The document discusses strategies for designing tabloid newspaper front covers. It examines examples from The Sun, Daily Mirror, and Daily Mail to analyze their approaches to headlines, fonts, images, and layouts. Key aspects discussed include using large, bold text and images to attract attention. The document also explores potential designs for a front cover story on Piers Morgan's firing, testing different headline ideas and fonts. Mock-ups are presented of what a front cover focusing on this story might look like if published in The Sun tabloid newspaper.

1. Task 8
Alan Smith

2. Tabloid Newspapers
You can see the difference in approach
towards headlines with each newspaper.
The ‘Broken Hart’ used by the Mirror was a
good pun that described England's failings in
the World cup yet again. Using Goalkeeper
Joe Hart instead of ‘Heart’
This is something I could look into when
producing a headline in relation to the task
chosen to create.
All of these newspapers share similarities, they
are all very clear and concise. They mainly
choose large, bold text
To make it stand out even further, the
remaining text on the page is either changed to
another font or colour.
These tabloids are all aiming to make sales,
therefore the workers behind them want to
make them appealing.
The font, colour, layout, style and image is
important when looking at the front cover.
It is also very important I choose all the correct
aspects when looking at the large variety of
papers.
The Sun would not have a very formal
headline and keep to one colour.

3. The font is very clear and contrasts with the dark
background image behind. The use of the white shade
helps this stand out and keeps to the consistent colour
of the house style.
The layout here is very common for a huge news story
as it has taken the entire front page instead of multiple
news stories.
Being clear helps to interact with the demographic it is
aimed towards.
Using quotes brings the story out further without the use
of text that can often put many of the readers off.
Keeping the text short is a good way of retaining
attention of the reader.
The style of this is something I could use when
producing my own piece of work. The use the imagery
in the background covering the white space with the text
overlapping.
The choice of the image is very if not the most important
for the front cover as this is the first thing the reader
The capital letters
make the title stand
out that much more
and is almost
impossible not to
notice it.
The use of the
goalkeeper Joe
‘Hart’ in the image
is something
important as it has
to tie in with the
heading.

4. Unlike The Mirror and Sun, the Daily Mail take
a similar yet slightly more formal approach.
In terms of the headline, they often stay away
from puns such as the last slide and get
straight to the point like seen in this example.
‘SACK THEM!’ taking up a large amount of the
front page but still keeping enough for other
news.
Also with this newspaper, a small piece of text
is underneath to support the heading.
The font chosen is large and stands out but
also allows room for other aspects to stand out
on the page such as the
‘My marriage drove me to the brink…’ this can
be clearly seen as it is supported by a dark
purple background and imagery towards the
left hand side.
The underlining of the subheading is a good
way to make the words stand out that much
more. Having such a large heading can take
most of the attention.
Daily Mail is a Tabloid like the Sun
and Mirror, however it used to be a
Broadsheet hence it being styled
differently.
The approach is different however
the audience is similar.
When creating my tabloid cover I
need to look at the tabloids and
how they differ with Broadsheet
ones but also compare within
themselves and see how The Sun
compare with the Mirror.
I need to create the same house
style. For the Sun I should look at
the vast amount of advertisements.

5. The Sun focus on having one major story on the
front with shorter news articles surrounding it rather
than one main attraction.
This is to offer a wider variety for the readers, if
someone is not interested in the IVF news they can
see football scores at the top or entertainment on
the left in small text.
Equating to everyone’s taste can help produce
more sales for the newspaper.
The main news story often has one image to
support the text with a short extract of what has
happened.
The font is kept large as well as being white over a
dark background to make sure it is well seen and
noticeable by the reader.
The large font size carries over to the short piece
of text to know that it is part of the same story and
to give you that additional information. Here it is
giving you the mothers age.
The imagery is hugely
important to the front cover
as not only does it help
cover white space, it
makes is look that much
more aesthetically
pleasing.
The style differs from the
Daily Mail as this focus’ on
a wide range of stories for
the front page and offers
page numbers to refer to.

6. Suitable images for production
Possibly use an image with Piers
having his thumb up to indicate it
was the correct decision for him to
be fired.
Using images of Piers unhappy will help give the message forward with the
heading.
The image of Piers with the United Kingdom flag behind him could make a
good background image for the newspaper as the topic of him being fired is
in relation with British troops.

7. Possible Headlines
Auf Wiedersehen, Piers
This could be used in relation to Piers and his 1996 front cover of the
Mirror. “Achtung surrender!” When Germany were about to play England
in the Euro 96’- He was later made to apologise.
Possibly something more simplistic, ‘Piers Morgan Fired’ for tabloids such
as the Daily Mail.
Like the use of the headline Auf Wiedersehen (Goodbye in German), a
similar approach could be to use puns.
This would be for papers such as The Sun who target a much more
working class demographic and are less formal.
‘Falling to Pierces’
This could be a possible headline as it incorporates the idea of being
sacked and the use of Piers replacing piece can help engage the reader.

