The final draft for evaluation question seven

1. Question Seven ~ Looking back to your preliminary task, what do you feel that
you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
The research into similar media products has shown me the accurate uses of photos on a
magazine. The models weren’t looking at the camera in the college magazine. In my final
product I have developed my skills by having the model look at the camera and edited them
to make it stand out as an image and a product. Detailed planning has helped me produce a
more sophisticated magazine for my final product as I have looked at other products and
analysed what makes them strong and appealing. When making my preliminary product I
didn’t fully understand the need for a flat plan when I could just think about what I wanted to
make and make it. That didn’t work so well though because the prelim magazine is not that
good quality and by putting effort into the flat plan I had to consider more for my final product
which resulted in a much more realistic product.
When I started my prelim task I had never used Photoshop before. I used the video tutorials
and printed help sheets Sally provided and used trial and error. I also asked for help from
others in the class if I knew what I wanted but not how to do it, which differs from the prelim
task as I was determined that I didn’t need help and could do it on my own. I feel much more
confident with Photoshop now and believe that I could use it again with less assistance if
needed.
I used InDesign for the content page of You2 but just used Photoshop for the college
magazine. This ensured I had a more sophisticated layout as I could set gutter widths and
columns making the process more like a published magazine. It also ensured that I had all
the text aligned as for the prelim task I didn’t have a guide for lining up the text. I feel like I
could probably use this software again but I would definitely choose Photoshop over it if
given the choice.
In my prelim magazine I did not edit or rework any images as I was unsure how to but I
asked for help and watched tutorials to advance my knowledge so that I was able to edit. I
also did not understand the importance of editing images. I believed that edited images just
leads to self-conscious readers, however looking between the magazines I used for my
research and my prelim magazine and discovered that it makes a magazine to touch up the
pictures slightly.
On a whole, I believe that my product is much better that my prelim task at fulfilling the brief.
I think the contents page could have been a little more connected to the front page and
double page spread but overall I think my magazine is successful in fulfilling the given brief.