Emma Taylor produced various drafts of assignments for a project, seeking feedback from peers to improve her work. For a fanzine task, minor changes were needed, but feedback on other tasks, like an interview and press release, helped her rewrite questions, cut unnecessary information, and arrange the text better. Overall, getting feedback helped her create higher quality work. While most tasks were completed on time, a tabloid story took longer to rewrite after unfavorable feedback. In the future, she plans to seek feedback sooner and from a wider group of peers.

1. Emma Taylor

2. Sources of Information
For this project, I had to produce various drafts for each task I had to complete. This involved improving my
work for each draft to make my work better. For all of my drafts, I asked my peers on how I could improve on
it, whether it being changing the paragraphs around or rewriting certain parts. With this feedback, it helped me
to produce work that was greatly improved and so will hopefully get me a higher grade. With my fanzine, I had
very little to change because my peers thought that it had been written well; all I had to change was the
positioning of the paragraphs and correct a few spelling mistakes. This made me happy because I knew that
my work would be good for this task considering the feedback I received was praising. The interview needed a
bit of work as at first I had only wrote down the questions and answers, but for my feedback I had been
advised to rewrite the questions slightly to make them flow, like you would see in a real magazine. I had got
my answers from Survey Monkey as I had created a questionnaire for McFly fans to fill in so I would get some
honest answers. This helped me greatly as some answers were very interesting. This feedback helped as after
rewriting them, my peers said it was much better. This proved to work well when I decided to produce a
magazine interview as it looked good. My press release was quite difficult to write, so I needed a lot of
feedback for this task. I started off by writing half the article then asking for feedback as I wanted to make sure
that what I was writing sounded good. The feedback included pointers such as cutting out information that
isn’t important and rearranging the text around so it makes more sense. With this feedback, it helped me to
carry on writing and I was soon able to complete a decent press release. The obituary started off slow, yet I
knew what I wanted to write but didn’t know where to start, so after doing some research into current
obituaries and writing down some notes, I asked for feedback on whether my peers thought it would good to
write about those notes. Once I had got some pointers I began to make those notes into a proper obituary like
you would see online or in a newspaper. I thought that I had a good story because it would be believable
because of the singers background and it worked out well as an end product. The tabloid was quite difficult
because I felt like I had to talk about something different otherwise I would just be repeating myself so I
decided to write about something that I thought the public would be interested in. After sending it off for
feedback, I was told that this story would be something that you wouldn’t find on a front cover of a tabloid,
with this information I had to find a whole different story that I thought would be tabloid worthy although
before writing, I asked peers whether it would be a better story, which they agreed with. I think that rewriting
this was a good decision as I think I was able to capture the essence of the story and how it would fit as a
tabloid. By getting feedback from peers, it really helped me to create some better work as this will hopefully be
an advantage by getting me a higher grade. It’s also interesting to see what people think about
your work too.

3. Time Management
I think that I managed my time very well in this project because I spread my time out equally over each of the 9
tasks that were involved. We had deadlines for each task which I stuck to and managed to complete within the
time we were given. Some tasks did take longer than the others to complete for example, Task 6 which was the
Press Release and Obituary; I found this difficult as after researching into current Press Releases on the story I
wanted to write about, it was difficult to try and word my work so that it was different to the current products
as I didn’t want to copy them. I also thought that I would be repeating myself from previous tasks, so it was
difficult trying to re-word my work so it was different from the other tasks. It took longer than I expected
because I kept having to think about what to write, although I managed to complete the task in the time that
was set. I also had a bit of trouble with task 7 which was the tabloid. I originally wrote about the Fearne and
McBusted show on ITV, but after reviewing the piece of work realised that it wouldn’t be suitable for a front of
a newspaper, so I had to write about something completely different which I struggled with because I thought
that I wouldn’t have enough time to complete the task before we had to move on. It was also difficult because
with the story I chose, there was very little information about it so had to write it carefully to make sure I
included enough words. I did make a mistake with this task though; once I had completed the first draft, it
took me a while to ask for feedback, so this is why I was tight for time when writing the second draft. This
proves to me that I must ask for feedback straight away incase I am ever in this situation again. This is
something that I would have to learn and work on because I would need to do some more research into
tabloids and plan out what I would write about so that this doesn’t happen again. With the other two tasks, I
managed to stick to the time limit which was good because it shows to me that I can complete tasks within a
time limit and this is good for the future whether it’s for future tasks or when I get a job that requires time
limits. The fanzine I completed well within the time because I enjoyed writing it. This also gave me plenty of
time to re-read my work and get lots of feedback so it would be as good as it could be.
I think that throughout the overall project, time management wasn't a problem, although I did have a few slip
ups along the way, I managed to meet the deadlines with all of my products to a standard that I am happy
with.