8. Experimental stage (Font Selection)
1)Auf Wiedersehen,
Piers
9)Falling to
Pierces
2)Auf Wiedersehen,
Piers
3)Auf Wiedersehen,
Piers
4)Piers
Morgan
FIRED
5)Piers
Morgan
FIRED
6)Piers
Morgan
FIRED
8) Falling to
Pierces
7) Falling to
Pierces
1) Charlemagne Std
2) Perpetua Titling MT
Light
3) Adobe Std B
4) Calibri
5) Century
6) Helvetica Light
7) Comic Sans MS
8) Times New Roman
9) KufiStandardGK

9. Flat plan (1)
Masthead Advert 1
Main headline
Image to support
headline
Another story
Advert 2
This would be for a
newspaper where more than
one story is featured on the
front page.
There would be enough
room for advertisements to
feature around the edges of
the cover.
Having a small piece on the
article is a good way of
engaging the reader early
and then including a page
number for them to read
additional information.
The image would not be
huge but still large enough to
stand out and grab attention.
Having alternative stories
can offer much more to the
consumer.
Small piece of text
on article
Another story

10. Attempt to create own logo for ‘The Sun’ if they have
the correct font (Franklin Gothic Heavy Italicised)
Advert or
competition.
Flat plan (2)
Official logo
Heading (Possibly underlined)
Piers Morgan
image
Bullet points on
article
Couple of
paragraphs on
article
Other
news
Include something that blends
in with the other image and
adds more colour to the piece.
Use a heading that will entice
the particular class that read
the tabloid.
Try out a range of sizes
(Experiment with fonts looked
at in previous slides)
Have an image of Piers
Morgan covering the majority
of the front page.
Include a short image or piece of text to support the
Piers Morgan article.
Have some bullet points with
extra information that adds to
the heading.
Include the start of the piece.
(Reference page number, keep
professional- have drop capitals
etc)

11. Produced on InDesign, this explores into creating a piece of work that can feature in the media and does not look
out of place.
Due to the Tabloid being relatively brief in the text content on the front page, the work created in previous tasks
could not be shown to its full detail.
However, the creation of this first cover is very professional and keeps to the house style of the specific paper here
which is The Sun. Including other news and adverts as well as the main logo makes it that much more believable.
During the planning stage I was able to understand what
content was needed in order to make a front cover
successful.
The inclusion of the ‘Now only 30p’ was something so small it
could be seen as insignificant, however it adds to the overall
aesthetic look.
The bullet points are somewhat of a house style in relation to
The Sun and the composition within the front page.
The Times New Roman heading was explored into during the
planning stage for the fonts and was seen as a very suitable
choice due to the serious topic.
The other news such as the football image was just to add to
the look and make the text that much more visually pleasing.
The use of different text colours, sizes and underlining makes
the page stand out and easily readable for the customer.
The small aspects that add a lot to the work are the addition
of page numbers and references.
This as well as the competition on the top right gives the
paper that extra attraction than it normally would and an
incentive to purchase this newspaper over another.

12. Developing the idea
Removing the white space was important and making
sure everything was readable.
The use of the dark background created on
Photoshop helped bring out the white text much
more.
The use of further imagery such as Andrew Neil, a
fellow editor added to the story and started to
construct a much stronger piece of work.
Keeping in the house style was important and retaining
certain aspects such as the red bullet points and the text
being in a large white font covering over a very large
image.
The Sun logo was created upon in Photoshop and made to
incorporate the price in so it was very clear.

13. Final Product
Here Is the final design for the tabloid front cover. The text has been slightly lost due to the JPEG being created in
order to show this on the PowerPoint. From this you can draw some comparisons to the design of The Sun
newspaper and also see how I have tried to explore something different in the way the information is presented.
The advertisements that are usually seen on products such as these have been retained as during the planning
stage I found this to be a huge aspect. I have decided to focus on the one story rather than multiple because during
the planning stage I found various big headline articles that did the same.
The death of Margret Thatcher being one of them. The Image covered the majority of the front cover with the most
part of the content being in relation to that topic.
The inclusion of the sports at the foot of the page brings out the tabloid
side of the product.
The headline had to be large and grab attention, and I believe it has
done so.
The colours and imagery had to stand out but also compliment each
other, this has also been done in a professional manner.
The use of small house style’s such as the red bullet points and the
large underlined Arial heading made it keep with the consistency of the
product and almost believable.
The logo of The Sun was harder to replicate and through Photoshop it
was adjusted to look similar.
Including incentives to buy this paper over other competitors was
something that almost if not every paper has. This is why I made sure
to bring this idea forward.
The price of the paper was something which I found to be vital. Keeping
the ‘40p’ bold and bright made sure it was impossible to not notice.

