Billboard Poster Designs Focus Group

A focus group was held once the design were completed to gain an opinion on the billboard poster designs from a consumer point of view which is of course invaluable to the designing process. The group was made up of 14 individuals all from the regional newspaper focus groups.

The first design was shown to them and only few thought the simplicity was a good thing because they saw it as having a good circulation basis and that everybody would know the regional newspaper straight away. others argued this was a poor design because yes the simplistic design is good at indicating a strong circulation and a secure newspaper but regional newspapers are constantly advertising to maintain that circulation they have worked hard to obtain. I agreed with this viewpoint as the research indicated that regional newspaper are constantly advertising to keep their newspaper viable. The majority of the group disapproved of the first design as a whole due to the message being conveyed in the billboard.

The second design was shown to the focus group and many liked the logo that overlapped the banner at the bottom and the image because it added aesthetic quality to the billboard and as part of the logo is the county logo, the regional newspaper is directly tied to the region. However, some did not like the images as they thought it was too general and did not tie to the regional newspaper or the county very much which they did not like and the image of the van and the strapline could be misleading to some. The strapline "Bringing you the local news" with the van makes the Shropshire Staffer appear like a delivery service for the regional newspaper rather than being the regional newspaper or that the newspaper only delivers to the consumer rather than being able to purchase the newspaper in store. The first design was preferred more than the second design because many agreed that the confusion that could be caused by the billboard is not as good as a simple billboard poster that has a clear message being conveyed.

The third design was approved by many of the focus group with only a few opposing it. It was said the logo, name and website being placed on the bottom left was great because it advertises the regional newspaper very well with clarity. The text to many was quite thought provoking and made them question the statement (Stuart Hall's Reception Theory) which they thought would leave a memorable print on them in the future. Although some thought the borders where the colour scheme was used between the beige and dark blue was used needed a more defining border. It was suggested that a darker colour could be used such as black or possibly a lighter colour such as silver. I thought about using drop shadow effects on the border to give a 3D effect. The "NO ONE!" text was suggested to be made bigger to add more effect from the statement.

Overall, the third design was the favourite of the three because of the thought provoking statement caused by it and how the colour scheme and the logo and the web address was displayed (ties with research about regional newspapers advertising their online presence). Suggestions were made to the third designs which will be implemented to see  if anyone of them will have the desired effect on the billboard poster.  The schedule allowed time for the creation of materials such as banners, the regional newspaper production produced the materials I already needed so no new materials have needed to be produced at this due time.

Bilboard Designs

Billboard Poster Questionnaire Results

Billboard poster questionnaire results from bdr628

Billboard Poster Questionnaire

Billboard Poster Research and Analysis

Billboard poster analysis and research from bdr628

Regional Newspaper Front Page IMPROVED

Below is the improved front page of the regional newspaper. before starting the billboard poster ancillary task, I decided to look over the product once more and spotted two flaws in the design. One being the "Special Delivery" advert was too large and competed with the logo and the logo itself had no emphasis on the price of the newspaper. Research showed that many newspapers have a badge that shows the price, mine did not have this. As a results these flaws spotted have now been fixed and therefore the overall newspaper has improved.

Regional Newspaper Evaluation Question: How did you use media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evalaution stages?

The regional newspaper used many different media technologies to produce, analyse and distribute to audiences so that the audience could easily obtain and read the regional newspaper.

The main media technology used was Adobe Photoshop CS6 because of the incredible and flexible tools available. the first thought in my mind on what program to use to produce the regional newspaper was Microsoft Word which many would consider but further thought proved that would of been a bad idea. Photoshop supports the changing sizes of canvas, images and text all in one whilst Word does not. In Word, the page size is not as flexibly changed compared to Photoshop which is why Photoshop was used instead of Word for the main formatting of the media product.

Photoshop was used for the main part because of the features such as texts with a variety of fonts and the importing of images with ease. These features are key in producing newspapers because images need to be added and formatted into the page easily without any hassle or causing problems.

Microsoft Word was used to a great degree to spell check the text for the regional newspaper because Photoshop does not possess a spell check system as good as Word which is why the text was created in Word then pasted over to Photoshop without any grammar mistakes present.

Other media technologies during the post-production of the regional newspaper is Prezi, an online presentation software, and this software was used because no other formats of media technology supported the regional newspaper to be presented in detail to an audience. Word or Photoshop is not viable to be distributed and other programs like YouTube is the wrong format and even if placed in the video, the media product could not be read from the screen due to the poor quality. Prezi allows the audience to zoom into the media product and be able to read the media product with no complications.

