EVALUATION- QUESTION 4

4. How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
I have used a lot of technology throughout my coursework to enhance my products. I have used both Apple mac computers and Windows 7 software to create my coursework.

In researching my products, I have used:
-YouTube
-Google
-Other blogs
-Powerpoint to collate my research
-Facebook
-Wikipedia
-Newspaper websites

In constructing my products, I have used:
-Photoshop CS3 to edit my images
-InDesign CS3 to create my newspaper and poster
-Font Websites such as Dafont.com
-iPhone 4 to take my images
-iPhoto to download my images
-iWeb application to develop my web pages
-Cyberduck application to make my web pages live
-Scanner to scan in elements of my poster

In planning my products, I have used:
-InDesign to draw up flat plans
-Other blogs to gain inspiration
-Other websites/newspapers to gain inspiration

In evaluating my products I have used:
-Powerpoint
-Slideshare
-Text to audio converter
-Word

Overall this year I have developed new skills in previously used software such as Photoshop and InDesign, as well as learning new skills on programmes such as iWeb.

My project this year has used much more creative technology than last year, and I think this is demonstrated by the quality of my final products. I have really enjoyed discovering and experimenting with these new programmes and software and I am very pleased with the coursework I have produced.

EVALUATION- QUESTION 3

EVALUATION- QUESTION 2

EVALUATION- QUESTION 1

Q1

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My Website

I have made my web pages live on the college intranet.
They can be found at the following address:
http://intranet.southdowns.ac.uk/studentweb/a2media/30045125/Home_Page.html

The first article headline contains the link to my second web page.

Finished Hyperlinked Page

I have now finished my hyperlinked page and I am really happy with how it looks. I can see how my skills on iWeb have developed.. I finished the web page for my article in an hour, whereas the home page took me several lessons! When creating my hyperlinked page, I made a few changes to my home page, like the shade of blue in the navigation bar at the top. I think it looks much better now, and is more coherent with the blue of my newspaper.


Home Page:

Article page:

Beginning Hyperlinked Page

I have started to research articles on websites to identify the generic page layouts, size of images, number of images and amount of text etc. Here are some structures I have found that I think work well:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-12832275

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk:80/sport/other-sport/boxing/city_looking_towards_bright_future_1_2539007

I prefer the layout of the BBC website so this is the structure I will be modelling my article page on. I have started creating my web page, so far it looks like this:

Finished Home Page

I have now finished the home page for my website and I like the design of it. I got inspiration from the News website and created a 'Find it' feature that allows the audience to search for local businesses and places of interest. I changed the advert as planned, and I think the page looks neater because of it. I also added more colours to make it more lively, after showing my mum who said it wasn't as colourful as my cover and inside page. I was particularly influenced by this opinion as my mum is in the target age range for my readers.

For my other web page, I am going to create the article that follows on from the 'Gold for Gosport skating star' link. I have decided to do this because I would quite like to finish off writing the story from my front page.

Website Progress

Today I have been concentrating on the home page for my website. I am pleased with how it is developing. I have used my all of my own original images on the page, including a photo I have taken from a carnival a few years ago. I am particularly pleased with the overall layout of the page, I think the menus allow for easy navigation which is useful when my newspaper audience is a generation that may not be technological geniuses! I think making it simple and keeping it well structured makes for a more successful web page.

Looking at it now though, I am not entirely happy with the way the advert looks at the top of the page. I feel the text is too big and detracts from the content of the website. I will seek to improve this next lesson.

Creating My Website

Today I have started to construct the main page for my website using iWeb. 

http://allaboutiweb.com/index.php/2009/03/add-search-to-iweb-site/

http://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=459622&seqNum=13

Website Research

After half term I plan to begin working on my website, so I have been studying newspaper websites in more detail. I have taken screen shots of websites I like.


'The Guardian': http://www.guardian.co.uk/

I like the use of colours in this website, and the font and blocks of colour are coherent with the newspaper and the advertising posters. My only criticism would be that there is a lot of text on the page, but the Guardian is aimed towards a different market to my publication, so I think this is appropriate for their market.


