1. Looking back to your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? Question 7

2. Front cover Preliminary task Final product First of all it is clearly evident that I had lack of Photoshop skills when doing the preliminary task. I can say that because the title of magazine is in a corner which makes get hardly any attention from the audience, whereas for the final product the title is big, and in addition I applied a few effects to it. One of the effects were the glow effect this made the title glow. The second effect that I applied was the embossing effect this made the title stick out. So just by comparing the title I can say that I have improvised in using Photoshop. On the preliminary front cover I only had one skill in Photoshop and that was cropping out images, that skill is useful but not so useful on its own. The background of the preliminary front cover is clock which connotes depression. The same applies to the model’s facial expression it suggest depression from a lot of school work. I haven’t used any conventions of a typical magazine such as direct mode of address for my preliminary task, whereas for the final product typical conventions of a magazine such as direct mode of address has been used.

3. Contents page With the contents page in the preliminary task I didn’t even include the name of the magazine, and the issue number, whereas on the final product in the contents page I have included both of those features. For the preliminary task the contents were not even organised and didn’t have a category where similar contents would fit into. However these typical features of a music magazine were definitely included in the final product.Same as the front cover I had lack of Photoshop skills which is a reason why the preliminary contents page is poorly designed. I also didn’t include an editorial and the editor’s signature in the preliminary contents page. Whereas in the final product I have included a editorial with the editor’s signature, moreover I also made up a website where the readers can view the magazine digitally online. This shows that my understanding of typical magazine features has improved and I am able to apply them on my final product. Preliminary task Final product

4. Double page spread For the double page spread I had to organise the layout of what had to be on that page. I wasn’t told to create a double page spread for my preliminary task therefore it was challenging to create one. However by looking at professional double page spreads I got some inspiration. For this page one of my Photoshop skill is emphasised with the layout of the text on the right hand side page, it required a skill to make sure that the goes around the image of the model. I used the pen tool to create a shape where I can input the text, this is a new skill that I developed with Photoshop while creating the final product. I have also used a drop cap at the very beginning of the article which used by professional editors for their double page spread. Since this article is an interview I have distinguished the font colour between the questions and answers, some professional magazines use bold style font for the questions and regular style for the answers. However I have used colour to differentiate the questions and answers.

5. Conclusion Overall I have developed numerous of Photoshop skills throughout the time gap between my preliminary task and the final product. I have also learnt what the key ingredients are, along with the recipe to attract the target audience. I have learnt how to organise my contents on the contents page, which I didn’t know before. Further more I have learnt what the key features of a magazines are, and how I can apply them to the magazine that I make.