WINOL - Critical Reflection Year 2 Semester 2

My time on WINOL this second semester has been thoroughly rewarding and as an individual much improved. WINOL is still one of the most successful student run editorial projects with an impressive current Alexa traffic ranking of 76,180 in the UK and 499,642 worldwide.

The project is handed down from the third years to the second years who manage the whole operation for the remainder of the year; they are split into five different teams that cover news, sports, features, production and web production.

As a whole team the aim is to produce up to date and interesting content each week for all different mediums of broadcasting including television, online media and radio. 

I first began WINOL as a sports reporter, although I enjoyed this role and learnt critical key skills such as camerawork, script writing and editing techniques I wanted to explore a more creative role in my second term. After Christmas I began to work on the features team, producing articles for the Absolute:ly online fashion magazine as well as creating graphics that could be used for some of the packages produced by the news team.

After a huge renovation of the WINOL website last term it was re-designed into a broadsheet format that created a stronger looking layout that was more appropriate for news. After the decision to change the site to a Wordpress template instead of a Joomla template it created a noticeable difference, although limiting the flexibility of what could be posted and formatted to the site, it was much more suitable for the purposes of WINOL. This proved to be the right decision as we beat our competitors East London Lines by over 15,000 places making us the number one student journalism website in the country as of the 10^th December 2012.

The main WINOL site has kept the same design this semester, however there is more flexibility when it comes to the slider; there is now the option of switching between a smaller slider if the news team have not acquired a decent image to go with their story or a big slider for when there is a decent image that can be used.   

The three different feature sections; New Winchester Review, Adventure and Travel as well as Absolute:ly online fashion magazine had a re-design to make each home page more attractive, engaging and aesthetically better.  Our web editor Jason French took full advantage of the Wordpress template which allowed him to use custom plug in’s and custom templates. The features team created a more traditional and authentic theme for the Arts section within New Winchester Review instead of the darker, more formal theme previously used. The Masonry inspired shaken grid, a ‘jQuery’ plugin worked perfectly as the Masonry arranged the elements such as the images, videos and text vertically and found space for the next element to be positioned, creating a ‘block stone wall’ effect. The design was similar to that of Tumblr and Pintrest which created a fun yet recognisable style for users to explore and experiment with.

The New Winchester Review also had a small re-design tweaking the layout of the page. The most interesting story with the best picture is now positioned in the top left corner which means that even if the story isn’t the latest it will still appear at the top of the page.

The Adventure and travel section was more complex to design but was definitely worth the time and effort put in to make this feature page so strong. The main slideshow and focal point of the page was made through a plug in called ‘Supersized.’ The larger pictures link mainly to a full screen YouTube video through the plug in ‘tublur’ but some will link to a Wordpress site. This feature page is led through photographs, keeping the background, text and font very minimalistic and simple which worked effectively as our attention is not drawn away from the images.

As Absolute:ly was purely aimed at a female demographic, myself and the features team decided to update the look of the page as a new, modern and edgy style would make the features section stronger as well as increasing our female audience. We gathered ideas by looking online at other magazine formats such as Vogue and their different use of images, text, fonts, colours and layouts to produce fashionable, modern and chic designs.

When re-designing Absolute:ly we could now create a responsive theme which meant the template on the page would resize to fit the dimensions of the screen as well as creating a visually striking black and white contrast between the text and the background. One of the key aspects to the design was the sliding navigation menu which uses a ‘jQuery’ plugin called ‘meny’ creating a three dimensional and space efficient menu. Simple, yet clever you move your mouse towards the arrow which then opens the menu consisting of the different sections within the magazine. This enabled the page to look minimal and suited the smart style we had chosen to use.

As I had a keen interest in graphics and had experience using Photoshop, I was eager to update the content on Absolute:ly as some of the previous features were dated and lacked a professional, polished look.

We decided to split the magazine into six different sections, focusing on fashion, beauty, hair, relationships, gossip and competitions, all of which are key interests for a female readership.

I produced features for Absolute:ly that ranged from spring fashion catwalks, makeup reviews, Valentine’s Day maps and interviews with up and coming fashion designers which enabled me to venture into different areas that made up the magazine. 

For my first feature I wanted to create an original piece that had not been done before so decided to research into spring fashion catwalk trends for 2013. I drew my own model templates and used Photoshop to create different clothes, patterns, prints and designs which were showcased on the London catwalks this year.

I was especially pleased with one of the features I produced that continued on from spring catwalk trends to spring makeup trends. I wanted to create a very chic, elegant and sophisticated piece that was strongly image led.

I managed to get in contact with a professional makeup artist who agreed to help me with my photo-shoot. I used three different models, all of which had completely different looks that added diversity to the photographs as each model worked a certain look that complimented their skin, hair and eye colour. I researched what makeup trends were key for spring 2013, with the red lip, blue eye and black lashes as the most popular looks sent down the catwalks by the designers. I then asked the makeup artist to re-create these looks which I then photographed and edited myself using special editing tools that produced flawless, beautiful and stunning images, each of which were suited to the style of a magazine.

