Evaluation

For my media coursework I was asked to create and produce my own newspaper (2 pages), a poster advertising the newspaper and a two hyper-linked website. To do this it was vital that I researched into existing media products to give me ideas and a better understanding of the of the codes and conventions they regularly follow. It was important that my newspaper reflected realistic stereotypes to appeal to a modern day audience but I aimed to produce a new kind of newspaper aimed at teenagers aged between 15 - 19 as there appear to be a knish in the market. Therefore, this led me to the decision of making a local teenage newspaper with an emphasise on students which meant some codes and conventions would have to be challenged in order for me to create this specific idea.

Typical forms and conventions of a newspaper are key to follow when designing my own product to keep on the same scale as mainstream papers that are around already leading to a successful outcome. The Sun was highly influential in the layout and mood of my design due to results from a questionnaire I created (see below), so there are several aspects from it in my own newspaper.

As you can see I have used the idea of having one main story to take up most of the front page and have a bold black background against white simple font making a 'bold' statement. I also put my title big and bold at the top of the paper and put a smaller story in the right, bottom corner of the front page. However, I wanted mine to have more on the front page, so I placed an extra picture referring to the other story and also included more writing and a large advertisement just underneath the title. Unlike The Sun, I placed the price so it is well noticeable as it is important
that younger people see the price as it is an easy way to get them to purchase a product if it is cheap. I liked the idea of using a pun as the main headline as it is a good way to attract teenagers by using slight sarcasm and humour.

Overall, I feel that my piece is a reflection of many newspapers by using a main title, advertisements, headers, sub headers, columns and headlines. Nevertheless, I feel as if I developed these typical codes and conventions by introducing a more colourful approach and giving a a typical paper layout a bright 'mood' and a bolder statement to appeal to my targeted audience.

I began by researching into the difference in tabloid and broadsheet newspapers to gain a basic understanding of typical features of each newspaper, (see post: Existing newspaper research). By doing this I could get an idea of what type of newspaper I wanted to design. However, when making significant decisions I found it extremely helpful to receive opinions and feedback from piers to ensure I was creating something that they would potentially purchase. Consequently, I made a questionnaire to gather useful information that I then took into consideration when forming my work.

Questionnaire - (results from 15 people shown in brackets)

I kept my questionnaire short but to the point and informal. The people who filled them out ranged from 15-19 in age.

Q1: How often do you read newspapers?

A1: Every day (2)
A2: 3 - 4 times a week (4)
A2: Once or twice a week (4)
A3: Once a month (2)
A4: Hardly ever (3)

Q2: What articles do you generally enjoy reading about?

A1: Celebrity updates (5)
A2: Sports coverage (3)
A3: Real life stories (4)
A4: World wide news (2)
A5: Other (1)


Q3: What is your favourite existing newspaper?

A1: The Sun (7)
A2: The Daily Mail (2)
A3: The Star (5)
A4: The Daily Telegraph (0)
A5: Other (1)

Q4: Would you read a newspaper aimed at 15 - 19 year old?

A1: Yes definitely (10)
A2: Yeah probably (4)
A3: No way (0)
A4: Not sure (1)


From the information I gathered by using this questionnaire I found it a lot easier to know what I needed to create. Question one helped me decide on how often I would sell my newspaper to the public, as A2 and A4 received the most votes it was clear that this targeted pier group do not particularly read newspapers often enough to produce one on a daily basis. Question two told me what perhaps is a 'must have' read in my newspaper and although they all received votes and I would include all this topics in my paper its clear that celebrity gossip and sports coverage is what teenagers most like to read. From Question three I learnt a lot about what should be my inspirational existing newspaper and 'The Sun' came out on top so I intended to incorporate some of its codes and conventions within my paper as it seemed to be successful. Lastly, Question four gave me the confidence boost I needed that my piers would actually read a newspaper specifically aimed at their age group, the answer 'Yes Definitely' received 2/3 of the votes making it the top answer.

Once I knew that I was certain I wanted to produce a teenage newspaper, specifically aimed at students it was time to design my idea. My college is lucky enough to have Apple Mac computers for media students to use so I was able to use Indesign, Photoshop and Dreamwether to create and produce my newspaper, poster and web pages.

Indesign

By having access to Indesign I was able to be highly creative in my designing and could use a variety of tools to produce exactly what I imagined. I used this professional software to design my newspaper as this is its typical use.

