Draft Designs for Newspaper

The two images above show the layouts for the design of my newspaper front page and second page. The image on the left is the front cover and will include the title for the newspaper "The Liverstop". I will be using a main image in the centre which will cover the majority of the page because I want this along with the title to be the first thing that my audience will notice. I will also introduce adverts at the bottom of the page. To the right of the image will be a short extract which will explain a brief introduction to my main story. It will then have a .. turn to page 2 where the story will continue. As this is the only story being used on page one it means this design of newspaper has a linear narrative because my newspaper will follow a straightforward pattern. There will be no need for the audience to turn back to page one for any other stories.
The image on the right is a design for page 2 of the newspaper. It will consist of another image relating to the main story and then a larger extract which explains that story in greater detail.
Below this will be two further news stories of a different genre as I want to add variety to my content. These stories will both include a headline and an image relevant to that story.






The two images above show the layouts for the a different design of my newspaper front page and second page. The image on the left is the front cover and will include the title for the newspaper "The Liverstop". I will be using a main image in the centre because I want this along with the title to be the first thing that my audience will notice. I will also introduce adverts at the bottom of the page. Below the main image will be a short extract which will explain a brief introduction to my main story. It will then have a .. turn to page 2 where the story will continue. My audience will be able to switch back from page 2 (after reading the main story) to see what other stories can be read. This will make this design have a complex narrative as the newspaper isn't being read from page one to the end, page by page. The image on the right is a design for page 2 of the newspaper. It will consist of two more images relating to the main story and then a larger extract, this time placed down the right hand side of the page which explains that story in greater detail.
Below this will be a further news story of a different genre as I want to add variety to my content. This story will both include a headline and an image relevant to that story.

None of the images, stories or content from both designs will be used for my final production.

Mood Board

This is my mood board that I created to help with the production of my newspaper.
I habe included titles like the facbook, msn and myspace logos because this is a reminder to me that I want to make the title of my newspaper simple but recognisable the way these logos are to their audience. Facebook, myspace and msn are also examples of social networks people would use in there spare time so I want to take ideas from these networks.
I have included images of Everton and Liverpool football club as a reminder to include sport on my front page and as a representive for fans of both teams from the city.
The colour wheel will help me to decide which colours are complimentary to each other and which shouldn't be used together.

Drafted Ideas

This was a design for my newspaper front cover which I drafted on publisher.
I have come to the conclusion that the title "Liverbeat" has more reference to a music magazine than a newspaper so I will be moving away from using this title. The main headline and first stance look effective as they are in big, bold Arial lettering and catch the attention of the audience.
I came to the conclusion that using a main story on the front page along with another side story would be effective rather than bombarding my audience with stories. This gives my audience a variety to read but doesn't overwhelm them with which story to go to first.
The story I have used will not be used in my newspaper as it is a national based story and my newspaper is local. I used this particular story with the picture to get an idea of how the layout of my front page would look.

Newspaper Titles

I want to challenge the codes and conventions of a plain newspaper title and make mine look more appealing to the reader.
I have come up with some ideas shown below.

The LiverBeat

Because this title refers to the Beatles I came up with ideas of a music symbol title and other titles to look more retro because of the time the Beatles were first launched.


The LiverStop

I want to go with the theme of Liverpool in the 80s so I have again chosen simple but retro designs for this title.


The Record

I wanted this title to be bolder and bigger because I am referring it to Liverpool being a historical city.



The Liverpool Breeze

Again I wanted to keep the design simple but more chilled out and relaxing to look at.

I feel that the audience will appreciate a different style of font in comparison to traditional fonts used on newspapers and I hope to make it interesting enough that the audience views it before other newspapers.

Analysing Newspapers

These are two examples of two local newspapers that I analysed. They are both from the same newspaper, The Liverpool Echo and are therefore very similar. I have chosen the Liverpool as my main newspaper to analyse as it is the most popular newspaper from my are.

