Bristol Observer Cover

The image to the left shows an annotated cover of the Bristol Observer. At first glance, the cover appears very busy due to the large amount of images used throughout the page. The use of so many images distracts the reader from the actual colour scheme which could cause confusion. However, due to use of neutral colours used such as beige and yellow, the much brighter colours such as the use of purple, green and blue can blend in much more effectively. This colour scheme is illustrated through the use of the beige header at the top of the page and the banner used in the lower half of the page. The use of a header helps border the page and acts as a background for things such as the nameplate, the newspaper price and other information which helps inform the reader how recent the news is such as the date. Similarly to the North Somerset Times the nameplate is split into two. A smaller less bold nameplate consisting of the papers background and location and a larger, bolder nameplate which states the newspapers name. The variance in text size emphasises the word 'observer' much more than the smaller nameplate which could cause the reader to shorten the papers name to just the 'observer.' This promotion of slang could suggest that the paper has intentions of appealing to a more youthful audience of the younger generation. The header also features an image of a woman who is involved in a story featured in the paper whose headline is stated along the very top of the page. This helps advertise the contents of the paper and illustrates the story's importance as the image obstructs the nameplate which suggests that the image and therefore the story has more dominance within the paper.

Unlike both the Post and the Times, the Observer seems to advertise much more of the papers contents through the use of several categorical headlines which split the stories into different sections. This boosts the likelihood of appealing to the reader by attempting to trigger their interest and give them an insight as to what is included within the paper which increases the chance of them buying the paper as they are confident in what they are buying. Again, variance of text size and colour is used to differentiate the phrase '

Also unlike both the Post and the Times, this paper only seems to feature one story on the front page. The story itself seems to focus on the closure of a local airfield which helps illustrate that the paper is local which could help trigger the focus of local readers. The headline is feature in large, bold text which helps the words stand out much clearer on the page causing much more focus to be paid to them. The headline itself features the use of rhetorical questions and the use of possessive pronouns such as 'our' which addresses the reader directly so that they feel involved within the story. Similarly to the other papers i have researched, text variance is used throughout the article to split the article into different sections such as the introduction and main story. The introduction to the story is featured in much larger text which differentiates it from the rest of the article and stands out much more which could help trigger the readers interest which could persuade them to read on. Jump lines are also used at the end of the story which tells the reader where the story continues so that they feel informed and the article cuts off at a point which causes the reader to want to know more therefore increasing the likelihood of them buying the paper. The image featured is a papped shot of the airfield in action which makes it incredibly relevant to the article provided which helps give the reader a visual image of the airfield when it was running. Captions are also used to give extra information about the image if it is required to keep the reader informed.

Beneath the article, a footer is used to finish the page (apart from the advertisements) using the same neutral colour scheme which helps keep the page together. Inside the footer, the paper mentions several popular places in Bristol which again helps illuminate to the reader that the paper is local and could trigger the interest of local readers.  

Simarly to both of the papers used, the Observer features large adverts acting as a banner along the bottom of the page. This helps fill empty spaces on the page to ensure that the page appears full and busy. Both of the adverts featured are based around local business which directly targets local readers and triggers they're interest. The adverts featured also include neutal colours so that they do not dominate the page and pull attention away from the main article. The use of neutral colours also links into the original colour scheme and ensures that the page doesnt appear too bright or too busy which would be unpleasant and difficult for the reader to focus on.

Overall, i feel that this front cover works effectively as it mainly focuses on advertising the content of the whole paper as opposed to just featuring cover stories which is what the Post does. This ensures that the reader is fully aware of what the paper consists of so that they feel confident and happy with what they are purchasing. The page also focuses very closely on showing the reader how local the paper is with the use of local storys, listing places in Bristol and the inclusion of advertising local businesses. However, the page appears relatively busy to the use of brighter colours down the right side of the page. Although the original colour scheme allows for much brighter colours to be used, they could cause distracting from the main article. Yet due the colours may have been used to draw extra attention to the area which again advertises the contents of the paper which would justify the use of these colours. Therefore i find that this cover is very intriguing and hints to the papers contents to trigger the interest of its audience.