Although the features team spent most of their time focusing on the online magazine, we also discussed putting a few graphics together to be included in the bulletins broadcasted each week. This would increase our audience ratings as anybody watching the weekly bulletin would be re-directed to the WINOL site as they would recognise the features package, an example of this was the Valentine’s Day love map.  Using Photoshop I created a map of the UK, adding in Valentine’s Day related images such as cupids, love hearts and weather symbols to keep in context with a weather report. I then researched various different universities and the events they were throwing for the day which I then placed on the map. Using final cut I could then zoom in and out as well as around the image that imitated a weather report once a voice over had been added.

As one of our special bulletins we covered the Eastleigh-by-election after MP Chris Huhne resigned after pleading guilty to perverting the course of justice. Fourteen parties took part in the race for the MP’s seat; however the main contenders were the Lib Dems, Labour, Conservatives and UKIP.

WINOL produced ‘The South Decides’ on the night which was our Eastleigh-by- election special. Our show went live at 10pm until 12pm when it then transferred to the radio show until about 1am when the show went live again as the results came in. I think this was one of our most accomplished bulletins which included an extremely professional and engaging package about the labour party by Luke Garret as well as live OBS, reaction interviews and the results footage coming in from Nadine Foreshaw and Lou O’Brien who were there when the winner Mike Thornton was announced.

In addition I helped to create graphics that could be used by the news team in their packages. I created a ‘super graphic’ for the Eastleigh election that was to be put on the front page of the WINOL site but due to some sizing complications this was not possible however I still felt that I had contributed to the event as I had to work out various different stats about the election and convert data into graphs, maps and charts. I particularly enjoyed creating this ‘super graphic’ as I could experiment with different elements on Photoshop, using maps, images of the candidates and the collected data to try and imitate some of the graphics seen in The Times.

This year WINOL reported on and produced two special edition bulletins, one the Eastleigh-by-election and the other The Budget announcement. Many of our news reporters travelled to London to create their packages and I felt that one of the strongest of these packages was Faith Thomas’s. I found her package incredibly informative and her piece to camera was of an exceptionally high standard. She spoke clearly and formally whilst maintaining strong eye contact with the camera. Faith also managed to obtain a couple of interviews outside the bank of England which added variety to her piece as she could portray a number of different thoughts and opinions about how the Budget should be used.

As an added extra the bulletin also featured an in studio guest who was a supporter of the labour party and their views towards the economy. This worked well as it created a ‘debate’ like atmosphere that explored and recognised where and how the Budget should be used. 

My involvement with the Budget was again creating another ‘super graphic’ that could be used in Anja Ellen Eikenes package. As Anja was from Norway we decided to compare various different elements such as fuel, food, alcohol, cigarettes, tax and housing prices between Norway and the UK. The results were staggering as Norway proved to be a lot more expensive than the UK with items averaging out a considerable amount more. For example a pack of twenty cigarettes in the UK cost around £7.47 whereas in Norway you are looking to pay £10.86, that’s almost four pounds more!

We researched the different prices for each country, I then used Photoshop to create a map with images of the different products placed on the UK and Norway with the prices positioned beside them. I then uploaded the image to Final Cut where I could use the editing techniques to create an interactive graphic that worked effectively with Anjas voice over in both English and Norwegian which gave WINOL a slightly more cultural angle as well as adding originality and memorability to her piece.

Over the course of the semester WINOL has reported on many different stories, some more serious and hard hitting than others.  As one of the more advanced reporters, I thought Christina Micheal’s has grown strength from strength as a crime reporter producing packages with a composed nature yet still conveying a gripping story with legitimate and genuine facts and images. I found the hit and run story one of her most professional pieces which included an emotional appeal from the parents to the public which our WINOL team managed to gain access to in order to film.

As well as reporting on the more serious areas such as politics, finance and crime WINOL also strives to focus on what’s happening locally, environmentally and in the sporting community. We have had some brilliant sports packages that the team have got involved with creating a ‘gonzo’ like style with the go-pro cam. The go-pro cam is especially effective when trying to capture fast paced sport as it gives the audience a first person view point as if you are there in the thick of the action, this worked particularly well in Liam Garrahan’s wheelchair rugby and Thomas Baxter’s fencing report.

Each semester WINOL grows as a project, with advanced reporting, accomplished packages and professional production it is one of the most fantastic and engaging learning resources any journalism student could ask for. As an individual I feel I have strengthened the online fashion magazine, producing numerous articles and creating graphics that have achieved a place in the news bulletin. WINOL thrives off teamwork, dedication and recognition which makes it an incredibly professional news channel that everyone who has participated in this semester, should be proud of.