Generic Conventions

Conventions I plan to follow
I plan to follow most of the conventional features when creating my products:

• As I plan on using informative stories that my audience would find interesting to read. 
• My target audience are typically the age range for reading newspapers normally.
• I plan to use bright colour to appeal to a younger audience however understand that typically older people read newspapers but if I use young attracting colours I could potentially attract both young and old.
• I plan on using a mixture of both text and images and feel that using a combination of both it will attract both styles of readers as some prefer image based information and others like text based information.
• I plan to advertise the rest of my products on each product for example I plan to put the website on my newspaper and poster however I don't want to advertise it too heavily as I understand that advertising a free product on something they had to pay for could discourage people and make them only view the free version and although I want people to look at my product I need people to buy the product if I plan to make my newspaper successful.
• I plan to attract my audience by trying to appeal to both genders and involve stories that appeal to gender stereotypes for example for men sport and for woman I will put shopping advertisement.
• I am going to appeal to my audience by making my product value for money and when researching I have found that people would not pay more than £1 and so I am going to sell my product at 50p.
• I plan to use font that is conventional for a newspaper for example Times New Roman - this is a newspaper font that I am using for my masthead.
• I plan to use advertisement in my product and in doing so will receive money which will allow my product to grow as having more money will allow the newspaper to interview more people and could even get the product on new technology etc.
• The layout and style of image I am going to use in my products are going to be a high a quality as a professional newspaper as I plan to use a high quality camera to take the images and I am going to look very carefully at other newspapers to see what style of layout I am going to use.
• For the front cover of my newspaper I plan to follow the same conventions and place excerpts of a story and then have the remainder of the story on the inside of the newspaper and this will entice people into reading the rest of the newspaper as the articles have been placed so that audiences will have to look through parts of the paper to find the article which is a tactic which allows people to read the story they were looking for as well as reading other articles on the page that they were not reading about on the front page. I have placed articles together which follow the same style which will appeal to them and hopefully if I have done it successfully they will read the remainder of the paper.
• I plan to label articles with the writers name so that they can get recognition.
• I also plan to label articles with bullet points which list where they will find the rest of the article which will entice readers to read more of the stories as there will only be a small excerpt of the article which will entice the reader to want to read on.
• I plan on adding the weather and the lottery as a feature as this is conventional to newspapers as this allows people to view what the results are and also what the weather is going to be like.

Conventions I plan to change/challenge

• I plan to challenge the conventional boring colour scheme as I would like to use a multiple amount of colouring in my poster, I would like to use the same styling in my other products however understand that if I were to add a lot of colouring in my newspaper or website it can look unprofessional and un-thoughtout and so plan to use only parts of the colouring.
• I plan to be the only newspaper that only provides happy news in the local area as many newspaper have stories which tell audiences how good things are happening in their area however I will be the only newspaper that will exclusively deliver this.

Development of my work for my second page

This is my first attempt at creating the second page and as you can see I ave followed the conventions of a newspaper by having a small column of information on the left hand side and then for the rest of the page it full of articles except from the bottom of the page where the advert is located. There is adequite amount of both images and text on the page however the page doesn't look very professional as it seems to be full of white space and yet there is something in every space of the page. To correct this I decided to have a look at other newspapers to give me an idea as to how I can re-arrange the page to make it look more professional.

After looking at real newspapers for inspiration I decided that it wasn't my content that was the problem   as the format has been used elsewhere as I used other stories to help me create my own stories and so I knew it was the layout I had to look at. I moved the main story to the far left of the screen, resized the images and the title, added new advertisement, took away an advert, re-arrange the stories and i moved the weather article down to the bottom so that it takes up a little less space. I added the writer of the article and although this feature was not on many newspapers I decided that when you look at a article I want people to know who wrote it so they can receive recognition for the article and I felt it was a conventional element to add into the newspaper page even though local newspapers 

I was really pleased with the new look of the second page however felt that the section with the weather seemed to let the page down as it didn't look as professional as I wanted it to and the layout of it made it look easy and un thought out and so I decided to change it by reducing the size of the lottery and I also decided to add a paragraph of phone numbers to help publicise the newspaper using phone numbers and email addresses to allow people to get in touch with the newspaper. I have changed the layout of the page numbers, date and website as I was asked to create two pages of a newspaper and it not only made more sense to have two pages that followed each other but also when I looked at newspaper to see where they would advertise the weather, lottery and phone and email information and most of the time newspapers have this information on the second page in and this is why I have chosen to put this information on the second page rather than the 3rd page which means now my newspaper is following another convention for newspapers.

