Asking about my printed newspaper front page.

I have just finished printing out my finished front page after many attempts to do so. As i didnt make my newspaper page on an A3 or A4 page, it was difficult to printing, making parts get cut off. So i n order to make it work, i had to adjust somethings on it.

This photo shows the amount of times i had to print and adjust my page.

I then asked some educated people (eventhough not adults) to look at my newspaper page to see what they thought. I then gave them a set of questions which they could write freely on about what they thought of my newspaper page. 

I wanted to get them to write under the questions i thought up because it would give them free-reign of what they wanted to say, i only make the guidelines of what i wanted them to write about.

 Here underneath are the questions i wrote and printed out, and then what the 2 people i asked thought about my newspaper page. The questions i asked were inspired by the questions i need to ask in my evaluation. I purposely wanted my questions to be vague so that the answers i got were stright forward, therefore simpleier to revise.

So here are the scanned pages i got from four people. Two were my peers as i wanted a general opinion from them, and the other two were from my focus group and target audience:


                                                            1st person, focus group:

2nd person, focus group:



3rd person, peer:

4th person, peer:

I was given a little more extra information from this person, advising me to change the title to something better, local and less humourous? I have been told this quite a lot, therefore i believe it is time to change it. Here is the extra info i was given:

I also decided that i should ask an educated adult, to give a final comment on my newspaper page. I asked her to do the same as these other two people did and i have the scanned sheet she filled out here:

I found that my newspaper is good and hooks my target audience - which is wide, also, i do definatley need to change the look of the word 'trampoline' on my front page. It just doesnt work having it split into two sections, so i am planning to make the 'by' smaller, and then the trampoline could then fit on it. So the next thing i do is to change my newspaper's front page headline title - again!

But what to change it to? With a suggestion from one particular individual from my target group, i came up with the title: 'LOCAL FAMILY DESTROYED'. I think that it makes the story local, and tragic/hard-hitting and also, i would not need to change what i have written. I will change this now and put a copy of it on a next post.

Starting to make my newspaper's poster.

I was my idea and concept to make my poster for my newspaper very traditional as it is recognisable. And also, i wanted the first headline poster of my new newspaper to not say anything particular about my newspaper being new, i want to start my newspaper image with something which is a new take on the traditional newspaper.

It might make the viewers believe that i am not creating a new newspaper, but i feel that if i were to make this clear, an audience may be a little put off buying it as it hasnt been tried and tested.

To make my newspaper poster, i have looked back at the past posts i have done about it and recapped. I will also go by my drawn out plan of the layout of my poster. I think i will make my newspaper poster on publisher as it is easy to use and does the basics well, and do it on an A4 sized page because if i were to put my poster up in public i will make it the correct size for a sandwich bpard but as this is a prototype so to speak, this will be an okay size.

I want the look of my newspaper to match my newspaper pages in order for them to look related. I have looked back at the title of my newspaper page in order to see what font i used etc.

Just like i did for my newspaper pages, i will document the stages i went through to achieve my poster via a powerpoint.

Finished 2nd newspaper page.

I have made a powerpoint just like i did for my first page of what i did at each stage of making my second page:

div style="width:425px" id="__ss_11349637">Powerpoint recording the stages of what i did.

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Here is my finished 2nd newspaper page which will probably be printed off on a later date:

Testing the quality of recording on my ipod.

I decided that i was going to record my radio advert on my ipod as it is quick, easy and i think the quality is very good eventhough it isnt a professional gadget.

It has been a while since i have researched radio adverts so i looked back and what posts i have done about it (the many that there are) and got the person i chose to read out the radio script i wrote myself to see what it sounded like.

The person i chose to use to say my script and advertise was male, adult and had a slight Norfolk accent, but still spoke fairly articulately. The characteristics of his voice strongly represent the target audience i am aiming at, therefore they will not feel intimidated or have the wrong idea of my newspaper.

Here is the sound recording which i put onto vimeo:


Untitled from Olivia Smith on Vimeo.

Once i heard what it sounded like, i was happy with it as it was clear at the narrator got the script correct. 





Untitled from Olivia Smith on Vimeo.


