1) For the preliminary task, the author created a basic college magazine cover in Photoshop without fully understanding magazine design or photo editing. 2) To improve for the final product, the author extensively researched magazines, conducted surveys, practiced Photoshop skills, and planned magazine content and designs. 3) The final music magazine cover showed greatly improved photo quality, design, and understanding of the magazine industry compared to the preliminary task. The author learned about planning, audience research, and photo techniques.

1. Looking back at your preliminary
task, what do you feel you have
learnt in the progression from it to
the full product?

2. Preliminary task
For my preliminary task, I had to create a college magazine
front cover and basic plans for a contents page. This was my
first time using Photoshop so I do not think it looked as it
could have done, I also do not think that I took enough time
in coming up with what was going to be included or shown
on the cover.
I did not know what should be included in a magazine or
what type of image look best for different areas in a
magazine. This meant that my image for the front cover was
not good quality and it lacked good eye contact and focus
on it.
Because of this, I do not believe that my preliminary task
was very good in comparison to my final front cover for my
music magazine now.
However, looking back at my preliminary task, I did now
what type of colours I would like to use throughout this
project as I have used very similar colours here to what I
have used in my final piece.

3. Progression
To improve on my preliminary task and to make sure that my final piece was to the best of
my ability, I decided to look further into the magazine industry.
I did a lot of research on current magazines, asked people what they would want to see in
the magazine and researched how to use Photoshop to help improve my skills for the final
product. I also looked into how magazines use certain words to help grab the audiences
attention so that I could use these types of things to attract a wider audience for my
magazine.
There were many different plans for my magazine, which I drew up. I then chose the best
out of all of them based on what my research had told me so that I could make my product
the best that I could.
I learnt a lot about how the way you take an image can affect how it turns out. Due to this, I
put in a lot of planning for my images so that I could get the best ones possible in the short
space of time that I had. It also showed me about how taking photos in different lights and
setting can create a completely different image which I didn’t know about during the
preliminary task which I do now.

4. Final product
I feel that my final product has greatly
improved compared to my preliminary task
due to the amount that I learnt along the
way.
Though there were some things that I had to
rethink as I went through the process, it
allowed me to learn more about producing a
magazine. I learnt that if something isn’t
going to work, you need to find a way to get
around it and change it without affecting the
outcome of the final product.
Through making the final product, I learnt
about all of the planning which needs to go
into the product before you even begin to
make it. You need to find who your audience
is, their likes, dislikes, etc. which I hadn’t
known before starting this project.