'The Sun': http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage

I like the way this website has the masthead at the top of the page as it appears on the newspaper because it is instantly recognisable. I think this website has a better balance of text and images, and this is something I will consider when designing my own. I do think, however, that the menu down the side of the page looks a bit out of place; I prefer the menu along the top of the page like on the Guardian website.


'The Daily Echo': http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/

I actually have many criticisms of this website, but I am pleased because it means I also understand what I DON'T want my website to include. I think the page is too plain, and I don't like the colours.. the red title stands out well but the grey/blue colour is dull. The menu is confusing, there are too many links and two bars which I don't like. I do like the idea of having a search engine on the page though, to make navigation simpler, and I like the interactive video and weather widget. As web 2.0 is so popular and up and coming, I think including interactive things will be effective.

Interactive Advert

I have found a website that enable you to visualise a custom advert in a variety of places:
http://www.cbsoutdoor.co.uk/Our-Media/Visualiser/Bus-Rear/Bus-Rear/
As my advert is local to Portsmouth, the most likely place it would be displayed is on buses. This video gives an overview of how my poster would look. 

Finished Poster

I have spent this lesson enhancing my poster. I have chosen a very simplistic finish, as I think it is eye catching and direct, and by doing this it fulfills its purpose successfully. I didn't want to use too many colours on the poster itself, so that the blocks of colour in the newspaper stood out. However,  I found that the poster looked quite plain, so decided to add some newspaper shapes to make it look more interesting.


I stuck together scraps of newspaper by hand and scanned them into the computer. I took the image into Photoshop and cut the rough shape of the crest using the pen tool. I then used the 'Refine edges' tool to create a ripped effect like so.

I cut out the coat of arms with the pen tool and saved as a PNG file before uploading to InDesign, to ensure the background was transparent. I can feel how my creative skills have developed as cutting around something on Photoshop used to take me hours, and now it took little more than ten minutes! 

I cut out another rough rectangle shape to position behind the logo. 
Here is my finished poster, I am happy with how it looks.

My Newspaper Poster

My initial ideas for my newspaper poster are to play on my slogan of 'Newspaper of the South' and use an outline of the Spinnaker Tower filled with newspaper print. This is my flatplan:

Newspaper Posters

In order for any publication to be successful, posters and other types of advertising must be used to attract the audience. Marketing should look professional and appealing in order to 'sell' the product to the audience.


I think this is probably the most challenging task as there are not many conventions for creating a newspaper poster, but I have been researching examples and these are ones that I like:

The Guardian have used bright, block colours in their posters, and I think they look really eye catching and are therefore effective in attracting attention. I like the minimalism of the adverts, they are very modern and contemporary which is appropriate to attract their target market of young professionals.


 This style is in keeping with the style of the newspaper and website, where different sections are different colours. For example the sports section is green, and the  TV section is pink:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/


The posters advertising The Sun are also modern and minimalist, but feature colloquial language such as 'opinions with balls' and an old, ripped till receipt to create a more urban feel. 


The posters are emphasise the cheap price of the newspaper and state the type of content, which reflects the fact that the target audience is generally working class adults.


The use of a white, read and black colour scheme in the posters is in keeping with the style of the newspaper and website: 
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/

Finished Inside Cover

My inside page is now complete and I'm really happy with how it looks.

Finished Banner

This is my banner in its finished form. I included two other features 'Robber jailed' and 'Spring clean' that could be common local news.  I cut around the image of the church using the same technique as for the first image. 

Creating images for my banner

The last thing to finish on my inside page is the 'Inside...' banner at the top of the page. I plan to use two or three images with a headline and a small description of the article. I am going to use my front page story, and two other stories that I haven't decided on yet.


To make it look professional, I would like to cut the subjects of my images out, so the banner is the background. I am going to use the pen tool in Photoshop to create a path as I found that last year this is the neatest method. 


Original Image:

Looking at the image here, it also needs brightening, so I will do this when I cut Alice out.


