Task 8

Alan Smith

Tabloid Newspapers

You can see the difference in approach

towards headlines with each newspaper.

The ‘Broken Hart’ used by the Mirror was a

good pun that described England's failings in

the World cup yet again. Using Goalkeeper

Joe Hart instead of ‘Heart’

This is something I could look into when

producing a headline in relation to the task

chosen to create.

All of these newspapers share similarities, they

are all very clear and concise. They mainly

choose large black, bold text over white paper.

To make it stand out even further, the

remaining text on the page is either changed to

another font or colour.

These tabloids are all aiming to make sales,

therefore the workers behind them want to

make them appealing.

The font, colour, layout, style and image is

important when looking at the front cover.

It is also very important I choose all the correct

aspects when looking at the large variety of

papers.

The Sun would not have a very formal

headline and keep to one colour.

The font is very clear and contrasts with the dark

background image behind. The use of the white shade

helps this stand out and keeps to the consistent colour

of the house style.

The layout here is very common for a huge news story

as it has taken the entire front page instead of multiple

news stories.

Being clear helps to interact with the demographic it is

aimed towards.

Using quotes brings the story out further without the use

of text that can often put many of the readers off.

Keeping the text short is a good way of retaining

attention of the reader.

The style of this is something I could use when

producing my own piece of work. The use the imagery

in the background covering the white space with the text

overlapping.

The choice of the image is very if not the most important

for the front cover as this is the first thing the reader

notices.

The capital letters

make the title stand

out that much more

and is almost

impossible not to

notice it.

The use of the

goalkeeper Joe

‘Hart’ in the image

is something

important as it has

to tie in with the

heading.

Unlike The Mirror and Sun, the Daily Mail

take a similar yet slightly more formal

approach.

In terms of the headline, the often stay

away from puns such as the last slide and

get straight to the point like seen in this

example.

‘SACK THEM!’ taking up a large amount

of the front page but still keeping enough

for other news.

Also with this newspaper, a small piece of

text is underneath to support the heading.

The font chosen is large and stands out

but also allows room for other aspects to

stand out on the page such as the

‘My marriage drove me to the brink…’ this

can be clearly seen as it is supported by a

dark purple background and imagery

towards the left hand side.

The imagery when used for this

particular tabloid is often not very

big as the text is seen as more

important.

The layout therefore is altered and

the imagery will go underneath all

the text instead of overlapping.

The style of the newspaper is to

make every clear and organised on

the front page to reflect the whole

paper.

Having the text underlined makes

this stand out that much more and

grabs the readers attention.

The Sun focus on having one major story on the

front with shorter news articles surrounding it rather

than one main attraction.

This is to offer a wider variety for the readers, if

someone is not interested in the IVF news they can

see football scores at the top or entertainment on

the left in small text.

Equating to everyone’s taste can help produce

more sales for the newspaper.

The main news story often has one image to

support the text with a short extract of what has

happened.

The font is kept large as well as being white over a

dark background to make sure it is well seen and

noticeable by the reader.

The large font size carries over to the short piece

of text to know that it is part of the same story and

to give you that additional information. Here it is

giving you the mothers age.

The imagery is hugely

important to the front cover

as not only does it help

cover white space, it

makes is look that much

more aesthetically

pleasing.

The style differs from the

Daily Mail as this focus’ on

a wide range of stories for

the front page and offers

page numbers to refer to.

Suitable images for production

Possibly use an image with Piers

having his thumb up to indicate it

was the correct decision for him to

be fired.

Using images of Piers unhappy will help give the message forward with the

heading.

The image of Piers with the United Kingdom flag behind him could make a

good background image for the newspaper as the topic of him being fired is

in relation with British troops.

Possible Headlines

Auf Wiedersehen, Piers

This could be used in relation to Piers and his 1996 front cover of the Mirror.

“Achtung surrender!” When Germany were about to play England in the Euro

96’- He was later made to apologise.

Possibly something more simplistic, ‘Piers Morgan Fired’ for tabloids such as

the Daily Mail.

Like the use of the headline Auf Wiedersehen (Goodbye in German), a similar

approach could be to use puns.

This would be for papers such as The Sun who target a much more working

class demographic and are less formal.

‘Falling to Pierces’

This could be a possible headline as it incorporates the idea of being sacked

and the use of Piers replacing piece can help engage the reader.

Experimental stage (Font Selection)

1)Auf Wiedersehen,

Piers

2)Auf Wiedersehen,

Piers

3)Auf Wiedersehen,

Piers

4)Piers Morgan FIRED

5)Piers

Morgan

FIRED

6)Piers

Morgan

FIRED

1) Charlemagne Std

2) Perpetua Titling MT

Light

3) Adobe Std B

4) Calibri

5) Century

6) Helvetica Light

7) Comic Sans MS

8) Times New Roman

9) KufiStandardGK

7)Falling to Pierces

8) Falling to

Pierces

9)Falling to

Pierces

Flat plan (1)

Masthead Advert 1

Main headline

Image to support

headline

Advert 2

Another story

This would be for a

newspaper where more than

one story is featured on the

front page.

There would be enough

room for advertisements to

feature around the edges of

the cover.