Photoshop

I was able to use Photoshop to design all of my art work to then place into Indesign and Dreamweaver. By using Photoshop it allows you to be creative without having to go through a difficult process. All my art was created in Photoshop and some of my primary images were edited using this to give them a sharper and better effect. I also used this to create my poster.

Edited image

I was able to improve the photos image by using the 'sharp' tool and the 'noise tool' as well as heightening the contrast and brightness, overall I believe it makes the image quality look better.

Dreamweaver

This software was what I used to create my web design. It was easy to use and I was able place photoshop art work within it. I also turned my newspaper and poster into 'pdf' files and successfully uploaded them not the Internet.

Research, planning and evaluation stages:

Part of my task was to show my planning and research to took place while making my work. To do this I used the Internet to research into other website (See Post: Website Research) and to portray my development and planning of my work I used Blogger.com to show this and eventually evaluate my final pieces. When it came to planning and research I also found it useful to use primary products to get a real image of existing media products to give me some ideas, therefore I researched into real life newspapers.

The effectiveness of my main product and ancillary tasks:

As I have to create a combination of three different media products that all support each other it is clear to see how effective they are. Within modern day society there are so many ways to advertise and promote products causing a competitive market. Therefore, it is necessary to succeed in a competitive field to use as much advertising as possible to gain the recognition that is deserved. I feel that my main product of a newspaper is able to sell its self with its new approach to the public and unusual look for a newspaper but having posters promoting it will lead to a greater success. I would have posters put up in shop windows and around South-East Essex college to appeal to my audience. Also by creating a website to combined with my newspaper can lead to a wider audience, especially from teenagers as they typically use the Internet on a regular basis. I believe that the three products support each other and work together to promote 'The Epic'.

Ancillary task 2 - Website

My second ancillary task was to create a website including two hyper-linked pages to combind with my newspaper and poster. After researching into a few student and local newspaper websites to gain some inspiration I decided to incorperate what I had gathered from my information with my own design which I think represents my newspaper in a more suitable manner.

Firstly, I made some rough designs to get an idea of how I wanted my website to look.

Rough design 1:

Rough Desgin two: (an improved design in which I wanted to follow)

Then I took my rough design when I was finally happy with it and used dream weaver to create my website.

Page two (Local News link page):

The idea of having a 'local news page' came from my research of other newspaper website and they most of them included one as it is an important aspect of a newspapers purpose. By using this idea, I was able to put the front page story from 'The Epic' as the first news update, similar to what 'The Sun' does on their website as well as many others. The background image is one of the primary images used for the same story in the newspaper but it is faded to create a dramatic effect. Once again, the colour scheme and font type is used throughout the page as to what is found in the newspaper and poster keeping to the look and theme of 'The Epic' as a whole. Also relating to the newspaper, I placed the email adress needed for readers to send in their snow photographs which is promised when the website is advertised in the newspaper. It is also still important to advertise the weeks issue within the website to attract more readers so I used persuasive language to invite them 'found in this weeks paper!' and 'be in next weeks issue!'.

Page one (Home page):

The homepage is clear a importance to a website as it is the first thing people are exposed too and straight away make a judgement therefore I used a variety of different fonts and a large image to make it eye catching. A poll is a good way to get an audience involved as well as a forum where the public can chat to the team and give their views and own ideas about the newspaper. By letting viewers of the website feel more engaged they are more likely to buy my paper if they feel they have involvement within it. There are regular updates that would be one of the first things you read on the homepage along with a story that I feel would appeal most to my targeted audience of teenagers and students 'Fight in local club'. Overall, I hope to have achieved an easy to use website but one that looks busy and 'funky' inviting and engaging in my audience with interesting stories, polls and regular updates.

My Final Design of 'The Epic' Newspaper

Second Page:

Ancillary task one - Poster

Another part of my final production was the ancillary task to create a poster advertising my website. I used Photoshop to create my poster and included a variety of primary images referring to stories found within my newspaper. I also used the same font that I used for my newspaper to keep the newspapers look intact. By putting the logo boldly at the top of advetrisement would catch the eye of pervious readers of the newspaper as it would be easily recognised and lead to them reading the poster, also as the logo is 'big, bold and colourful' it can easily catch the eye of potential new readers.

I deicided to make my poster look busy and bright to attract a greater audience as it portrays exactly what will be found in this particular issue and therefore the readers know exactly what they are going to find.

I also placed 'plus a chance to win freee entry into mayhem for a whole month!!' at the bottom of the promotional piece as a persuading device to entice more buyers.

