Due to technical difficulties with blogger, which the ict technicians were unable to solve, i was unable to post my work throughout the period of my coursework. However, i saved all of my progress onto word documents instead, meaning i have evidence of my work throughout.

The Final Font

The final font I chose was ‘Boris Black Bloxx’ this was because it followed my brief of being recognisable and typical of a local newspaper yet has a modern and current edge to it. The bold effect made it seem as if it was bubble writing making it more current yet the font of ‘Sans Serif’ kept it recognisable and typical, a perfect combination for my newspaper.

My Own Newspaper Masthead

There are two parts to a newspaper masthead; the font and an image (although this is optional). I have first studied the use of fonts within a newspaper masthead.

Fonts:

The Fonts most commonly, if not always, used is Sans Serif or Times New Roman. This is because these two fonts are extremely easy to read, therefore for a newspaper this is ideal for all readers. These fonts are not only used within the newspaper masthead but throughout the newspaper itself.

I used the website http://www.dafont.com/ to choose a font that followed the style of a newspaper with its own unique style. I selected two fonts that were different versions of the font Sans Serif. These were:

-Boris Black Bloxx
-and Blue Highway

The reason i chose these two fonts was because firstly they followed the common style of a typical newspaper font. I wanted my masthead to be recognisable as a local newspaper yet still have its own individual style that people would associate with my paper. Although i wanted the masthead to be typical of a local newspaper i also wanted to add a certain style to it, making it more modern and current. This was the reason for choosing the font Boris Black Bloxx. I put both fonts onto a sheet of A4, and questionnaired 10 media students and 10 non-media students, asking them to tick which one they preferred from a personal persepective and which one they preferred from a local newspaper perspective. The font that had the highest response from a personal perspective was Boris Black Bloxx and the font that came up the highest from a newspaper perspective was also Boris Black Bloxx. This clarified that i was going to use this font for my final newspaper masthead.

Newspaper Masthead

I have begun to research and analyse local newspaper mastheads. This was so I could gain a broader idea of what a masthead involves, for example the colour scheme, the font and the size.

When defining the masthead it is known as the title block or logo, identifying the newspaper at the top of the front page. Sometimes an emblem or a motto is also placed within the masthead.

A national newspaper such as ‘The Sun, The Mirror and The News of the World’ also known as ‘The Red-Tops’ are often set into a block of red print, these are categorised by their style and the use of red font. This does not apply to local newspapers as the content and national awareness is different to a national newspaper.

In the context of a web page, a masthead or imprint refers to the header at the top of a page which contains a text title and often identifies the name of the website, serving a similar purpose to the masthead on a print publication. I researched the three local newspapers within our area.

The first is The Halstead Gazette.

Although this uses the same ‘red top’ colour scheme, it is not known as a red top as it is not a national newspaper. This is possibly the reason the masthead is ironically black and red, as national newspapers are known as ‘red tops’ specifically for this reason. The font is relatively formal, and the use of the word Gazette is bigger as this is the word they want to stand out.

The second is the Braintree and Witham Times.

This is also uses colour along side the prominent colour black, the use of the colour green is because Braintree’s District Council uses the colour scheme of green and black, relating the local paper to the local council. Braintree is the more prominent word over Witham as this is the bigger town, and will therefore sell more copies if this town is mentioned, as other surrounding villages will recognise and be interested in the town’s news.

The third is the Suffolk Free Press.

This means that it has free democratic press meaning it has the right to report any type of news rather than the paper being free itself. Once again the use of colour is alongside black. This font is less formal than the other two, as the font is more described as ‘bubble’ writing, perhaps less like a local newspaper would be expected.

All three papers have their own distinct identity, as in they all have different names, and they are not all called for example the Suffolk Times or the Halstead Times. This is represented through the words ‘Gazette, Times and Free Press’ being bigger, and the more prominent lettering. This is to represent their own identity throughout the area.

Newspaper Poster

Final Idea

I have two opportunities for the idea when designing my newspaper poster. One of which as previously mentioned is designing a billboard poster, displaying purely the name of the newspaper and the main headline of that day.

The second is creating something brand new for the idea of a newspaper poster. This would be a combination of what is already currently on the market combined with the main concepts of a magazine advert. Therefore, meaning i would use the serious language of a billboard along with the modern creative design of a magazine advert to create a brand new idea.

However, as local newspapers are not main-stream I have decided that a magazine advert would not be appropriate for a local newspaper because they are not aimed at large audiences around the country.

ne billboard that is just the main headline and a second billboard that displays the main headline along with an image and an advertising quote. The following images are two examples i found showing this.

I continued researching newspaper posters to try and get a wider range of creative ideas. I found a number of examples which included one billboard that is just the main headline and a second billboard that displays the main headline along with an image and an advertising quote.

This is the idea I have chose to design my own newspaper poster from, because it incorporates both the modern creative design through the use of an image as well as the main headline; the sole purpose of a newspaper poster.

A Poster For The Newspaper

Newspaper Poster

Researching 'What a Newspaper Poster is?' was very difficult, as i was not sure myself what a newspaper poster was. I could not think of any examples of one, and didn't even know one existed.

As local newspapers are not highly known around the country, they are not regarded highly for having newspaper posters. This is because they are solely created for the local area and do not need to appeal outside of the local areas, because these people are already aware of the paper and its stories.

I gave it more thought and the only example i could think would be classed as a poster, was the stands outside of Newsagents, Shops and Stalls, particularly in cities such as London, these are known as billboards.

The following images are examples of Newspaper Posters:

As you can see these are all of a very basic design. There sole purpose is purely to display the main story of the day, in simple 'to the point' language and to display the newspapers name; making it clear to readers that they are focusing on the main story alone.

As you can see there are no images included on any of these billboards, this is because it is not vital. They are not trying to advertise there newspaper, or trying to attract attention, they are trying to create an instant impact with a main headline, and it is this which is supposed to draw peoples attention.

My Brief

My Chosen Brief

When beginning my A2 course for media, we received a number of briefs we could choose from. I originally felt that i would choose brief 1) a promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with a website homepage and a magazine advertisement. However, over the summer i have decided that filming is not my strong point within Media, and writing and is so i have opted to choose brief number 8:

8) The first two pages of a new local newspaper, together with two of the following three options:

-A poster for the newspaper
-Two hyperlinked pages from the papers website

This is for a number of reasons. Firstly, as previously mentioned writing is my strong point within media, i came to this conclusion from my portfolio in year eleven, where we had to create various newspaper and magazine articles. As well as the writing i enjoyed the creative side of creating a magazine, so from this i felt creating a local newspaper would be more beneficial and enjoyable for me.