Ancillery Task 1: Advertisement Poster

My first ancillary task, worth 10 marks, was to create a printed advertisement of our forthcoming local newspaper. To create the advert, i used my tried and tested method of Microsoft Publisher, which always achieves the best results for me, as i used it last year. The adverts would be placed in places such as community hot spots i.e. shopping centre, local cafe's, and also as a leaflet in additional newspapers.

- Instantly, i knew i wanted to create an advert which was out of my thinking zone; something different. I researched how to capture the readers attention, through using catchy slogans and the use of fonts & colour. I also looked at techniques i could add to capture the attention of the youth market, a tough market because of the constant use of advertising thrown in their faces on a daily basis (from experience). Therefore, i wanted them to read something which interests them, but not because of I'm trying to sell them an offer or promotion, but something they genuinely would like.

- Visually, i chose a black and white theme - primarily due to costs and secondarily due to the effect it gave, it was sophisticated and mature; and every young person wants to feel like they're being addressed in an adult manner, not in a way which is patronising.

- Here, i wanted a big bold statement, showing the readers what the newspaper is all about, with large text, to convey it's dominance.

- The sub text develops further to say what the paper is about; that it's something new on the market.

- I also added thick borders on every piece of text in my advertisement, as well as looking organised and neat, it also visually looks attractive and it stands out

- The banner to the right is how i informed my audience of the opening date (first issue). I have set it sideways as i wanted to play around with the dynamics of the advertisement; having everything the same way would simply become too tedious so i decided to switch things up a little, to make it stand out more.

- Again i have kept within the theme of the black border around the text.

- Another feature to make it stand out is the use of different font; i used this modern, futuristic font to capture the readers eye as the rest of the text on the poster is different, therefore making it stand out.

- The use of language 'Be Ready' insinuates something big arriving; something worth looking forward to.

- For my images, i wanted to use pictures which represent the town, landmarks which make Dunstable a nice place to live in. Therefore, i chose the monumental clock tower, the recent development at Dunstable Downs, and the grove theatre complex.

- All three are recent additions to the town and i feel focusing on representing the modern landmarks fits in with the youth market i am targeting.

- Again, i have kept within the black and white theme, as well as the prominent black border.

- All three of my images were taken by myself, and i have original copies.

- I chose to lay the images out in this way as it's sleek, stylish & modern, a theme i have carried out throughout my work.

- I have included this on the bottom of the advertisement for a very important reason.

- Facebook is the worlds most popular social networking website; and the younger generation take up a huge chunk of that population, with almost every young person i know having an account, it was clear to me this would be an important tool in further promoting my newspaper.

- As the site is so popular, having an account allows the person to fully understand the concept of the newspaper at their own leisure, as opposed to a poster where the information is limited.