Overall, media technologies were used in a variety of roles for a variety of reasons to ensure that the media product could be properly produced, analysed and distributed without any faults or complications occurring to both the audience and myself during production.

Regional Newspaper Evaluation Question: What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Regional Newspaper Evaluation Question: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks?

Regional newspaper Q2 from bdr628

Regional Newspaper Evaluation Question: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Regional Newspaper Final product Survey Results

The vast majority of the participants that took part in the survey online through Survey Monkey were happy with the overall layout of the regional newspaper pages which leads me to strongly relive that the media product is structured like a regional newspaper because otherwise the audience would have answered that they wasn't happy with the layout. However, the participants had a mixed reaction to whether the mix between original images and already taken ones (royalty free) was a good idea for the product with half in favour that it was. This may be down to just the tastes and likes of the individual.

The ones who responded they hated the mix between the images thought it was because they did not mix well together with the colour scheme whilst the other half of the participants thought that the mix of images gave a better variety in visuals.

The text aspect of the regional newspaper received a great response from the audience as nearly all of the participants thought that the headline was very clear and that the text itself read like a newspaper as well. this was great feedback to receive because a newspaper has to read like one because there is a certain factual style to how it is written. Some thought that the layout itself in a way complimented the text which may be because the text is moulded round the layout.

The adverts of the regional newspaper was thought to be very clear as well by many which means the details and images used in the adverts are very clear in how they present themselves which is a key aspect for advertising. the logo including date and price got good reviews as well with many agreeing that the date and price on the newspaper was very very clear. This is possibly because the price is highlighted in a bubble whilst the date is in white text on a dark blue background which stands out from the main body of the logo.

Overall the results received from this survey were very encouraging that my own media production was a success because otherwise the audience in the survey would have given less complimenting feedback.

Regional Newspaper Final Product Survey

This is the survey for consumers of the media product to completer after having read the final two pages of the regional newspaper. Create your own user feedback survey

Final Inside Page Step by Step Documentation

Final Front Page Step by Step Documentation

Completed Regional Newspaper Production Schedule

The finished production schedule for the regional newspaper is below where you can see the actual start and end dates plus comments left by myself about why certain tasks were started when they were.

Finished Production schedule from bdr628

Final Inside Page of the Regional Newspaper

Once again, the Prezi Presentation was the only viable choice for the final inside page to be presented without sacrificing the quality of the media text.  For it to be possible to read the text on the presentation, when on the slide for the final newspaper front page, please click on the page. This is will zoom in on the page, then you will be able to zoom in and out at free will by using your mouse wheel and be able to read the text. Thank you.

Final Front Page of Regional Newspaper

I'm afraid no other format for the presentation was viable to present my final front page of the regional newspaper. Any other format would require me to lower the quality of the design thus making the text unclear so by placing the final media text in a Prezi presentation, any user will the able to view the media text with no problems. For it to be possible to read the text on the presentation, when on the slide for the final newspaper front page, please click on the page. This is will zoom in on the page, then you will be able to zoom in and out at free will by using your mouse wheel and be able to read the text. Thank you.

Regional Newspaper Second Page Draft Focus Group Response

Regional Newspaper Front Page Draft Focus Group Response

Regional Newspaper Second Page Drafts

SAME AS THE FRONT PAGE DESIGNS< THE IMAGES USED ARE NOT MY OWN AND WERE JUST USED TO SEE HOW IMAGES AND THE TEXT MOLDED TOGETHER AND GIVE AN IDEA ON WHAT IMAGES I WOULD TO TAKE AND USE.
Thank You

Regional Newspaper Taken Images

The images below are both taken by myself using a camera at the very sites for the regional newspaper but some are taken from other sources which are copyright free and the a regional newspaper or newspaper of any kind is able to use. Through research it was discovered that a newspaper can use any material such as images as long as it is used for news reporting. Many other areas such as teaching, scholarship or search engines are entitles to this fair use act that is active in many countries such as the UK of course and the United States of America.

All images taken from other sites that are free to use or taken by myself originally need no manipulation done to them to create a desired effect. With newspaper photography, the images are taken are taken at a certain angle to show a true image but skewed to show the story rather then be manipulated on Photoshop CS6 for example. The only editing needed would be cropping from the original photos as some of the images have some glare on the bottom of the shot which means that needs to be edited out. this , however, is not manipulation just editing which means no manipulation.

