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.