4. Reviewing Work
I think that by reviewing my work after each piece was a good chance to see what I could improve on and
change anything that didn’t work. I did this with every task because I felt like all my work could do with
improvement. After the first draft, I asked for some feedback on where I could improve which really helped me
as I managed to produce a second draft which was of a much better quality which improved my work. For this
feedback, I asked my peers I sat near as I knew that they would give me some good feedback that I could work
on to make my products better. They were honest with me by giving me small pointers that I could work on,
although I think that I could have branched out and asked other people in my class as I know that they would
be more honest with me about the quality of my work. I think that I should have done this as it could have
helped to make my work even better than it is now but it is something to consider for projects in the future.
The image in the corner is of some feedback I received for my Press Release. The red writing gives me pointers
on what to talk about and any spelling corrections whereas the black lines indicate lines that I should remove
from my work as they aren’t important. Small things like this really help me because even though I might not
think about it, from someone else’s point of view, it could be important to include this extra information and
this helps my work to become a better quality. I think that if I hadn’t reviewed my work it would be poor quality
and this wouldn’t get me a higher grade as I did have to do a variety of improvements to make my work better.

5. Technical Components
I think that my finished product has taken me through a lot of tools which I am not familiar with. I decided to
create a magazine interview as my main piece because I knew that it is something I am interested in, so I
would pay a lot of attention to the small details within the piece. I started off by choosing my layout and
placing boxes in the program InDesign where all of my components would go as I knew that this would help
me when it came to placing everything. I started off with the image on the left page because then I knew that I
would be able to work my text around that image. For this, I used margins and columns so I would have a
border around that page like they do in magazines as this would make it look more professional. I had decided
to get an image off Google as there would be a range to choose from. I wanted a clear image so I chose a large
one which I then put into Photoshop. I used the measurements from my image box from InDesign and
transferred them into Photoshop so I know that my image would be the perfect size. This made it very easy to
get the correct size I wanted. I have used InDesign on a previous project called Recipe Cards, but I hadn’t
revisited it since then, so it took me a while to get used to where all the components were in the programme,
but I managed to work my way around it well. The image came out really well on the screen so I then decided
to add I my title and text next. This was very difficult as I had to play around with various font sizes and
positions. I originally wanted to produce a double page spread but realised that not all of my interview would
fit, so I decided to spread it out over three pages which worked very well. I found it difficult to fill up the space
on both sides as I didn’t want to leave the third page with white space so as you can see, I managed this by
putting in a circle which I think also looks quite effective as you see these in magazines too. I also increased
the line spacing from 14.5 to 15 and this helped the text a lot as it spaced it out just enough to fill up all the
space which looks a lot better.

6. I looked at a few Glamour magazine articles and interviews and took note of what elements they included such
as the ‘Glamour’ logo next to the page number so I decided to add this in as I think it would add to the look of
my product and also tells you what magazine it will be featured in. When looking at these examples, I found
that they didn’t feature much colour so I wanted to stick with the theme and you can see that my product has
very little colour excluding the images. I want it to be interesting so decided to write the introduction and fan
names in a dark blue font as I felt like this would attract you, rather than looking at a page full of black writing.
Once I was happy with my magazine interview, I decided to try something different by creating a tabloid as this
might help me in future projects. I knew that the tabloid wasn’t my strong point so I did some research into
some existing ones and went from there. I chose the Daily Mirror because I knew that from previous tasks,
McFly had been featured in this magazine so thought it would be ideal for this. I saw an example that I knew I
would like to recreate, so I measured the same dimensions so I could get my tabloid as perfect as I could to a
real tabloid. I had to create my own logo and adverts so like I did for my magazine, I made a template in
InDesign and put the measurements into Photoshop and created them in there. I took an advert from another
tabloid and created my own as I wanted to make it my own. Overall I think that it looks really effective,
although it looks a bit bare so think I could have rearranged everything to add in another side story as it would
look more appealing.