After creating the new and improved bottom section of the newspaper I felt that it still wasn't working as I felt that there was too much blue in that area and you couldn't quickly identify that they were different section and so I decided to get rid of the blue background for the 'Place an advert & Other information' and the reason why I needed to move the text over the width of this small area is because I decided that as this was a local newspaper it didn't necessarily need to have a map of the U.K it just needed to have weather map of the area as to where the newspaper is going to be released which meant there was space to be filled and so I decided to move the lottery section up and then move the phone information so that it stretched all the way along the bottom. I decided that the lottery was using to similar colours to the rest of that section and so to distinguish between the two I decided to lower the opacity of the shape so that the colours of the text and box would look different. I also decided that to show a clear anding between the weather and the lottery I decided to add a border so that that box showed clear that it was just for the lottery nothing else.

I really liked the blue and white contrast for the information and so decided to change that back to how I had it. I changed the layout of the lottery and so it now follows: the title, a single image of the logo and then the lottery results below that and I have designed it this way so that the weather and the lottery fit together and as you can remember earlier I had a problem distinguishing between the weather, lottery and the information section and so I have decided to use the more conventional colours for the weather map and so changed the colours from blue to green. I have slightly changed the font size for  the weather and the weather so that they fit together perfectly and I have even used the rulers on Photoshop so that I could see that the two match up perfectly. I have also added another information section in the bottom corner of the page and it list the Page by page information which lists articles that might interest you in the remainder of the newspaper - this feature helps you to engage your audience into reading the rest of the newspaper without having them look at the rest of the newspaper as this small section lists a variety of subjects that will entice my target audience based on the information I have gathered about them.

This is how I have developed my work and this is the end result from what I have learned from designing my second page. I have changed the colouring for the information section at the bottom as I felt that this was too distraction as the articles needed to be the most noticeable feature on the page. Once I had finished with the look of the bottom section of the newspaper I noticed that there was no distinguishing line that showed my audience that the articles were different from the weather and the weather from the articles and so I decided to use  feature that the Sunderland Echo use to create an interesting barrier from article to advertisement and so created a box similar to the Sunderland Echo's, as I was already working on Photoshop all I needed to do was click onto the shape tool, chose a colour that fit with my colour scheme and then draw the shape in the place that would best fit my newspaper. I drew a long rectangle the length of the article, wrote in the box See page 30 for Council's Green Restaurant Awards and then I added a circle on the left of the rectangle and then placed a '+' in the middle of the circle. This feature allowed my audience to distinguish between audience and the information section. 

REECE for my products

These images where taken at Shiney Row College, there is nobody in the image and I have decided to use the inside and the outside of the college so that the people looking at this image have a better understanding as to where the image was taken. I am going to use these images because the first image shows the outside of the college there is also a small sign that labels the college as Shiney Row Sunderland College and the composition of the image is typical for a location image like this and this is why I have chosen this image. The second image I have chosen as I feel that it shows a clear view of the inside of the College as you can see a textile creation of a dress and behind that there are images from the wall from previous years art work which I feel relates well to the story as I am talking about how art is ever changing at the College.

I have decided to use this image as you can clearly see that they are advertising a product, although it doesn't look extremely professional I don't want to be put across as it being too formal and I think by using this non-formal display of clothing I think it will appeal more to the audience of my product.

