The document summarizes the key considerations and plans for developing a youth sports magazine targeted at readers aged 12-18. It discusses conducting a focus group to better understand the target audience and their interests. Based on the focus group findings, the magazine will have a sleek cover design with articles on how young athletes can become professionals and get involved with local sports teams. The magazine aims to appeal to both the younger and older ends of the target range through a balance of competitions, games and informative articles.

1. Your Times Your Life
Research

2. Overview

3. More pictures
and less text to
grab the attention
of a younger
audience
The title is big
and red to catch
the peoples eye
when they walk
past
Different colour
text to keep
people’s eyes on
it
Recognisable
slogan
As the target audience is
young, the footballers on the
front are very well known
and recognisable so the
younger audience can relate
Analysis of a similar product
Choice of pictures is very
specific. Not only are they
recognisable but also in
recent news. At the time
Giggs scored a game winning
goal and chamberlain won
player of the month.

4. “Free” in bold
capitals at the top
in bright yellow
so people look at
it
Offering an exclusive
and free gift which is
complimented with
the yellow text on the
turquoise background
to make it stand out
The border of the
magazine is in the
style of barricade
tape, its quite
alarming and if
someone was looking
through a rack of
magazines this one
would stand out
Top trumps a children's game, aimed
at children begging their parents to get
them the magazine for the cards
Popular game
amongst teenage
football fans, by
putting in their
magazine they are
appealing to their fan
base
Title in bold red
taking up a large
proportion of the
page so people
can see the name
Putting lots of
pictures on the front
page as younger
readers will have a
tendency to enjoy
pictures over text
Lots of colour and
cartoonish as its
aimed at a younger
audience.
Analysis of a similar product

5. Shoots main audience is 13-16 which is right in the middle of the teenage years
when the audience isn’t too old and isn’t too young. This means Shoot can
use simple design to attract an audience without having to put lots of games
and such to attract younger readers like 10 year olds. Shoots recently shut
down so they have no readership figures but when hey were still producing
they had an average readership of 30,000. Match on the other hand is aimed
at a target audience, still in the teens just younger. This allows Match to
plaster their front cover with promotions for free items and competitions
along with flashy colours and pictures. The Match readership is around
46,000 which is a 19% drop from the previous years as less people want to
read magazines due to things such as the internet.
Analysis of similar product

6. Sports
Date on the front cover
Front cover will show
off different games and
quizzes aimed at a
younger audience
The majority of the
front cover will be
taken up with a
preview of the main
article
Picture and headline
will be in the centre
of the page.
Headline will overlap
the picture
Picture will be of
three teenagers (16-
18) holding a football
on a pitch
The article will be on
a youth player and
how he joined a
professional club
and how someone
would be able to do
the same thing
The title will be in red and
a playful font
“Free” on front cover to
entice the audience
The less important articles
will be along the side of
the magazine.
The title of the less
important articles will be
along the right in bold
with a small snippet from
the article in smaller text
underneath
The previews of the
less important
articles will focus
on different sports
As the recurring
theme is football I
will add other
sports to the article
previews like tennis
and cricket to
attract a greater
target audience
The slogan will be
something catchy and
short as its aimed at teens

7. “Your Times, Your Life”
March, 2014
Large picture
of 3 teenager
holding a
football on a
pitch
“Free”
Issue number #271
Smaller picture
of teenager
playing tennis
“12-18
football
tournament
”
“Footballs
next wonder
kid”
Showcasing the quizzes and
competitions that are in the
mag
Slogan
“Arsenal
youth try-
outs!”
“Tennis and
its
resurgence”
“Top 10
youth
cricket
players in
England”

8. Picture of youth football
match on pitch
“Footballs next wonder kid”
“He reminds me of a young Beckham”
– Sir Alex
t6t
Picture of
teenager
holding
football on a
pitch
t6t
Text
t6tText

