The name plate to a newspaper is the main title on the very front page. This is essentially the name of the newspaper and reoccurs on each issue every time a new copy is printed.Examples of well known name plates would be issues such as 'The Sun' or 'The Guardian.' Local versions of these would be ones such as 'Bristol Post' and 'Croydon Advertiser'. These names can either be geographically located to where the newspaper is being published and released, such as 'The Portishead Local.' More local newspapers with geographical name plates are usually smaller, lesser known newspapers that are restricted to being released in a specific area due to the text inside being relative to that area. Other name plates can just be made up titles with no meaning, such as The Sun, which started off as a broadsheet newspaper called The Daily Herald.
The name plate is traditionally printed in whatever style font goes with the style of newspaper, e.g- may be a bold name plate if the newspaper has contradictory opinions. Or it may be in a sans-serif font if it is a more modern newspaper. However, the font may not relate at all and may just be chosen to fit the style of graphology of the newspaper. The masthead is also conventionally a lot larger than most text on the page, but may not be larger than the headline. This is so readers can easily pick up their recognizable copy. Primary colours or black are also the most common to use for the name plate, as it is a simple and clear style.
Analysis of various name plates is below. The colours correspond with what is described. (Other analysis is not highlighted).
Colour
Size
Position/Layout
Font (Serif/san-serif)
The colour of this name plate has been chosen as a dark/navy blue which stand out but isn't too informal.This gives the newspaper a sophisticated look and is neutral in order to attract any type of audience. This newspaper has used a serif font that looks very classic and traditional; again possibly to attract a wide audience. This name plate is very prominent as it is on a white background - making it clear to read. The newspaper has also decided to have the text flush left and at the very top of the page. (Only very small text above). The nameplate here is sized larger than any other text that appears on the front cover - which is a common feature of newspapers in general that I have come across. This newspaper in particular has also chosen to input their logo (A red ship) in between the words 'Evening' and 'Post'. This is to allow the readers to see this and recognise the newspaper before they notice anything else. They will see this logo while reading the newspaper name.
This name plate is a very different style to the previous one, which is why i chose to evaluate it. This is to show that name plates can be very different depending on different variables. For example, the audience they are aiming for. This newspaper has also used a serif font, however the letter are not as bold and are slimmer in style. This newspaper has tried to include its own quirky features too, such as missing the dot from the 'i' and not having a space in between 'Evening' and 'News'. This newspaper has just gone with a black, basic colour for the font to stand out from the white background and for ease of read. This nameplate is centred on the front page but has the location of where it is published slightly above and to the left. There is little to no text around this nameplate which makes it stand out even more. The text is also printed bigger than anything else on the page.
This name plate is very different to the previous two. The name of this newspaper has been written in san-serif font to seem more playful (perhaps less political content) and the font is bold and thick. This is in order to stand out from the strong blue background (the name itself is written in white). Which is another thing that differs from most other newspaper name plates i have looked at. This name plate is also usually placed in the very centre and the top of the page and sized larger than any other text. On this newspaper it usually takes up 20% of the entire page.
This specific name plate is again very different from the previous ones I have chosen to look at. This newspaper have chosen their main word 'Herald' to be the centre of attention and have made it bigger than the location and the word 'the'. This may be because the word is recognised and may mean more to someone in the local area as opposed to putting the word on a national newspaper where people may not know what it means. As well as being bigger than the other words, 'The Herald' is written in a serif, classic looking font to make it look traditional, whereas the location 'Grundy County' is written in a playful san-serif, bold and much thicker font. Perhaps to stand out so people recognise the area name. In this case, 'The Herald' has been written in a bright purple and 'Grundy County' has been written in yellow. Since both of these stray from traditional newspaper colours, the newspaper seems to be aiming their content at a younger audience. After doing some research, I have also found this newspaper to be a family favourite which means it must appeal to all ages.The positioning of this name plate, shows that they have chosen to put the locational details at the very top of the page, sitting on the word 'Herald'. This is so it is one of the first things the reader sees. This name plate is also specifically placed at the top centre of the front cover.