14. The inclusion of the word ‘FREE’ provided that incentive for the reader. The holiday and theme park images created
that offer to the reader that for only 40p seemed a good deal.
The money aspect was something I wanted to keep on the newspaper as in the planning stage I found many tabloid
papers with huge prices on the covers for all sorts of advertisements.
Advertising The Sun’s own ‘Dream Team’ was something good that I wanted to include. After importing the image into
Photoshop I was able to Rotoscope it and change the background colour to suit this tabloid.
Placing the dream team in the football section at the foot of the cover was a great place for that audience to notice it
more.
With the £500,000 being in large yellow text, this again made it impossible to not notice.
This yellow text was something I wanted to keep in cover with three aspects containing it.
The article on the main story itself was produced in a clear and
concise manner by keeping to the style of the specific tabloid.
By including the red bullet points and retaining the short sub-headings,
this gave that much more clarity to the work and
supported the headline itself.
The pun in the title was in order to grab the readers attention and
again, keep within the target audience.
Using the drop capital on the short piece gave that professional look
to the work.
Having page references again add to the idea of promoting the the
paper. Including many aspects to entice the reader to buying the
product.
The ‘Exclusive’ interview provides that unique look to the paper and
that of something no other paper has. This enhances the work and
makes that that much more stronger.
The use of ‘Britain’s most popular paper’ is telling the reader to
purchase the paper by reputation alone and reassure them that

15. Magazine
These are articles taken from Time Magazine.
They focus on six column grid.
Most magazines in relation to Piers Morgan and more
important information focus on having more text than
imagery.
To split the text and make it easier to reader the images are
used as well as the different colours.
The cover is very clear and concise. The information needed
is on and nothing more. No advertisements or sales.
A very professional magazine.
The images used on
the double page
spreads are very
relevant to the topic
and keep in the
same style
throughout.
The house style of
Time Magazine is
important to
replicate, such as
the font, style and
colour.
This is reflected in the design of the articles. Using large amounts of text suggest that this targets a much more
middle to higher class demographic and will use very formal language in contrast to The Sun and other various
tabloids.
The information in these pieces will be very detailed and explore more into the topic, perhaps even more truthful
than the tabloid papers.
When designing the magazine for the product, the design needs to be taken into account. It has to be much more
organised and clear. It cannot be condensed like the tabloid covers.

16. Piers Morgan Fired (Franklin Gothic)
Exploring into this font is important as this is used in the front cover of Time
Magazine.
‘TIME’ itself is not a font , it is a custom logo for the magazine. The fonts
used on the cover can differ, however the layout needs to remain intact.
There was a redesign into the fonts used by TIME magazine.
In February of 2009 they were told that the size of the
magazine was being reduced by 9 percent
It was from this where they wanted to increase the layout
inside to have larger headlines and therefore remove text on
articles.
The 3 fonts now used in TIME Magazine are LYON, NYTE, KNOCKOUT.
Designed by Dino dos Santos for the serif
display.
Designed by Hoefler & Frere-Jones

17. Design Director Arem Duplessis was the reason behind the change in font.
“We were attracted to Lyon because it's well drawn, very legible and nice to
look at, but also slightly more condensed than our previous body copy,
which in turn allows for more words per line (very beneficial when your page
shrinks).
For our serif display we chose a font called Esta for its versatility and had
the designer (Dino dos Santos) draw several more weights and customize
some of the characters.
He renamed our version of the font Nyte. Having a versatile serif face is key
for us because we cover such a broad range of topics.
Finally, we chose Knockout. We wanted a face that would help us give our
cover and interior headlines more impact. Knockout is a condensed face,
allowing for larger display. It also has a nice variety of weights, which helps
make it a great workhorse font”.
When looking into the design for the magazine, these fonts could be
used in order to make it look much more professional.
Using the same house style will make it believable also.

18. Possible images for magazine spread.
Here are images that could be used for the
magazine double page spread on Piers
Morgan.
They all share similarities in the fact they
are looking towards the camera. Something
I wanted to recreate in this piece about him
for TIME.
These images are taken from different
stages in Piers Morgans career.
This allows me to
create different articles
on him and reproduce
work from various
earlier tasks.
Seen as this is an
American magazine.
Having Piers Morgan
being fired by the Daily
Mirror would not be
something the
audience would be
interested in.
Therefore, choosing a
more recent image
such as the one
furthest to the right will
be a better choice.
Writing about Piers
Morgan overall,
including his CNN
career would provide a
much better read.

19. Flat
plans
Have a image of Piers Morgan to
support the text and make it easier
to digest.
1
Keep to the
house style
of having 6
columns of
text.
2
3
4 5
Another
image to
support the
text.
6

20. (2)
1
Keep to the
house style
of having 6
columns of
text.
2
3
4 5
6
Smaller
image to
support the
text.
Perhaps have image higher up with
captions instead of a headline.

21. (3)
Perhaps include the image in
the centre of a double page
spread and have text
surrounding it.
1 2
4
5 6
3

23. Public’s
views
on
Page 32
Piers Morgan
What do we really think about the most
controversial man in the United States?
Here I used the previous task of the interview in order to produce this. Using
professional tools in both Photoshop and InDesign allowed me to add all the content.
The Rotoscope and Magic wand tools helped remove the background of the imagery,
this helped the text go around and look of a higher standard. The drop capital is also
used to add to the text.