Having a small piece on the

article is a good way of

engaging the reader early

and then including a page

number for them to read

additional information.

The image would not be

huge but still large enough to

stand out and grab attention.

Having alternative stories

can offer much more to the

consumer.

Small piece of text

on article

Another story

Advert or

competition.

Flat plan (2)

Official logo

Heading (Possibly underlined)

Piers Morgan

image

Bullet points on

article

Couple of

paragraphs on

article

Other

news

Have an image of Piers

Morgan covering the majority

of the front page.

Use a heading that will entice

the particular class that read

the tabloid.

Try out a range of sizes

(Experiment with fonts looked

at in previous slides)

Attempt to create own logo for ‘The Sun’ if they have

the correct font (Franklin Gothic Heavy Italicised)

Include something that blends

in with the other image and

adds more colour to the piece.

Include a short image or piece of text to support the

Piers Morgan article.

Include the start of the piece.

(Reference page number, keep

professional- have drop capitals

etc)

Have some bullet points with

extra information that adds to

the heading.

Produced on InDesign, this explores into creating a piece of work that can feature in the media and does not look

out of place.

Due to the Tabloid being relatively brief in the text content on the front page, the work created in previous tasks

could not be shown to its full detail.

However, the creation of this first cover is very professional and keeps to the house style of the specific paper here

which is The Sun. Including other news and adverts as well as the main logo makes it that much more believable.

During the planning stage I was able to understand what

content was needed in order to make a front cover

successful.

The inclusion of the ‘Now only 30p’ was something so small it

could be seen as insignificant, however it adds to the overall

aesthetic look.

The bullet points are somewhat of a house style in relation to

The Sun and the composition within the front page.

The Times New Roman heading was explored into during the

planning stage for the fonts and was seen as a very suitable

choice due to the serious topic.

The other news such as the football image was just to add to

the look and make the text that much more visually pleasing.

The use of different text colours, sizes and underlining makes

the page stand out and easily readable for the customer.

The small aspects that add a lot to the work are the addition

of page numbers and references.

This as well as the competition on the top right gives the

paper that extra attraction than it normally would and an

incentive to purchase this newspaper over another.

Developing the idea

Removing the white space was important and making

sure everything was readable.

The use of the dark background created on

Photoshop helped bring out the white text much

more.

The use of further imagery such as Andrew Neil, a

fellow editor added to the story and started to

construct a much stronger piece of work.

Keeping in the house style was important and retaining

certain aspects such as the red bullet points and the text

being in a large white font covering over a very large

image.

The Sun logo was created upon in Photoshop and made to

incorporate the price in so it was very clear.

Final Product

Here Is the final design for the tabloid front cover. The text has been slightly lost due to the JPEG being created in

order to show this on the PowerPoint. From this you can draw some comparisons to the design of The Sun

newspaper and also see how I have tried to explore something different in the way the information is presented.

The advertisements that are usually seen on products such as these have been retained as during the planning

stage I found this to be a huge aspect. I have decided to focus on the one story rather than multiple because during

the planning stage I found various big headline articles that did the same.

The death of Margret Thatcher being one of them. The Image covered the majority of the front cover with the most

part of the content being in relation to that topic.

The inclusion of the sports at the foot of the page brings out the tabloid

side of the product.

The headline had to be large and grab attention, and I believe it has

done so.

The colours and imagery had to stand out but also compliment each

other, this has also been done in a professional manner.

The use of small house style’s such as the red bullet points and the

large underlined Arial heading made it keep with the consistency of the

product and almost believable.

The logo of The Sun was harder to replicate and through Photoshop it

was adjusted to look similar.

Including incentives to buy this paper over other competitors was

something that almost if not every paper has. This is why I made sure

to bring this idea forward.

The price of the paper was something which I found to be vital. Keeping

the ‘40p’ bold and bright made sure it was impossible to not notice.

The inclusion of the word ‘FREE’ provided that incentive for the reader. The holiday and theme park images created

that offer to the reader that for only 40p seemed a good deal.

The money aspect was something I wanted to keep on the newspaper as in the planning stage I found many tabloid

papers with huge prices on the covers for all sorts of advertisements.

Advertising The Sun’s own ‘Dream Team’ was something good that I wanted to include. After importing the image into

Photoshop I was able to Rotoscope it and change the background colour to suit this tabloid.

Placing the dream team in the football section at the foot of the cover was a great place for that audience to notice it

more.

With the £500,000 being in large yellow text, this again made it impossible to not notice.

This yellow text was something I wanted to keep in cover with three aspects containing it. The article on the main story itself was produced in a clear and

concise manner by keeping to the style of the specific tabloid.

By including the red bullet points and retaining the short sub-

headings, this gave that much more clarity to the work and

supported the headline itself.

The pun in the title was in order to grab the readers attention and

again, keep within the target audience.

Using the drop capital on the short piece gave that professional look

to the work.

Having page references again add to the idea of promoting the the

paper. Including many aspects to entice the reader to buying the

product.

The ‘Exclusive’ interview provides that unique look to the paper and

that of something no other paper has. This enhances the work and

makes that that much more stronger.

The use of ‘Britain’s most popular paper’ is telling the reader to

purchase the paper by reputation alone and reassure them that

many others will be buying this product.