I can see that the title is positioned in the top left hand corner along with the price and date and e-mail address.
This is a code and convention that im going to conform to because it is found with the majority of newspapers whether tabloid, local or national. Both have a main headline and this is recognisable through the big bold font however the newspaper on the left doesn't have a first stance like the one on the right. I will be using a first stance for my newspaper.

Both have other insert stories positioned above the main story. These stories vary in genre and this is important for a newspaper, to have variety. The genres include crime, sport, music and politics.

It is also noticeable that both of these newspapers have adverts at the bottom of their newspapers and this seems to be a code and convention with most local newspapers I have looked at but I am going to challenge this code and convention by not having adverts on my front cover.

Both newspapers also include a byline, which gives the name and sometimes the position of the writer for that particular story and I will also be doing this for my newspaper.

I will be taking ideas from my main newspaper I am analysing (Liverpool Echo) but add my own ideas to make my newspaper original.

Broadcasters Audience Researchers Board (BARB)

BARB is the primary provider of television audience measurement in the UK. It covers all the channels across terrestrial, satellite and cable platforms in both analogue and digital.

BARB is a non profit making company and therefore is funded by the industries that it supports including;
BBC
ITV
Channel 4
Five
BskyB
IPA (Institute of Practitioners in advertising)

This information was researched from the BARB website.
http://www.barb.co.uk/index/index

Although the Broadcasters Audience Researchers Board (BARB) is aimed at television its channels (BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Five) all contain news which will be useful in reference to my newspaper work.

National Readership Survey (NRS)

Who are they?
The National Readership Survey provides estimates of the readership of Britain's major newspapers and consumer magazines. This shows the size and nature of the audiences that these newspapers are able to achieve.
The survey covers 300 newspapers, newspaper supplements and magazines.

What do they do?
The primary purpose is to provide reliable estimates for national newspapers and major customer magazines.
They interview a large sample of 36'000 adults from the age of 15 and above. These interviews are conducted face to face in the homes of these people and the average interview lasts around 27 minutes.


Contact information: National Readership Surveys Ltd
40 Parker Street
London
WC2B 5PQ
Tel: 020 7242 8111
Fax: 020 7242 8303 info@nrs.co.uk

This information was researched from the National Readership Survey
http://www.nrs.co.uk/index.html

Planning

Above are examples of the newspaper planning I drew out on paper before putting them onto a computer.



This was the first design idea I came up with for my newspaper front cover. I have chosen to make the main image this size because it will draw the audience to my newspaper. I have also found from researching that many newspapers opt to use a lot of the front cover for the main image and headline and this again is to attract the attention of the reader.

I will aim to make the title of my newspaper half blue and half red because as it is aimed at my local city Liverpool, I want it to attract both sets of supporters of Everton and Liverpool rather than it being dominated by one colour. I will put a small amount of adverts of around 1 or 2 because my newspaper isn't free so will not need to include many advertisements.
I will also introduce a side story and this story will be of a different genre to my main story because although it is only two stories on the front cover I want to add variety to my newspaper.
The title of my newspaper, the date and price and e-mail address for my newspaper will all be printed traditionally at the top of the page following the style of all other newspapers.

The next design I came up with was this,


In this particular front cover I will not be introducing any adverts because I will be using them on my second page. The title will remain blue and red and will stay at the top of the page along with the date, price and e-mail.
This time my side story will be a lot bigger. On my first design I left space for it to begin and it would continue onto page 2, where as this side story will be in full on the front page.
I will be dominating my front page mainly with the main image and headline because I want to attract my audience straight away and seeing the headline in big bold lettering and the image to match it will help me do this.

I will be using a first stance in both of these designs because I feel it is important to provide the audience with more information on the story rather than just the headline.




Examples of images I may use are,

This image will more likely be used on page two as a small side story. For example "Why is this local boy getting all the attention?"

