Looking back at yourPreliminary task

What do you feel you haveLearnt in the progression

From it to the full product?Preliminary Task:

College magazine front cover Full Product

New music magazine front cover, contents & double page spread

One major progression I felt I learnt was coming to terms with Photo Shops tools and layers.After becoming used to them I felt my work grew and became increasingly professional.

What were the stages I had to go through?For final product:

ResearchAudienceMarket

Planning Research

PitchLayouts/flat plansStyle sheetPlanning photographsWriting article copy

ProductionImage manipulationText manipulationLayout design &manipulation

Evaluation power point- print screen

My preliminary task had no much research, planning, and evaluation. For my college magazine I went straight into producing it. However, this mistake showed as the college magazine was no where near as professional or high quality and my final product.

Firstly, from looking at the preliminary task photograph and the final products photograph I can see many improvements and it is clear my media skills have progressed to some extent. This was due to :

PhotographyDuring production process I learnt about the lasso magnetic tool on Photo shop which allowed me to cut my models head out and paste it again to be in front of the title, this made the final product magazine look more professional and advanced as other existing products including Vibe and XXL do this. As I was inexperienced when producing the college magazine this technique was not included

An improvement in the quality of image was visible. For example because the final product pictures were planned the spacing around the main feature could be arranged for headlines to be inserted. Whereas the college magazine had a very busy photograph where all the headlines had to be cramped at the bottom of the page. Also, adjustments to the image were made including an increase in brightness and contrast, levels, and curves. These adjustments allowed the image to be more striking and have more vibrant colours connoting the hip hop genre.

The book shelves within the image overcrowd the background so text is unclear or confusing when inserted over the top.

Space was left by using a plain light coloured background on the wall with occasional graffiti this allowed me to insert a contrasting coloured text to bounce of the background.

Masthead and HeadlinesThe college magazine title is a simple font already existing on Photo Shop. The font was tedious and looked out of date suggesting the college the magazine was for is strict and not modern.

I was more adventurous with my masthead on the final product as I learn to downloaded the font from the internet website DAFONT. This font suited my genre as it was modern and stylish. I was able to change the colour of my font easily enough without any help.

My college magazine had three headlines all placed at the bottom of the magazine. The headlines were in a simple small font which looked bland. The font had nothing that made the text stand out or become noticeable. This is when I learnt to find and choose a suitable font for my final product one that was visibly striking and appropriate for my genre. I also learnt on Photo Shop how to apply extra effects on my headlines. Such as drop shadows. This technique was used a lot during the production process.

This was another headline that included a drop shadow effect. It was the name of the artist which was spread out horizontally across the middle of the front cover. This made it clear who featured in the magazine. It also allowed me to break up the page which I did not do with the college magazine. As I was not confident with a more adventurous layout. I learnt to be more experimental with the planning of my final product.

Added FeaturesA bar code was inserted onto my final product however, It never crossed my mind earlier on when producing my college magazine.