LO1, Task 1: Proposal

Magazine Proposal

Purpose

I intend to create a magazine centred on the sport of football, particularly the youth side of the game. Its purpose will primarily be to entertain the reader but also to inform them of young talent, aspiring footballers and possible stars of the future.

Form & Genre

As most of my articles will be informative they will likely focus on one unique aspect of the subject. However, it would also fall under the category of a profile or interview article as I aim to get a first hand view from budding young footballers on what its like trying to make it in the big game. Because of this, sections of my magazine could be formatted in a Q&A style of written article.

Content

The genre of my magazine is football; it will include a Front cover featuring the name of my magazine (Top Corner) at the top of the page in large, bold, san-serif font (as this is easier for the audience to read). My masthead will feature the top left section of a football goal frame as this has connotations of “top corner”, which is the name of my magazine. As well as this the first “O” in the title will be replaced with a football to make it look like a goal is being scored in the masthead. The main text of my masthead will be red and the goal frame graphic will be white as this is what colour they are in real life; these colours will also fit in to the black, white & red colour scheme I intend to use throughout the magazine. My main cover image will feature a long shot of the star of my main article (Joe Blair) about to strike a football towards the goal before the defender tackles him. This links to Carl Rodgers ideal self/partner theory (1980); as Joe is athletic some men may be envious of this and want to be like him where as some people may find Joe attractive and want to be his “partner”. The front cover of my magazine will also feature the title of the main article (Livin’ On A Blair) with a pull quote from the article underneath it. The pun in the headline refers to a 1968 hit song by Bon Jovi. It is appropriate for my magazine as the audience are likely to be fans of this genre of music or would have been alive when it was initially released meaning that they are more likely to get the pun. I will also include cover/sell lines from the other articles in my magazine (All’s Good For Greenwood, Hoyland Magpies: Barnsley’s Most Successful Youth Team, Last Weeks Results, Regional League Tables, Next Weeks Fixtures). As well as the cover lines, small cover images (Harry Greenwood taking a corner, screenshot of the league table) will be used on the front cover to give a better insight into the contents of the article. Additionally I will include a plug for a competition to win a pair of football boots on the front cover of Top Corner magazine.

My magazine will also feature a contents page displaying the page numbers of each article in the magazine down the left hand side of the page with the listings for the main articles highlighted in one of the house style colours to make it clear to the reader where the most important parts of the magazine are located. I will also add two images from the main two articles (a profile shot of Joe Blair and an image of Harry Greenwood making a tackle) at the bottom and the right hand side of the page to catch the readers attention and hopefully make them want to read the article as they want to find out more about the footballers pictured and see more images of them in action. In addition to this I will include an editors section welcoming the reader to the magazine so the reader knows what to expect and a short insight into the main article as well (Key points and quotes from the interview). All the graphics used on the contents page will follow the black, white and red colour scheme of my Housestyle to help reinforce the theme of the Top Corner brand. I will also advertise my competition (football boots giveaway) on the contents page using a plug (red circle shaped graphic) to make my reader want to read through my magazine in order to enter the competition. 

The key content of my magazine will be held in two double page spreads; the first of which will be focused on my cover star, Joe Blair. On the left page will be a short fact file that will include information about the player (Name, Age, date/place of birth, favourite professional player etc.) and an interview. I will place a profile shot of Joe in the top left corner of the page next to the fact file to complement the introduction to the article. I will also include 2-3 other images of Joe actually playing football throughout the article. The right page will feature one large image of Joe about to strike a ball with a text box in the top right corner that includes a summary/facts about the player’s current career. The second double page spread will be split between the two other players that my magazine is focusing on (Tom Wheatley and Harry Greenwood). The left page will feature a large background image of Harry taking a corner. The content of the page will include: “About Harry”, “What it’s like playing for Huddersfield youth” and “How to perfect your set pieces”. Throughout all my articles I will use a direct, informal mode of address to engage with my target audience and make them feel like they are directly engaging with the magazine. I aim to make my audience feel as though they are a part of the world of the magazine. I aim to portray my direct mode of address from the very start of my magazine, as the front cover will show my cover star looking directly at the audience.

