4. Progression and learning
In the progression from my preliminary task to my final outcome there were many changes I
wished to make…
Firstly I wished to change the way in which I shot my images. Two of the three images I included in my preliminary task did not look professional at all due to the
fact that they had been poorly edited and were taken with no additional lighting. I also did not plan out my image taking very well as for the front cover image I only
took this in the common room to show the school’s environment, although I did not think to look at what was in the background at the time (mise en scene), so I
ended up having to blur the background out using photoshop as it just looked messy and unprofessional.
In my final production however, the images are significantly better. This is because I took the time to plan out the type of images I wanted to achieve (e.g.mise en
scene, positioning, lighting etc), including doing research into camera functions such as ISO and aperture (so they would be of better quality) and looking into
lighting with tutorials and my own experiments. During the process I also learnt how to manipulate the photos I took using photoshop. This helped me to progress a
lot as learning things like how to adjust saturation, contrast and brightness had a large impact on the professionalism of my final product.
Learning the different types of text and what is aesthetically pleasing is another thing I feel I have progressed in (concerning both fonts and text manipulation). I feel
in my preliminary task I wanted to play it safe and because of this the fonts I decided to use were extremely dull and basic. I did not include any variety in my fonts
other than change in size, colour and making some text italic. In addition to this I feel none of the fonts used for my front cover actually went with the style of the
photo but instead looked as though they’d just been placed on top of there. I also only used two types of font, one sans serif and one with. I did this as I wanted
more variety however the effect it gave me was text that just looked uncoordinated. In contrast with this in my final production I used predominantly sans serif due
to the common codes and conventions of the magazines the same genre as mine that I discovered in my research. I feel sans serif is more informal and therefore
will appeal more to my younger target audience however I also still included some serif font to give the magazine a classier, more professional look.
Furthermore, in my preliminary front cover the text was sometimes hard to read as the colours used were quite close to that of the background colours. To progress
from this, in my final production I altered size, colour, boldness and opacity of my text in order to effectively make it stand out from the background which in turn
would also help catch the readers attention. Another thing I learnt was to use drop shadow (see magazine title and artists name on front cover). This was helpful as
it allowed for my text to be more prominent on the page.
5. Layout – I feel that the complexity of my layout has been significantly changed (and improved) from my prelim to my final production. This is something I was able
to do from learning more about photoshop through things like online tutorials and trial and error. One thing that I learnt which especially helped me was learning
how to use layers correctly and how to add and remove them. This helped me to progress with my work at a much faster rate. Another thing I have that has
especially helped to create a better, more aesthetically pleasing layout was the research I conducted into different magazines (for example, the type of content that
was expected of a contents page and more text of different varieties on the front cover).
Masthead – During the construction and research of my production I have learnt that the masthead is of a high level of importance when it comes to making your
magazine stand out and look more professional. In my preliminary task the masthead was not very bold at all but was in fact just bland and basic which made it look
as through the magazine was just unprofessional. In contrast to this the masthead in my final production was a lot more recognisable and inviting. I was able to do
this through learning about how to change text (editing letter spacing, moving text around and reshaping, looking at blending properties and adding things like drop
shadow or bevel and emboss etc). This meant that I could manipulate the text I needed to the exact preferred style (which would also suit my house style). I was not
able to do this in the making of my preliminary task as I did not yet have the skills I acquired through my research and experience. The masthead is a nessecity when
creating brand awareness for any magazine
Progression and learning
6. Final production
When constructing my final front cover, contents page
and double page spread I was able to source all of the
knowledge that I had gathered from both my
preliminary task and my research and planning into
creating the best possible outcome.
7. Progression and learning
The progression that I made from my preliminary task to my final product and the skills I
acquired during this process I also used in the construction of my double page spread. The
things that I changed most were text, images and layout.
Text – during my time experimenting with fonts in my prelim I learnt a lot of things and my
broader knowledge allowed me to know the variations of features I could use for things such
as my pull quotes (bold, italic font, different to rest of text) which needed to become more
prominent in order to be eye-catching enough for the quote to stand out against the rest of
the text so it would entice the viewer into reading more. My knowledge also enabled me to
use a variety of font styles when it came to presenting essential information, such as the
artists name which was in larger capitals than the rest of the text.
Images - throughout the process of creating my product I have learnt what it takes to create
a visually striking image with a DSLR camera. I’ve leant lighting manipulation and editing
images using photoshop (using things like saturation, brightness, contrast etc.) can all lead to
a very eye-catching image.
Layout – the knowledge I gained from my research into different magazine layouts has
enabled me to produce a double page spread that flows (mostly due to its columns) and its
aesthetically pleasing for the viewer/audience.
8. In conclusion…
I believe my final production benefitted immensely from the skills and techniques I learnt
throughout the making of my preliminary, task then to the progression from this to my outcome.
These skills included using both lighting and photoshop in order to enhance my image quality
along with learning how to properly use the manual mode on my DSLR camera (which meant I
was able to take images that were of a much better quality for my final production – as opposed
to the almost juvenile attempts I made before hand with the images for my preliminary task).
An example of some other factors that also ensured my magazine was of a better quality were
my research into the codes and conventions of magazines and their genres, fonts, consistency in
house style and colours throughout my magazine, pre structural and design planning.
Without these the quality of my final production would be no where near as high as it is now.
