Website Comparison 2

Daily Mail & The Guardian

The other two newspaper websites I will be comparing, these two newspaper sites will be the daily Mail and The Guardian. These two sites are very different in layout and design style, what they have in similarities is that the colour scheme is the same with blue and white keeping it very simple and limited on colour. the homepage for The Guardian is very simple and neat with separate columns for each article category making it far easier for the reader,  the top category is the top headlines with the big main news stories that have the most popularity with politics and crime being the main focus.

Looking at the Daily Mail's design and layout it is very different, the layout is a lot more cluttered and confusing to find a specific news article, articles are scattered around the page also making the homepage very long, some articles like celebrity news and entertainment are placed on the right hand column which in a way makes them easier to find and pick.

The top bar has a lot more categories that the Guardian as well, giving the readers more choice and a variety of news stories that the Guardian may not have. On the Daily Mail it shows that most of the articles especially the smaller news articles are mainly focussing on entertainment and celebrity news, these stories are featured a lot as they are very easy to read and prove to be very popular with most audiences such as women who are more likely to read the celebrity news, also with each story only a couple of paragraphs each which keeps the reader going and interested in the news article instead without them becoming bored, as longer paragraphs are more boring for the viewer to read loosing interest in the article.

The Daily mail has a advantage over the Guardian for its popularity as its the most read newspaper in the UK giving it the largest amount of readers from 23 million a month, this is probably due to its huge amount of content compared to the guardian as said before, the more content the newspaper gives the more readers it will attract boosting its popularity amongst readers. As for the huge amount of content it does not focus on serious news its more about entertainment, readers who prefer a more serious read would be more likely to read the Guardian in return as it contains more serious news stories.

Masthead Research

Findings of Research:

What I have found from my research is that the masthead has to be simple with limited colours that does not distract the the reader, the font that is mainly used in mastheads are old fashioned fonts such as Old Times Roman and bodoni, the colours I should use must be plain simple colours such as blue,red as examples. other colours are less used as they do not appeal to the audience and distract the viewer. a mascot or image above, below or next to the masthead is optional but it must relate to the newspaper name or purpose so it does not look out of place.

Feedback & Self Evaluation

Feedback & Self Evaluation

 Overall evaluation

I have gathered all the information I had received from the audience both from the newspaper, website, poster and the newspaper name and have made a evaluation from this information on how overall my work was and what could be improved or changed.
Staring off with the newspaper name I had mostly good feedback and the audience liked the design of the newspaper and that it had the villages coat of arms which most people do not know of and this also gives some history to the area and the newspaper, the font style fits on well with the logo and name making it look as if effort was put into it and not mock up with no thought, the name is easy to remember and simple for the audience. The style of the logo is also a change from other existing logos and they do not have the same amount of detail put into them and the crest makes it stand out more from the others.
The feedback I received overall was mixed, the content was there but most of the audience thought that the layout let it down, it looked out of place and mixed so it looked rushed. The stories could of been more fleshed out with more extensive detail rather than limited with information. The colour scheme was suitable and fitted like with the newspaper website, some of the feedback also said that some of the stories such as the main headline had a good amount of detail and story into it keeping the reader reading on and not loosing interest.

The feedback form the poster mainly pointed how much space available on the poster that could of been used up such as having another headline instead of one and how simple the poster was compared to most newspaper posters and billboards adding how much could be put into it.
The audience feedback gathered overall from the website was as well good but had mixed results, the main improvements that the website needed was the lack of the amount of content on all the pages, there were too many advertisement which made the site looking like it was more focused on them instead of the actually news stories. the colour scheme was suitable but did make some parts of the site pop out which other sites do not have as they only use lack and white with no actual colour scheme for the site. the layout was easy to use and the viewer could easily find the type of story they wanted to read but they also thought that there was to enough variety of newspaper stories.

Overall what I have found from the evaluation is that I should add more content into my work and have a better design layout to make the audience pay more attention to the content that is presented, I should also make the work more presentable and clear for the audience as some of the work like the newspaper was more messier in layout and design that the other work such as the website.

Final Newspaper Name

Final Newspaper Name

The final name I have chosen for my newspaper article is Hedingham echo, the name as as the name refers and relates to the area of which the newspaper is published and created from. I have chosen this name cause it reflects the newspaper and what it is about the most, the name is easily recognised and easy to remember so audiences know what newspaper it is and the name tells when it will be published. The title will be seen on the masthead of the newspaper that will also go on the newspaper website on the home page and thought the site. The logo for the name of the newspaper has the bible Hedingham coat of arms representing the village, i chose that as part of the design as it makes it more physically appealing and also looks professional to the audience, the coat of arms was taken from a  picture and then set as black and white then set to a low opacity so the name can be seen. Other newspapers also have a coat if arms represented on their logo such as the Daily Mail, that is where i got the design idea from to add the coat of arms.

Feedback on Poster/Billboard

Feedback on Poster/Billboard

From publishing the poster/billboard for my newspaper I was able to gather some feedback from publishing the poster, there were mixed options from the audience such as negative and positive points. 

