Task 8 - Research

Shania Carter

Fanzine The masthead text is similar to a grainy texture – this could be because there is a faded picture header in the background and they don’t need to overshadow each other. The Liverpool emblem is also on the masthead with an abbreviated term of ‘The Liverpool Way’. As the fanzine is informal – we can tell by just looking at it, there is a joke warning that also appears on the masthead, it doesn’t appear too crowded however the warning cuts off the top of some of the Liverpool players which is quite disrupting as you want to see everything. The font and text for the masthead is quite hard and in uppercase, between the letters it is also quite spacious which makes it easier to read.

Moving on to the main body of the front page, the writing still has spaces in the letters, it also gets bigger further down the page with the second thought bubble, this could be to increase the readers understanding or the funny side of what the writer is trying to emulate. The font is now bolder and sans serif, as it is online it is hard to tell what it would actually be like in paper back or hard cover. There are different fonts throughout the front page, I don’t think this makes any difference as it doesn’t distract the eye and there is also a leading line – this makes it easier instead of our eyes darting all over the place.

Because this is an online version of the fanzine it is hard to see the actual font, however the font for the text is basic and simple to read. The layout for the text is slightly similar to a news article you would see on the internet, with the boldness on the title, it also has a pull quote which is then similar to a magazine layout. The majority of the written work is quotes with an introductory paragraph although there are going to be different stories in the fanzine.

The pictures used are taken by formal photographers – despite the thought and speech bubbles. The pictures are relevant to the writing and are adjacent to the writing (the main text) as the main picture is big and also has the color red in it contrasts with the theme. The pictures are also of three of the biggest starts at Liverpool, past and present – Steven Gerrard and Mario Balotelli are at the club, while the main text has a ratio to the picture as it is talking about Luis Suarez and Gerrard.

The masthead on this fanzine is completely different to the previous example. The O in the middle has taken on the form of a football and keeps the sport element within the front page. Coming down from the masthead there isn’t a particular order as it just flows, there isn’t a thin line as to where the masthead stops and the rest of the fanzine starts. To describe the font I would say that it is like an old style font, something that would be used for advertising in the 80’s. The picture quality from the internet isn’t the best however you can still make out the wording.

The body of the front page has the pictures of the Arsenal players twinned with the letters – the letters are also an anagram for ‘big festive gooner’ it is also a good use of BFG as people are familiarized with that term. As this issue is a festive/Christmas one the use of red on the kits and the background works well, also because there are different shades of red. The letters crowd up the bulk of the page and overlap one another, this doesn’t appeal to me because it looks like the letters are too big for the page and are overlapped to fit them on rather than re sizing.

As the fanzine is dedicated to Arsenal F.C. all the pictures are related to that football club. The pictures have also been cut out so that they can fit to the shape of the letter, this is what some tabloid’s do on their front page. Also in this fanzine it is a different type of article as it is in the form of an interview. It is a standard question and answer form which is easy to follow and is not biased in the way the questions are being asked.

The fanzine can be bought in paper back however there is a digital version too which can be compatible with mobile devices etc. This is a good thing to have because people can read it wherever they want, it can also be a bad thing because there is no profit being brought in.

Straight away, the cover of the fanzine is packed with pictures and text. The red is a featured prominent color and the pictures show the recent talking points between Liverpool fans; racism being thrown out of football, and the half and half scarves that show the two teams. This fanzine looks extremely bias especially with the text “A Liverpool supporter wouldn’t wear one” this could also misinterpret other fans because it is reading that other fans who wear them will be ridiculed by the Liverpool fans. The writing and font otherwise is bold and heavy, it could be the imaging however it looks like there is shadowing on ‘Let’s make Anfield red all over’. Like the first Liverpool fanzine example, there are different fonts running throughout the page the font is bold at the top, normal in the middle and then bold again at the bottom, this could be to emphasize different points and identify the places the writer wants you to go to read.

The text is very informal and chatty like you would expect and is written by a fan. The format of the article is like an entry for a diary rather than something that would appear in a fanzine. It is still an internet version but keeps the main color scheme with red and the black writing to make it clear. This layout is different to the others as it is written in the first person although it is a good account because it is bias and people can agree easily with people’s opinions especially if they are relaxed.

The pictures used for the fanzine are obviously sourced from the internet, there could be pictures inside from the fans but we have to assume this. The pictures are also ones that people are familiar with and because of the topics that have arose on the front cover they have been used before and people will use them again, especially with the racism one as it is a stagnant image in football.

The text used for this fanzine is the most informal and the rest of the fanzine is too as it looks like a cheap design, to sell on the streets and it will probably sell best this way. Having an online version of this fanzine also helps boost views because more people use social media to read things like this.

It also makes a difference that the title of the article is in red and bold as it acts like a powerful heading although the color scheme is a bit off as it could have been written in blue hence ‘Derby Day Blues’. As mentioned earlier it is like a diary entry because the opening paragraph is so chatty, it is better this way as you can connect with the writer and get a good feel for the story ahead.

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Masthead

Picture of Gerrard

Copy/script of the main story – basically introducing the story

Masthead Image

Headline – with wrapped picture Advert

Copy Image