I have decided to use this image as I have a article which talks about a local person going back to College and I thought it would be a fitting image as this is the sign that would welcome you into Hebburn. I felt that if I were to go and take a image of the campus where the person went to there would be a breach in photographic content as I don't own the land and would not have permission to be on the premises. I will crop the image as I feel that too much of the grass is in the image however feel that the focus of the image is good as it doesn't look blurry.

I have chosen to use this image as I want an image of a window unfortunately the downside to this image as there is a reflection in the image of the curtains in the image however this doesn't distract from the actual fitting of the window. i have chosen to use this particular image as there are no blind or any ornaments on the window and I think it is a little unfortunate that I was unable to angle the camera so that there was no reflection in the window however that is the problem with photographing a reflective surface.

I have chosen to use this image as this is the outside of the persons house I had taken on the inside of the previous image and the reason why I have done this is because I want people to look at this advert and see what the window looks like on both the inside and the outside and the reason why I have taken more notice in the door is because I wanted to advertise the door in this image more as one image is to advertise the door and the other the window. I have decided to slant the image a little so the composition of the image looks more interesting than if the image was a straight on image.

I have chosen this image as I have taken the image on a clear day and the image is of a straight on view of the image, I have chosen to do this as there are a lot of pole outside The Monument which would block part of the pub and by taking the image at this angle there are less things blocking it. I have decided that I am going to crop the image down so that the car and the traffic lights are not noticeable in the image and yet I will still have the outside of The Monument  on full display so that all can recognise it.

I have chosen to use this image as the angle I have taken the image complies with the rule of thirds as the object is in the middle left of the image (the riding school sign). I have decided to take the image on the outside of the riding school as this would be best for potential customers to recognise the school and  also this is private and would need to be member to be allowed in.

I have chosen to use this particular image as I liked the angle of the image as it allows people to see the image of The Grey Horse but also the sign at the front of the pub. I have decided to use the outside of the pub as I this story will entice customers and if I were to use an image on the inside many may not recognise the inside as much as the outside of the image.

For this image I had to create a presentation slide which has the Bridges logo as well as lots of shopping names along the bottom which advertises the entrants in the Business Award. I have decided to use this image as there is a slight angle on the image which makes the image interesting and there is also a black border on the top right and a line of black on the left. 

I have decided to use this image as the position of how I have arranged the bracelet in the box makes the image look more like it is an advertisement as it is attracting you to the item. As you can see this is the edited version as I have got rid of the background as the table I was resting on was too dirty to clone around.

This image is for an advertisement and by angling the image I feel that this acts more as an advert as angling tends to be more of a feature when advertising. I have chosen this particular image as I think the composition of the image as you have this old cottage look to the pub and then I have complemented this by adding a brick faced wall in the foreground.

I have chosen to use this image as this is an image of me and as I am the person who created it I thought it would be fitting to put an image of me for the editors pick image and I have chosen to use this particular image as this is the most recent image of me and when you see editors in a newspaper you usually see them smiling looking serious rather than them pulling a stupid face and so with the conventions known I decided to use this image.

I have decided to use this image as I feel that when creating advertising images you need to arrange them in a way which seems to attract people into looking at the product whether that be the angle of the image or the displaying of the product. I have used Photoshop in this image as the box I was using to stand the images didn't look very professional and so I added a new layer on top, copied the image of just the boxes of chocolates and then added a white background and then lowered the opacity of the white so that some of the image below is visible which means  that the products don't look to be floating in mid air.

I have decided to use this image as it matches the subject of the story of which I want to place it with, I have taken this image on a nice day, which relates to the happiness I want people to feel when reading the paper as the paper is all about making you feel happy about local stories in the news. Unfortunately the sun is blocked by the houses which is opposite the allotments which makes the image look a little darker than ideally I was looking for.

This is the masthead I have designed for my product I have used the image with the bridge for the website however I have used the image on the right for the rest of my products without the bridge in as it did not fit in with the rest of the appearance of the poster and the newspaper product. I have decided to call my newspaper sunny side as I wanted to have name which would be uplifting and by using the word sunny you have the representation of happiness and I have decided to use a blue pas to colour as it looks to be a calming colour.

