Planning of Potential Colour Schemes (Website)

After analysing different local newspaper's websites on the internet I decided to create a spider diagram of all the potential colour schemes which I could potentially use on my website. It is always a good idea to create a consistant colour scheme which is used to be associated with your newspaper as it gives it a consistant feel, also it will help with the branding of the newspaper because all the colours are similar of the same. All of the ones listed in the spider diagram above were all potential colour schemes which I was thinking of using. I asked people randomly from my foucs group what colours they thought was be most suitable and generally their views reflected mine. Most people thought that "Dark Blue & White" would be most suitable and I also thought this. The main newspaper in the area use colour schemes of purple and white and also light blue and white. I did not want to use similar colour schemes to other newspaper websites in the area so I decided to use Dark Blue with White.

Below is the link to the Wokingham newspaper which is a local newspaper in the area. I analysed their website in detail. From clicking on the link below you will be able to see their local newspaper website. The colour scheme on their newspaper is purple and white.
http://www.getwokingham.co.uk/

Below is the link to the Bracknell newspaper which is also a local newspaper in the Berkshire area. I have briefly analysed this website but not in detail like the Wokingham newspaper. On this website they have a colour scheme of light blue and white so these colours will be associated with this newspaper and will give the newspaper a consistant feel and look.
http://www.getbracknell.co.uk/

Planning of Newspaper Logo

What is a logo?

A logotype, commonly known as a logo, is the graphic element of a trademark or brand, which is set in a special typeface/font, or arranged in a particular, but legible, way. The logo of a business should be a symbol or have a special meaning that defines a business.

I want to create a logo so my newspaper is unique and their is a logo which is associated with my business and when people see it they know it is "The Crowthorne Echo" When picking a logo for my newspaper business I need to make sure that the logo has a theme that matches my business and it is different from other business logos so it is more recognisable. I am looking to designing a unique logo that will identify your business.

Planning of Newspaper Names

After doing some detailed research into the local newspapers I found out that the name which I was going to use is already in use by one of the main newspaper in the area. This shows that the name was obviously good as another newspaper was already using it but I am not going to use it now, the name of the newspaper was “The Crowthorne Times”. This name came out the clear favourite in the questionnaire which I created and asked to a variety of people. This name was copyrighted so I would not be able to use it, and also I would not want to because I would not want my newspaper to sound like another.

Once I found this out I decided that I need to change the name of my newspaper. I then decided to ask people randomly in my class which name they thought would best suit my newspaper out of the ones listed above.

I have now decided to use the name “The Crowthorne Echo” after it coming out the clear favourite against all of the others. I also thought that this was a good name to use because I think that it sounds very professional and it is a very good name for a local newspaper. So my newspaper is going to be called “The Crowthorne Echo”.

Website Questionnaire Analysis

1. Are you Male of Female?

Out of the people in my foucs group I tried to ask even amounts of both genders. As I was only asking 15 the questionnaire on my website I had to ask one more than the other. So I asked 8 Male and 7 Female, this should not affect my results too much and I should still get reliable feedback from them.

2. Do you use the internet?

Out of the 15 people which I asked this questionnaire to only 1 of them said that they didn't use the internet. This was because they preffered to read any news or information directly from the newspapers itself. As 15 people answered that they do use the internet this shows the growing amount of people using it so this could mean that my website is a success and people will use it to gain information on their local area.

3. Where do you live?

From this questionnaire the majority of the people asked lived in Crowthorne, this is the village which I am going to be creating a local newspaper for. As I asked a lot of people from this questionnaire I will be able to see what the people like and so I can target them directly. The other people who were asked the questionnaire who lived in other areas, there feedback is still useful because it still gives me an idea of what people like to see even though in not targeting them directly.

4. Do you think that I should target my website for just Crowthorne?

Nearly all of the people asked this question thought that it would be a better idea to target my newspaper just to Crowthorne. 13/15 asked the question thought that I should only target my newspaper for Crowthorne. This was because they thought it would make the newspaper more specific to one area and more unique. They also said if I was to target a few different villages the information would be very vague where as if I targeted just Crowthorne it would be detailed on just that village, meaning it's more interesting to read.

5. Would you like me to include pictures on the website?

All of the people asked this question thought that I should include pictures on my website of my local newspaper. They thought this because when pictures are included on things such as newspaper, magazines, websites etc it makes it look much more interesting and appealing. As all of the people asked the question thought I should include them, I will. This shows that most people like to look at a mixture of both text and writing so it is not too boring.

