Keiron Harris

Written Proposals
I am producing a football magazine. The name of my magazine will be 12th Man Magazine. I
chose this idea instead of my gaming magazine because from conducting the focus group
interviews I found there was a larger interest in sports than there was interest in video games
as gaming is quite a niche market. I also found that even people that liked video games didn't
ever buy a gaming magazine. Furthermore, I felt that I would be able to write more about
sports. In addition to this, I also thought that sports/football would appeal to a larger segment
of my primary target audience because people often lose interest in video games at an older
age whereas football and other sports usually stay popular as someone gets to an older age ( a
teenager). Also, even a secondary or tertiary audience such as parents may pick it up as football
is universally popular, whereas a videogame magazine probably wouldn't be read by a
secondary/tertiary audience as it is quite a niche audience and other people wouldn't be
interested in it.
My target audience for my football magazine has demographics of being older children and
teenagers (12-20) because I will produce content that would interest me so the target audience
will also be the same. The football magazine favours the male gender as football is
stereotypically aimed primarily towards males. Many of my readers will most likely not have a
job as they are younger. This results to the socio economic groupings of my primary audience
being in the E demographic as they have no occupation. Therefore, I will price my magazine low
at around 2 to suit the needs of my primary audience. The geo demographics of my magazine
will be all across the country as football is followed across the country due to its popularity and
also the fact that there are so many football teams in the country. As a result, people may want
to follow any news for their local team. The psychographics for my target audience are people
that follow football and sports extensively. They may also be interested in Fifa as that is a large
part of my magazine. The psychographic group that my primary audience fits into is probably
explorers as these are usually a young audience that are the first to try a new product. This is
because as it is a new product that is quite niche, many people may be hesitant to try the
product out, whereas explorers are usually more willing to discover different products.
The genre of my publication is football as a whole. It will be written to inform people of the
latest football/fifa news and to entertain people by producing other content than just large
amounts of text. This is because since my primary audience is young, although they may be
interested in some news, they will still want to enjoy reading the magazine as otherwise they
may get bored.
My article topics for my double page spreads are a section on the latest football news. I will
feature this because the people that would be interested in football would want the latest

Keiron Harris

news. I found that this was a popular topic in similar football magazines, where most feature
the latest football news. Another section in my double page spreads will feature a article on Fifa
17 - This will include tips and tricks on the latest game. I will feature this because my primary
audience which likes football will probably have also played Fifa as it is by far the most popular
football game. I found in my own research that 15-20 million copies of Fifa are sold every year,
proving how popular it is.
I will use direct mode of address by using words such as you and your to try to engage the
reader into reading the magazine as it draws them in. I want to use an inclusive language
register by using non technical lexis in order to avoid excluding some people so that anyone can
read it, even secondary and tertiary audiences. The language I will use will be quite informal
which I will achieve by using some slang. This is in order to appeal to my young target audience
who will be attracted to this style of writing. Furthermore, I will use colloquial language which is
similar to informal language. This means I will use quite chatty language in order to engage the
young audience as they will be used to this style of language. In addition to this, hyperbolic
wording will be used which are exaggerated words such as biggest and best as this may
attract people to look at the magazine as it suggests there is some very interesting information.
I may also use the word exclusive to attract people to read it as it suggests this is the only
place you can find that information.
The people I would interview for my magazine would be people that would be interested in
football especially someone that is interested in the team that I am featuring in the article. This
is because it would be difficult to interview a player/manager without the relevant contacts
however the opinions of someone interested in the specific team is still relevant.
I will use an image of a well known team - probably England as everyone knows about them and
supports them around the country - on the front cover of my magazine. It will be in the centre
of the page so that it is the first thing that people see when looking at the magazine. It will be a
dominant image due to it being a large team and it will also be a mid shot of the team to be
able to show some background but still a majority of the team. The image will feature high key
lighting. The image will be a low angle to show the team's importance and signify that they will
be a main part of the magazine. Also, the players will be looking straight on to make the reader
feel the players are looking directly at them. Whereas, on the double page spread, I will use rule
of 3rds by placing an image of an important player in the England team on the left hand of the
page as this makes the image look more interesting. The image will be a dominant image due to
the players significance to the team. Furthermore, the type of camera shot will be a long shot
as I want the photo to be of the player actually playing a game, including some background.

