Daniel Thompson evaluated his production process for a magazine cover design project. His research strengths included analyzing existing magazine designs and identifying key features. However, his survey and interviews yielded unsatisfying results as respondents were not the target audience. For planning, his mind maps and mood board were most helpful, but his initial reaction lacked useful information. His time management improved over rotations, allowing him to finish on schedule. Peer feedback praised the cover's colors and branding but noted the tagline could be larger and top text more spaced.

1. Evaluation
Daniel Thompson

2. Production Process Evaluation

3. Research
• The strengths of my research in my opinion was the analysis of other existing products and what features they
each held. I had to research four other magazine brands in the same subject area of print as my own product and
break their production down bit by bit to understand what information and techniques went into the design of
each magazine cover. I looked at aspects such as colour schemes used, fonts used, the structure of the information
and how the information was conveyed. For example, was the text persuasive to lure the reader into buying the
magazine or was it more factual and modest to attempt to get the reader interested with general information
about the contents. Another couple things I looked at in these magazines were the layout of the content and the
imagery used both for the backgrounds and the cover lines. I even looked at the design techniques such as
layering and outer glow effects being added to certain parts of the page. All of this information I managed to
gather from the magazines helped me in designing my product by not only showing me what kind of content the
public wanted and where the best places to place them were, but also what effects and tricks were good to use in
the production phase. The research analysis section I had to fill in after the magazine analysis helped me
summarize what I had learnt and been inspired by in brief detail to be used to open me up to new ideas more
quickly in the future. I was also able to jot down the key aspects of the magazines that I analysed that I thought
would be useful in my own design.
• The weakest section(s) of my research phase were I think the survey analysis and the interviews. Firstly, I feel that
the survey did not give me the answers I necessarily needed. This is unusual considering I created the questions
myself however while making it, I found myself struggling to come up with enough questions to help me. This goes
the same with the interview too. Furthermore, I did not like the results I got from the survey and interview as the
people who answered were not necessarily gaming fans, let alone fans of the games I planned on featuring. This
lead me to rely on my analysis of the existing products section more than the survey and interviews.
• To improve my survey answers and questions, I would have given more time to the creation of the survey and the
thought that went into the questions. I would also have distributed my survey to more gamer minded people that
I know rather than just choosing the easy option and asking local people (classmates). I feel that all of these
differences would have improved my product by giving me even more information and inspiration for my ideas in
the final project.

4. Planning
• Strengths: The strength of my planning in my opinion was the mind maps and the mood board. The mind
map was an easy and efficient way of gathering my own thoughts and ideas into one structured page. I
was able to think about the different aspects of the product(s) I wanted to create and also what possible
subjects and content would be good enough to include in the final piece. This would help me create my
product by giving me a base idea to work off of and a reference to look at if I feel myself going off course.
It also gave me plenty of aspects and features to research in the next section of the PowerPoint collection.
The mood board was also a vey good contribute to my work as it allowed me to look at other pieces of
work containing the features and tools that I was thinking of including in my own designs and gather them
together to again point me in the direction I want to work off of.
• Weaknesses: the weakness of my planning was mostly in my initial reaction slide and the mind map. The
initial reaction slide was good for summarizing my thoughts on the project objective and recording down
what aspects of planning, researching and creating I am good and bad at but it never really served as
much help in any part of my work. There was no information that would necessarily help me create my
product to any higher standard than I would do without it. The weakness of the mind map in my opinion is
that it only covers my own thoughts and knowledge. There is no influence or ideas from another mind
except my own and at this point in production I had little idea as to what kind of product I actually wanted
to make. This meant that I could not exactly expand too much on any specific product type due to lack of
knowledge on the product and also little experience actually making that type of product.
• If I could do my Initial Plans PowerPoint again, I would spend less time filling in the initial reactions slide as
I feel it was not as important as the rest of the PowerPoint. I would instead put that extra time into the
mind map, thinking about each aspect of the product(s) I want to create and what features I would add to
make it look as professional as possible. I would also add in more detail about what tools and software I
would use and what for. This would help my product by already planning out what tools would be best to
use for what aspect of the product, shortening the time needed to experiment with effects, etc as much in
the future during production.

