The document discusses what the author learned from their preliminary magazine cover task to their final magazine product: 1) Research and planning are essential - for the preliminary task there was little research or planning, but extensive research and planning went into the final product. 2) Photoshop skills improved greatly - the final cover looks much more professional with varied colors, exciting cover lines, and refined sections compared to the preliminary task. 3) Importance of high quality images - a point and shoot camera was used for low quality preliminary images, but an SLR and image editing skills produced much better images for the final product.

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. At the beginning of this coursework I completed a preliminary task where I had to create a front cover and
contents page for a college magazine. The whole point of this task was to get an initial idea of how to lay out a
magazine and a feel for Photoshop.
Research + Planning
For my preliminary task I didn't do any research and only a small amount of planning. I learnt that research
and planning is key to having a magazine that will appeal to your target audience and make them want to buy
it. For my final product I created moodboards, researched into publishing institutions and did an extensive
textual analysis on XXL magazine that allowed me to see all of the conventions used in magazines today. I
also learnt that I needed to do a lot of audience research to make sure that I was creating a magazine that my
target audience would want. I also learnt that it was a good idea to plan and get feedback from different
people before starting construction.
There was not much planning for the photos I took which I realised was a big mistake. That’s why for my
magazine I planned the photos very thoroughly and even retook them because I was not happy. Before
planning I researched the conventions and structures of existing hip hop magazines for some inspiration and
ideas. Once I was happy I did many hand drawn drafts and after some feedback had finally drawn a basic
template for my magazine. With my preliminary task however, I did a very quick sketch and did not put much
effort or though into it, which is clear.

3. Photoshop
When constructing the preliminary task, I was very inexperienced with Photoshop and was
finding it difficult. Looking back now it is clear just how much I have learnt. The final front
cover looks a lot more professional than the preliminary task. In my preliminary task
everything is near enough the same colour which gives it a very boring and bland
look, whereas the colours in my final product vary a lot more and reflect the genre of music
a lot better; there is a clear colour scheme. In my preliminary task the coverline and the
headline do not look very interesting and advertise very boring subjects. In my final front
cover I have learnt to use much more exciting coverlines that will attract the reader. I have
also used more exciting content on my final product. I feel that my technical skills have also
improved because the final front cover looks a lot more refined; I have learnt skills that have
allowed me to include more professional looking sections to the front cover as well as image
editing skills I did not have before.

4. IMAGES
Since completing the preliminary task I learnt that the images are an extremely important
part of how a magazine looks and how professional it comes across to the audience. For the
preliminary task I just used a point and shoot camera that produced a poor quality image. For
the final products I used a SLR that took a much sharper and clearer image. I also learnt that
having the correct lighting and editing the photographs was key to making them work with
the magazine genre. For example, I used red on the front cover image to make it connote
seriousness in relation to the genre of hip hop. I also edited the contrast to make it look
darker and more sincere to appeal to my target audience. I have also learnt new techniques
to cut out a person from the background of an image. For my preliminary task I just used the
magic want tool that gave varied results, whereas, for the final products I used the magic
wand tool with the lasso tools to give a more precise cut out.

5. Preliminary vs Final Magazine