9. Adobe Photoshop CS6: £670
I chose Photoshop CS6 as the program I want to edit it on. The reason behind
choosing Photoshop CS6 was because I have lots of experience on it due to
previous tasks which involved it. CS6 is the version of Photoshop I want to use as I
have no experience with other versions.
Camera (Fujifilm Finepix S8600): £159.00
I want to use this camera as I believe the quality of it is very high and will make my
photos crisp and clear. Also the camera comes with a USB connector so I can
transfer the pictures onto the computer easily.
Price for 5-A-Side pitch: £62.50
I will need to buy a pitch at a local power league to make sure I have all the time I
need to take pictures, if I don’t have a pitch then I’ll have to rush them and I might
not get the pictures I want
Price of bus trip to site: £5
Production costing

10. I asked 5 friends to participate in a focus group ran by me and asked them questions about what they would like to see in a
sports magazine for youth. First of all this focus group was primarily males between the ages 16-17 who are sports fans
whether it be playing or watching. This means the focus group is not completely reliable and representative of other age
groups and gender.
First thing I asked was if they read magazines and if so how many to see how common they are. Surprisingly only 1 person
out of 5 said they regularly read magazines. 4 out of 5 said they hardly ever read magazines and might only ever do it if
they are going on a trip like a train or aeroplane. I then followed up with the question and if he read any youth magazines
and how many magazines he read a month. He told me he reads 1football magazine monthly and he’s never read a youth
magazine. I then asked the whole group what sports they like to play and what sports they like watch. Everyone said they
like to watch football and 2 other said they also like to watch tennis. Only 3 of the 5 play sports and those 3 play football.
Football stands out as the main sport people want to read about.
I then started asking more questions about what type of design would be better and what sort of articles would interest
them. I questioned them on whether they would prefer a sleek looking cover with very little on the cover but still
professional looking or lots of standout colours and pictures that will catch the eye. They all answered saying the more
sleek cleaner cover would look better as they’re at the higher end of the spectrum when it comes down to the age of the
target audience. They are more interested in the articles and don’t need colours and pictures to keep them interested. For
the article they said they would like to read about how young sportsmen become professional, also they said articles about
getting involved with local sports teams would interest them.
Focus group

11. “Pitch” to client

12. Audience
12-18 Year olds
Mainly males but also females
People who enjoy sports, primarily football
As it’s aimed at a younger audience it doesn’t
target a certain socio-economic demographic
The cover is more sleek than it is bursting with
images and colour which is aimed less at the
younger audience

13. Audience
The problem with a young target audience is that there
needs to be something that will interest them like prizes,
games and pictures. The fact that the target audience ranges
from 12-18 is troublesome because a 12 year old girl will have
very little in common with an 18 year old boy. Things like
bright colours, lots of pictures and big text might engage a
young audience whereas an older audience may dislike it. The
same thing is the same the other way round. An older
audience might enjoy less pictures and more text with it
based more on articles. The younger audience wont be
engaged by this though.

14. Audience
Because there is a 6 year age gap in the target audience
finding a way to engage both ends of the target
audience is difficult, the older end of the spectrum may
enjoy more article based magazines whereas the
younger audience might enjoy more games and
pictures. The way to combat this problem is to give the
cover a sleek feel to it to appease the older target
audience whilst also adding things the younger
audience will enjoy like competitions and games.

15. Project overview
The general theme of my magazine will be sports and
youth with a main focus on Football as my survey
showed it was the most favoured sport. The magazine
will focus on getting involved with local sports teams
and how youth players can become professional. The
pictures I put on the cover will stand out to get peoples
attention, they will be of a youth football match at a
local football pitch.

16. Design
The font will be playful and nothing serious
The colours wont be childish with lots of different
colours to catch the eye but they also wont be bland
like black and grey.
The language used will be quite childish as 12 year
olds wont be able to understand it if the language is
too sophisticated.
The general “tone” of the magazine will be playful
and fun.

17. Overall impact
I feel the magazine will be successful because I know
for a fact that the articles and general ideas are ones
that the majority will enjoy. My survey gave me a lot of
direction when planning. One of the problems with
magazine is that the target audience is difficult to
pinpoint. It’s hard to find something both 18 and 12 year
olds will be interested in. This is why I have put in fun
games an competitions for the younger side of the
audience whilst giving the older side informed articles.