Professional writing task 10, Evaluation Ryan Goldsmith

In this project I feel that my time has been managed very well and that I have given the right amount of time where it has been needed depending on the nature of the work being done and how taxing it will be and therefor how much effort will be needed. An example of this is the initial research I did before starting each product, choosing fonts was a fairly straightforward and quick process because you could simply choose a large amount of fonts to choose from. This in compared to the actual assembly of the document itself and deciding how construct the layout which would be a huge part of the project in comparison to the fonts you gave to choose from. This is why I allowed myself more time when on the more arduous and taxing parts of production so I could ensure I got things as I wanted. I think that in comparison to some of the projects prior to this I have managed my time significantly better; an example of this would be the graphic novel project when I fell behind on my plans because of poor judgment and problems in production, this resulted in a sub par finished piece of work which I was not happy with. This project on the other hand I have been pleased with the work that I have created and it has been completed on or ahead of schedule allowing me contingency time just incase anything is to go wrong or need improvement. Overall I am happy with the way that I have gone about this project.

I feel that with the development of my products I thought about where the product was in terms of what I wanted to get out of it and if I thought it was up to standard. This was done by taking screenshots of my work and keeping a log of the work I had done so that I could see what I had done to get to where I was. This allows me to go back and see where I can make changes to improve upon my work and where in the process this will occur. One thing feel we could’ve done to allow us a better idea of our work would be to have done a mini evaluation after each product just to write down exactly what our thoughts and feelings were towards each one and this I feel would make it easier to see what if any changes need to be made. Another method which would’ve been worth trying would have been peer reviews and getting other members of the group to give their thoughts on my product this would give a slight indication of what a very small group of the public think to this then you can get an idea of what a larger amount of people would make of it. In this project we used a program called In-design, this is something that we have very little experience with. I mainly used this for the creation of the broadsheet and tabloid pages. It was useful because it allowed me to split the page up with rows and columns to ensure that everything was spaced out properly and the page was broken up correctly because without the guides you could get words clashing, overlaying text etc. which all look unprofessional.

These screenshots help to give you an indication of how the columns help to break up the information and how it looks once you have taken them away. This is something that I did not use for the fanzine, and the main reason for that is that you don’t have to follow strict guidelines as to how you can layout and present the information. This allows you to put your own style on it and make it applicable for your audience and content of the fanzine.

This image shows how I have used In-design to create text boxes that allow me to lay the text out around the image rather than just having them in a traditional square or rectangular box. I did this by using the pen tool and plotting different points around the image then selecting the text tool, this then allowed me to type into this box and have the words flow around. This is something that you will most likely not see in broadsheet, however it might be seen on occasion in a tabloid, as they are less strict on the rules of how they construct the layout. I feel that the images that have been used are suitable for what has been made, the images were taken during Woodstock so have that slightly grainy feel to them, I feel that this helps to add to the effect of the papers seeming like they were produced back then. This way of thinking came into play when I was making my fanzine as well because I decided to slightly lower the opacity of the image to make it look slightly faded and washed out, I felt like this would work well and I was happy with the way that it came out in the end.

I feel that my broadsheet has a professional feel to it now. My first version of it looks slightly to bland and didn’t have much going for it, this can be seen second

image above but with a few slight alterations and better attention to detail this has really brought it on to the next level.

These screenshots show my finished broadsheet on the left and a professional one that you would see on the shelves in a shop. One of the things that I am slightly unhappy with is the fact that mine seems to simple and that the information doesn’t quite fill the page as much as it should. One thing I could have done would have been to make the image larger so that it catches your eye like the one on the right does, this would mean that people are more likely to see it and buy it if they are drawn to it. I think the masthead could be a lot stronger than it is as well, I think if it was bolder and clearer it would have more of an impact on people, this would have a similar effect as enlarging the image on the front as well as it would stand out from the rest of the other newspapers. One thing I do like about my front cover is the way that the text has been laid out, I feel like there is a flow to the text as it rolls down the page and the use of a drop capital at the start of the story helps to add that sense of professionalism and class to the paper. I think that the text on my paper is a lot clearer than the one on the right.

I think that I was a lot more creative with my fanzine than I was with my other products. This is because of the nature of the product and the fact that it is made for a niche audience that are solely interested in hippie culture, this allows you the freedom to lay it out the way that you want to and in the way that you feel would be best suited for that audience. This is why I faded the image and used the textboxes that wrapped around the image; also my choice of image goes hand in hand with the text that’s on the page. I think that my fanzine is my favorite of my products this is because I had the freedom to produce something the way I wanted rather than being restricted by rules and guidelines. I think that I could have pushed the boundaries a bit more with regards to all of my productions. I think that with my broadsheet I could have added more information to the page and maybe a couple of other small things like another drop quote or advert. My influence for my broadsheet came from a few different sources like The Guardian

and The Times. I feel like these are both strong papers and have a recognizable and professional look to them. Both of these papers put across a sense of power and establishment and this is something you would affiliate with the readers of this paper. This is the type of look that I was going for with my broadsheet, however I did use some creative license to adapt it slightly and put my own spin on it, for instance I put the title of the paper on two separate lines rather than straight across like The Times does, I felt like this might just be something worth trying to see if this was as powerful as the title from The Times.

With regards to achieving what I set out to do I feel that I have for the most part done this. I wanted to create 3 different types of product with a clear indication of which is which. This was done through the use of different layouts, fonts and techniques.

