What have you learnt about technologies from the process of

constructing this product?

-During the task of creating my magazine, I used a variety of different media technologies to create, design and complete this task, some of these included, Adobe Photoshop and indesign which allowed me to use tools which other programmes would not.

-The technology I have been able to use have made the task much easier as everything has been in one place and can easily be changed if something went wrong or did not look right, than if I had to create it all on paper.

-If these technologies did not exist at all then the production of my magazine would be very slow and some of it I doubt I would be able to achieve.

Research images

I have used the website Google to search and copy images of the downbeat front cover to use for my research. The rest of my research images of Wire were taken of a real magazine with a digital camera. The fact that I had a real magazine in front of me helped me to identify and really analyse the conventions it withheld and got the feel for the magazine and the type of audience i was targeting along with how the magazine looked and felt without it being on a computer.

The use of these images helped e to understand the typical conventions of music magazines of the genre I was going to do and then to pick out certain elements of which I was going to use or try to challenge to make my magazine seem realistic and to fit into the market.

Taking the pictures.

For the image of the saxophone prop, I used a digital Nikon coolpix camera. The use of the flash on this image helps to highlight all the different tones and shades of the Saxophone which helps heighten the importance of the instruments in the music genre. I once again took a number of images of this, and the angle had to be just right otherwise it would not look right and be deformed. I also took these at home and then emailed them to my college email so I could retrieve and use them at college during lesson time.

The photograph of Matt’s side of his head was taken with a Digital SLR camera. The importance of getting this camera angle right was to empathise his look and the direction he is looking to ensure that the audience does not feel intimidated by his presence or his age, as he is not a stereotypical artist for this form of music. The was available to access easily as I was able to email the image from home to college and able to use it there with ease, and also I carried it on my memory stick so I could easily transfer it from the stick to my Student drive.

The Photo of My model Mark was also taken on a digital SLR camera. I took 32 photos of him altogether as it was hard to get the lighting right, as the room light was right behind him and I kept getting shadows in unnecessary places. The angle in which I took the pictures varied as I was unaware of which image would be preferred as the boost image. The flash on the camera help greatly as it deleted the shadows that I had been previously getting when taking. The camera itself was very heavy and I had trouble holding it still, But the handgrips it provided made it much easier to take the images steadily.

Shadow

The second image of Matt is of him sat down with a ukulele. Much like the Saxophone, this image was also taken with a digital camera. The flash helps to enhance him and make all the tones and shades more clear. The importance of the angle of this photograph similary was to empathise his body language and how he is reacting to playing the ukulele as i tried to make the picture seem as natural as possible to show his independence and he doesn't follow crowds or rules, shown by the casual clothes.

The availability of the images I used was very easy as I had them at both home and at college and the emailing system was very useful in transporting them between the two. The cameras I used made a huge difference, which is shown with the first and second image which were used with SLR’s, enhance the images much more to make it more clear whereas the last two images with a digital which are slightly more faded and pixelated. The use of the cutting out the backgrounds proved very difficult, but when on the documents they look a lot more effective than if I had to cut them out and stick them on paper, although they might of looked a bit neater if I had to do it this way.

Programmes I usedI used facebook to interact with my focus

group and to upload my progress on my product to ask for feedback. It only consisted

with two members because those were the only two people who had this programme. I

used word of mouth and images to communicate with my other members of my

focus group.

Microsoft Outlook was used for my college email where I used it to email work to and

from home and college with great ease. All I had to do was open it up, attach the file and

send it to my email address. It saved the hassle of putting it all on a memory stick

which could get lost.

Gmail was used as my home email where I used it to email work to and from home with great ease. The same as Microsoft outlook,

All I had to do was open it up, attach the file and send it to my email address. It saved the

hassle of putting it all on a memory stick which could get lost. I also used this email to

communicate with members of my Focus group to ask for their feedback on the

process.

Blogger was the programme I used on the internet to upload all my work. I used a

separate blog post for everything I did in the process of making my product and along with audience feedback. The downside to

this programme is that you have to have the internet to use it, and unfortunately for a

short time I was without internet at home so I was unable to upload anything.

Indesign is the main programme I used to create my magazine front cover, contents

page and double page spread. I used different techniques to create different effects to make

my magazine look more realistic and professional and also to attract my target

audience.

I used photoshop to alter or change the images which I had taken. I was able to

delete the background of two images I have used and also change the colours of images which I did not know was possible. Without

Photoshop, I would of had to use the original images I had taken which do not connote the

audience I am targeting.

Whatsapp is an app which I downloaded to my phone so I could continuously keep in

contact with Alistair from my focus group, as it allowed me to send texts and pictures for

free from anywhere. This helped greatly as I received quick responses from his so I was

able to upload to my blog straight away. However my phone broke and therefore I

was not able to use this app anymore and resulted back to the main facebook group I

had created,

I used prezzi to make a few presentations on information and research I was going to use

in the production of my magazine. I also used it for part of my evaluation. Prezzi is

useful because it allows you to create effective presentations.

Timetoast was used as time management. I was able to create a timeline and then add in

the dates which I though would be my deadlines for each sub-task. This worked

really well and helped me to managed my time wisely.