As some of the feedback was more negative here are what negative points and opinions from people had on the poster/billboardSome of the audience thought that the design was far to simple and basic and needed more added to it rather than a single headline in the centre with the newspaper logo at the top, it looked too bare for some people which did not make it stand out from other newspaper billboards and posters.

The rest of the audience thought that the simple basic design was easy to understand and easily caught their eye, comparing to other newspaper billboards it makes a clear point and gets the news across easily, the font style and the logo fits well together and makes it look more of a professional newspaper as a other fonts can make a newspaper look fake and unprofessional to the audience.

What can be improved?

from the feedback the poster/billboard could use more detail and added features such as 1 or two more newstories featured on the page, another logo could be added below the headline and the headline could have a different more eye catching title.

Website Feedback

Website Audience Feedback

I gathered some user reviews from the audience who used my website and complied their views and opinions, I had 4 people review my website and these are their thoughts on the website. 

An Audience member one thought that the site had a simple easy to layout to use and found it easy to go through the site without getting confused, while like other sites they have too many features and the viewer gets lots within all the content and they thought that there was a suitable amount of content but more could be added such as bigger new stories with more details.

The second remember of the audience thought that there was not enough information that they wanted from the site and more categories should be introduced into the site such as science and entertainment news, the design of the site could also be improved by adding more designs into it the site and maybe some more colour too to make it stand out.

The third audience member I received feedback from said that they thought that the home page and the other news article pages featured too much advertisement which took up most from the pages while they should feature news stories instead of advertisements, this took focus away from he stories and more onto the ads.

The fourth person I had feedback from said that the website has a unusual layout to other websites that they have used but as well it was easy to use, they thought the layout was too basic and need more added into it such as images and more on the top bar. as well they thought the share feature was a good feature on the website so other people an be shown and share their thoughts on the website.

Website Self Evaluation

Website Self Evaluation 

I evaluated my newspaper website and found that some of the aspects and design could be changed or improved, some parts were fine and suitable for the newspaper. What could of been changed was the amount of content like new stories and smaller articles that could be featured on the website, there was not so much information on some of the stories and some could be improved by adding more findings to the stories. The layout was a bit spacious as well and could have done with more content to fill the spacers throughout the website, such as the top bar could have more options and more categories to choose from like many other newspaper websites have.

What I thought was fine about the site was the design and colour scheme, it was very simple layout and design which is easy to navigate through, some websites do not have a more than one or two colours and the red on the website makes it stand out a bit more, looking at other websites they too have red alongside black or blue with very limited colours as too much will make them look unprofessional. Staying with the local events and surrounding areas for the articles was what I wanted as news stories outside of the area will not be relevant tot the reader who would just want local news instead of international news stories that do not apply to them.

Overall for my evaluation of my website I think its suitable to have the basic news stories of the local area and gives good information but the lack of features and the amount of useful space being unused puts it down and can be unimproved.

Audience Research for Masthead

Audience Research for Masthead

I did some audience research for my newspaper masthead, by doing this and with my findings I found that most audiences do read newspaper mastheads but some do not care to read them. Some audiences tend to read other newspaper mastheads than others such as more popular well known papers will gather more audience attention form the mastheads. As some content is more pleasing and interesting to some audiences than others, audiences will read a newspaper masthead if its from a bigger well known newspaper as they are more likely tot believe the story than a smaller local newspaper, mainly due to its popularity the audience will more likely believe a story from a bigger authority figure such as  from larger well known newspaper, smaller newspapers may have true big headlines but cause of their popularity people are less likely to read or buy the newspaper.

Research for Masthead

Research for Masthead

A Masthead is a flag, banner or the name of a newspaper or periodical, its proprietors, publisher, etc. , printed in large type at the top of the front page.  These mastheads are used in public places such as in streets outside post offices to attract passers by to buy their newspaper, it advertises the newspaper names and more popular well known papers will be seen more in public places. Here are some examples of some existing mastheads from different newspapers which are popular among the public.

The research I did for the masthead was to look at existing newspaper mastheads such as from the local newspaper tabloid and other popular newspaper mastheads, I looked at the design and features that the mastheads had and what made them individual from each other, such as their layout and colour scheme which some had like the Sun and The Mirror which have red in their mastheads.
What I from my research is that the masthead must have the newspaper logo somewhere on the masthead but mainly in the centre of the page, part of the top of newspaper is also optional to have in the masthead as well and the design has to be simple and easy to read.

Drafting Billboard

Drafting Billboard

For drafting the billboard I used Photoshop and made the canvas 789 x 997 pixels, I had to change the size as the A4 size was too large for the logo as it was blurry when made bigger on the page, drafting was easy as only be few features were going on the billboard unlike the newspaper and website which had multiple drafts to choose the right design for the end result.The first draft had a smaller size font and the writing did not fit right on the page, I added a black bar as well underneath the newspaper name in attempt not to make it as plain. The main story headline was staying the same which is the new story that it the main focus story of the newspaper.