7. Creative Abilities
I think that I have managed to be very creative with each of my products. My favourite writing product is my
fanzine because I am writing to the fans and I found it really fun and easy to do. I felt like I was really creative
by talking about the past, present and future as it covered all aspects of McFly and Busted's career. As I am a
fan of the two bands, I wanted that to come through in the fanzine because it’s what it is about. I think that by
talking about various different issues and interests, it makes you want to read on as I wasn’t talking about the
same thing throughout. With this project you have to be creative because there are already a lot of fanzines
and articles out there currently and you need to to be different, so by looking at current fanzines, I was able to
see what I would be up against. This really helped bring out my creative side as I was able to write a fanzine
that was different to the current ones today. With the tabloid, I had to talk about the facts so I had to do some
research into the facts I would use. This was difficult as there wasn’t much information about Harrys fling. I
don’t think that I was very creative with the writing as I was simply stating facts, yet when it came to designing
the product, I thought it looked creative as I designed the logo, advert and writing accents and it really showed
how creative I could be; so I think that my product turned out well. I did find it difficult to be creative when it
came to writing my press release because there were already a lot of press releases out there about what I
wanted to talk about, so it was hard to be different without copying current work.
This took me a while to write which really held me back time wise. For the interview, I
had to be creative when writing the questions as I needed them to be interesting and
ones that would get good responses in order for them to be suitable enough to be
featured in a magazine. I wanted responses from real McFly fans as I knew that they
would have a lot more to say about the band which would get me more detailed
Responses. I managed to get some very detailed answers and I think that by being
creative with my questions, it helped me to get those answers. With the obituary, I
don’t think I was very creative with it because I talked about the facts. What creativity
I put into it was how Dougie had died as well as quotes from his friends and fans,
which didn’t include much creativity. I think that I could have been more creative with
this task, so this is something I could work on in the future if I were to write
something like this again.

8. To what extent have your intentions been realised?
I think that I have managed to produce some very good work throughout this project. After having to research
into current products, I knew the kind of products I had to come up with to make them look and sound similar
to current professional work. This research helped me to come up with ideas on how and what to write and so I
was able to produce some good work. With my fanzine, I knew that I wanted to write about Busted
collaborating with McFly. As it is something I am interested in, I found it easier to talk about it and it helped
me a lot. I think I managed to write a lot about it, yet making it interesting all through by adding in small
sections about the tour and other appearances so it would make fans want to keep on reading. I achieved what
I wanted to as I think that my fanzine is interesting and would appeal to the McFly and Busted fans out there.
With my interview, I wanted and need to get lots of responses so that I could compare the results and choose
which answers I would use in my magazine article. I managed to get 22 responses which was plenty as I had a
lot to choose from. My intentions were to gather lots of detailed responses from my questionnaire, which is
what I got, so I think that I chose some good questions for the fans to answer. The Press Release was more
difficult as I had trouble with all the aspects of this task throughout.

9. Appropriateness of your work for the audience
As my audience was females aged 16-25, I had to make sure that my writing and production was suitable for
that age group. As I am within that age group, I had a head start on the type of language and images I could
use when writing my interview, press release, tabloid and my fanzine. As McFly have a range of fans from
different lifestyles, I had to make sure that my language wasn’t too sophisticated, neither should it be too
simple. I had to make my language understandable to audiences of every educational level and I think that I
managed to do this well for each writing task. For my fanzine, I wanted to make sure that my audience would
keep their interest, so I decided to put in lots of facts as well as using first person such as ‘we’, which I think
makes the reader feel like they are involved with the author as well as other fans. This also worked well for my
interview because I got a range of answers from different people. I posted my questionnaire on McFly Fan
pages on Facebook and tagged them on my Twitter account which I also posted it on. I wanted as many
responses as possible so I also went into the bands Instagram accounts and posted the link on their photos.
This turned out well as within 24 hours I managed to get 19 responses, and I am still getting responses, which
shows that the band appeals to a range of audiences. With the Press Release, I had to try and make my writing
seem real so my language had to be more sophisticated than my fanzine as it is something you would find in
an online newspaper. I wanted to include quotes as I thought that this would help my audience feel involved
and they also help to bring realism because you are getting a point of view from the artists themselves. By
introducing lots of facts, it helps the audience know more about the band and these facts can appeal to
anybody; I also wrote in short sentences because I felt like it would make the Press Release easier to read and
follow, showing that I can make my work cater to all audiences. With the obituary, I found this difficult as it
needed to be written formally, but also had to appeal to all audiences.

