The document discusses the progression of the student's work from their preliminary task to their full product. They learned to better challenge magazine conventions to suit their music magazine. Their masthead is now smaller but stands out more. Their front cover now has varied fonts, banners, and a model addressing the reader. They improved photo editing skills and understand using different elements for specific reasons. Their contents page now follows conventions with page numbers by headlines and they no longer include the masthead. Overall they developed an understanding of magazine layout and design conventions.

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

2. 
Here are my two mastheads. As you can see the preliminary masthead
follows the generic conventions of a typical magazine. It spreads across the
whole of the top of the magazine and stands out. But, my music magazine’s
masthead challenges the conventions of a typical magazine masthead, it is
only in the top left hand corner of the magazine and is more of a logo,
underneath it shows what the letters ‘VM’ actually mean and the white text
against the green background stand out and draws the readers attention.
Masthead

3. 
I think this shows how I have progressed as a media student, I feel more
confident that I am able to challenge the conventions of magazines to suit
the needs of the product. The positioning and size of the masthead also
are very different; as you can see in the pre-lim task the masthead is very
large compared to the main task and takes up a large proportion of the
page, so there isn’t much space for any text or a larger picture. On
balance my main product has a smaller masthead but doesn’t fade into
the background, it stands out and there is enough room on the page for
enough text to attract the audience.
Masthead

4. 
Both my front covers use a lot of the same conventions but the
execution of them is very different. As you can see the cover lines
on my pre-lim task are very large and take up most of the blank
space and also cover some of the cover image. The text size is too
large to only be able to fit three cover lines on the page. On the
other hand when you look at my music front cover you can see
there are a lot more cover lines on the page. The font used for the
cover lines are very different, whilst my during my preliminary
task I used the exact same font as I did for my masthead whereas I
used a variety of fonts on my front cover, this is a regular
convention of most magazines as they want to draw the readers
attention to different things, this show how I have learnt to use
style models to compare with my work and develop my ideas to
the conventions of real magazines.
Front Cover

5. 
I have also used banners on my final front cover, this is to
make the main cover line stand out and draw the readers
attention immediately to it, on the other hand, looking back
at my pre-lim front cover you can see I haven’t used banners
and all the text sits on the same level, comparing this to my
music cover you can see different text attract your eye at
different levels creating a more interesting cover. Looking
back at my pre-lim task I have improved my ability to be
able to do something for a specific reason, for instance
changing the banner to red, so it is the first thing the readers
see, when I was creating my pre-lim front cover I did
something to the front cover because I liked it and not for a
certain reason. The main image on my front covers is very
different.
Front Cover

6. 
On my preliminary cover the model looks closed off and has very locked
out body language, almost like he’s closed off to the reader. Comparing
this image to my music front cover you can see the model is directly
addressing the reader, by looking right into the camera this shows he’s
open to the reader and more inviting. Also the image is a lot larger and
takes up a good proportion of the page.
Front Cover

7. 
 Looking a both of these images I have learnt a lot
throughout the process, for example I have
developed my ability to use a camera and how to
direct a photo-shoot to get the right image for the
front cover. I have also improved my skills in
editing. As you can see I have blurred out the edges
of my full media product to make the edges less
harsh and also I have used Photoshop to change the
contrast of the image to make it brighter and more
appealing to the reader.
Front Cover

8. 
 Throughout the creation of my contents page I have developed
my understanding of the conventions of a contents page. I
researched and presented my findings of what you generally
see on a contents page on a presentation and posted it on my
blog.
 This also helped me develop my understanding of why
magazines do certain things, to make sure the reader notices it.
For example most, if not all, magazines include the page
numbers on their contents page, next to a headline of the article
and a brief article.
Contents Page and Double
Page Spread

9. 
 I also did this on my contents page as the headline gives a
bold clear statement of the article, if the user doesn’t want
to read that much into it. As I have never created a double
page spread before I had to do a lot of research into what
music magazine double page spreads look like, for
example I also did a presentation into the conventions of a
double page spread and look at style models to see the
kinds of articles and images that you see on a double page
spread. From the pre-lim task to the full creation of my
contents page and double page spread I have learnt a lot
about the font size of text and the layout of the pages.
Contents Page and Double
Page Spread

10. 
 For example on my pre-lim task I have put the page numbers and
headlines all on one line, spreading out over the whole of the page. In
comparison to my main task, you can see that my articles are set out
down one side of the page and are smaller in size. Also looking at the
pre-lim task you can see that I have used the masthead again on the
contents page and a smaller contents under it. As you can see I have
developed my knowledge of what a magazine looks like, as most
magazines don’t feature the masthead on the contents page. Here, on
my main task, you can see that I have used the logo of the magazine on
a banner con the top of the page and the word contents in bolder,
larger letters, similar to magazines such as Kerrang!
Contents Page and
Double Page Spread