Original Images

Fair Use Images (Royalty Free Images):







Regional Newspaper Front Page Drafts

PLEASE BE AWARE ALL IMAGES USED IN THE MAIN STORIES ARE NOT ORIGINAL AND DO NOT BELONG TO ME AND USE REFERENCES TO OTHER ORGANISATIONS. THE FINAL IMPLEMENTATION WILL SEE MY ORIGINAL IMAGES AND LOGOS.
Thank You.

Newspaper Logo Designs and Final Design

The overall colour scheme of all the billboard designs uses a dark blue primary colour whilst using a beige colour as the secondary colour, these colours are of the county coat of arms. These colours and the county coat of arms included will be the basis for the brand identity of the regional newspaper. the colour scheme will be the prime foundation of the brand identity along with the Old English text font because the county coats of arms is its own brand identity. the colour scheme and the text style will be the objects that stand out from the logo to the audience which means this will be the brand identity of the regional newspaper.

Regional Newspaper Adverts

Regional Newspaper Image Shooting Script

Regional Newspaper Image Shooting Script from bdr628

Second Page Layout Plans

Front Page Layout Plans

Regional Newspaper Permission Document

Newspaper have the freedom and the fair use of certain materials such as images and headline stories which requires no permission from the copyright owner of a certain material but the document below is the signed form allowing the regional newspaper to use certain images and text.

 The document that follows is the signed forms of the right to use certain texts and images.

Signed Permission Slip from bdr628

Regional Newspaper Risk Assessment

The risk assessment contains in-depth reasons on to what and could be done against certain hazards such as hard drive failure, fire in the building and an unorganised work environment. The assessment says what could be done on top of what is currently being done for my safety and for the safety of others which really highlighted what the dangers in the work environment were and if the risk was being minimised.  

Risk from bdr628

Regional Newspaper Production Schedule

Here is the production schedule of the regional newspaper detailing in the different task and the start/end dates that should be occurring. The production schedule will be posted again after the production of the newspaper is complete with the actual start and end dates with comments from myself about why tasks were finished earlier or later.

Production schedule from bdr628

Regional Newspaper Font Research

Newspaper Logo Research

Newspaper logo research from bdr628

Regional Newspaper Advert Research

Newspaper Advertisement Research from bdr628

Newspaper Focus Group

THE PARTICIPANTS OF THE NEWSPAPER QUESTIONNAIRE WERE ASKED TO A GROUP MEETING TOGETHER FOR THE PURPOSE OF DETERMINING THE REASONING BEHIND THEIR ANSWERS.

18 of the 20 participants of the newspaper questionnaire took part in the focus group because 2 of the 20 do not read a newspaper which was found out in the first stages of the questionnaire. The 18 participants and I got together to discuss the answers they gave and to find the reasoning behind it so that in the hopes of my implementation for the regional newspaper, I will be more in touch with the needs and desires of the consumers.

With the age groups of the consumers, mostly being male and 50+, I asked them if it was just them reading the newspaper but many explained that they were at the store purchasing the newspapers for family relatives or wives etc which is why they were there. They explained they do read the newspaper but it was also for their family. The younger participants contributed that they read a newspaper but their parents/family/guardians purchase the newspaper for their entire household. This explains why the majority of the participants are 50+ and why that few younger individuals purchase the newspaper in store.

Many suggested that the maroon and white text colour scheme for the newspaper logo was a really good idea because it was different from other newspaper which all agreed would help consumers notice the newspaper. The younger generations explained it was something new compared to other newspapers which is what newspapers need to do to obtain a bigger and possibly younger consumer base. They all found that a red and white text logo scheme was too unoriginal and appealed to none of them because it is seen so much it has no effect and doesn’t ‘jump’ out at them anymore because they find it boring and know not to really take notice of it.

When it came to the preference of target audience, if they thought it should be un bias, for higher classes, for lower classes or just the general public with general information, the focus group majority said working class. They explained that the region they live may have a conservative MP but the region is mostly working class who desire to hear more about citizens similar to themselves rather than a higher class individual who shares no background or experiences with them. This was excellent information for my story development in the future because it showed me that the audience wants to relate to the stories presented rather than have someone who has nothing in common with them.

This were the only topics covered when the focus group met because the questionnaire results showed plenty and after being analyzed it showed me what I needed. However the topics covered in the focus group were not clear results in the questionnaire results that showed me the reasoning behind the answers.