6. Would you like me to include a variety of small and large pictures?

14/15 asked this question said that I should include a mixture of both small and large pictures. They said that if I was to include a variety of small and large pictures this would make the page look much more interesting and they also said it would give the newspaper a professional feel and look. In most newspaper and website generally all of the pictures are not the same size because this would look boring and does mix the page up a little bit making it more interesting.

7. Would you like me to use a consistant colour scheme throughout?
Nearly all of the people asked this question thought that I should use a consistant colour scheme throughout my website. 14/15 asked said "yes" which meant that they wanted to use the same few colours throughout. They thought this because they said it would give the newspaper a consistant feel and if I was to use a whole range of different colours it would not make my newspaper and website unique and totally un-professional.

8. Would you like me to use the same font throughout my website?
All the people aksed the question thoought that I should use the same font throughout the website as they also thought it would give me website a consistant look and feel. Like the colour scheme they said that if I was to use a whole different range of fonts this would look totally un-professional and un-organised. I think that all the text should be in the same font with maybe the different titles in a larger font of different type but the text should not be in different fonts.

9. Do you think that I should locate a logo on the website pages?

All 15 of the people asked this question thought that I should include a logo throughout the website pages. They said that this would make the website look unique and you would then have something to associate with my newspaper and website. When people see this logo I want them to think of my newspaper straight away.

10. Would you like me to include advertisements on my website?

13/15 said they wanted me to include advertisements on my website. They said this because as I am operating a local newspaper business the advertisements will be of local businesses in the area. This would mean that the adverts would relate to them directly instead of being a national service which they are less likely to use. So I was to include adverts of local business then I would be providing them with valuable information which they could use.

11. Would you like their to be navigation buttons on my website linking to other pages?

Nearly all of the people asked this question said that they would like me to have a toolbar with all the navigation buttons linking to the other pages throughout the website. I will have a toolbar with all the other pages on the website with things such as "sport" for example. These navigation buttons make it easier for the people using the website to navigate around the website, so if I make it easier for them they are less likely to lose interest and stop reading or using the service.

12. Do you think that I should allow anyone to access my website?

I was going to make the website a private website which only people in the village in which I am operating can use. But after asking this question I decided not too as 14/15 said I should let anyone access the website. This was mainly because other people might have moved away but still might want to find out information in the area, or even people in neighbouring villages might want to see what's going on in the village as they could be attending an event or moving there for example. I came up with the thought of people having to have a log-in system which they use their e-mail to log to the website. I might create this system a few months into the website if it is a success as then we could send them e-mails etc advertising the newspaper and events in the area.

13. If I was to create a website would you use if to find out information on the local area?

Nearly all of the people asked this question said that they would use my website to find out information on the local area. 14/15 asked said that they would use my website to find out information. They said that they would read both the local newspaper through the door but also look at the internet website for other updates throughout the week. Only one person said that they wouldn't use the website which is good, they said this because they only like reading newspaper and were not experienced on computers so they wouldn't use the service.

14. Is there any other infromation which you would like to provide me with which would help me in the construction of my website?

No one answered this question so there was no feedback to give back.

Website Questionnaire

I have created a questionnaire for people within my focus group to help me understand what people would like to see on my website linking to the newspaper. The questionnaire which I created can be seen below:

1. Are you Male or Female
Male
Female

2. Where do you live?
Crowthorne
Bracknell
Sandhurst
Camberley
Wokingham
Other

3. Do you frequently use the internet?
Yes
No

4. Do you think that I should target my webite for just the village of Crowthorne?
Yes
No

5. Would you like pictures to be included in my website?
Yes
No

6. Would you like a variety of small and large pictures to be included on the website?
Yes
No

7. Would you like their to be a consistant colour scheme used throughout the website?
Yes
No

8. Would you like their to be a consistant font used throughout the website?
Yes
No

9. Do you think that I should locate my logo on different pages throughout the website?
Yes
No

10. Would you like their to be advertisements on my website?
Yes
No

11. Would you like their to be navigation buttons on my website linking to other pages?
Yes
No

12. Do you think that I should allow anyone to access my website free of charge?
Yes
No

13. If I was to create a website would you use it to gain information on the local area?
Yes
No

14. Is there anything else which you would like to add which would help me in the construction of my website?
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From Mrs S

You're working well here, hope you're keeping an eye on your timetable

Well done James, goo to see some thorough analysis, look at the two ancillary tasks and try and get some sense of the conventions of these aswell. Also, remember the brief is for the first TWO pages of a local paper.