I do understand that it may not sound right just playing it like this, but if this were to be played on a local radio station, i think it could work. There is enthusiasm.

Making my newspaper page 2

Now that i have finished the first page, i have to make my second, therefore it is easier. I am going to do it with the same process by looking at my drawn draft layout. I am also going to record what i did step by step on a powerpoint.

So here is the powerpoint i made as i was making my newspaper page which has all of the information on it:


Here is my finished newspaper page:

I am quite happy with the finsihed page, but this isnt the end - just like i did for the first page, i will have to put this page up for scrutiny, get it printed out on realistic size and then get it judged. After that i will then finalise it.

Re-Drafting my newspaper page and finished 1st newspaper page.

Just like i did for my first draft of my newspaper page i recorded what i did step by step on a powerpoint i am going to do this again and upload it.


Here is the powerpoint:

Presentation2

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Here is my finished newspaper page:

I would probably scan my newspaper page when it is printed out.

Speaking to a member of my focus group.

I had a change to have a conversation with somebody who fits the criteria of an 'educated adult' and they gave me some feedback on what i thought was my finished first newspaper page.

This is the front page of my newspaper which i believed was finished, but actually i found out isn't after i spoke to a member of my focus group. I have treated this first version of my newspaper as a first draft.

I was given a list of improvements which i will make to my newspaper page. I understand that i am going to make changes to my newspaper with information from just one person, however this person has experience in newspapers and often reads them, therefore i think they are a valuable source.

Here is a list of the information i was given to improve my newspaper and the changes i am planning to make:

- To have a more overall local focus. This is throughout the subject of the articles, photos etc.

- Move the QR code so that the headline title isn't so separated up.

- For the artist article, have a photo of a young person on the second page. An educated and cultured audience would be interested in up and coming talent.

- For the days out article, call it 'Cultural Days Out', 'instead of fun family days out'. This is because an educated audience would want their children to learn while having fun. Also for this article, i should have a picture of the Norwich castle because it is more local and also more educational and cultural. i have currently got a theme park photo, however this is less middle-class than a photo of a bit of history.

- Instead of Johnny Depp having a new film out, i should write about how Stephen Fry, known to be from this area and is a very intelligent individual and how he celebrates film (he also owns a production company) by writing a book about the history of film. Also mention that he has got a book signing coming up. Would i be able to get a suitable photo?

- For the pension article could have a sub-title saying that 2 Norfolk professionals have their say - my target audience are likely to be of people who have a profession, therefore feel like the article is relevant to them, relatable and interesting.

- The headline should have a bit of text which says there is a debate further in the paper, this also means that i will have to write a few opinions of a couple of people on the matter. I will probably do this is bullet points so that it is a quick, simple and direct read.

- Add a price bar code - how can my newspaper be bought if it doesn't have one?

- On the front page, next to the pension article, have information on a competition which readers can be involved in. I do not have to write about this competition. I have decided that the competition will be about winning some seats for Cinema City - a cinema which is known to be fairly expensive, middle-class and feature arty, alternate films - which i am sure my educated adult audience would be interested in.

- The person who i asked also thought i should change the price of my newspaper from £1.10, to just £1. This is because it makes my newspaper easier to buy, more convenient as there is less change involved when purchasing especially if it will be sold on the street and it makes my newspaper more able to be picked up and bought - therefore supporting the idea that my educated adult audience would have children who they have to take to school or they have to go to work themselves.

- This is quite a dramatic change. I have said all along that i want my newspaper to be of tabloid size, however, the individual i spoke to believed that having my newspaper A4 size makes it more of a portable newspaper, one which can be taken around with and layed about and also, it makes production costs lower for me. If i were to create this newspaper for real, i could consider changing this, but as this is a sample newspaper that i am making, i can afford to have it this size. Also, i think that having a small sized page will make everything a little more packed together, therefore making it lo0ok as if my newspaper is supplying a lot of information for a small price.

The person who i asked thought the colour scheme of just black and white made the newspaper look retro, taking my audience back to their youth because of its older fashioned appearance. I think that not having my newspaper in colour will also make it stand out on the shelf compared to the modern, colourful newspapers around nowadays.

So now, all i have to do is make the pages which i believe with these directions will be simple.