It is clear just from looking at these three, which is which; the tabloid is very simplistic in comparison to the broadsheet that is full of information and very regimented and straight edged. Even simple things like the inclusion of a drop capital for my broadsheet story helps to set it part from the others sine the font type on tabloids is often very plain. The fanzine is a stark contrast of those two

because it follows almost none of the rules and the only thing which can be likened to the others it the location and layout of the masthead however even this is finished in a multicolored style which for obvious reasons wouldn’t be seen on a tabloid or broadsheet. I think that I have managed to create a unique fanzine and one that would appeal to my chosen sub culture and I am pleased with the way that it came out since this was my first attempt at anything like this.

With my products there were actually three different audiences being targeted. One for the broadsheet one for the tabloid and another for the fanzine. First of all with the broadsheet the fonts that were used were serif, this helps to add a sense of class to the writing although it might be slightly harder to read in large passages. The masthead is black against a white background, which is very common with broadsheet newspapers. The images are not the sole focus on the cover of the paper as it would be on a tabloid. The broadsheet is more interested in the story that has been written which is why there is a very lop sided ratio of text to image. This type of product will often appeal to a more mature audience and one that is more concerned with the major issues affecting our day-to-day life rather than the type of gossip that you are likely to find in a tabloid.

The second audience is the one that my tabloid has been aimed at, this will typically be read by someone who is of a slightly lower age and who also isn’t interested in things like politics etc. and just wants a basic explanation on the current events around the world, a lot of the times these types of papers will contain an escalated number of images in comparison to a broadsheet and the ratio of image to text will often weigh in favor of the images. This technique is used to grab peoples attention when they are in a shop. Another way that they achieve this is when they use a reverse text like white on red or white on black, this helps to make the title very distinct and stand out against the other types of paper like a broadsheet. Techniques like these help to make the product come across as more fun and more relaxed as oppose to a broadsheet which is very colorless and serious. One of the things which is instantly noticeable is the fact that all of the text in the titles on the front page is in capitals, this is another technique that is used to grab the customers attention and to make you want to read what the story about, this also helps to add a sense of importance to the story that is being presented. Another one of the things which you will notice is the fact that there is a far lesser amount of information on the front page of the tabloid in comparison to the broadsheet, this gives a nice clear and simple indication of what is going to be in the product. I think this type of thing makes it easier for people to make a snap decision on buying the product as it is easy to make their mind up quickly if they want it or not and if the techniques to attract them to it have worked well enough then the people will want to buy it to find out more information.

Finally the audience for the fanzine. This is a completely different audience type to the other two, one of the main differences is that the audience is a very niche market and one that is solely invested in the specific nature of the fanzine, in this case is was the hippie sub-culture. This means that the product has to be very astute with what they include in their product as to no offend or upset the readers. The design and layout of these types of products will often reflect the

type of people that will buy them. For instance my fanzine had an image of Jimi Hendrix as the background with a slightly washed out fade to it to replicate the type of prints that were used in the heyday of the hippie revolution. The title of the story has been done in a nice rounded and soft font with a multicolored fill, this helps to reflect the colorful and caring nature of the hippie people and the type of things that they stood for. I think that all of these techniques used together help to create a product that is specifically targeting it’s audience and that will appeal to a large percentage of that niche market in order to be successful.

The copy that I have used is from an article I wrote about Woodstock 1969. The information included was relevant to my sub-culture and would have made front page news on most papers. The way the article was written was fine for a broadsheet, however I needed to slightly change the way that it was written when it came to the tabloid. This is because tabloids will often simplify their writing as to not make it too difficult for people to comprehend, this means they will use a lot of abbreviations like; you’re rather than writing you are, or writing don’t instead of do not. These simple things can completely change the way that a piece of text comes across to the reader and be the difference between a formal and an informal piece of writing. The images that I used were found on the Internet. I selected a few images to choose from in the initial planning stages of each production this allowed me a choice of image depending on what sort of layout I decided on. For example I couldn’t stretch a portrait image into a landscape box because this would result in a distorted image, and vise verse. I chose the images which I felt were best suited to the type of publication. For instance I used the same image for the two newspapers but used a completely different image for the fanzine because I felt that the one used for the papers would not have as great an effect at getting across the nature of the culture. The text that I have used in my fanzine was from an earlier fanzine which I did regarding the performance of Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock 1969 which was a memorable performance to people who aren’t even hipsters.

Through the use of InDesign I have developed new and more efficient ways of producing page layouts, this is done through the use of grids. These allowed me to create a number of different designs and ideas at a reasonable pace allowing me to keep on track with the schedule. The InDesign program makes it easy to alter sections of the page with ease and is far simpler to use in comparison to something like Photoshop. I think that I have developed my ability to compose a layout with everything to the appropriate scale. This helped me to get a more professional finish to my work because before when we had to use Photoshop it was difficult to ensure that all of the text aligned and that that the page was divided up correctly. I think another area in which I have improved is my time management, I think that I have become better at understanding what stage I need to be at and at what time, this will help me in future.

I think that if I were to do this again I would want to change how the pull quote is laid out, I don’t think that it is clear enough to the reader and doesn’t set itself apart from the main story quite as well as it should. I feel that if the spacing of the text was slightly better this would help to ensure that the paper is looking as

professional as it could be.

Another thing that could be made to stand out more could be the advertisement of the coca cola brand, this doesn’t quite have the impact that an advert should have. An advert is there to persuade you to buy the product or service and it needs to stand out to the reader to have maximum effect on the sales to justify paying for the advertising costs. One thing that could improve the impact of the advert would be to add colour to it, this would make the advert more eye catching and therefor create more attention which in tern should result in an increase in overall sales for the company.

Pull quote