2. Brief
“You have been commissioned by the Northern Echo
to produce a new magazine or newspaper product.
Your product could be in any style or genre but it
must be self financed through sales or advertising.
You must also produce your magazine for a specified
audience segment within the 16 to 25 age group.”
3. My Idea
A local football magazine.
Ranges from professional football to Sunday league.
4. Unique Selling Point
Local.
Only be distributed to the North-East of England.
The region with the best and most passionate fans.
It will be a success with the community because the
region doesn‟t get a lot of „headlines‟ in comparison
to other teams in the country so this is a product for
them.
5. Market Gap
There is a clear gap in the market for my product. All the
magazines within my genre focus on national football
whereas mine is only for one region.
It will be a success because the audience will want to
read about the football in their region rather than reading
about the teams or players that are always mentioned.
For a regional football magazine the North-East is the
region which is most likely to be successful due to the
fans.
6. Client Considerations
The „local‟ target audience means that my content will be about local
football ranging from professional level to Sunday league level.
The N.E maintains a good relationship with its readers.
The N.E champions its own region which my articles will also do.
Due to the genre and content it may be read by younger and older
readers, younger or older than the intended target audience. All the
content will be appropriate for readers of any age; nothing
inappropriate or offensive.
7. The Press Complaints Commission
Deals with public complaints about content of
newspapers and magazines.
Considered PCC codes:
Defamation.
Slander/ Libel.
Contempt of court.
Trespass.
Photography.
Copyright.
Freedom of Information Act 2000.
8. The PCC
I needed to consider:
Children.
Accuracy.
Privacy.
Harassment.
Discrimination.
Not a risky genre, just need to be safe, especially to
keep in line with N.E and community.
9. Audience Research
16 – 24 year old males
B, C1, C2 socio-economic groups
Sports junkies, casuals and
gamer tribes.
10. Secondary Target Audience
Other Northern-Echo readers.
Other tribes.
Other socio-economic groups.
Football appeals to more than my primary target
audience.
11. Audience Problems
The only problem is that the content may appeal to
people outside of my primary audience; for example
the TJFA article may appeal to younger readers
because they play in one of the TJFA‟s leagues.
„Darlington‟s Downfall‟ article may appeal to older
readers because it is a whole history of the club.
Overcome by not including any content that could
possibly be inappropriate or offensive. It will be
suitable for readers of any age.
12. Audience affect and appeal
Audience and client mean that the content must
focus on football in the N.E, it must be positive.
Magazine will appeal to the audience because the
articles are about football in the N.E, existing
magazines don‟t do this. It is a magazine just for
them and about their teams.
Design will appeal to the audience because the
colours will stand out and represent football teams.
The layout is simple, aligning with current popular
football magazines.
13. Mini Focus Group
Said to take Football magazine idea forward:
Said to take forward DFC article, manager article and
TJFA article.
Said photography ideas are suitable.
14. Genre Research
I got ideas after looking at other football magazines and
turning their ideas into local articles.
Existing magazines of the same genre usually are kept
very simple; simple layouts, colour schemes etc. They
are kept visually appealing, not too much on the eye and
not overcomplicated.
This research helped me because I knew the types of
articles and layouts that would appeal to the audience of
this genre.
15. Genre Research – Cover Page’s
Basic Masthead
Clear main images
Small images
Main Sell-line
Extra sell-lines
Banners
17. Content Research
I have gathered up-to-date information for each
article and contacted managers I will interview.
Important for when I write the articles – I will have all
the necessary information.
20. Mock Ups Process
Researched existing products like FourFourTwo and
took inspiration from them to help me create my own
layout ideas.
Drew out mock ups before creating them properly.
These gave me a better outlook on how they would
turn out.
Learnt about how football magazines are typically
laid out and colours they use which are usually
primary colours.
Learnt more skills on In-design which I previously
didn‟t that helped create my mock ups such as text
21. Focus Group Feedback – Mock Up 1
Positives
Good colour scheme which relate to the focussed club.
The graphics are good.
Darlington badge, headline and banner, kicker all placed
well.
Images are suitable and relevant.
Negatives
Placement of imagery.
Article placement.
Too much on the eye.
22. Focus Group Feedback – Mock Up 2
Positives
Colour scheme which represents the club in the article.
Layout suits the genre.
Banner draws attention to headline.
Negatives
Fonts are boring.
Needs more graphics
to be appealing.
Article and image placement.
23. Suggested Improvements
Mock Up 1
Change image and article placement.
Make article shorter.
Mock Up 2
Change the headline font.
Change image placement and
size.
Add more graphics.
24. Mock Ups – Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths
Colour scheme for both.
Graphics for first mock up.
Relevant images for article.
Covered complete history of DFC in article.
Weaknesses
Image placement.
Article placement for first mock up.
Graphics for second mock up.
Length of article.
25. Mock Up Conclusion
I think the audience feedback was fair; I agree with
most of the feedback I received.
I will take forward my first mock up and will change
the article length and image placement.
My opinion is that my first mock
up is much better than my
second; I think all aspects are
better and my audience
would find it more appealing.
26. Product Outline
12 pages
Front cover
Contents page
DPS 1:
DPS 2:
Article about the whole history of DFC.
Interview article with two young managers of Sunday
league teams.
DPS 3:
Overview article about Teesside Junior Alliance League.
30. DPS 2 – Local Lads Lead the Way
Clear title.
Clear layout:
Kicker.
Columns.
Images.
Colour will come from images and kicker.
31. DPS 3 – TJFA – Week ‘14’
Green background.
Co-operates with TFJA so similar look to website.
Week focussed on teams in Darlington.
Shows layout clearly:
Columns.
Images.
32. Home Football Product
Branding techniques:
Colours – main colours are all associated with big teams.
Each page will use colours associated with the article
topic.
Fonts – will become associated with the magazine.
Masthead – will appear on every page in the top righthand corner.
Stylistics such as borders are all simple which stick
to generic style. No need to steer away from an
already successful style, the content is what will
make it successful.
36. Magazine Distribution
Distributed by Bauer Media across the North-East.
B.M only distributes one other football magazine – Match!
– which is a national magazine. My product is different
and there is a good opportunity for B.M.
A4 size.
Most football magazines are this size.
Standard size like the genre
which keeps everything simple.
38. Recap on Client Aims
I think this does meet client objectives:
Local content.
Champions the N.E.
Promotes football in N.E.
Generally positive about N.E.
39. Conclusion
I wanted to create a magazine which was all about football in the
N.E, it is a region that is obsessed with the game and it is usually
other teams across the country who get all the stories. This is a
product for fans of the N.E, not just about professional football but
ranges to Sunday league football, promoting all the football across
the region.
I know that this will appeal to the audience and they will be the type
of fans that appreciate this product and make it successful.
