, clear letters allow the title to be easily read and for my newspaper cover I think I'll decide to use black lettering because this is a common feature of many local newspapers, for example 'Brentwood Weekly News' pictured on the right. I also think for my masthead I will use capital letters as I think this looks proffessional and more confident, making people want to read my publication. Similar to 'The Times' front cover, pictured above.



 

 

Here is one example of a style in which I could write my masthead for my newspaper front cover. The letters are easy to read in this example, however I don't believe the letters are thick enough to be clear to read from far away; perhaps effecting people's ability to recognise my newspaper effortlessly. I also this this font style is quite plain, and not in keeping to ordinary conventions of a newspaper masthead. Overall, I do not think I will choose this font for my own newspaper cover, as I think the style would be better suited to maybe either a leaflet or magazine publication.

Here is another example of a potential masthead for my newspaper. I think this one is more effective than the last because the letters are bolder, allowing the masthead to be read more easily from a further distance. Overall, I think this font is more appropriate than the previous one I analysed, and would be more suited for use on a newspaper front page than the last font.

 

I prefer this font to both two previous fonts I have analysed because I think it most resembles the fonts that are commonly seen on newspaper front pages. Perhaps for my own front page I will use a font similar to this but slightly thinner, in order to fit more letters horizontally across my front page. Overall, I think this is the best font for a masthead based on the fonts I have already analysed. When it comes to creating my cover I will look for more styles like this and analyse more before I come to my final decision.

Out of all 4 possible masthead fonts I have analysed I think this one most resembles the conventional newspaper title because the letters are positioned closely together, with contrasting think and thin lines in each letter. I like this font and will also consider using something similar to this when creating my newspaper front page. I may have to do some further research and analysing before I begin to decide which is most appropriate out of this font and the third one I looked at.

Article Ideas

When creating my newspaper, part of the overall profect requires us to actually write the news articles to be included in our final outcomes. In order to make my newspaper successful, I need to include articles that directly target the interests of my demographic.


Some possible ideas for article topics:

• Local News - stories from local people
• What's going on in local schools - With the young people in the area
• New opening bars and restaurants in Portishead - (Hall and Woodhouse, the plan is pictured below)
• Sport - Local Teams
• The See No Evil Project in Bristol (pictured below) - Could do an art feature telling people to go see it for themselves
• Olympics/Paralymics
• Local Scandal - Theft within the area

Ideas for Headlines:

• "Facebook Friends? Facebook Foes for One Local Girl"
• "Turnaround Triumph! Local Hockey Team Goes For Gold"
• "Fury at Local Burglary"
• "See No Evil, See Stunning Art!"
• "Olympic Pride Spreads Through The Nation"

Initial Audience Feedback about Local Newspapers

Audience Research

Questionnaire:

1.  Which local newspaper do you regularly buy?
2. Why do you favour this particular newspaper?
3. Are there any key features you think effectively attract you to buy this newspaper?
4. What kinds of stories are you most likely to look for/read?
5. How do you feel the layout/content of the cover could be improved on this newspaper?

I asked six people these five questions in order to compare and contrast what people look for in their newspapers, and what features would be effective to use in the publication I create myself. I was interested to find out what sorts of articles were of interest to different sorts of people. In order to be able to compare the actual people who took part in this effectively, I’ve included the age and genders of the people I asked. This way I could see if a pattern began to show relating the ages to the articles they found interesting. I also could then compare whether age affected what features they found effective on front pages of newspapers too.

Person 1 – Age: 74 Gender: Male

1. Which local newspaper do you regularly buy?

Tends to buy the Daily Mail.

2. Why do you favour this particular newspaper?

“The language used in the newspaper is easy to understand, and the layout allows for easy reading. There are many different stories and article topics which mean there’s a little something for everybody.”

3. Are there any key features you think effectively attract you to buy this newspaper?

“The photographs are often eye catching and show exactly what you can expect from the stories.”