Newspaper name Ideas
LiverStop- This is because one of the main attractions of the city of Liverpool is the Liver buildings, a place where a lot of people stop and look at. This symbol has also been produced as the team badge for Liverpool FC and is recognisable to the people of Liverpool.

The Liverpool Breeze- This is because I want to represent the city as a relxaed and pleasant area to live in or visit.

The Record- This is because Liverpool is a historical city so this paper may be looked upon in future as holding key events.

The LiverBeat- This references both Liverpool as a city and one of the most successful things to come out of Liverpool, The Beatles.

Contacting Local Newspapers (Recieved E-mails)

Hi Iain,

Thank you for your email, which has been forwarded to me.

I don't know which specific aspect of newspapers you are researching, but here is a link to facts and figures section of the website of the Newspaper Society, the umbrella organisation representing regional and local newspapers.

http://www.newspapersoc.org.uk/Default.aspx?page=1

I hope some of the information is useful to you. Good luck with your project.

Best wishes,

Chris Walker
Regional Managing Editor
Trinity Mirror North West & Wales
0151 472 2350
Secretary, 0151 285 8476/472 2480
Fax 0151 330 5034

Contacting Local Newspapers (Sent E-mails)

I sent the following e-mails to members of local newspaper companies.
This was an email sent to Andrew Campbell of the Liverpool Echo.
From: Iain Warren (iain_warren@hotmail.co.uk)
Sent: 14 October 2009 10:51:30
To: andrewcampbell@liverpoolecho.co.uk

Hello Andrew,
My name is Iain Warren and I am currently studying in my second year of media studies at Roby college. I am researching into newspapers and was wondering if there was any information you could provide me that would be useful and would help me with my coursework.

Thanks


The next e-mail was send to the picture editor at the Metro.
From: Iain Warren (iain_warren@hotmail.co.uk)
Sent: 14 October 2009 10:48:03
To: pictures@ukmetro.co.uk

I am a second year media student who is researching into newspapers and I was wondering if you could provide me with any answers to why pictures are so important to a newspaper. For example are people more likely to read a certain story if it has pictures to illustrate it?

Any answers you can provide me with would be very useful,

Thanks

This e-mail was also sent to the Liverpool metro
From: Iain Warren (iain_warren@hotmail.co.uk)
Sent: 14 October 2009 10:58:28
To: news.liverpool@ukmetro.co.uk

My name is Iain Warren and I am currently studying in my second year of media studies at Roby college. I am researching into newspapers and was wondering if there was any information you could provide me that would be useful and would help me with my coursework.

Thanks

Newspaper Poster and Radio Advert (Ancillary Tasks)

Poster
My poster to represent my newspaper will consist of the liverbird that is used on my newspaper. This Liverbird being half blue and half red. The colours purple, blue and red will also be used for the poster as they are the three main colours for my product.
I will also use an example of the front cover of my magazine for so that the audience can become familiar with the style and layout that my newspaper uses. I want to make my newspaper recognisable to my audience.
I will research other newspaper posters to get an idea of what is required within them. However I will be using ideas of my own to make my poster original.

Radio Advert
For my radio advert I will be using a young male from Liverpool as this is my target audience and the area I am aiming my newspaper at. I will be using somebody who is between the age range of my target audience to speak throughout my radio advert. I will try to keep my advert simple but at the same time adding my own features to it to make it more effective. I will also listen to other radio adverts to try and gather some information on what it takes to make a good radio advert.

Questionnaire ( First 10 feedback)

I produced a questionnaire for my newspaper and below are the results of the first 10 questionnaires I gathered feedback from.

Type of News


The highest type of news was Entertainment which received 9 out of 10, the number of people interested in this type of news.
The rest were as followed;
Entertainment 9
Sports 6
Fun 5
Politics 3
Economic 3
Art 2
Industrial 1
History 1
Religious 0
Science 0

From this collated data I can see that the most enjoyed type of news is Entertainment and the least interesting are Religious and Science.