I incorperated alot of images within poster as it is know that people respond more easily to images, espeically younger people, giving potential readers a better understanding of the stories they will read about.

Website Research

For my ancillary task I have been asked to create a website with two hyper-link pages for my newspaper. Before i created my own I thought it would be helpful if I researched other local newspaper websites and student websites to gain a better understanding of what I need to produce.

The sun

This website is very bold and full of different stories and links on the homepage. The logo is large and the first thing you see when viewing the site. Stories that appeal to a targeted audience, mainly the working class, are highly advertised such as the general election. The white background and red and white colour scheme throughout the page is the same as the colour scheme found within the newspaper. Overall, the page is easy to use and clear as to what stories you can find within the newspaper. However, when considering my website I feel that this type of layout would not particularly appeal to my targeted audience, it would need to be more colourful and bright. Nevertheless, I would like to incorporate the easiness the site and wide range of stories within mine as it is a good way to attract a lot of readers.



Varisty - The Independent Cambridge student newspaper

This website and newspaper it is advertising are specifically aimed at students in the local area of Cambridge, in particular students attending Cambridge University. Due to this it has a high focus on the university concerns such as 'Oxford clinch Varsity match penalty shoot-out'. However, the website seems dull in my opinion with a simple white background and the use of simple fonts. This may appeal to Cambridge students but 'The Epic' is aimed at students in the local area of Southend with an emphasis on South Essex College and as this is a media and arts college I feel that it is important to use brighter and bolder colours as it will probably appeal more to this audience as well as younger teenagers.

Designing the logo for my newspaper

It is important to create an eye catching title for a newspaper to draw in your selected audience ...

Desgin 1 - I wanted to use a 'funky' font to clarify that my newspaper was aimed at teenagers so I choose the an unusual font and used a mixture of colours to make the logo bold and appealing.



However, I thought that having a white background was just not 'bold' enough and did not make the 'teenage statement' I was aiming for.


Design. 2 - I kept the font the same but instead made the logo more bright and colourful making it more eye catching:

Primary Images

For my main story on the front page of my newspaper I am using this image to refer to the article about the 'big freeze' in local areas and how many colleges, schools and places of work were closed for several days due to snow and bad weather conditions. This image is taken by a digital camera and is me and my friends on a day off having fun in the snow.

All of my pictures are taken with my digital camera, therefore making them all primary images. I believe this gives my newspaper a better feel of authenticity.
Here are some examples:

Naming my Newspaper

From my research and the wide range of different newspaper names, it is clear to see that the name has to be short, brief and slightly catchy. As I am aiming my product the a fairly young generation with an emphasis on students the name needs to be something the would appeal to them and suggests it is typically for this age group.

As I am seventeen and therefore have a great understanding of my desired audience, I had an advantage when it came to thinking of names that would attract potential buyers.

I came up with name 'The Epic'.

I chose to name my newspaper this because people within my selected area typically refer to something that was really good as 'epic' and I believe this is a good way to catach the attention of my target audience by using a name they can relate too. I also came up with this idea because it is short and simple which seems to be a typical convention that newspaper names follow.

My idea in detail

After researching into newspapers that greatly differ, I noticed a knish in the market for a newspaper specifically aimed at people ageing between 15 - 19. The majority of this age group tend to be students so I intend to create and produce a newspaper distinctively aimed at this age group with an emphasis on students. I wish to make my newspaper a local one for people in Essex so it can contain local neighbouring news, updates and upcoming events.

This age group are the main readers of The Sun, so this newspaper is going to be my inspiration for the content I wish to include within my newspaper.

I plan to focus my articles and stories on celebrity gossip, sports coverage, upcoming local events, local news, horoscopes, male and female fashion, music and film reviews, a page dedicated to readers to write in about any local situations and updates and a feature page of places offering discount for students in surrounding areas.

As people between 15 - 19, especially students are constantly trying to budget money, particularly in the current economic recession, I plan to distribute my newspaper once a week for a retail price of 40p. The day each week it would be on sale would be every Tuesday as it will give people a chance to plan their weekends around weekend events advertised within the paper. Also I believe there will be a higher percentage of buyers during a week day than a weekend because people are out on a weekend are doing their own thing and therefore may have less interest and less chance to buy and read a newspaper if they were in a usual routine of going to work or college.

