Masthead Analysis

The masthead/nameplate is a recurring title which is featured on every issue of the newspaper. From my extensive research, I have found the majority of all newspapers, whether it be local or national, use the same colour scheme of either blue, black or red. I believe these colours are used because they are usually seen as being very patriotic, with it having connotations of the Union Jack flag. This may be used because the development of the Union Jack flag, was around the time British journalism in-fluxed. And early newspaper editors may have wanted to incorporate colours of the flag, to make it very apparent where these newspapers originated. This historic convention of using blue, black and red, is still used and also relates to local newspapers. For my final piece I will be incorporating these colours to ensure my local newspaper looks as realistic as possible and is an accurate representation.

The use of fonts varies between local, nation and formality. Newspaper such as 'The Times' and 'The Guardian' are renowned for being a very informative newspapers. Which include stories and news in-great depth. This is why the font they use are usually, very 'old-fashioned'. it gives connotations of reliability and formality. Whereas, tabloid newspapers such as 'The Sun' use much more modern fonts, such as Franklin Gothic Heavy Italic, which is a much more low register


The editors of Bristol Post have decided to use dark blue and red for the masthead/nameplate. What I have discovered from researching mastheads is that many local newspapers, such as 'Bristol Post' and 'North Somerset Times' split their masthead into two sections. The top section is usually a lot smaller and it says the location the newspaper relates to and the second section has words such as 'Post', 'Times' or 'Guardian' written much larger and bolder. This could be a method of trying to shorten the title length and get the readers to abbreviate it.

The editors for Manchester Evening News, has decided to design a slightly contemporary masthead. Which is most likely a result of technological advances, as we now have the opportunity to explore different methods and different types of graphology. The editors have decided to miss the space between 'Evening' and 'News', which is a very sleek, modern trend which is slowly but surely growing. The pioneers of this missing space trend was Apple, the phenomenon that spread globally was their 'iPod', 'iPhone' and 'iPad' products. This lexical choice was very unusual at that period of time and as their products grew larger and larger, more companies decided to incorporate this design. Manchester Evening News has also decided to leave out the dot from the 'i'. When I design my masthead I will make sure I explore different types of graphology, to make sure it is modern and realistic.