1. What have you learnt about
technologies from the process
of constructing this product?
Aydan Kelly
2. What software did you use?
I mainly used Adobe Photoshop (both cs3 and cs5.5)and partial use of web 2.0 (mainly to find
images for inspiration.)
Using Photoshop allowed me to do practically everything involved with the making of my
product. I created my masthead, all other features that used a more complicated method
than would be possible in most other software's. All photo editing and manipulation was done
within Photoshop, all design work was done within Photoshop, as was the introduction of all
text, as after getting used to the Photoshop interface, it did not make sense to me to switch
software in order to introduce my text and I felt it would probably overcomplicate it and didn’t
seem necessary.
The first thing I attempted with photoshop was my initial mastheads, but it was my final
masthead that caused me to learn many of the techniques I would later use throughout. Such
as clipping masks, filters, overlays/textures and such… After this I used photoshop for literally my
whole magazine.
4. Why did you feel it necessary to
manipulate images?
I only really decided I would manipulate my image as it was a close up and all
imperfections were fairly visible, I felt that without that, my magazine would look more
professional. Most if not all magazines use editing and/or makeup to remove imperfections
from models, and therefore I felt that in order for my magazine to fit into this category -at
least aesthetically- I would need to use post production/ editing. I used a combination of
the clone stamp, spot healing and blur tools to achieve the effect I feel that it was fairly
successful, other than perhaps the nose, where it may have been preferable to have
some level of shine, and providing a sense of depth.
Other than the cover image however, I did not feel it necessary to manipulate other
images (other than removing backgrounds and adding filters, which I did for convenience
and aesthetic appeal.
5. Other software?
In the case of my coursework, I used plenty of different software. A lot of work was done
on programmes such as word and PowerPoint, but the internet was often used for
research and also for creating my work. Websites like youtube, slideshare and of course
wordpress were the main websites I used. Also to a small degree I used the website prezi
for a presentation.
I even used a small amount of adobe after effects for some very simple video editing
earlier in the course