I used Slideshare to upload my powerpoint documents onto the site to then get the HTML

code which will allow me to upload these powerpoints to my blog..

I used indesign to create my final magazine cover, contents page and double page spread. I initially found it quite difficult to use. I was not sure whether e had to keep to the pink inside border lines or the blue as we had not thought about what it would look like when we printed out a hard-copy. Whilst using Indesign I was able to use many new technologies to make my magazine look more effective and seem more professionally used.

IndesignOne of the techniques I learned was how to wrap text around a text box or image. This was really easy to do and looks really effective and is much neater than if I had created the space using other techniques.

One of the first techniques I learned to do was how to insert a image into the document which was revision from the first time I used this programme. The first step is to insert a rectangle and then going to file and place to choose an image to place inside the rectangle/shape.

Image shows the text wrap box with the different options of the text wrap can be.

The use of the layer technique on indesign is brilliant when it comes to putting text and other components such as the bar code over the top of the image. The use of the colour match tool allowed me to match the colour of the masthead to the prop of the saxophone in the image. Also this made it alot easier to move everything around on top of the boost image without moving the image and kept it in the same position.

I also found out how to view and create a double page view and set-up on the programme so I was able to view a double page which made it much easier to create my double page spread as I was able to see the both pages at the same time to work out where I needed to put everything.

I them moved the image to the corner to hid the chair he was sat on. This allowed him to become more individual and you were able to just focus on Matt and not the whole scene.

I used photoshop to modify or change the images which I had taken for my magazine. I used some of them, and others I discarded as they were no use to me. Photoshop was a good piece of technology to use as it allowed me alter images to the best quality I would need for my magazine so it would be suitable for my target audience.Photoshop

ContrastI was able to change the contrast of my original image to allow it to be visually lighter or darker. I was able to do this by using the contrast tool which was under the ‘Window’ Tab at the top of the screen. I used the contrast to change the brightness of my boost image.

after

After

before

I then Inserted the darker image onto my front cover as I thought this was the best image to use.

I got feedback from my target audience which suggested that it was too bright and then suggested that I changed the vibrancy and saturation of the image to make it seem more formal which would suit my target audience much better. However I had not been using Photoshop very long and it took me a while to find where the saturation was, which was under adjustments in the image dropdown and ten hue/saturation. I then inserted the newly darkened contrast image back into photoshop and changed the saturate levels And took some of the colour out of it to make the image seem more formal and traditional/ boring looking to appeal to my target audience.

I then inserted saved this saturated image as a jpeg and then inserted it into my magazine cover. The immediate feedback was that it looked more formal and suited my audience better.

With two of my other images, one I did not use in my final product, I tried changing the vibrancy and saturation to sharpen the image. This was again under adjustments in the image dropdown,

This was easy to do as there were tone setters which you just had to move the curser to the amount of vibrancy you wanted and then the image changed to that for you.

I changed the vibrancy of this image. However My focus group and I felt that this image was not appealing for my magazine cover, so I did not use it at all.

Saturation

The next image I altered using photo shop Matt Sat down.

Original image

I then took out some of the saturation of the image, but it still seemed a little plain and did not connote a higher-class audience,.

I then tried using the ‘Quick selection’ tool to group all the background together so I could

delete it. However one I had got to underneath the chair, the tool would be picking up parts of matt that I wanted to keep. If I used the eraser tool and erased the grass manually then it would become to look messy and did not work.

I also used the saturation on the image of the saxophone to take out some of the colour to make it look more formal and up-market.

Blogging has helped me keep track of what I have learnt because I have been easily been able to upload and keep track of my work in the order I have created it which is quick to access to refer back too.

Blogging

I used blogger to upload all my work through the process of making my product and all the audience feedback I was give.

Blogger helped me to organise my work in the best way possible which was easy to find on the blogger dashboard. I was able to upload all my work by either writing it or inserting Jpegs or HTMLs for programmes such as slideshare or prezi and then change the dates and time on the posts to suit my organisation of what I did first. I was also able to go back to posts to edit and update the which was really rewarding as it meant everything was all in one place and I was not searching a computer drive for all the things I need.

The downside to Blogger.com is that it is all internet based and that you need to have the internet to access and use it. It is also password based, so although your work and posts are potentially safe because you have a username and password, people could still get into your account and delete any work. On the other hand, the great thing about blogger is that because it is internet based means that you can access it from anywhere,You can upload, update and view your blog From anywhere or any computer which hasAccess to the internet.

I have used several different website to help me convert powerpoints and other media software to HTML codes to allow me to copy and paste that code to my blog. This makes it much easier to view as therefore it is all in one place on my blog and all my work is on the same thing. The use of these technologies also helped me to create a interactive and stimulating evaluation. I used Websites such as Google and downbeat.com to select pictures and to investigate more information into the chosen magazine I had chosen to research to give me ideas about how I could create my magazine but at the same time select conventions which I could challenge, such as the amount of cover stories on the cover. The technology I have used has helped so much because without it I would not of been able to complete the task set. The use of all the technologies had their own role and without them I would of had to use different software or materials to create what I have which could prove to be a lot harder or impossible to do.

Technology