Do you prefer local or national newspapers?

This shows that from the 10 questionnaires 60% of people prefer national newspapers over local ones with 40% preferring the local newspapers. This could be seen as a good issue for me because if more people prefer the national to the local it means I will have to look at why this is and try and improve on it.


I was also able to work out that the average price from my 10 questionnaires that people would be willing to pay would be 40p.
20p 30p 30p 40p 40p 40p 40p 50p 50p 60p = £4 divided by number of people (10)
Average price = 40p


What do you like about newspapers?


I can see that the main thing people like is the content, what actually goes into the newspaper and the least liked thing was the language so I could make the language I use more informal and friendly towards the reader, hopefully getting them involved for example, an emotional story would appeal to their emotional side.

I wanted to see if a new local newspaper, if brought onto the market would appeal to the public.



I can see from this data that more than half of the first set of feed backs (6 people) would be willing to purchase a new local newspaper if it were to come onto the market, with the other 4 being unsure. This is good for me because none of the questionnaire feed backs said they wouldn't be willing to buy one if it was to appear on the market.

I also wanted to find out whether people preferred the online version to the print based version.

I can see that there is a massive difference here, with 90% (9 people) preffered the print based newspaper to the online version ( 1 person, 10%). I find this to be useful because if more people were to prefer the online version then I would have to look into why this is,
Is it more accesible?
What is different about it?
Are the stories different or more detailed online than the printed versions?

And finally I asked what people thought their local newspapers were lacking and the responses I recieved were;
More gossip
More entertainment
Agony Aunt
Better layout
More interesting stories
Less adverts
Others believe that the newspapers lack in variety.

Newspapers (Overall Research)

I have found that many newspapers tend to use the majority of the front page for an image of the story and it's headline.
Examples of this are;





I have also found that these images used are very representative of the story and can almost capture the whole story in one image. This is strongly illustrated by the newspaper front cover, "The Daily Telegraph" showing the Twin Towers burning on 9/11. This one image almost makes it so that the reader wouldn't have to read the story to know what has happened.
There also tends to be a first stance as well as the main headline and this is used to give the reader a bit more information on the story. For example,

Headline- "Local Flat Collapses"
First stance- "Hundreds injured in freak accident"

The New York Post is an example of a local newspaper from America and the same style is still used, the main image and headline dominating the front page.

I have also found that free local newspapers will use more advertisements that local newspapers that charge and this is to bring in more revenue. My newspaper is going to be paid for therefore I will not need as many advertisements in it.

Primary Research (Newspaper)

Pam Edelston from the Southport Champion came in to hold a talk on local newspapers as she had been involved with the Southport Champion for 10 years. I took this opportunity to listen to her views and what she had to say about her experience of working within a local newspaper.
Local newspapers can either be daily or weekly, with the weekly ones tending to be free therefore there is a need for advertisements as the newspaper needs to take in revenue from somewhere.
These advertisements would normally be placed in what is called a wrap around and this is where there is almost a separate cover which advertises something like, Matalan or the NHS for example.
I found that the Liverpool Echo has the name of its website printed above the title of the paper but others have it printed inside on the second page so it is important to include the website for my newspaper somewhere on the first two pages.
The Southport Champion, being a free newspaper holds a "Whats happening today" section and this includes The Southport Airshow and photo competitions which again help to bring in revenue.

Pam stated that everything written in a newspaper is looking for a reaction.
The main story of a newspaper must stand out noticeably from the rest of the paper and these stories are usually exclusive which means that no one else has this story, it is exclusive to that paper only. There is then some key info which is normally shown in a black box as followed,

this is called the first stance and is there to inform people with a bit more information than the headline gives.

Other stories that may be included are entertainment, fashion, health and extreme weather.
Other things could then relate to the main story for example, a column or an opinion piece where the writer gives their views, or even a feature column that could include facts and figures on the story to make it seem more interesting to the reader. This then allows the viewers to log on to the website and give their opinions in blogs or sending letters which can sometimes be controversial.

