2. For My Preliminary task I had to create a
cover and a contents page for a magazine
targeted at pupils in my school.
3.
4. In the preliminary task I did not have the Photoshop skills and knowledge so
I just used basic shapes on word in order to create my front cover. I also
had minimal writing on the front cover something I now know is not as
good because you want to grab the attention of my audience. How ever my
main image suited the task as it had to be a school magazine and the image
is a student working at a desk. I used a basic colour scheme with a white
background this mad it easy to insert the image onto the basic background
but I could have changed the background in order for it to stand out. My
magazine features the regular conventions such as a bar code and some
puffs. Something I could have done better is removing the background from
the original image because if a person looks in detail you can still see the
blue background located around the head. Another thing I did
unsuccessfully was that I added the barcode, although I believed it was a
magazine convention I didn’t really need to add it as it was a free magazine
to students in the sixth form. In terms of research and planning I have
learned that you need to do a detailed research in order to accurately
feature what your target audience wants to see in the magazine. Also I
learned from research and planning that if things stand out more they sell
better.
5. The difference in my real magazine task is that I blended the image better with
my background because I learnt valuable Photoshop skills. For example the
original image had a background behind his head but I successfully removed this
so the image would look more natural on the page. Also after looking at my
preliminary task I decided that red is a colour scheme that would stand out
especially if I used a light blue background it would contrast this. Another
difference is that I have more media conventions than the preliminary for
example I had more pull quotes and a successful sky line. Having a skyline
makes the magazine look more realistic as it normally features an opinion from
another company. Because my time management was not too good in my
preliminary I realised this was something I had to change so I decided that this
would be a main thing in order to do well. So I decided to map out all my
deadlines so I don’t put my self under to much pressure. My preliminary was
created on word, something I regret having learnt how to use Photoshop because
using adobe makes editing images more easy. In comparison my preliminary had
a long winded name “The Common Room Buzz” this was something my target
audience did not like for me to feature on my music magazine as they said it was
to long to say and made the magazine unattractive. They said they wanted a
“catchy name” and also they wanted a name that they could abbreviate.
