1. Music Magazine Evaluation: What I have learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product
2. Adobe Photoshop CS3 Over the course of constructing my product, I feel that my use of technology has hugely advanced from my preliminary task. I learnt to use more features of Photoshop to manipulate my images, so that the final product was more realistic and more aesthetically pleasing, to create a more professional feel to the magazine. One example is my use of brushes that I had downloaded from the internet, that reflect the modern approach to the magazine. Also, through my research of real magazines, I learnt how to place features of the magazine on the page, following conventions and using technology to assist in placing the items. I also researched and download my own fonts to use in Photoshop, which enhanced the brand image of my product.
3. BlogSpot BlogSpot has been a very useful tool in the development of my project. Since my preliminary task, I have learnt how to supplement my project blogs with interactive software, to give a better insight into the production of my work. In order to implement these features, it was necessary for me to learn some basic HTML coding to insert some of these features. The result was that my blog contained audio, video and interactive features. The use of BlogSpot allowed me to easily update and edit the features of my foundation portfolio and even gain extra information about who looks at my blog and their own, personal opinions, through the mini-questionnaire in the sidebar, as well as advertising the product to the target audience online, free of charge.
4. Photography My skills in photography have greatly improved throughout the course of development. I began at a basic level, with very little knowledge about how to frame photos, but soon learnt how to use lighting, sets and camera settings to my advantage. In preproduction of my final product, I was able to plan out many of my images, brain-storming various concepts that would fit into this genre of magazine. The final photographs worked exceedingly well, and were a large improvement on photographs I had used in my preliminary task. I learnt how to properly operate an SLR camera and used these skills to my advantage. One example of this is the use of aperture in my landscape ‘sunset’ photo to enhance the level of light in the image.
5. Google Products I also found many of Google’s products similarly useful throughout the design of my product. Google maps came in particular use when researching various landscapes for some of my photo shoots to take place-it allowed me to find a good location, then show this location interactively on my blog. Another Google product, YouTube, came in particular use when mind-mapping concepts for the framing of my photographs, allowing the presentation of many images as a video on my blog. I also learnt about Google Docs, which I used to create my online interactive questionnaire, that sent me instant question results by email. This was greatly useful for research of my target audience, allowing me to access a much larger percentage of the target audience online, where many of these consumers spend their time. Picasa also allowed me to present an album of all my photos online, making them accessible to anyone.
6. Other Software Facebook – I discovered the large potential for advertisement of products on the social networking site, where many of my target audience spend a lot of time. This allowed me to research by using interactive online questionnaires to interview my target audience. SlideShare – I learnt about sharing PowerPoint projects on my blog, which enabled me to compact my work, and make it more interactive for the user. Podcasts - ODEO software allowed me to add audio clips to supplement my work, making the blog more interactive to the audience. Xtranormal – Allowed me to make my blog more interesting and interactive, through the use of computer generated imagery, again using a different form of the media to portray my work.
