The student felt they learned important skills in progressing from the preliminary task to the main task of creating a magazine. In the preliminary task, the product lacked professionalism and creativity due to not having a magazine template to base it on. However, through working on the main magazine task, the student learned how to use Photoshop and InDesign to design an effective, professional magazine. They also improved their photography skills and time management. Overall, the experience helped the student greatly improve their digital design abilities.

1. The
Mercenary
Evaluation Question 7 - Looking back at your preliminary task
what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to
the main task?
Shaun Taylor

2. Developed skills
The
Mercenary Looking over my previous product in the prelim task I would say my skills have
adapted and improved. Looking at this, I can tell my skills have improved through
the use Photoshop and InDesign because the preliminary task looks very basic and
doesn’t really look professional as a comparison to my magazine: The Magazine. This
has been an experience that has worked for the better.
This product: ‘The Sixth Step’ looks unprofessional but still tries to be creative, however not
basing this product on another magazine means I had to rely solely on my creativity and learn to
think on my own two feet about what looks professional. As I didn’t really have an
understanding of how to make an educational magazine look professional it turned out very
basic and not very attractive or powerful as I want it to be, this is because I didn’t grasp the
conventions or the form which the educational magazine should present . But I have learned
how to use Photoshop and to do knew skills to
be able to produce a professional magazine.

3. The
Mercenary I feel that this prelim task doesn’t really stand out, or look effective, but after
this task I have learned how to manage making a magazine through Photoshop
and InDesign. Once I understood what it was I was meant to be representing it was
easier to work with.
I feel that this work was improved greatly after learning how to use the Digital-SLR’s
properly and how to setup the lighting of the photo-studio changes the quality of the photo.
And during this I learned how to use mac’s as well as pc’s to design these products with.
Also I felt that my time management decreased as the workload increased as a comparison to
the prelim, but even though sometimes deadlines where missed it managed to allow me to
focus on my work instead of rushing it.