Different layouts for my first ancillary (newspaper poster)

After my research I now have an idea and understanding on how should I do my own newspaper poster layout. I used Adobe InDesign to play around with different layouts that I will be using for my first ancillary task. These are some of the potential layouts that I have done:

For this first layout as you can see above, I followed some conventions of  newspaper posters by having
a nameplate and a tag line. I did this because I am aware that nameplate is such an important thing because this is what tells the reader which newspaper I'm advertising and also this differentiate my newspaper fro its competitors. I decided to add a tag line to make the poster even more persuasive. I am planning to do the headline in a big, bold, black fonts/letter. However, I decided to challenge some convention by adding two pictures on the page because newspaper poster usually has only one photograph or doens't have any at all.

This second layout is quite similar in comparison to the first one as the positions of the nameplate and tag line are the same. There will obviously still be a headline and a picture however, the positions of those will be different. This layout is challenging in terms of following the normal newspaper poster and also it looks like this is going to be tricky as the picture is portrait long length one which means that I will need to take a photo that perfectly fits this layout.

This looks simple yet straightforward. When I was making this layout, my intention was to completely try to follow the convention of a poster. However, I decided  to switch the positions of the nameplate and the tagline because I think this might be more effective as the headline is on the top and will subconsciously be read first.

Research on my first ancillary.

                        My first ancillary task is going to be creating a newspaper poster to persuade readers to read ' Lambeth Pres' local newspaper. There are now only a  few generic local newspaper posters around. I started my research on this and I found out that these posters must be persuasive as it needs to persuade people to read the newspaper. Not a lot of words are used; it's usually big, bold letters across the whole page to attract the readers' attention.  Also the newspaper's template is usually at the bottom or top of the page to inform the reader which newspaper is the poster referring to. Unfortunately, when I was doing my research I realised that there isn't a lot of newspaper posters out there most especially local ones in comparison with other posters such as movie and music posters. Here are some examples of newspaper posters (this are the ones that I mainly used for my research to help me create my own local newspaper poster):

Lambeth Press newspaper's inside page.

I used both Adobe InDesign and Photoshop to make the page. Both program was suitable as it enabled me to do a lot of things such as to add and rearrange texts and pictures, make shapes and lines, rotate texts and amend photographs.

This is going to be my inside page of my local newspaper. As you can see I made sure that I kept the light blue color scheme. I added necessary information on the top of the page such as the date, page number, website address and most especially Lambeth's Press logo to be able to inform the readers on what page they are on, which newspaper are they reading and other additional information regarding the newspaper. 

The main article here on the first page is a continuation from one of the headlines on the sidebar of the newspaper's front page. I chose this article because I wanted to make a positive approach to the readers as most of the article in a normal newspaper contains mostly negative news. As Lambeth Press is a local newspaper,  I decided to balance the negative news with positive ones and informative information about the Borough of Lambeth. I added a photograph so that readers can have more feel with the article.  I didn't edit the photo in terms of lighting, contrast or changing the background because I felt that it already looks good as it is and I kept the background to give a more natural feel to the readers.  When I was in the process of doing this, I spotted that there was a big gap on the side of the page so I decided to add the logo for the clothing line that Sean ( guy in the article) is producing. I did the logo using Photoshop, the program was good because it  offered different varieties of font styles as well as colors. I added a black line after the article to inform the readers that it's finished and also this separates it from the other articles. 

Again, I added a sidebar because when I was doing my research, quite a lot of newspaper does this even on the first page, so I then decided to follow this convention.  The two article headlines are juxtaposed with each other because the top one is a positive article whilst the bottom one is a negative one which is about drugs, jail and crimes. 

I am aware that in newspapers there are usually loads of advertisements as the company gets money for this. So I dedicated a lot of space for the ads on my newspaper.  I originally made these ads individually using Photoshop. The program was excellent because it enable me to do a lot of things such as make lines, choose different font styles and size, rotate texts and create shapes such as stars as you can see on advertisement at the bottom of the page. It also enable me to amend the photograph that I originally took. I took the picture at night time, so the setting was dark and the house was not so visible, I then adjusted the brightness and contrast of the photo to make it look better so that readers can have a better view of the house.  

