Question 7Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Preliminary Final production

Preliminary Final production

PROGRESSIONThe improvements I wanted to make when the preliminary task was done so, the improvements were as follows:

I was not at all happy with the layout I used on my preliminary task as it was very basic and I did not experiment with layouts and skills within technology programmes. In addition, I used a minimal amount of text and did not put much thought into where I placed it on the image. My research into codes and conventions has suggested that to create a professional looking magazine you need a vast amount of fonts present within the construction. Also, the images in my preliminary task were poor, there was no lighting used and all look very dull as there is not a lot of contrast. However a convention used in my preliminary I wished to develop into my final construction was the consistency of the house colour white and green used.

As you can see with both my final productions, I improved my design for a more professional look. The layout is now far more interesting and likely to appeal to my target audience. In addition to this I introduced a wider range of fonts in order for it to look more unique and stand out, giving it a professional finish. My main images were shot with better lighting to get a more contrasted outcome. I further adapted the saturation, brightness and contrast to get a more contrasted look to avoid the dullness the images from the preliminary task had.

LearningOne of the main skills I feel I have learnt during the construction of my preliminary and final magazine is the use of Photoshop. At first I was unfamiliar with Photoshop but I soon developed an understanding through online tutorials. I learnt how to create a drop shadow behind text to make it stand out.

Through using this technique, it enabled me to make the text clearer and stand out, giving the magazine a more professional finish. Plus, it makes the contents seen more appealing and eye-catching to the reader. I learnt how to make the shadow more/ less opaque, and how to change the directions of the shadow with the speed and angle.

LEARNING

Furthermore I discovered how to add multiple layers on Photoshop to increase the complexity of my layout. When creating my preliminary task I had little understanding of this and struggled to achieve anything other than a basic design which would have been unappealing to the readers. The benefit of gaining this knowledge for my final construction enabled me to include more common conventions into my final production to make my magazine look more professional.

During the construction of my final production, I managed to keep referring to my research in order to be sure I was including the correct conventions of other music magazines. I realised that not having detailed planning creates a very unprofessional and uninteresting magazine, so I ensured this would not be the case by creating a focus group and constantly referring to my notes.

LEARNINGI also improved my skills in terms of the masthead. The images on the left show the development of m masthead from preliminary to the final production. The masthead for my preliminary task did not stand out against the background and the font and colour were unappealing. Throughout my planning I changed the colour to white, changed the font to a bolder one and made it bigger and more central. I asked my focus group what colour they thought my masthead would look best and over half said white. I decided to place it behind the artist in the final production because in the previous drafts I felt the masthead overshadowed the image.

All the things I learnt from producing my preliminary, I took into account when producing my double page spread.

LEARNINGConcerning all images and taking into account all the feedback from my focus group and my research, I was able to take eye catching images. They all use direct mode of address which creates a personal relationship between the reader and the artist (uses and grats). My first draft of my front cover contained a low quality image so for my next draft I took another one that was more in focus and made it larger. In addition to this I used Photoshop to increase the contrast and brightness settings to prevent the image from being dull.

Front cover before and after (image size and

quality)

CONCLUSIONIn conclusion I feel I have learnt a lot from the preliminary task in order to

create my final production, which I feel is now of a much higher quality than my preliminary task. I have acquired a wide range of skills and techniques and included them in my production. The main changes I made from the

preliminary to the final production were the overall layout, the images and the amount of text and fonts. The lighting and the manual settings on a

digital camera enabled me to produce a better quality image after watching online tutorials. Some other factors that contributed were the learning of

conventions, consistency of the house colours and the planning. However I feel on the contents page, the bottom image doesn’t meet the quality of the rest as it is not eye catching and overly similar to my front cover image. I would like to practice photography in more exciting locations to make the

images more interesting if I were to do this again.