10. What content, style and skills have you used?
When deciding on what I should include in my pieces, I had to do a lot of research into the content that is on
current products so that I could make my products look as professional. When producing my final magazine
interview, I researched into Glamour magazines to find out what their interview pages looked like. This gave
me a good incite and helped me to pick out the details that I would need in my own products, e.g. the arrows
and page number at the bottom. When choosing the photographs I would use, I went onto Google and I knew
the type of images I wanted but it took me a while to find the ones that would be suitable for my product. I
wanted a mixture of images because I wanted to show the audience the sides of McFly and I think this
combination worked out well in the end. I also had to make sure that the images child-friendly as I knew that
they have younger fans and other images would be inappropriate. I think that I have come up with a good style
for my final products because I feel that they are simple yet fun but easy to read. As magazine articles tend to
use little colour, I wanted to have this element in my product so I decided to change the introduction and the
fan names into a dark blue colour. I felt like this colour contrasted well with the image as the band are wearing
dark colours like blue and black. Even thought the colour blue is seen as a masculine colour, I felt like a colour
such as red would be too harsh for this article. I also thought this colour would be appropriate because they
are a boy band and it may also get more males reading this article which would
mean a larger fan base. I think that by having three columns of text, I am
following the basic layout of what Glamour magazine uses which also helps
make it look like it belongs in the magazine. On the third page of my interview,
I wanted to put a bit of information about the album so I decided to add a
bubble like they use in some articles; I also thought that it would add some
excitement to the page rather than just text. For me it was a struggle to get it
the correct sixe and to get the text to wrap around it. Once I had got the bubble
to the right size I then had to wrap the text around it so I used the circular wrap
because this would look more natural than a square one. As I wanted it to look
professional, I decided to change the text so words weren’t being broken up
over two lines, for this I pressed the enter key which worked
out very well.

11. How have your skills developed?
I used InDesign and Photoshop in this project to produce my final products. I have previously used InDesign in
a past project but it took me a while to get used to the programme again although once I had gone through it,
I managed to manoeuvre around it well. I like using InDesign as you are able to create products like magazines
and newspapers as they include margins, columns and rows which are very helpful are you are able to be
specific and consistent throughout your work which you need when creating these products. With InDesign, I
was able to create boxes where all my elements would be, then take my images and put them into Photoshop
using the measurements from InDesign; this made sure that my images fit in perfectly with my article which
helped make it look professional and the quality of the images were much better when they were put through
Photoshop. My skills have developed in Photoshop because of this project; by creating templates to the correct
sizes, it helps me to find and create images that look clear so they can be used for other purposes. I also think
that my writing skills have developed because throughout this project I have had to write a lot, which is not my
strongest skill, so by writing more, it helps me to become better at writing.

12. Areas for improvement?
I still think that I could work on my writing skills as they aren’t as strong as I would like them to be. I
sometimes find it difficult to know what to write so I think that I need to plan out what I am going to say
before starting by making small notes as I think that this will really help me in the long run. I think that it
shows in some of my tasks that the writing isn't as good as the production. I think that some aspects of my
production also needs improvement because I don’t think that my magazine article looks as good as it could. I
need to do some more research into current products as I think this is what I fall back on. My magazine is
rather different to ones seen in a real Glamour magazine which I think is what let me down in the design
process. I need to improve on my research as I feel like I don’t do enough into existing products, which will
help me with my own. This is something to do in the future to make my own work better. As I enjoyed this
unit, I think that I got ahead of myself a bit, which is what may have caused me to fall back on my writing, so
in the future, I need to take my work task by task and make sure that it is up to the standard that I’m happy
with.