Regional Newspaper Questionnaire Results

Here is the summary of the results gathered from the regional newspaper questionnaire with my findings and conclusion of the information gathered within.

The conclusion of the questionnaire results is that the audience for the regional newspaper would between the years 40-60yrs of age who dominated the questionnaire. However, many other individuals were aged 16-30 which means there are at least two types of demographics in the target audience.

Regional Newspaper Questionnaire

i can do all the research in the world but to truly gain research with relative value I must send out a questionnaire to random people using a sampling technique so that I can get the general public's feedback on certain topics within regional newspapers. Below is the questionnaire.

Regional Newspaper Second Page Analysis

The brief instructs there must a second page to the regional newspaper so I completed an analysis of the second pages of The Sun, Express and Star and The Shropshire Star so that again I can see the difference between a national and regional newspaper.

Regional Newspaper Front Page Analysis

To understand the complete mechanics of a regional newspaper, I have comprehensibly analysed the Shropshire Star's front cover so that I can start to gain a detailed idea of how my regional newspaper will be constructed and more importantly know what to do and what not to do. An analysis of a national and urban newspaper is included so that the research can be compared to other papers to greater increase my understanding.

The Sun History

After investigating the history of both the Shropshire Star and Express and Star, I thought it would be fantastic research to see them compared to a national newspaper, The Sun. This was so that I could see what makes a regional newspaper a regional newspaper, by looking at a national newspaper it has shown me what a regional paper does compared to national papers.

Shropshire Star History

The Shropshire Star is a regional newspaper in the county of Shropshire and as my brief is about regional papers, the Shropshire Star is a fantastic example of a regional paper to evaluate and learn from. So to do that I have investigated the papers past and the current circulation numbers and type of stories so a greater understanding of how papers operate today can be achieved.

Express and Star History

The following prezi presentation is about the Express and Star that is an urban paper that covers the West Midlands, it is bigger than a regional newspaper but not large enough to be national so I though to investigate it to see the difference between this paper and a regional one, the Shropshire Star.

General Regional Newspaper History

To gain a further understanding of regional newspapers over the years, I have compiled the history and information about regional newspapers and presented them in this prezi presentation.

Newspaper Schedule Deadlines

This is my schedule for my newspaper brief that has the details of the estimated start and end dates for the brief with a description of the tasks that need to be completed. Another schedule will be posted at the end of every main task section which will have the actual start and end dates plus a special comment section. The special comment section will allow me to add notes about why the start date was late, for example.

Newspaper schedule from bdr628

Chosen Brief

For A2 Media Studies, I have chosen the number 8 brief which is the newspaper brief where I have to produce two pages of a local/regional newspaper with more sub products to be produced. the reason why I chose this brief is because I have a fascination with journalism and deeply desire to progress into the world of journalism and I see this brief as a stepping stone. The newspaper product will be an invaluable experience for me because it will provide the insight needed into the production of newspapers and how they are shaped to suit certain target audiences. This is only part of the reason why I chose brief number 8, when producing the newspaper I will have to investigate news stories in the hopes that the newspaper will be authentic. However, this will help me develop my investigation skills in journalism and my own independence. Journalism comes in many more forms such as photography which will come into play in the production of the newspaper due to the need of images to help convey the stories being told. The taking of the images links to the designing and formatting of the newspaper which is the final stage of journalism which I desire to gain an insight into. Any of the other briefs would not of provided the insight and experience that brief 8 will provide me and these skills that I will develop through the course will be an enormous help to stepping towards the world of journalism.

About Me

Hey, my name is Brandon Rock and I'm not really fan of this blogging business but hey lets give it a try. Let me start of by saying some things about me, well I'm a sixth form student currently studying Modern History, Applied ICT and Media Studies which I find all of them fascinating, especially Modern History. The reason why I love Modern History is that I get study about how and why Britain came to be the dominant power in the WORLD (jut wanted to highlight that) during the 1800's. You can probably tell from that sentence that I'm super proud to be British, anyway... outside of school when I'm not doing work or out with friends I'm mountain biking at Cannock Chase which is insanely fun and dangerous at the same time. I won't tell you how many times I've broken my bones when tumbling down a very muddy hill.

You have no doubt seen the northern light image above this text by now and the reason behind that is that the northern lights in Norway is the No.1 place in the world that I want to see, sure there are the seven world wonders but they don't compare to the northern lights. Don't ask why I want to see the northern lights, I just do, its just something that has caught my eye and I've never let slip from my view ever since.