A tabloid newspaper generator (not)
There's a new film by Irish writer/director Mary McGuckian about a muckraking tabloid newspaper called Rag Tale. Apparently it's a satirical satire, but it's not great shakes - at least judging by the one-star reviews in the likes of the Daily Mirror and the Guardian. Be that as it may, the film's official website is certainly incredibly clueless.
There's a Quotes page. With just two quotes. And a Venues page. With just 15 venues. And a trailer. And a newspaper generator or "Rag Tale Headline maker".
Not a bad idea in theory, seeing as "it's your job to create todays [sic] story".
But this layout "wizard" is a load of bollocks (and not of the dog's variety).
In design terms, this generator for a pretend tabloid front page has only two picture/headline permutations. If offers four pictures (or you could upload your own but I couldn't be arsed).
The main headine font goes from just 30pt to 48pt, the byline can start at 14pt (a bit big) but can jump right up to 32pt for some reason, and that's all the front page appears to be: a masthead, a headline, a picture, a byline and a bit of text. Bizarre.
Strangest of all, everything is in serif fonts - with the main head in a serif italic! Absolutely no realism whatsoever.
Posted by mick cunningham at October 14, 2005 10:01 AM | Email a friend this entry