First inside page for my newspaper product

This is my original plan for my inside pages for my newspaper and as you can see the flat plan on the right and the actual version look similar and the reason why the flat plan on the left has changed is because I found some elements from the METRO newspaper that may look better on the first inside page as I have already enticed my audience into reading the inside page and so I am going to have a range of different things that I think they may want to know.

The first image shows what the metro have on their inside page and after looking at this and comparing it to my product I thought that this may be a good element to add into my product as on the front of my newspaper I have the temperature for the area and so this can be a continuation for the weather. As you are not allowed to use images from the internet or what other people have created I decided to trace images and create my own image (the image in green is the image I traced from using the Magic Wand tool and Bucket tool) and the image that I created is the blue image. I then needed to add the weather for the area sunshine or sunshine and clouds and so used the same technique as before and traced the image and the image to the right is the end result.

To create this product I again started off by adding the masthead to the top left of the page, I then looked at the articles I already created and looked to see what articles would be best for the inside page as I needed to have a variety of articles but also enough of the same style of articles to keep the reader interested and so decided to go for: bee on the look out as pupils work on the bee project, The Monument and The Prospect food and drink advertisement, the weather report and a clothing advert.

Front page for my newspaper product

These are the original flat plans for my newspaper, once starting my newspaper I realised that this type of flat plan had too little on it and so decided to change things around  and so decided to go from this first design to the design below, I knew that this design would look good and appeal to audiences as this is an actual newspaper who have readers of their own.

I looked at the metro as I felt that this newspaper best matched the colour palette I have now decided to use after much decision and change I have changed the colours for the masthead to a pastil blue, dark blue and black, I have chosen these colours as they seem to gel together better than the dull grey, bright yellow and black. Another reason for this is because my design for my poster also changed which in result turned out to be a bright poster which didn't initially go with the rest of my product and as I liked the design of my poster I decided to change the rest of my products to match this colour palette design.

To create this image I started off by opening a new page, added my masthead at the top of the page and then started to work my way down, I added the date I wanted the newspaper to be, left a space added | to separate each element, put the price of the newspaper and the temperature of the day in question. I decided to use this strip of information underneath the masthead because when I saw this element in place I thought this would be a good element to use in my product. I then went back to my articles, looked to see which would be most appropriate for the front cover of my newspaper and decided to go for a mix of articles - Bridges Business Award, Midfielder sets high goals for charity, Student lock-in, New building ever changing art, 25 year celebration for local barmaid. I also decided to add two articles at the bottom of the page, a reason I stand by as I don't want the first thing readers to see is a advert at the top of the newspaper as if the adverts are the most important thing for the readers to see.

I decided that although this is a good starting point I needed to reflect the same impact of colour in this product as my poster as I needed my audience to a see a comparison between the newspaper and poster that is advertising my newspaper product. I decided to use another newspaper element in my newspaper and after looking at the METRO for previous research I liked the idea of having a little triangle in the corner of my masthead which told my audience how much my product is going to be. Another thing that I had decided to change was to move the masthead along and put in my tagline for my product 'your positive paper', I used the mixed colouring to match the poster design so that my audience would recognise the tagline better, and as it is the first ever edition for my product I decided to use this as another unique selling point known to my audience by putting 'FIRST EDITION' at the top of the newspaper. Next, I added some more information underneath the masthead as I need to advertise the rest of my products and also the social networking sites and I again used the mixed colour  design to follow the design that I have now chosen. Also I have got rid of the lines in-between the columns and articles as without them made the front page seem less cluttered. One of the adverts have been taken out   as I thought with it being the front cover I don't want to overwhelm with lots of adverts and articles and so to make space for the advert I had taken out two articles and so decided to make use of the space and made my images slightly bigger and made more space in-between the article paragraphs.

Poster deconstruction

This slide show shows the poster deconstructions.

Front cover and inside pages Deconstruction

These are the deconstructions for the front cover and first two inside pages for newspapers.