1. QUESTION 7:
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel
you have learnt in the progression from it to the full
product?
2. When I first made my school magazine I didn’t know
what I was doing and how to make it. But I used
Microsoft Publisher to create my front cover and
contents page. I couldn’t of used Adobe Photoshop
because I was unaware I could use that and I wouldn’t
be able to because I've never used it before. I briefly
understood the different codes and conventions and
tried to use some of them in my school magazine. I
have learnt how to use photoshop now and I
would’ve found it much easier to complete the school
magazine and it would be at a more professional
level. It didn’t take me long to create this magazine, it
took around 1 lesson. However my final magazine
took over 4 weeks to complete. This is because I have
researched magazines and understand the different
codes and conventions I have to add. It is clear that I
have made a big progression between my music
magazine and my school magazine. I now know how
to create a media product and could possibly do it
again.
3. FRONT COVER
My preliminary task front cover was created on Microsoft Publisher.
This is because I was unaware about photoshop, this would’ve made
it much easier to do because I now know how to use it. Also the
photograph I used was unedited and I put a border around it which
looks tacky and unprofessional. Also, the Cardinal Newman badge
at the top is unedited, this looks bad because I didn’t know how to
remove the white background. The text on the magazine has not
followed any conventions because the text is everywhere and some
is going vertically down the page.
However now that I know how to use Adobe Photoshop my music
magazine front cover looks much better. I have edited the main
image on the front by removing the background and adapting the
brightness to suit the conventions of a hip hop magazine. Also, the
image overlaps the masthead which I have followed the conventions
of hip hop magazines because this is commonly done. Also the text
is more laid out and is not all over the place. I have used the
conventions of left hand third to create the text for my magazine.
This is because it makes the magazine organised, I also created text
4. CONTENTS PAGE
As I did not do any research for my contents page it looks
unprofessional. This is because I did not know any of the codes
and conventions and how to lay out a magazine. My contents
page does not have enough writing on. Also I researched that
most magazines have over 50 pages on, and my contents page
only shows 11 which shows that I didn’t know what I was doing
when I created this. Also there is no images on the contents page
which makes it look boring and does not stand out to the
consumer.
However my music magazine contents page that I have created is
much better. This is because I have researched different hip hop
magazine contents pages and then used this to create my own.
Also I used inspiration from other magazines to create my one.
This helped me make my contents page look more professional.
Also I have got a picture on the contents page which stands out
because of the close up shot. Also I used a lot of different codes
and conventions like text boxes, colour scheme and house style
5. NEW SKILLS
For the preliminary task I didn’t know what software to use so I just used publisher. However know I
know how to use Photoshop this would have been a lot easier. I now know most of the key parts to
Photoshop and I am now confident to use this for any other work. Also, I have learnt how to edit
photos and make them lighter/darker and crop the background, as well as enhancing the picture by
removing spots.
Another new skill I have learnt through this process is that the magazine I needed to create needs to
be detailed and stand out to the consumer. This is because if someone saw a magazine that had
writing and images everywhere and had no order to it, it wouldn’t attract the audience. Linking to this
the magazine needs to be directed to a certain group of people, this could be male or females and
even a specific age group. This would needed to be done because the magazine is not going to
attract everyone so it would be best if the magazine was targeted especially at one group so that I
definitely know they would like it.
Also, I have found that you cannot create a magazine straight away. This means that I needed to do
research about magazines and certain genres in order for me to create a successful magazine.
