Our first spotlight of the new year focuses on an innovative young drivers’ magazine based in the UK. Its designer and creator, John Billington created the magazine to intertwine young people’s passion for driving and cars with safe messages. This, added to a sleek, vibrant and youthful design makes it an attractive publication. We talk to Rev magazine’s creator here.
YOURS spoke to Rev.UK magazine creator John Billington to hear about his interest in road safety and the messages behind Rev; the young people’s driving magazine in the UK.
So what’s your background in Road safety?
I started out in road safety talks to groups of teens and children. After doing that for a couple of years I got the chance to work on the publications. I was amazed to find that other councils wanted to buy them too. Over the years the response has been genuinely amazing.
My main focus is road safety for children and young people so I’m always looking at different ways to communicate what is in effect a pretty simple message.
The magazine, in its fifth edition focuses on a range of road safety topics to encourage young people to drive safer.
So what motivates you to be involved in road safety, especially young drivers?
I became particularly interested in young drivers after meeting Vicki Stone who had formed the charity “Learn and Live” after her daughter Kate had been tragically killed in a car crash.
I remember one day having a pile of school photos to scan in for a leaflet. They were all of teenagers who’d died in crashes – the fact they were real photos just like the ones of my own children really brought it home to me. As I worked more with Vicki I realised the appalling thing about these tragedies was that they were usually so similar, so predictable and I thought we could be doing so much more to stop them from happening in the first place. You only need to check the web and realise these sort of tragedies are happening across the world on a daily basis.
What’s the background to your publication Rev online?
I’d worked on several editions of Rev which were printed in the traditional way. The latest magazine is completely online which means that anyone anywhere can read it for free! It can feature Youtube clips, which is ideal when you consider how much time the average young person spends on the internet it’s an inevitable route to go down.
I also use celebrity interviews. I like these as a contrast to the anonymous voice that tells you should and shouldn’t do. Obviously we can line up the questions and delete any answers we don’t like! I used Richard Hammond and James May from “Top Gear” in the latest magazine. They’re both extremely famous in the UK and around the world for their programme so hopefully people will sit up and listen to what they’ve got to say.
With exclusive celebrity interviews, the topic of road safety is given a fresh approach with well known public figures giving their views on driving in today’s modern world.
When it comes to young drivers we’re trying to give them information but also attempting to address their attitudes as well. We’ve got to produce resources that are actually interesting, relevant and readable. It’s no use if we’ve said everything and they’ve heard nothing.
What do you hope to achieve through the publication?
It’s tough enough when you first start driving so you’ve got to be 100% focussed on the task in hand. The problem can be that a few months down the line you can get over confident and think it’s easier than they led you to believe! We cover all the “hot topics” – like overcrowding, speeding, using the phone, drink and drugs etc.
How can young people get involved?
Well we’re always keen to hear from young drivers about their experiences behind the wheel and what their views are.
People can submit stories, news, views, the lot! As well as the magazine itself we also run a WordPress site, twitter feed and Facebook page so we’re always looking for stuff to put out there! Just email me at john@room9media.com
You can follow all the links and read Revonline by going to our homepage: www.room9media.com
The magazine includes articles from young people, public safety adverts and opinion pieces to encourage attitude change in road safety.
Looking forward, YOURS encourgages to check out the messages in Rev.UK magazine and submit stories for future editions. John has given YOURS exclusive access to the magazine and we will, in the coming weeks, pull out some of the articles and feature them on our website as a special ‘Rev Feature’. To see the magazine online click here.