Evaluation 6What have you learnt about technologies from the process

of constructing this product?

TechnologiesThere is a vast amount of technology used in the magazine industry. I have used some of these technologies such as cameras, memory cards, Microsoft Word and PowerPoint before and so I had more knowledge and experience using them. However, the magazine industry uses specific software and specialist equipment which I was not accustomed to; this includes Apple Mac computers, InDesign, Photoshop, Blogger and Slideshare.

Apple Mac ComputersThe Apple Macs were the base of most of the technologies I have used for my media product as it contains the necessary software for the development of my magazine; InDesign, Photoshop, etc. Before making my product I had not used a Mac Computer before and so struggled to use the programs on them at first. I am now able to develop my designs using the appropriate software correctly and have practised my skills on working with different programming than I am use to. The media industry are dependent on Apple Macs as they are allow you to be more pedantic and specific with designing and developing media products than more conventional computers.

InDesignInDesign is a software developed by Adobe which is used to create and design magazine pages. It is a key tool used in the magazine industry and in my coursework. I had no previous experience using InDesign so my skills on it have improved a lot. I have learned to place images using the object box on the side toolbar as well as altering and adding pages. I have leaned how to alter the appearance of text using drop shadows and bevels using the Object menu in the main toolbar. It was the main technology I used to construct my media product.

PhotoshopAdobe Photoshop is another important software I used. It allowed me to alter features of my images such as changing the background and removing unwanted objects. In the media industry, Photoshop is also used to airbrush photos of their image models in order for them to appear more attractive to their readers. However this requires a large amount of skill to do this at high standards which is why I could not do a lot of it for my product. Like InDesign, I had no previous experience using Photoshop and have developed my skills using the Magnetic Lasso and Magic Wand Tool to alter my images for my magazine. Overall I believe the alterations I made to my images using Photoshop, such as changing the background, were successful when placed into my product.

SlideshareSlideshare is a website which allows you to upload PowerPoint presentations to the Internet. In my media work I have used this site to upload my evaluation questions (such as this one) onto my blog. Although Slideshare is not used in the media industry as much as the previous technologies, it is a very key feature for those who are not directly involved in the media industry but would like to be as it is basic and easy to understand,

BloggerBlogger is the main website where I present my product. I created my own blog, something which I had never done before but found fairly easy to learn. I use Blogger to post my progress in creating my music magazine as well as all the evidence of the skills I have learnt and the designs I have drafted. Blogger is traditionally a form of social media used by people not directly involved in the media industry but can be used for reasons similar to mine in a professional way.