What goes into the 100th SPIELFELD?

Planning

After the SPIELFELD is before the SPIELFELD. This somewhat modified quote from coaching legend Sepp Herberger applies to the editorial team every month. Because as soon as one issue goes to print, the next one is already being planned. The process usually starts from scratch – and potential protagonists and stories for the next issue are identified in an initial conference. They discuss issues such as: who would be best for the interview? Which player should be featured in the profile? Who fits best in the SPIELFELD formats such as “No comment” or “Fact or Fake”? What graphics would fit well? What should we report on in the women’s section, the academy and the regional topics and which current theme from the world of football could be discussed and explained in the kids’ section? Before each issue, the editorial team face the challenge of finding the right mix of topics. Experienced professionals should be included, as well as talented youngsters, and of course, we also want to introduce new signings, especially at the start of the season. The academy topics and the regional round-up are also the subject of intense discussion. Afterwards, a first draft will be drawn up, which will then be discussed again with Christian Frommert, director of media & communications at TSG.

Face to face meetings

In order to guarantee maximum proximity to the players, the SPIELFELD editors always meet the TSG players in person. “No comment”, for example, is always shot in the castle on the TSG grounds in Zuzenhausen, while many other interviews are conducted in a confidential atmosphere at the TSG training ground – or at the academy in Zuzenhausen and the women’s training ground in St. Leon-Rot. But after the face-to-face meetings, the work really begins: the photographers have to edit the pictures and select the best ones, recorded conversations are listened to and turned into texts, and initial graphic ideas are developed.

Production

Once the theme planning and the page layout have been finalised, production begins immediately. Player meetings are arranged, initial categories such as “4 in a row” or “Meetings” are worked on and photo locations are scouted. As the players should not travel too far before, after or in between training sessions and the pictures should ideally be taken at suitable locations in the region, the search for the right location is always a challenging task. The topic of regionality always plays a major role for SPIELFELD. We also want our readers to discover new, exciting pages and stories about and around TSG’s home region.

Design

The Heidelberg-based graphic design agency ServiceDesign is the visual heart of SPIELFELD. This is where texts, images and graphic ideas come together – and the ideas are turned into layouts, graphics and well-designed stories. SPIELFELD editors meet regularly with the graphic designers to work together on the content and present it in the best possible way. A well-versed team that constantly complement each other creatively and try to create striking visual impressions in every issue. “Every month, we try to combine the graphic components with the texts in a new way in order to create the best possible overall product,” said Alexander Gora, managing director of ServiceDesign.

Final editing

Around two days before the print run – around ten days before delivery – the magazine is the subject of a large panel discussion. The SPIELFELD editorial team present the new issue in digital form to a delegation from TSG Hoffenheim, which always includes TSG media director Christian Frommert, who developed SPIELFELD together with design agency Derichs & Graalmann Kommunikation in 2015. “We’ve been getting together every month for nine years now to cover all the interesting topics for our fans, from sporting stories about the first teams to exciting stories from around the region. The final proofreading process takes place shortly before an issue is signed off and goes to print, then we are already preparing the first collection of topics for the next SPIELFELD,” says Frommert. Content, ideas and graphics are discussed together, advertisements are shifted to the perfect place on the page and final corrections are added until the finished product is 100 percent to the liking of everyone involved. The internal quality control check for errors is the most important stage on the way to the finished magazine, as nothing is more annoying than when a mistake overshadows a whole month’s work.

Delivery

After the magazine has been printed by abcPremium GmbH in Heidelberg with a print run of around 13,000 copies, it is delivered to TSG, its members, the fan shop and partners, such as doctor’s surgeries and petrol stations. It’s all finished once again: 100 or more pages from the TSG cosmos are ready to read, hot off the press. But there is no time to rest – the next issue is already in production. Because as we all know, after the SPIELFELD if before the SPIELFELD.