To do this, however, included specific programmes for each assignment to the coursework; to create the two pages of the newspaper, Adobe InDesign was required to produce the best results, Adobe Dreamweaver was for the two hyperlinked website pages and Adobe Photoshop was used for the advertising poster. I had never used these programmes before so it was quite difficult adapting to them- particularly due to the fact that I had to work on the Mac computers, which altogether was a new experience for me as I was only ever familiar with working on PC’s.
I found that they were all fairly easy to use once I had gotten used to them after a while. I adapted to InDesign quite quickly. I eventually found it was actually fairly easy to use, especially considering I spent more time on that programme than any other because the two newspaper pages took the longest to create.
I had specific ideas for my newspaper pages before I started to create them, after researching local newspaper layouts- more specifically, The Basildon/Southend Evening Echo- purely because it is one of the only local newspapers I am familiar with around this area. I had found inspiration from one of their older issues which slightly resembles what I have created myself in the respect that they both have one large main story and picture and a couple of advertisements. I had found the idea of simply one main story as the front page more attractive than having a few scattered about because it brings focus on just the one thing.
Although the content of the headlining story isn’t as important as the design, it was still required for us to write our own stories to make the newspaper more authentic rather than copying and pasting other stories, which effectively would be copyright anyway. I had written the headlining story in February which evidently was the same time as the summer festival announcements and ticket sales. Personally, I had found these events of particular interest therefore thought it would benefit my newspaper more and make it seem more professional if my story was about something I take an interest in and have more knowledge of. For all the stories I used in the newspaper, I produced my own photographs.
I made all advertisements myself- the main one of the front page by simply using a picture I found on Google with no copyright and placing wording over it. I had seen that competition advertisements were more popular in local newspapers so I made one for my own newspaper. I saw that a lot of other students had advertised local nightclubs and bars as most of our newspapers are aimed at students for Southend, so I decided to make something slightly different.
The title on the front page was made on Photoshop. I didn’t want it to be too distracting from the rest of the front page which is why the colours I used- red, navy and white- are quite neutral, apart from the boldness of the red which I made as the only feature to stand out so the title doesn’t go completely unnoticed.
For the website, on the other hand, I used the same Photoshop title as for the front page of my newspaper, to symbolise that they are connected. I added graphics to the title on the website page though to make it more modern to keep up to date with the difference of online and print. I added the “online” to separate the newspaper and website and a tagline to go with the title, as most newspapers do.
I had the same mentality for the website as well as the newspaper with regards to headlining stories. I constructed a different headlining story for the website and made that the main attraction, which coincidentally also connected with recent news and events but also tied in with students which, alongside other students doing this project, I have aimed my newspaper at. To make it more personal, for the Entertainment link on the website, I added my own photography and wrote stories based on the topic to do with my own photographs; I included music and film in this section to go with the theme.
The poster, however, I tried to make it as eye-catching and appealing as possible by extending the size of the title to grab the attention of an audience- as my title is fairly bold and bright coloured I thought the idea of a larger title would be more effective. I added a large headline to appeal to an audience; I tried to make this headline intriguing as I went on to say it would be included in the next day’s issue.
Altogether, I think the coursework was an interesting and quite entertaining project to do as it required lots of creativity and original material to make it personal, therefore making it our own so that no one else would have similar. I liked this fact because this way, it has given each student the opportunity to create something ourselves and call it our own original pieces of work.
The only difficulty I found was with Dreamweaver as opposed to the other Adobe programmes we used, therefore finding the website the hardest to create. I think this was due to the fact that two programmes had to be used in one; Photoshop for the content of the website and finally Dreamweaver to create the layout and add the content.
