- The document discusses the challenges faced by the author in designing their first magazine cover without much prior knowledge of conventions or codes. They had to rely on their focus group for feedback and adjusted their ideas throughout the planning process while keeping the same pop theme and target audience. - Issues were encountered erasing backgrounds from photos, requiring fixes to make images usable. Scheduling photoshoots was not difficult with a reliable partner. Resources like photography space and props were provided. - Research was done on different magazines and music genres as well as the target audience. However, more research could have been done on layout design rather than guessing at designs. - Time management was attempted through deadlines but sections took more time than

1. Because I hadn't designed a magazine cover before, I didn't have that much knowledge of
conventions and codes other than what we had been taught in the first few lessons. Because of
this, I had to design my magazines based on what myself and my focus group thought looked
the most effective. I wasn't too sure about what I wanted my magazine to look like, so my ideas
altered slightly throughout the planning stages. I kept the same pop theme and audience
running throughout the whole planning stage, so my changes weren't too altering that I had to
keep redoing my previous work.
We had a few problems erasing the background on the pictures, and this meant that even with
photo editing, it wasn't a good quality image. We had to go back and fix the location, so it was
all covered with green, and shadows were covered.
Since there was only two people involved in the project, it wasn't too hard trying to find a
schedule that worked for both of us. I'd picked someone that I knew was particularly reliable, so
we didn't have any issues sticking to photography schedules.
The teachers made the photography space available for us to use during our lessons, so I didn't
particularly have to manage this myself. All costumes and props were handled by my model,
and again, I knew she was reliable, and brought everything in when they were needed.
I think that we did a fair amount of research into magazines, seeing as we looked into different
magazines, and into different music genres. I also made sure to research into the target
audience so that I knew exactly how to aim it at the most readers. Looking back, I could have
researched more into layout design, instead of just guessing at what I thought looked good, but
this is something I would change if I were to do the project again.
I attempted to manage my time by creating set deadlines for each part of the project. I think that
I maybe underestimated the amount of time I needed to spend on each section, and I found
myself constantly in a state of catching up with the written work. I did manage the practical work
on time though, so I maybe should have balanced this out more to get everything done on time.