5. Time Management
• My time management in the final major project I feel has improved quite
nicely in comparison to the other rotations. It may not still be perfect but I
managed to stay on time for the majority of the weeks available. The biggest
set back to my time management was the fact that I still had work due from
my previous rotation meaning that I had to finish off extra work at the same
time as working through my current project.
• My product was finished on time as I had planned and I did not feel the need
to rush any part of it which means I was able to put all my acquired skills and
knowledge into it. I also feel that I don't get as distracted much as I used to do
– this means that I spent more time actually getting work done rather than
messing around in most lessons. As would any piece of my work, I feel that
had I been given even more time I would be able to upgrade my project and
add things that I have been unable to with the time I've had. I would not
necessarily spend the extra time improving the products I have created but
instead I would create more products to accompany the current ones. I would
either create another double page spread for my magazine or a totally new
media such as audio for more diversity.

6. Technical Qualities

7. Aesthetic Qualities
Now I have finished my magazine cover, I am happy to say that
I think it looks very good. I tried to keep my design as close to
my inspirations as possible without stealing any content. My
design follows a well made colour scheme created using
'paletton.com' which creates a structured and ordered vibe in
the cover.

8. Audience Appeal

9. Peer
Feedback

10. Feedback 1
• What did you like about the product?
• I like the 3D design of some of the products and the way they are integrated into professional
interfaces well, (for example the app store interface) I also like the use of corresponding colour
scheme to the subject in question and the font used resembles that of a nostalgic video game.
• What improvements could have been made to
the product?
• On the front cover to the magazine the bar code is out of place, I also think on the title card of
Spyro reignited the flames could’ve been integrated into the background better (grasping at straws
here XD)

11. Feedback 2
• What did you like about the product?
1. I love the colour scheme of the front cover because it matches the main asset which
is Spyro. The use of the spacing has been used well as there are loads of assets but its
not too crowded. With the poster I like the background and how it merges with the
logo of the game. The double page spread has a unique design. It goes well with the
concept of the magazine and would appeal to a wide range of gamers. The use of the
layout is good and the images are of a good size. I like how the text is layered over the
images so now space is left. I also like how the app store design looks realistic to what
an app store looks like.
• What improvements could have been made to the
product?
1. I would of liked to see more assets put onto the spyro poster such as a release
date or an image from the game. With the double page spread, the text is a bit small
and a bit hard to read. I would increase the size by a couple of sizes or I would choose
a different font. The logo of the magazine app could be improved and could link in
with the spyro theme to go with the main concept of the magazine. xoxo

12. Feedback 3
• What did you like about the product?
1. I really like the colour scheme with the purple borders that match the
colour of the purple dragon thing (lol) the font is very fitting with the
style of the magazine and the sticker effect looks really good.
• What improvements could have been made to
the product?
1. The spacing of the font at the top (issue number) and bottom need more
spacing between the letters as it looks quite squished and is quite hard
to read.

13. Feedback 4
• What did you like about the product?
1. I personally love the creativity of the colour scheme throughout the front
cover and will certainly grab the target audiences attention.
2. I liked the use of the banner bellow the dragon as this made the cover look
very professional.
3. I liked how the red sticker looked 3D and really completes the front cover
and again adds professionalism.
4. My favourite element of the cover is of course the purple dragon. Really
conveys the genre of your magazine. (love it)
• What improvements could have been made to
the product?
1. The only improvement I could think of is potentially increasing the size of the
tagline bellow the title, so the audience could read it slightly better. But
everything else is sick.

14. Peer Feedback Summary
• What do you agree with from your peer
feedback?
– I agree that the tag line from my cover of my
magazine is rather hard to see and read properly.
– The font at the top displaying the issue number and
date could do with being spaced apart more.
• What do you disagree with from your peer
feedback?

15. Peer Feedback Summary