Creating the Masthead

This lesson I have been creating my masthead, combining the name of the newspaper with the logo. I studied the mastheads of The News and the Southern Daily Echo as inspiration, and decided to have a tagline, like The News, which has the slogan 'It's All About You'.

I have decided to use 'Newspaper of the South' for mine, as it summarises the context and purpose of my publication. I also added the website name and date of publication underneath, as this is commonly used in the local newspapers I have studied.

I am happy with the way my masthead looks, although I may make some amendments to it as I add more to my front cover. 

Choosing my Font

Today I have been choosing a font for the title of my newspaper. I think this is probably one of the most important components, as the way the newspapers are stacked means the masthead can often be the main focus of the audience. I have used websites www.dafont.com and www.myfonts.com to find a font, because they have many more interesting and unusual fonts than In Design's preset ones. There are many I considered for the masthead, some examples are shown below:

After placing them next to my logo, I decided a Serif font would be most appropriate because the coat of arms looks quite regal and traditional. Modern writing doesn't suit the logo my audience liked. I have decided to use this font:

which can be found at:
 http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/efscangraphic/century-schoolbook-sh/bold/

Front Page Progress

This lesson, I have been adding more components to my front cover, and it is really starting to take shape. I have added my main image and finished the advert at the bottom of the page, but I still have no masthead. So my top priority for next week is to choose a font and add my logo.

I'm pretty happy with how it's looking, but it's annoying me a little bit that the title is quite close to Alice's head. I might try and alter this next week.

Main Image

After reviewing the articles of sporting success that I initally researched,  I have decided to use a static shot of Alice stood with her medal for my front page.
Although I like some of the action shots, they don't seem appropriate for the front page of my newspaper; I think they would be more suitable on the page of the full article. When studying print publications whilst making my magazine last year, I found that a front page image is most successful when the face of the model can be seen, as it feels more engaging for a buyer. I have decided to apply this knowledge to my newspaper this year.


This is the image I will use:

I have chosen this image because Alice's face can be clearly seen, and she is smiling and looking directly at the camera. The lighting in the shot reflects off the medal, making it more prominently gold which emphasises the headline. The background of the shot is empty too, and clearly illustrates that she is in an ice rink.

I plan to enhance the photo in Photoshop before adding it to my cover, to make it look more professional.

Presentation of Front Page Images

I have managed to take some images for my front cover during the week at the ice rink. I decided to use my friend Alice who I skate with, because she looks particularly athletic, meaning my lead article will look more realistic. I also took some photos of her with another of my friends, who wears a Team GB hoodie and therefore looks like a coach.


I like the images I have taken as I think they fit with the headline of my article: 'British Gold for Ice Skating star'.

Cover Photos

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Logo Questionnaire

This is a copy of the questionnaire I gave out to students from my college and my family. Handing out the questionnaire, I found that the most popular logos were the Spinnaker Tower and the Portsmouth coat of arms. 


The younger people I surveyed (under 30) tended to like the Spinnaker Tower idea, but upon asking them if they would read the newspaper, most of them said no. Over half of the people I surveyed aged 31-60 said they liked the coat of arms, and also said they would be likely to read this type of newspaper. I therefore think that the coat of arms is the most appropriate logo for me to use. 

Local Business Advert

I haven't managed to finish my advert today, but I feel I have made a good start. I have started to add colours and defined boxes to my front cover now, and I am happy with the way it looks so far. After speaking to my lecturer, we have decided that I should be aiming to have looked for and selected a font for my title at home so I can add it to my publication next week.

Front Page Flat Plan

I have started creating the front cover for my newspaper, organising my page into boxes so I have formed the basic structure. The first thing I will add to my cover is the title and logo, but I will need to receive feedback on my logo ideas before I add it to my flat plan. Today I plan to create my main advert for the front cover. Looking at the News, I have noticed that there is often an advert for a local business on the cover. My cousin is a local electrician, so I have got his brand logo and I am going to use his company. I have decided to situate this advert at bottom of the page as shown:

Lead Article

Today I have been researching articles based around sporting success for inspiration. Online articles I have found include:

'British divers take silver'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics_2004/swimming/3566082.stm

'Teen Daley qualifies for Olympics' 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/diving/7251148.stm

'Splashing Gold for Rebecca'
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/olympics/article1542332.ece

'Cycling Stars land more gold'
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/olympics/article1573056.ece


I will begin writing my lead article after I have taken the photo for my cover, as it is important that the information in my article reflects the image and visa versa.