Existing Newspaper Research

To achieve a newspaper that is going to become successful I have researched into a variety of different ones to gain knowledge of what I may need to include and what I may be competing with:

Example 1 - The Sun ..

The sun is aimed at the working class citizens and the younger generation, the price is usually a cheap aount of just 20p. The articles found within the Sun range from news, celebrities gossip and sports coverage. It's read by a wide selection of people and many different age groups. It is a daily newspaper. The overall tone of the front cover is very loud and it is only showing one headline implying that it must be a very important one. The logo of the newspaper is always the same and is easy identified by the public as one of the top newspaper companies. The headline is brief but is in very large font to grab the readers attention; once hooked the smaller writing is used for a vague introduction ot the story to keep the reader interested. The picture is very colourful and is fairly large making it eye catching.

Example 2 - The Daily Mail ..

The daily mail is read by the majority of middle class citizens, its main focus is on world news and politics. The header is the newspapers name and the font is not your classical newspaper style, hinting it is a slightly more sophisticated read. From the front cover it is clear to see the involvement in global stories from one of the advertised stories with a main focus on Britain. There appear to be two main stories, the other one based on health care. The first article seems to portray a negative point of view and this is given away by the title referring to the man in the caption as an 'evil, old terrorist the photo used is support this accusation as he looks angry and there is a large gun placed next to him. This story would be gripping to a reader because it raises a debate about a huge current issue in today's society. The text has a black background and is underlined in red adding to the hinted anger the author is portraying. The second story has no caption to intrigue readers but the font is very large and therefore, eye-catching. The title is written within inverted commas suggesting it is a quote, not a fact, from someone or somewhere. This and the fact it is based on saving several human lives if true, invites readers in by creating a sense of curiosity. In the top right corner, there appears to an advertisement for a promotion within the newspaper offering something 'free'. This is always a good way to appeal to many people who are contemplating purchasing the newspaper, especially in the current economic climate where people are trying to save as much money as possible.

Example 3 - The Daily Telegraph ..

The daily telegraph is a broadsheet newspaper, automatically suggesting it is aimed at more educated people who have an interested in 'hard' news rather than informative articles based on celebrities, know as 'soft' news. The typography of the title is in sophisticated font which suites the contents of the paper. The articles mainly found within the Daily Telegraph vary from political and international news to articles that raise topics of discussion referring to the middle east, philosophy, sociology etc. and in this case the new president of the United States is the main feature. The front cover of this particular newspaper is consumed by a large centered image of Barack Obama and his wife extremely happy. The header reads 'The dream has come true' straight away implying he has become president as most people would already be aware of the current election taking place in America so this would make this story an interesting read and appeal to many people as it is a current affair. This newspaper comes out on a daily basis. The overall tone of the newspaper is pleasant because of the warm picture, however, the layout of sophisticated font and an in depth article makes it seem serious and intellectual.

Statement of intent

I intend to produce the first two pages of a newspaper, a poster advertising the newspaper and a two hyperlinked pages from the paper's website. My targeted audience is for people aging between 15 - 19 (teenage years), with an emphasis on the growing population of students which is a first of its kind in local areas such as Southend. Although I aim to produce a newspaper with similar layouts to existing local ones (such as the even echo, the sun etc..), the content will differ dramatically to appeal to the targeted audience. I hope to achieve a newspaper that includes items of interest in terms of show-biz news, music and cultural interest, fashion/clothing, sports, upcoming student events in local areas and a page for readers to have a say in anything they wish too in regard to the newspaper and surround area events. I intend to distribute my newspaper on a weekly basis and to come out on Wednesday so the readers can arrange their weekends around the weekend events if they desired.

I am going to produce a poster advertising the newspaper with a catch slogan and a unique and eye catching logo that will appeal to my audience. To do this I am going to research into other logos and slogans that are aimed at teenagers and young adults to inspire me. Also, I will look into existing websites for newspapers and see what are the typical codes and conventions I need to enforce in my own work but also ones I fell I can challenge.

As part of my research to guarantee I am producing a paper that is going to become successful and achieve a substantial amount of profit I am going to create a questionnaire and ask people within the age group of the targeted audience to answer it. It will cover topics I need too decide an answer for such as is it worth making a newspaper for teenagers and the exact stories I need to include.

The task

For my A2 Media Studies coursework I am expected to create an orignal two pages of a newspaper complete with my own stories and advertisments and a website homepage promoting the newspaper, as well as a poster. My blog is going to show the preparation that took place to complete this task and how I achieved my final piece.