The Sun and Times style Magazines

This is the magazine that I have created in the style of a tabloid newspaper, similar to 'The Sun'. As you can see there is a huge image that would entice people to look at the cover. The cover shows Ann Widdecombe, who was a politician, but is now well known to the general public because of her time on Strictly Come Dancing. The title of the magazine is in the top left corner, which will help to identify the magazine. The text on the cover is large which will make it easy for consumers to read, and may also attract people to the magazine as the can read the title far away. It also gives a small amount of information. This might encourage people to buy the magazine. There are also side stories that will appeal to the male gaze. The use of this is a re-occurring through most tabloid magazines as that's what their readers want. Tabloids often cover stories about celebrity gossip, instead of more detailed stories on political events. This might include information about them or tips and ideas from them about their lifestyle. The amount of information on the cover is generally very limited. The publisher wants people to buy the magazine and find out the content by reading the story. What really makes this similar to other magazines is the bright colours and the lack of text of information that it shows.

On the moodboard you can see the different magazines that are popular with the same demographic of audience as the times, so I have tried to based my own magazine on them. Almost all of the magazines included in the moodboard have only got one image, and it is the huge main one. A couple of them have small pictures to advertise stories in the magazine which is similar to the Sun magazines. This magazine has much less content on it than all of the Sun magazines, and its the same for all the magazines on this moodboard. They just seem less cluttered. Although you can't see it here, these magazines are typically bigger, and allow more space for each story, and this is the same for their covers. It's what I've tried to show with my own design. 

Codes & Conventions of Newspapers

The Codes and Conventions

Most newspapers contain similar, if not the same conventions as each other and this even includes between Tabloid newspapers (The Sun) and Broadsheet Newspapers (The Times). Typically, the broadsheet papers will appeal to the audience in different ways, as although they have similar conventions, they are given more space, which makes them clearer and standout better. An example of this is using the names of the journalists on their stories. A lot of regular readers of the newspaper will look out for certain writers as they enjoy their styles and think of them as a reliable source. Some people may even buy the newspaper specifically because they have a favourite writer. This could be considered similar to people choosing a film because they like one of the actors involved in it. Generally, broadsheet papers include more detail. This will include captions that explain the content of an image so that it is interpreted correctly by the readers or subheadings included in the main body of the text to break it up and maybe put emphasis on a certain fact of figure.

Tabloids contain features that are used by them and not broadsheets as well, as they are appealing to a different type of audience. This includes 'Pugs' which are an advert included by the paper that advertises a competition or the price of the paper which will stand out and entice people to buy. Other features like using a large strap-line as well as a headline to explain the story, and having a image dominate the front cover are very typical of tabloid papers.

There are parts of the paper that link tabloids and broadsheets together as they are used by both editors as a regular feature on their paper. The first and main similarity is the use of a Mast head. This can be used to identify the magazine and make it stand out from the other covers. Tabloids often have a bold, sans serif Mast Head as it is easily readable, recognisable and distinguishable from other papers. The Sun's Mast head is its name in white text on a red background, which is very simple. The Time's Mast head is also its name, but doesn't include any colour. This means it won't necessarily catch the eye of someone browsing the papers. As the Times is a very established paper, it uses it's reputation as a lure to consumers.

The differences between The Time and The Sun, as well as another other paper, is to fit with audiences preferences. Which is why they appeal to the audiences that they do. The more spaced out layout of a broadsheet paper seems more professional in my opinion, and the content is designed to appeal to people that are more interested in the detailed analysis of stories. The Sun has quite a full cover, and uses the different preferences of its audience to appeal to them as well. The informal language can make the stories seem more chatty and is more suitable for some of the celebrity gossip stories covered by tabloid papers. The shorter length of the stories might actually encourage consumers to read every story as they won't get bored of a story before they finish. The male gaze is also utilised by including images of scantly clad women throughout which may attract people to read the story. An example of this is on my previous post about the American election where the Sun included an image of Jennifer Lopez in very little clothing, and although it is related, it doesn't follow the same method of reporting stories as Broadsheet papers.