1. Evaluation question 6
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
The technologies that is used when researching, producing and creating my magazine were:
Lightroom for editing my photos on
Photoshop for producing the cover page, contents page and double page spread
Word for writing up research tasks and evaluation question
PowerPoint for displaying some of my research tasks
Prezi which gave me the opportunity to create something similar to a power point
but in a more interesting and engaging way.
I used the software lightroom to edit my photos which I took so that my photos looked
professional and well presented. What I changed were simple things such as vibrance,
saturation and clarity with a few other variables. I managed to turn a dark and grey image
into the one which you can see on the front cover. In addition, on the double page spread, I
used Photoshop to add the grunge effect onto my image, this gave the page more of a rock
feel and I think change its mood completely. In addition, I have experimented with different
effects on my main image. This can be seen in my blog post where I have change the image
into black and white to see if that would fit with the style of my magazine.
I have also used Photoshop in the production of my magazine. This has enabled me to
manipulate images and text to create a good and believable magazine cover, contents page
and double page spread. The main techniques that I used in the production of the magazine
were the lasso tool. This was a great help to me as it meant that I could cut out a specific
part of an image (i.e. the model in my photo) and leave out the background and insert him
on any background of my choice. In addition to this, the pattern stamp tool aided me in
covering certain aspects of a photo without it being noticeable, for instance the logo on
pieces of clothing or the text on a sticker so that I can write over it in my own words. There
is also the rubber tool which I most prominently used on my double page spread. Here I
used it with a different shaped eraser to create this almost spray paint/ distorted effect
where the text is beginning to fade away. It gave my page a better sense of grunge/rock as it
is what is expected with the genre of being rundown and broken.
Microsoft word is another technology that I used mainly in the research and evaluation of
my product. It was helpful as it aided me in what I wrote so that when it came to presenting
it in a different way, I did not have to worry about what I have to write as it would already
be therefore and all I would need to do is copy and paste onto the new format.
Similar to word, PowerPoint has helped me in laying out some of my research tasks such as
the analysis sections where I analysed different pages of a magazine to see the aspects that
each magazine has in common and what the basic needs are to make an effective cover,
2. contents and double page spread. This made it easier for me laying out these individual
pages when I came to the production of the magazine pages as I already knew what I had to
include and where the best place to implement them would be.
Prezi is one of the technologies which had never used before. This is a software similar to
PowerPoint but it allows you to make presentations in a more interesting and engaging
fashion with transitions between slides and snazzy backgrounds that can match the topic in
which you are writing about.
One area where my skills have improved is with my photography. Whilst taking my photos
for each page of my double page spread, I had to think deeply about different aspects such
as composition and the body language which my model was portraying. As I had never
worked with a model before, it became clear that I had to make a connection with him so
that he would feel comfortable in front of the camera. Furthermore my technical
photography skills had improved as I forced myself to use manual mode on my camera
which meant I had full control over different variables including shutter speed, aperture and
ISO which all had to be balanced to create an impressive image which I could use for my
magazine.