Keiron Harris

The colours I intend to use are bright, vibrant colours. This is because I found with my focus
group interviews that people thought bright colours would suit a football magazine intended
for a younger audience. Also, I found by looking at similar magazines like Match of the Day and
Match that bright colours were often used. Some examples of bright colours I want to use are
reds, yellows, blues, etc. This is because these colours connote with happiness and energy. This
therefore appeals to the young target audience as it will stand out to them. The main colours
on my front cover will be red and white. This is because they are positive colours and they are
also colours associated with England which is the team I am featuring. I am doing this as I found
by doing research on FourFourTwo magazine that this is something that is often done in their
magazines. The background will be white as this is quite an easy colour to get text to stand out
on, whereas the text itself will be red. This is in order to get the text to stand out on the page so
the reader will be drawn to it. These colours will be my house style for the magazine and so
these colour schemes will carry over to the double page spread.
My magazines graphology will feature a layout similar to FourFourTwo magazine's layout. At
the top middle of the front cover, I will place my masthead. This is to make the masthead be
the first thing people see as it is the name of the magazine. Below this, I will place the image of
the England team. This will also be in the center of the page to show its importance. My main
cover line will be featured over the top of the image. This will relate heavily to the image so it
will be appropriate. I will feature a sidebar on the left of the page which will give more
information on the articles featured in the magazine. There will also be cover lines on the right
hand side of the page showing what other articles will feature in the magazine. There will be a
pull quote coming from the image. Furthermore, there will be a skyline revealing more about a
certain article.
On my double page spread, my headline will be featured at the top of the left hand page. This is
once again to signify that this is the main topic of the page. Most of the page will be taken up
by an image of an important player, which will be on the left side of the first page to take
advantage of rule of thirds. At the bottom of the image there will be a caption detailing what is
shown in the image. As Well as this, there will also be a pull quote featured within the image to
attract people to read it. There will be a column of text on the right of the page. It will start with
a standfirst, where there is some text in bold in order to introduce the story. I found that most
football magazines do this and it is used to get the reader interested in the story. There will
then be some body text until it reaches the bottom of the page. This body text will be broken
up by crossheads which will make some text bold in order to break up the article, making it
easier to read. This is especially important for my target audience as since it is a young target
audience, they may struggle to read a whole article without getting bored, so adding
crossheads in will break it up, making it easier to read. The text will be a package carrying over

Keiron Harris

to the 2nd page. On my 2nd page there will be another image at the top, and there will be 3
columns of text below.
I will feature a large typography for my masthead and main cover line as these are the things I
want the reader to see first when they are looking at the magazine front cover. These will be in
all capitals as this is something I found ( by researching other magazines ) that is a popular thing
to do with the main parts of the front cover as it makes them stand out on the page. For my
cover lines and body text it will be a smaller typography. The font style I will use will be serif as
it makes it stand out more.
The unique selling point (usp) of my football magazine will be that it will feature a section on
football video games - primarily Fifa 17. Not many football based magazines actually feature a
large section on Fifa so the fact that I am covering the game in a lot of detail in my magazine
will attract more sales as even though magazines like Match feature sections on Fifa, they are
generally quite limited in information and size. This meets the needs of my target audience as a
football magazine that is also based on football video games is quite a niche market and there is
no other magazine out there producing this content in as much detail. Another usp is that it will
be priced lower than most similar football magazines.
The issues that I may encounter when producing my magazine are a varying range of legal,
ethical, regulatory and logistical issues. As im producing a magazine, the relevant regulatory
body that will affect how I produce my magazine is the Independent Press Standards
Organisation (IPSO) which took over from the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) on the 8th
September 2014 following the Leveson enquiry after the News of the World scandal. They set
up rules for magazines and newspapers to follow. The IPSO established the editors code of
practice which was a set of 16 rules that control the way magazines and newspapers are
produced. Some relevant rules to my football magazine include: Accuracy - The need to take
care in not publishing inaccurate information that may be misleading, this means I will have to
take care when writing articles based on the latest football news that they are truthful and
accurate. Another rule is the need for privacy, meaning I will not be able to take pictures of a
footballer, manager,etc in a private place. I will also have to abide by the discrimination rule
which stops articles being produced that discriminate against certain groups in society based on
race, religion, gender, etc. Although, there is also a section on the public interest whereby I can
publish features that go against these rules as long as they would be in public interest. The
relevant public interest clauses include: Protecting the public from being misled, contributing to
a matter of public debate, etc.

Keiron Harris

There is also a freedom of expression clause allowing me to express my opinion on certain

football related topics without being punished for it. There may also be ethical issues of writing
things that are morally wrong although aren't necessarily against the law.
Some logistical issues I may encounter include the fact that I can only access the Adobe
software that I will use (Indesign) within the classroom as I do not have the software available
at home. Therefore I will have to do most of the work in the classroom. Furthermore, I may not
have a very good quality camera to take pictures for my magazine in my own time. In addition
to this I will struggle to be able to interview a significant figure in football. Therefore, I will have
to interview someone that may not be a well known figure, it may have to be simply someone
interested about the topic that has an opinion on it. I could have a problem in people actually
turning up to be interviewed.