Planning and resrach for Lambeth Press newspaper's inside (second) page

For my inside page research, I did a field and secondary research. I looked at different kinds of newspaper (hard copy).  I analyzed different types; such as local, nationwide, business newspapers. I also used the internet for further research. Whenever a newspaper has a sidebar on their front page they usually carry on at least one of the article headline on the sidebar to the inside page. So I decided that I will be doing this to follow the convention and not break the norms. I also have to make sure that the texts will be written in columns. From all the newspaper that I have researched such as South London Press, Metro, Evening Standard and City AM; within their inside page they include something that will immediately show the readers which particular newspaper they are reading. I decided to add the logo of Lambeth Press on the inside page to be able to let the readers know that they are reading my newspaper, I will add additional necessary informations such as the page number because this is a must so that no confusion will take place. Local newspaper in particular features quite a lot of advert on the inside page, so I will dedicate a big space for the advertisements that I will originally be making later on. I will also add a line to make it clear and emphasize where an article begin and ends. 

Teacher's feedback on my Powerpoint Presentation.

In class, I presented what I have done so far through Microsoft PowerPoint. I showed the class and my teacher how I done the nameplate and the reasons why I decided for it to look like that. I showed my draft Lambeth Press front page. 

My teacher said that my presentation was excellent because I explained things in details. For instance, when I took my original pictures I explained why I wanted them to be like that. For example, one of the pictures are zoomed in, which I did in purpose to emphasize the person's facial expression. I also explained how I modified them to suit my newspaper and I  used Adobe Photoshop for to be able to dot his. My teacher Miss Smith also said that it's good how I have research everything before doing things such as the layouts. Firstly, I researched the conventions of a newspaper in general but most specifically a local one as that is exactly what I'm going to be doing.  I also conducted a questionnaire from my potential target audience and for the result I analyzed each answer with a pie chart to make things even more clear and easier to understand. I researched on typography to have a deeper understanding regarding the texts that I will be using for my newspaper. I found out which texts should be used and which shouldn't. Miss Smith said that I have a 'strong knowledge and understanding, as well as informative comments on work made'.

When I was doing the presentation, I took the chance to ask my peers on what they think of my newspaper front page and these are the comments that they made.

Ebun:  'Re position the texts and move the pictures because you can spot on some big spaces.'  

Mary: 'Change the text on your yellow advert because it's not readable as the texts are overlapping each other.'

Bukky:  'Make sure you add a caption for the image that you have because that's what I found out with every photos in newspapers.' 

Biancha:  'Maybe consider taking off the bullet points on the sidebar as it looks a bit like a magazine but if you decided not to, at least change the sidebar a little bit by adding another photograph maybe.'

Lambeth Press Local Newspaper (front page)

This the front page of my ‘Lambeth Press’ local newspaper. As a nameplate/masthead, I used the logo that I originally created for this newspaper. The purpose of having a nameplate is to make it easier for readers to identify which newspaper they are reading and it’s a chance for the newspaper company to differentiate their media product from their competitors.  I added a dateline, price of the newspaper and its website as these are necessary information that readers need.

Mise en scène is a French term for ‘within the frame’ it is an element that represents different things such as costume, lighting, set design and acting. I chose this particular photograph for my first page as it is well related with my main article. I am aware that the lighting of the picture is important because it has a ‘profound effect’ on the way an image is perceived. I took the picture at night to try to affect my reader’s emotion as this emphasize that something bad happened in the  dark. Again, I tried to amplify the reader’s emotion by the set of my picture; as you can see the wall looks bad and dirty which connotes that a crime took place in this area of the house.  In addition, I added some newspaper, letter and other paper props on the floor to make it seem as if something strange happened as some objects are just scattered all over the floor.

I followed the convention of having a big, bold headline on the top of the page as this is the best layout that suits the newspaper that I am originally creating. I made sure that the font type and size are clear as well as big enough to catch the reader’s attention. I decided to make the ‘lead’ section in bold because this is the first paragraph of the article. Therefore, it should try to engage the readers to read the rest of the article. In addition, I made sure that I use a jump line after writing half of my lead article to inform the reader of the page number where they can find the rest of the article. I decided to add a sidebar because this is a good way to present additional news and I made the background colour blue to keep the colour scheme of my newspaper. I added a picture that relates with my first article on my sidebar because I didn’t want the page to look boring by having too much text. I added a line and a bullet point to make it clear that the articles are different separate piece of writing.

I originally made two adverts but I then realised that the adverts looks too stretched so therefore I decided to make another smaller advert to take advantage of the free space available. I used different font types, sizes and colour to differentiate each ads from each other.  