Final Masthead

Final Masthead

This is the final design for my newspaper masthead, this will be present on both the article and online newspaper page on all the pages,the idea of my masthead was to keep it simple but look a bit more professional and stylish to appeal to the audience. The main purpose of the masthead is to get the audience to read the newspaper and to get intrigued in order to read it, the masthead must catch their attention so the logo is the main design focus of the masthead. The masthead has the newspaper articles name in the centre of the page and a small part of the top half of the newspaper home page, this is so people can have a small look of the newspaper contents, for this I also looked at my newspaper front page but also the website for ideas as they both have different layouts but the newspaper page worked better for the design.

Final Poster

Final Poster/Billboard

This is the final poster for my newspaper article, this would be used out in a street outside of news agents or shops to grab the attention of people passing by,the main design idea was to keep it simple but look a bit more professional and stylish to appeal to the audience. I wanted it to be simple and easy to read instead of having multiple stories covering the page. The main purpose of the poster is to get the people out in the street to read the newspaper and get interested with the headline, it allows the newspaper reach a audience that are harder to get to. The poster has the newspaper articles name in the centre of the page and a big news headline title in the centre, this is so people see the most popular headline that is relevant at the moment. The final billboard is very simple like many other existing newspaper billboards, it has a red band below the newspaper name as that colour is also associated with the newspaper.

Making & Final Poster

Making & Final Poster

Making Poster:

For making my poster I used Photoshop CC and used  blank canvas that is the same size as an average poster or slightly smaller, the page had to be big enough so that I could fit the logo which is 500x400 within the page. The images had to be big enough otherwise they will be pixleated and hard to see if made into a larger size.  I needed to think of the layout of the poster/billboard and how each part will fit onto the page, the headline has to be big enough but not over powering the page as well as the headline being relevant news and not just a random title. The logos had to be placed in suitable places as well so they can be seen by the viewer properly and so it did not look out of place on the page. From looking back at other existing newspaper mastheads I was also thinking of adding some colour such as red which is also featured as the colour scheme in the website and which is also seen on existing newspaper mastheads, I could use red lines bordered around the page or just above and below the headline to make it pop out more.

Billboard Poster Research

Billboard Posters

Audience research:

For audience research for the newspaper billboard poster's I have looked at existing posters that are used by popular newspaper articles, these posters are designed to capture the audiences attention much like the name of the newspaper but instead use a big known headline story. It will get the audiences attention and wanting to go and buy the newspaper if the headline has sparked their interest enough.

Ideas for billboard Poster:

The idea for what my billboard poster, I want to keep the poster simple and not too elaborate and distracting to the viewer. Looking at existing billboards and posters I found that a main news story is made in bold on the front cover, this is to of course grab the audiences attention as its the first thing you see on the billboard/poster. Big news stories are often put on billboards sop for my billboard I shall be using my biggest news story as the focus of the billboard. It will feature my logo at the top and the bottom but the bottom logo will be smaller, this is to mark it and show that is made by that newspaper article rather than some other newspaper.

Drafting billboard Poster:

The page for the poster/billboard will have dimensions the same as  A4 paper to keep is a suitable size to work with, the size is 210 x 297 pixels and making it this size makes it so I can work with the logos size as it is not a huge image size for the poster, the layout and overall design is easy to do as it only requires a headline title in the centre of the page and the newspapers name/logo presumably on the top of the page.

Drafting & Making newspaper Website

Drafting & Making newspaper Website

WIP

These are some working in progress images of my newspaper website, starting off with the home page I wanted to work on the home page first to add in the main big news stories as they are mostly seen on the home page of a newspaper website. I wanted to change the right side bar making more room for the news articles and also adding advertisement as this is also a common feature you tend to see on newspaper websites, after taking away some of the features the website started to look more open. There was some fake added news paper stories which I had to change as they came with the website template, I switched them with news stories of my own and others. For the layout I added some changes and took away some of the provided features as they were not needed such as the "Whos behind the blog".

ideas for website

Ideas for Website

Design Ideas

The main layout design of my newspaper website will have most of the article categories at the top menu bar, this will be for easy access across the site and will have every news category in one place. Categories such as Money, TV/Entertainment , Science will be some of the categories featured on the top menu bar, the most popular categories will be the home page such as worlds news stories or stories that are featured in the area. The main colour scheme will be red, white and black font and this will be a running theme throughout the site, keeping the colour scheme to a minimal it will not over whelm the viewer and will be less distracting.

There will be separate new stories feature on the front page as well as big main story headline that will thin the most attention from the viewers, I will have up to 2-4 other pages that will contain different information on different news topics to keep the variety going throughout the newspaper website.

Base of Website

These are some images of the newspaper website in the making process, each page will be made individually with different sections of news on each page. The website will be made with the website creator WIX, at it comes with a pre-made newspaper website for the base of the site that I can use as foundations for my newspaper website. I will edit the editable features such as the title will be replaced with my logo and the news stories will be replaced by other news articles. I will add more features to the website like new sections and categories for the different genre of articles and these will have a button on the bar at the top underneath the logo, these will lead to separate pages of news articles. I might keep the the main colour scheme that is already shown in the pre-made website as they are not too distracting and are quiet popular among other newspaper websites.