There are times on a front cover where the main headline is not accompanied by a main image. But it is more important that they do.
The example used was " Oil leak on beach". It is important to make the pictures relevant to this story, i.e. show kids playing on the sand, birds being affected, or simply show the beach.

A byline is also important and this is the introduction to the main story, it is often in a darker text and is followed by the body text. A bullet with a number is a representative of which page to turn to for the rest of the story.

Pam told that newspapers with kids on them tend to have the best sale figures, they increase the revenue. The main picture is best to be captured in an action shot to make it noticeable.

There are several different fonts used throughout a newspaper, they include
Headline which tends to be Big and Bold
Introduction which tends to be small and dark
Body text which tends to be in small print.

It is also useful to introduce some facts and figures to go along side the main story, about the main story to keep the reader interested.

When asked what makes people want to buy a paper? the answer was variety, meaning that the newspaper needs to have a variety of stories and genres throughout it.
Teasers are also useful for the front page because it shows whats coming in the paper.
It is vital to put the page number on so people know where to go inside, this seems simple but often occurs. Advertising holidays and introducing competitions are also effective as it gets the reader involved more and can bring in a better intake for the paper itself.
Internal adverts are where the paper is trying to sell something to make money or to inflate its revenue. Other adverts are bought and paid for by external people.
Adverts can be landscape or portrait and can come into different styles, half page adverts, quarter page adverts and eighth page adverts are just some of the styles in which adverts can be used.
It is also important to include contact details for your newspaper, for example phone number and e-mail adress. The date and price need to be labelled somewhere on the front page.

Different newspapers have different agendas.

Example of my questionnaire

1. What type of news do you look for in a local newspaper?

Entertainment
Economic
Sports
Fun
Political
Science
Industrial
History
Religious
Art


2. How much would you like to pay for a local newspaper?
20p to 60p …………..

3. How often do you purchase your local newspaper?
Once a week
Twice a week
Everyday
Other ………………………………………………………..
Never

4. Do you prefer local newspapers over other newspapers, e.g Daily Star, Telegraph?
Yes
No

5. What do you like about newspapers?
Content
Style
Images
Language



6. How long do you read newspapers for?

Cover to Cover
Scan the pictures
Flick through
Main headlines/ stories
Sport section



7. If a new local newspaper was to come on to the market, would you be interested in purchasing it?

Yes
No
Unsure



8. Do you get the newspaper yourself or from other sources, i.e family members?
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

9. Do your prefer the printed newspapers or the online versions?

Printed
Online



10. Do you feel your current newspaper is lacking anything? If so what?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..



This is the questionnaire that was given to people to fill in.

Secondary Research (Newspaper front pages)

I have decided to do the first two pages of a local newspaper.
As part of my secondary research I explored the Internet and found the following site;

http://www.newspapersoc.org.uk//Default.aspx?page=1228

This site allows links to other local newspapers across Great Britain, therefore it gives me a wider range of ideas for how local newspapers are set out and what information is used within them.

I used the following images as examples to represent this.

The Liverpool Echo

The Liverpool Daily Post

The Chester Chronicles

The Coventry Telegraph

I took these images of the local newspaper front pages to gain an understanding of how they look and the style that these newspapers use.
It is clear that the main story is the focus of the front page as it is normally shown in the centre with other news stories scattered around it. Side stories are also used and these are helpful because they add variety to a newspaper which is very important. Mixing the genre of stories can help to keep the audience interested. For example the main story may be political based and then there could be 2 or 3 side stories that are relevant to sport, history and education.

On some newspaper front pages there are advertisements and competitions so if I want to keep my newspaper traditional I may stick to these style or ideas. Advertisements are more used in free newspapers and this is done to increase the revenue as the newspaper is being paid for. There is no set position for where advertisements should go, some are placed at the top or even at the side but the most common place for advertisements to be put is at the bottom of the paper because is then allows the main body of the newspaper to be about its stories and content. The date and price as well as the title of the newspaper are all printed at the top and this seems to be a style that all newspapers stick to so I will also be using this style. Newspapers make there names stand out so that the audience knows which newspaper they are purchasing.