I changed the ‘final’ one because I had to take into account few audience feedbacks such as changing the font style and re position because there were too much space in between the pictures and the texts. After doing further research, I then changed my text into ‘Times New Roman’ because newspaper today still uses this font style and also I now agree with my audiences that this font will look better than the one that I used for my previous one. I added caption on the image that I originally took so that readers can relate and would know what the picture is about. I made the boxes and advert bigger to fill in the spaces. I also changed the font on the yellow advert because when I printed out a copy of my previous newspaper the font was on top of each other and it wasn’t readable at all.

Choosing a headline and planning of article

 According to my research the best way to describe a headline is: "It's a text at the top of a newspaper article, indicating the nature of the article. The headline catches the attention of the reader and relates well to the topic. Modern headlines are typically written in an abbreviated style omitting many elements of a complete sentence but almost always including a non-copula verb".

In addition, I found out that they use different techniques when writing a headline. Some of these are:

• Alliteration which is a repetition of the same beginning letter sound. For instance one of my  headlines on the sidebar will be 'Toddler Tragedy' which will be about a two years old baby that dies because of a car collision.

• Metaphor which is a direct comparison between two unconnected people or things. A good example of this would be 'Saved by the bell'.

• Hyperbole; exaggeration.  For example when a slight problem or difficulty is described as something far worse e.g. NIGHTMARE SEARCH FOR GOOD PUB FOOD.

For this week I was thinking of possible headline and articles that I can use for my newspaper. These are some of the ideas I came up with:

- Two hurt in stab horror

- Toddler tragedy (2 years old died because of car collision)

- SHOOTING HORROR IN PARK (innocent victim was shot as feuding youth clash)

- SHOT DEAD ON THE DOORSTEP (Woman aged 28 was gunned down)

 -DEAD ON COUNCIL DOORSTEP

- COUNCIL SHOOTINGS

- HUMAN ENTRAILS ON COUNCIL DOORSTEP

- ESTATE NIGHT SHOOTINGS


I decided that I might be using this headline and article:

DOORSTEP SHOOTING IN LAMBETH NORTH

Sendeniz  Richards,  Turkish woman aged 35 was gunned down in her home.

Police officers are searching for the killer of Sendeniz .  Yesterday, she was horrifically killed using a shotgun in her house in Frazier Street, Lambeth North. She was immediately rushed to St. Thomas’ Hospital but later died from her injuries.  Her next door neighbour Mr and Mrs McGettigan said that they’ve heard the victim shouting and arguing with a man, the couple assumed that they were talking in their language. ‘She was crying hysterically and he was shouting over her. Moments after, gunshot were fired’.

“The suspect is a man who is well-built and approximately 6ft tall. He was wearing a black baseball jacket, black hoodie, black baseball cap, blue jeans and white trainers.” Friends and relatives believe that the victim’s killer might be the husband as they’ve been having many arguments mainly because of money issues and their planned divorce.

The police have started their search and have posted details about the issue around the local area especially in the Turkish Community Centre (TTC) as the victim and her husband always socialise in the premises. Anybody with information regarding to this matter should call 020 78897 914/ 07944335683 or Crimewatch anonymously on 0800 333 914.

This will be one of my article. As of now I am planning to put this as one of the headline on the sidebar of the front page which can continuously flow to the first page.

Outstanding young entrepreneur

    Sean Garrett was awarded last week with ‘Outstanding Young Entrepreneur 2010’ by Sir Alan Sugar in Waterloo.

    Sean has been very successful throughout the year as he made a total profit of £8 000 from his clothing line ‘Noize’. He makes different varieties of designs but mainly music related ones. Fortunately many musicians loved his designs and they are willing to pay higher price than other customers as they would want to help his clothing line to be successful.

    Sean makes hoodies, T shirts, sweat shirts, jeans and belts; which has been featured in many music videos such as ‘Magic’, ‘The way you are’ and ‘Show me what you got’.

    For anyone who is interested in Sean’s Clothing Line can contact him on www.noizeclothing.com or phone him on 07936782947.

Here are some more ideas that I might use for the headline on the sidebar of the newspaper:


PARK HORROR

PARK HORROR NIGHTMARE

PARK NIGHTMARE

VICTIM SHOT IN HORROR PARK

HORROR VICTIM ON COUNCIL DOORSTEP

SECOND SHOOTING - DOORSTEP OF HORROR

TRAGEDY STRIKES TODDLER

DEATH OF TODDLER IN CAR TRAGEDY

TODDLER IN VIOLENT TRAGEDY

Audrianna, 22 months old died in a car accident. The collision occurred when the bus collided into the car hitting the side of the car. Unfortunately, the baby did not survive but others were injured.