Question 7

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

2. Front Cover
Music Magazine Preliminary Magazine
I believe there is a significant
improvement between my preliminary
task, and this house music magazine
front cover now.
• Comparing them both, my skills have noticeably
developed in Photoshop. In my preliminary task I
wasn’t confident when using Photoshop so the text
does not necessarily stand out, or match. In my
latest magazine I knew how to use Photoshop
properly, making certain things stand out and
sticking to the same font.
• My knowledge also developed when it came to
making a magazine look more professional. My
preliminary magazine looks quite busy and
cluttered. However, I kept a simple layout with my
music magazine which I believe has lead it to look
more professional and as if I have spent more time
on it.
• When making my preliminary front cover I also
didn’t have the skill in Photoshop to directly edit
the photo to make it look ‘perfect’. Comparing my
most recent front cover to my preliminary, the main
image looks much more ‘finished’ and is a lot more
striking.
• I also developed knowledge when knowing specific
magazine conventions. Where as on my preliminary
front cover I haven't really used a set font, or had a
main cover line. I researched more into magazine
conventions for my music magazine and realised I
need to have a clear main cover line and keep my
font consistent throughout.

3. Contents Page
• When I started to create my music
magazine contents page, I was much more
aware of the certain key conventions
compared to when I was making my
preliminary contents page.
• In my preliminary, I wanted to keep my
contents page simple. However, when
doing research I learnt that music
magazine contents page’s are not usually
simple. They should include a lot of
information and look appealing. This is why
I decided to layout my information the way
I have. I had more knowledge in key
conventions so was able to add a bit of an
introduction, more pictures and some
social media links.
• As my Photoshop skills were more
developed when making my music
magazine, I was able to do certain things
which I didn’t know how to do when
creating my preliminary college magazine. I
was able to rotate text, and most
importantly add effects on to text to make
things stand out more than others. For
example, I edited the word ‘contents’ to
make it really stand out and ‘pop’ on the
page. This is different when looking at my
preliminary as it is very bare and none of
my fonts have effects on them because I
wasn’t as skilled.
Music Magazine Preliminary Magazine

4. Double Page Spread
• As I have never used InDesign before, I did not have any skills or knowledge to develop from my preliminary magazine.
• However, I learnt a lot in the process of making my double page spread, as I was starting from a complete blank page.
• As this task included writing up the content which will be included on the double page spread, I had to do a lot of
research into the type of speech used and the typical layout of interviews. From this I learnt that interviews are often
quite ‘chatty’ and informal. They are also usually laid out with a simple question, then the answer underneath. From
this research I was able to figure out a draft of my double page spread.
• I also learnt that all double page spread’s are different in some sort of way. Some have all the text on one page and
others have the text spread across both pages. I chose to have it across both pages just because from the magazines of
my particular genre, that looked like a more typical convention. I also believe that it looks a lot better with my
background having the text across both pages, not just one.
• Comparing this to how I worked when completing my preliminary task, I was much more confident. In my preliminary, I
wasn’t as confident using the software because I wasn’t 100% sure on how it works. However, using InDesign for the
first time when creating my double page spread I was much more confident and more willing to take risks to make my
work look much better.

5. Overall, my skills have extremely developed since
creating my preliminary magazine. From my
preliminary to my full product I have learnt a wide
range of different skills such as skilled effects in
Photoshop, learning how to use InDesign and being
confident using it and how to make a magazine look
much more professional. I think the improvement is
visible in my work. My preliminary helped me to
develop and improve my knowledge and
understanding when it comes to making magazines.
My music magazine proves how my skills have
developed over the past months as comparing it to
my preliminary it looks much more professional:
keeping the same fonts throughout, following key
conventions of a house music magazine and editing
my photos to make them look ‘perfect’.