The student learned to use several digital technologies in constructing their product. Blogger allowed them to link research, planning, production, and evaluation, presenting work in different formats. Google Docs helped with research by adding photos to questionnaires. A digital camera enabled quick photo taking and review. iPhoto allowed photo sorting and minor editing. Photoshop was used for front cover editing and layering text. InDesign facilitated font experimentation, resizing images, and manipulating text for pages like the contents and spreads. The technologies were crucial for project completion and the student learned to use new programs like InDesign.

1. What have you learnt about
technologies the in the
process of constructing this
product ?

2. Blogger
 The website blogger has been crucial during the process of the construction of my product. I
has helped me link together my research, planning, production and evaluation elements of my
product and let me comment on each stage of the process. Everything is displayed in
chronological order which make all of my posts accessible and easy to find. Combining my
ideas on this website has meant that I have been able to use different features that I would be
unable to do with out the use of such digital technology for example embedding hyperlinks to
YouTube and different websites. I have used this to link to different trailers when talking about
youth subcultures and how they relate to the music industry. I have also been able to do none
of my textual analysis as a video instead of a word documentary. Blogger has allowed me to
keep all of my work in one place and has not constricted me to presenting my work in just one
format.
 I had nit used this website before starting this project but I have found it easy to learn how to
use. Blogger has helped me learn how to embed links and how to present my work in many
different ways and has showed me how digital technology can make the presentation and
accessibility of work far more simple.

3. Google docs
 Google docs was a useful application during the
research process of discovering my target audience
and what elements of my magazine appealed to
them and which did not. This application was not not
new to me but I did learn that I could add photos to
my questionnaires which helped me to decide which
images appealed to my target audience most. It also
meant that all of the responses were compiled into
handy pie charts and bar charts which made the
information very easy to process. Without this digital
technology I would of had to spent far more time on
my questionnaire and the results would not have
been as easy to determine.

4. Digital camera and iPhoto
 The use of a digital camera aided me
greatly in the process of taking my photos.
It meant that I was able to take hundreds of
photos quickly and easily and review them
during the process unlike a film camera
which requires a period of time for the film
to develop. I could adjust the aperture and
shutter speed easily as well and so I
experimented with using a fast shutter
speed which produced clear images and a
low shutter speed which created a 3D effect
with the different colour light. I was also
able to use my iPhone to test out my photo-
shoot idea before taking the photos with a
digital camera. I was then able to connect
my camera to my laptop where I dragged
the photos into iPhoto so I could clearly see
them and begin sorting through them to
identify the strongest pictures and create a
contact sheet. IPhoto also allowed me to
make minor alterations to my photographs
such as removing skin blemishes and
adjust lighting.

5. Photoshop and InDesign
 These applications were crucial during the production and editing of my magazine. For my front cover
I used Photoshop as this helped me to edit and make sure that there was no imperfections in my
image. After the editing process was complete I added layers of text, putting each cover line on a
different layer so I was able manipulate them more easily. I used Photoshop instead of InDesign for my
front cover as the focus of the page was on the image and not on the text.
 For my contents page I used InDesign this meant that I was able to play around with many more fonts
and change the look of different fonts. This helped me in finding a font for the “subscribe now”
element of the page. I found that InDesign was also much better for resizing images and it helped me
to visualize the final product.
 I also used InDesign for my double page spread. I found that using InDesign for this page of my
magazine was really helpful as I was having to manipulate a lot of text and InDesign made this easy.
InDesign also has a feature where text can be imputed straight into columns this meant that I was able
to see if my text was the right size through the use of the 3 columns per page rule.
 I had not used InDesign before this project and I did find it hard to adapt to at first but after persevering
and watching some you tube videos I found it very useful and I learnt that it can be more appropriate
to use InDesign for more text based products.

6. Conclusion
 I have learnt that with out the help of digital technology this
project would have been almost impossible as the technology
that I have learnt to use has helped me at every stage of
creating my music magazine, from posting on blogger to the
editing and production process.
 I have learnt to use new technology and in InDesign and I
have furthered my knowledge of digital photography and
applications such as Google docs.