It is important that as it is a local newspaper that the stories and the content of the newspaper are relevant to the areas of that region. For example writing about areas of Newcastle in a Liverpool based paper will confuse people and put people off buying this newspaper.

There is also no set colour boundaries as can be seen because different newspapers use different colours to others. However it would be useful to limit the amount of colours used because if there are several colours used then it may confuse a person or even put the audience of buying it as it is too in your face.

Research

I will be undertaking several types of research for the production of my product including;

• Primary



• Secondary



• Qualitative



• Quantitative

Primary research will include me producing and distributing a questionnaire and then from the results of this questionnaire putting together a focus group where I will discover what people like about local newspapers and what sort of ideas I should avoid. It will also mean having to purchase newspapers to analyse and e-mailing editors from local Liverpool newspapers.

Secondary research will involve me looking at newspapers online and finding out the sort of stories that are published and how the newspapers are laid out. This is secondary research because it is work I am taking from another source.

Quantitative researching is used to measure what people think so this will be useful for me as I will be able to measure what people's opinions are to local newspapers.

Qualitative researching is finding out why and this will be very useful to me because it will provide me with reasons why the audience like or dislike an idea.

I will also be looking into market research will allow me to see what people want, what they feel is missing in the market.

I will be looking into two industries

• National Readership Survey (NRS)
• Broadcasters Audience Researchers Board (BARB)

This will give me an indication on the figures of how many people read certain newspapers.

For my target audience i will be looking at the

• age of my audience (16-24 25-40 40-60)
• gender (male or female)
• social class (working, middle or upper)
• Culture and Ethnicity

I will also be answering the following questions;

1. Is my product financially viable?
2. Do I have the necessary skills to produce this product?
3. Do I have the right equipment and technology?
4. Have I got enough time to produce my product?

Target audience

A target audience is the primary group of people that a media product is aimed at appealing to.



The target audience for my newspaper is going to be age 24-30, both male and female. As this is the target audience for my production I will be aiming to use ideas from music magazines such as 'Q' because my age group are also likely to read these sorts of magazines.



This will involve me going against some of the typical codes and conventions of newspapers and although my newspaper is a local one I want to make it look more interesting for the reader by using these ideas from magazines.

I have also chosen this age range as my specific target audience because I feel people below 24 are less likely to be interested in reading a newspaper. Although this is my target audience I will still aim to include elements that will involve age groups above and below this age range.
I will appeal to my target audience by using contemporary stories and making them interesting. I will also use relevant stories that are local to the area of Liverpool because using stories for other regions would be more suited to a national newspaper.

Proposal

For my production I am making a newspaper including the front cover and first page of a local newspaper. In this newspaper I intend on inlcuding a main story aswell as the title of the newspaper on the front cover. This will also be shown with a picture to illustrate the story.
Within this newspaper I hope to inform my readers of any stories or main headlines from the area.
My target audience will range from 24-30 and this is because I am aiming at this age because the younger generation (teens) dont seem interested in reading a paper and I feel the stories I will be introducing are more aimed for this age group and will be seen as more interesting to them.
I am aiming to introduce other side stories across the two pages that will vary in genre so that I have a variety of news stories which will again appeal to the audience as they won't be reading the same style of story over and over.
I will be researching the different types of local newspapers looking specifically at local newspapers like, the liverpool echo, the knowsley challenge and the metro.
I will also be looking into the styles of newspapers and how both the front cover and the second page are laid out as these are the two pages I will be creating.
The stories I use will be very important so I will look carefully into the genres of the stories I use, for example will it be crime related or entertainment related and then I must make sure the pictures I use are relevant to that specific story.