Target Audience

Reader Profile

The average reader of Top Corner is between the ages of 18 and 40 (as people between these ages are more likely to be interested in youth football as they may have friends are even children who play for the teams included in the magazine) and has a keen interest in all aspects of the footballing world, including the youth side of the game. The majority of Top Corner readers are male, most of who will be working full time (as watching football is not the cheapest of hobbies they will need a good job to be able to fund it) and would fit into the C2DE categories of the NRS social scale (as football is still considered to be a sport for the working class). The standard reader attends at least two football matches a month and spends over £400 on football related activities every year.

Imaginary Entity

Graham is a 37 year old upper-working class male with a skilled manual job who attends all his local football teams home matches (as well as some away matches) and is likely to spend over £400 on football related activities over the course of a year as his season ticket is likely to cost him around £250 and the average price of a ticket for an away game is £25 in addition to travel and food/drink expenses. When he was younger he played football every week for his local team. He idolised the professional players of his generation and wanted to be just like them when he was older. He used to collect football stickers as these helped him grow his knowledge of famous footballers as he attempted to fill in his sticker album.

Now that he is an adult he utilises his knowledge during conversations with other football fans but also seeks to expand on it by paying attention to the youth side of his local club in order to stay up to date with the next generation of football stars. Despite this he still feels his interest in youth football could be taken further, this is where top corner magazine becomes relevant. The magazine provides him with information on all elements of youth football from clubs all around the country, not just his local club. This helps him expand upon his knowledge of the beautiful game allowing him to become involved in more discussions with other fans about the future of the sport he has loved since he was a boy.

Resources & Personnel

As I am not working as part of a team to produce Top Corner magazine; I will be the editor, photographer, graphic designer and writer for the magazine. To complete these roles I will need a Canon 750D DSLR to take photos for the magazine, a computer to edit the magazine on and software such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Bridge to create the graphics and edit images for my magazine. I will eventually use Adobe InDesign to piece all the elements of my magazine together I will need a number of male models under the age of 18 to pose as young footballers; images of these models will be used on all pages of the magazine. Extra shots will need to be taken of a specific model to be used as part of an interview article on a young footballer.

Marketing & Distribution

My magazine will be distributed throughout Barnsley; copies will be available at all local non-professional football grounds like Sheerien Park (Athersely Recreation) and Park Road (Worsborough Bridge Athletic). I also intend to distribute my magazine via local sports and leisure centres (such as the Metrodome and Hoyland Fitness Flex) as well as local pubs (e.g. The Darley, The Victoria, The Mount, The Outpost, The Manx) as this is where my target audience are likely to spend some of their time.  There are 12 non-league football teams in Barnsley and the average attendance for these teams is between 50 and 400 so I would argue that around 1,000 copies of the magazine would need to be produced every other week. My magazine would be released fortnightly as this is usually how often local teams will play home games (where the magazine can be distributed).

My magazine could use synergy when distributing the product as it allows multiple different companies to be promoted at the same time. For example, I could use products/companies that relate to my magazine, such as Nike & Adidas footballs and sportswear. This would be beneficial for my magazine, the company itself and also the target audience. For example I could use a local sports centre such as SHOOT in Silkstone, this would benefit them as they have a similar target audience as my magazine meaning they are likely to gain customers. It would benefit my magazine as SHOOT would have to pay to advertise themselves, therefore contributing to my revenue stream. They could also distribute my magazine at their centre as people who use their facilities are likely to be interested in my magazine. Finally, it would benefit the audience as they would be informed about the facilities that SHOOT has to offer. 

Another way of distributing my magazine is through local social media accounts such as Raring2Go, S71 and BarnsleyIsBrill. These accounts are based on advertising business and events etc. in the local area and providing information to the public so advertising through these account will be relatively cheap and possibly even free.

Specification

Page size

Trim: W 120mm x H 160mm

Bleed: W 126mm x H 166mm

Advertising rates

Double page Spread - £350

Full page - £150

Half page - £80

Quarter page - £40

I have chosen this page size, as this would make the magazine more portable and easy to distribute. It would feel out of place to the average spectator is it roughly the same size as a football programme.