Cut out Image:

Banner:

Inside Cover Progress

I have cropped my image and added it to my inside cover. I wanted to keep the dimensions of my image proportional to the original image, and I had a gap to fill between the article and the image, so I wrote a caption. I am pleased with how it looks.

Inside Cover Main Image

I managed to take some photos of my local leisure centre over the weekend to use for my inside cover.

As all the images are dark I plan to enhance the brightness and contrast using Photoshop before uploading to my inside cover. 

I prefer the blue of the skies in the two images on the left, but I think the image at the bottom is the best image, as the sky and the car park frame the leisure centre well. I juxtaposed   a car and some bikes into the image to reinforce to the reader that the leisure centre is actively used
.



Here is the edited version of my image. I have increased the brightness and slightly lowered the contrast and I think the finished image is much more successful than the original.

Inside Page

This lesson I have managed to finish writing the article for my inside page. I am pleased with how I have structured the information, I think it emulates the sorts of features that can be found in local newspapers. I have put the opening few words in capitals, as this is commonly done in articles, and have added quotes from opposing sides of the argument.

I have used the articles I previously researched as inspiration for my story, and asked a few people in my media class, and my parents to read it and suggest improvements. Here is the inside cover so far. I hope to take some images to use for my main photo and the banner at the top over the weekend.

Finished Weather Report

I have spent the beginning of the lesson finishing off my weather report. I am happy with how it looks, as I think it follows the conventions of other local newspapers and is in keeping with the colour scheme and fonts on my cover. 

Creating the weather report

Local newspapers often have weather, sailing, sunrise and sunset statistics on the inside cover. For example, in the edition of the News I have been studying:

I have decided to create a similar one for mine. I will use these weather images which I found using Google Images from http://www.webdesign-guru.co.uk/icon/wp-content/uploads/weather.png  

I will continue with the weather report next lesson. This is my inside page so far:

Inside Cover Flat Plan

I have studied this inside page of an edition of the news for inspiration...

...and  have started creating the inside page for my newspaper. I found organising my layout into boxes really useful when creating my cover as I had planned out where to place everything. 

I will be working on my weather section today, as this has quite a lot of detail and I haven't managed to take my main image yet.

Article

I have been researching articles based around closures of leisure and community centres for inspiration. Online articles I have found include:

'Anger over plans to shut Meir education centre'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-11773385 

'Plans for pool closure confirmed' 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/8141906.stm 

'Day centre closures to be debated'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10218162 

I will begin writing my article after I have taken an image to use.

Beginning Inside Cover

As my main task is finished, I am going to begin the inside page of my newspaper. I have decided to use the secondary article from my front page for the article on the inside cover. Most inside pages don't feature the main article from the front page - probably because if people flick through the newspaper in the shop its better if there are a few different stories to catch their eye, so I avoided this in my work. 


I have begun to draw up a flatplan of how I would like my inside page to be set out. I plan to take some photos of my local leisure centre to use as an image for this story over the weekend before next lesson. 

Finished Front Page

I have completed my front page and I'm really happy with the way it looks. I thought my front page featured a lot of sport and was therefore quite male orientated, so I discussed what other adverts I could include with my lecturer to avoid this. We discussed that because my model is female, it isn't too masculine. I added an advert for 20% off at Frankie and Benny's, which is located in Gunwharf Quays, as I thought this is reasonably female orientated. 


Here is my finished design:

Work Over Christmas

Over the holidays I have managed to write up the article for my lead piece and decided to create an advert for a TV guide inside. The text for my article has been inspired by the stories of sporting success I researched earlier in the year, and by other articles written in the News over the past few weeks. I have found that the article on the cover is often short and simple, but conveys the basic information about the story. The idea of the text is to make people want to read about the article inside the newspaper.


"A LOCAL TEENAGER has been tipped as ‘a star in the making’ following remarkable success in the British Figure Skating Championships.
Alice Lording, 14, who ice skates at Gosport Ice Rink has become the youngest ever winner of a solo British Championships, beating 16 other competitors to bring home the gold medal."