Existing Products: Mercury

The Wymondham and Attleborough Mercury is also published by Archant and has a sister paper (featuring most of the same stories), The Diss Mercury. It is the most local newspaper to me as I receive it, along with everyone else in my area, free every week (as a weekly newspaper). It is also available to buy for anyone that wants to. It again has Facebook and Twitter and I now know this is something essential to include in my newspaper campaign.


Example Front Page: 7/11/2013
This front page is unusual in that the main photograph is not linked to the main headline. There is instead almost a sub box which features another story further elaborated on in the newspaper. This is most likely because the main story is one of a more solemn theme than 'Lemon Day' and therefore a picture isn't as neccesary or appropriate. Where as 'Lemon Day' is a more mysterious headline and may confuse readers who do not know what 'Lemon Day' is and therefore a picture is perhaps needed for a sense of explanation. The rest of the front is filled with adverts, again important in getting money for a newspaper that is distributed to thousands of houses for free. These adverts are for 2 places in Wymondham, 1 in Diss and 1 in Attleborough, truly covering the whole area of the newspaper's audience. One this I noticed about these adverts is the bright colours used to make it stand out, especially the Yellow in Diss' dentist advert. This is perhaps to do with the connotations of yellow, happiness, opposing those general associated with the dentist, i.e., fear, and therefore show an attempt to change this view and portray it in a more positive light using this colour. The garden centre has very naturally chosen Green as it's main colour for advertisement, along with red to create not only a nature theme but a Christmas one also. There is also an offer at the bottom of the page, something I will likely include as one of the adverts in my newspaper as I feel that everyone is always looking for ways to save money and it would therefore be a way to attract readers to my newspaper. One thing I do not like about this front page is the advert for 'Howards Cycles' on the top right hand corner. It seems randomly places and too small for the space it occupies, and for that reason I would be very careful if considering putting an advert next to the masthead, and it would be more likely I would keep the top part of the newspaper reserved for the masthead only. 

Example Double Page Spread

The first thing I notice about this double page spread is the dominance of adverts on the page. Throughout this newspaper this was the case for pretty much all the double page spreads and its therefore probably something I will strongly consider when planning my own double page spread. There is also two smaller articles rather than one large one, this is something I feel is unique to local newspapers as there is less likely to be large stories and events to cover, and is something I will bear in mind. I really like how busy this newspaper page is, every cm is covered and it has clearly been carefully designed to fit everything in, which makes me think I must think very carefully about my design in order to make it most effective. 

Example Double Page Spread
This double page spread also caught my eye because of the involvement of the General public in the newspaper. This page is entirely dedicated to Letters and I feel this may be an aspect to consider in my newspaper. It will make it stand out in comparison to normal articles as id adds a personal touch, attracting a larger audience as they know if there is anything they want to say, they are able to. I am considering incorporating the two designs above to have one side letters and the other side an article, obviously with adverts as they are very prominent. Either this or I would have letters along with my editorial on my second page.