Evaluation - Question 6

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?





To create my media products, I used the two software programmes Photoshop Creative Suite 4 and InDesign. These were completely new to me and I had to learn the basics in order to produce a well designed magazine. I used the preliminary task as an advantage to get to know the most useful tools of the programme. Before beginnning the preliminary task, I found a photograph of a female model on the Internet so that I could practise some tools. I have used the spot heeling tool to ensure that her skin looks perfect, I also used the colour picker tool to get the same colour as her lips so that I could make them look fuller. As well as these, I was able to adjust her eye make up to give her fuller lashes, and a pattern around the eye area. I found that by doing this it got me used to the technology before I started my magazines. I grabbed an image off of the internet, which I thought would look good as a front cover, and create a mock up page. I used the magic wand tool to cut around her head so that it could be copied and placed over the heading. This gave me experience and the confidence to create my preliminary and main task.




For my double page spread, I used the software InDesign. This was completely new to me like Photoshop, however I did not have the chance to have a lot of practise in this programme. I realised that the tools were very much similar to photoshop, however this is not a photo manipulation software. The main tool I used was the Text tool as my double page spread involved a lot of writing.

Another programme that was new to me was Blogger. I had never heard of this and I knew that it would be another challenge getting to know the programme and how it worked. I found it difficult at first as there were so many different things that you could do, and different layouts. However, I got to explore this Blogspot and get to know how it worked. I think that it was very helpful towards my coursework and creating new regular posts.

Evaluation - Question 7

Looking back at your preliminary task (the school magazine task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

Preliminary

Firstly my task was to produce a front cover and mock up contents page for a school magazine. I wanted to use this task to get myself used to the software programmes and to practise create a media product. As soon as this task was set I knew that I wanted to base it on just the sixth form. As all of this was new to me, I had no real plan or layout for my preliminary. I simply just took some photos and chose which ones I thought would appeal to the target audience of the magazine (sixth formers). It took me a while to think of a suitable name which had to attract many people. The name plays a big part in drawing in readers with the size, colour, and catchy phrases.

Main Task

Looking back and comparing my final product with my preliminary, I can see a massive difference in my ability to use Photoshop and InDesign. I hand drafted out what I wanted each of my products to look like so that I had a rough guidance to follow. My main problem when designing my products was knowing what to write within the double page spread and also creating realistic headlines. When it came to taking my photographs, I knew that I wanter a teenage girl to model as it reflects my target audience. I wanted her to look fashionable, fresh and someone that other people would aspire to be. When it came to the preliminary task, I know that I didn't take a lot of care and thought over who and what will be in the image, and this shows in the difference between the two front covers. I can see that the preliminary front page is very basic, the image has a busy environment and the cover lines. My main task has an image with nothing in the background, and excellent lighting so that it easily stands out. When I was deciding the location of my photographs, I wanted a plain background for my front cover and a patterned background for my contents and double page spread to give it some detail. I was able to use a plain bed sheet to cover a wall so that it gave me a nice, clear background. For my contents page, I simply placed my model near a wall in my house that had a floral wallpaper. I decided not to have any props in my images as I wanted the reader to focus simply on the artist rather than looking at anything unnecessary object within the picture. This will ensure that the image is the main USP of the product. I thought it was most important to hand design the front cover more than anything else as there are many different objects that need to be placed on it and it avoids messyness and confusion.

I found the image editing easy to do in Photoshop as it allows you to personalise your images so they are exactly how you want them to be. This was easier on the main task as I was not used to the software during the preliminary and I did not edit the images as much as the main. There were many decisions I had to make when creating my media product as I had to know myself whether or not an image had enough or too much lighting. InDesign was also a challenge to use at first as it was slightly different to photoshop especially when it came down to inserting the image.

I managed my time well as I always stuck to the deadlines and made sure that I had uploaded my finished products in the correct time. I was doing new posts whenever I had something to upload so that I kept up-to-date and ensured that I did not leave anything out.

Double Page Spread

This is my finished Double Page Spread. I used InDesign to be able to create this. I firstly used Photoshop so I could edit the image. I placed this into InDesign so that I was able to insert my text around this.

Creating the Products

Front Cover:

Contents Page:

Contents Page

This is my improved version of my contents page. I have added some more information and another picture.

This is my first draft of the contents page. I want to improve this as I feel there are lots of gaps and the writing is all in the same font. I plan to move the title "Contents what's inside" up onto the picture so that it gives more room to move the writing up and add some more pages and another picture.

Contents Page Picture

This is the image I will be using for my contents page. I have chosen this image as I wanted the contents page to be divided into two sections. An image at the top with the pages and page numbers below it. I feel that this image will work well as it is a very strong image and will definitely attract the audience. My aim is to edit the model so that there are no marks on her and to also turn it black and white.

I want to have another small image on my contents page so that it gives an insight as to what else is in the magazine. I chose the photograph below as it is different to my others and will make the magazine a lot more interesting by having different artists shown. I have editted it so that there is a white background which you will not be able to see once it is on a white background. I have also adjusted the lighting so it almost looks like the artist has a light just focused on her.

Front Cover

I have improved my front cover here. I think that it looks a lot better as it fits more into a music magazine genre with the range of different fonts and the use of colours.
This was my first computer draft of the final front cover. Looking at it, I feel that it looks a little bit bare and the colour of the writing down the left hand side could be brighter so that they stand out a lot more.