boules magazine

Editorial Design, Art Direction

overview

Boules is a quarterly magazine dedicated to the history, preservation, and community of lawn bowling games in North America.

project specs

Timeframe: 10 weeks
Personnel: Solo
Roles / Skills: Branding, Art Direction, Layout, Typography
Tools: InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator

challenge

The United States is huge and there are communities of people playing all types of niche games and sports throughout the land. These groups are usually little known to outsiders and often these communities that share a passion for a game might not even know of each other’s existence because they reside on opposite sides of the country.

The worlds of Bocce and Pétanque in North America are exactly these types of communities. How do we connect these niche groups that might be separated by geography but united by a shared passion?

solution

Create a magazine brand dedicated to these wonderful and passionate communities of bocce and pétanque players spread across the United States and Canada. Hopefully spreading the history and cultures of the immigrants that brought their games with them but also spreading the game to new communities and future generations.

 Concept & Readership

Boules is about the various sports that make up the surprisingly wide world of lawn bowling — Bocce, Volo, Pétanque, and British Bowls. These ball rolling games are some of the oldest sports in human history and are played worldwide in a diverse range of communities and locations. From China to Italy to Argentina, the passion that players feel for these games is nearly fanatical. This publication would be for professional, amateur players, and fans alike. 

In the United States alone, hundreds of clubs host fierce regional tournaments. The United States Bocce Federation hosts a roaming US Championship yearly with thousands of viewers and fans. There can be as many as a hundred teams competing in that tournament alone representing every age group and gender. Additionally, a watered-down version of the game, with more relaxed rules is played by everyone from retirees in private clubs to hipster breweries and even beachside. 

The target audience is everyone from young adults to older folks who enjoy non-traditional sports and games. The best part about the various games of boules is that they truly are accessible and playable by all, no matter their abilities. I wanted to create a magazine that showed exactly how diverse this community is from professional and semi-pro leagues across Europe and North America, the Special Olympics, or the small club building a community on the edge of a peninsula in the Pacific Northwest.

Reader Personas

During the research and design phase, I developed these playing cards for user personas, to help guide some decisions such as type treatment, photography, and color palette.

I wanted the magazine to feel energetic and youthful but also accessible enough to not alienate older readers that make up the majority of the community.