4. What kinds of stories are you most likely to look for/read?

“I personally enjoy reading more local news, and stories about what normal people have been up to in their own communities.”

5. How do you feel the layout/content of the cover could be improved on this newspaper?

“Maybe vary the style of font on the headlines? I don’t know though, because the font they already use allows the front page to be easily recognised.”

Person 2 – Age: 25 Gender: Female

1. Which local newspaper do you regularly buy?

“Normally The Sun.”

2. Why do you favour this particular newspaper?

“Because it’s got celebrity news in there too and all the showbiz sort of stuff… easy reading even though it’s still a newspaper.”

3. Are there any key features you think effectively attract you to buy this newspaper?

“Lots of interesting photographs and bright fonts.”

4. What kinds of stories are you most likely to look for/read?

“Anything celebrity based.”

5. How do you feel the layout/content of the cover could be improved on this newspaper?

“Maybe could put some less gross pictures on the cover sometimes. Women would be less likely to want to buy a newspaper with a massive photo of a naked woman on the cover!”

Person 3 – Age: 61 Gender: Male

1. Which local newspaper do you regularly buy?

The Evening Post.

2. Why do you favour this particular newspaper?

Interesting stories.

3. Are there any key features you think effectively attract you to buy this newspaper?

Good use of photographs on the cover, clear use of headlines telling you what will be inside.

4. What kinds of stories are you most likely to look for/read?

Anything about politics.

5. How do you feel the layout/content of the cover could be improved on this newspaper?

“I don’t know.”

Person 4 – Age: 17 Gender: Male

1. Which local newspaper do you regularly buy?

“Don’t normally read newspapers, but if I do, I read The Mail on Sunday”

2. Why do you favour this particular newspaper?

Easy to read. Good photographs. Good sport news.

3. Are there any key features you think effectively attract you to buy this newspaper?

“Again, the photos maybe?”

4. What kinds of stories are you most likely to look for/read?

Anything about sport.

5. How do you feel the layout/content of the cover could be improved on this newspaper?

“Could have more text on the front page?”

Person 5 – Age: 30 Gender: Female

1. Which local newspaper do you regularly buy?

The Daily Mail

2. Why do you favour this particular newspaper?

“Has lots of various articles, with lots of various content!”

3. Are there any key features you think effectively attract you to buy this newspaper?

“Bright photographs and clear headlines.”

4. What kinds of stories are you most likely to look for/read?

“Articles about things that effect the whole country. Politics, and sometimes some celebrity news.”

5. How do you feel the layout/content of the cover could be improved on this newspaper?

“Perhaps more introductions to the articles on the cover could be included.”

Person 6- Age: 44 Gender: Male

1. Which local newspaper do you regularly buy?

The Guardian

2. Why do you favour this particular newspaper?

Intelligent articles, often with political content. Information about campaigns.

3. Are there any key features you think effectively attract you to buy this newspaper?

Recognisable masthead. Good high quality photographs.

4. What kinds of stories are you most likely to look for/read?

Again, political pieces mainly.

5. How do you feel the layout/content of the cover could be improved on this newspaper?

I think it is already that of a high standard, using the space effectively. 



Evaluation of my findings: 

From this initial audience research I have found that it is very important when creating a newspaper to make the information easy to read and understand, especially in the articles as this is one of the main reasons people purchase newspapers in the first place. If the articles are difficult to interpret, then people won't bother reading on to find out more and thus readership figures will decrease. I also found out from this particular questionnaire in my research that people like newspapers to use the space effectively. By positioning my text boxes and images in an effective way, I can make my pages appear attractive and allow the space to include as much information for my audience as possible, encouraging them to purchase my publication. A few people also mentioned that use of bright, colour photographs was likely to attract them to buying a newspaper so I must remember to include colour photography instead of black and white. Overall this audience feedback has been very helpful, and I will bear these ideas in mind when drafting up the layout and content of my own newspaper pages.