Looking back at my preliminary task, I learned many new skills for creating a successful music magazine. I had to learn how to use an advanced camera and editing software like Photoshop and InDesign, which was challenging at first but I quickly gained proficiency. When putting together my magazine, I had to carefully plan it out and consider real magazine conventions to appeal to my target audience, such as including important details like pricing, dates and page numbers. Adapting conventions and ensuring my magazine was tailored to the genre and readers was important for it not to cause confusion.

1. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have
learnt in the progression from it?
The process
Looking back at my preliminary task I have learnt so many new skills and
techniques to make a successful music magazine. The first thing I had to learn to
do was how to use and advanced camera. I needed to take photos for my preliminary
task and for my final production. This was a challenge for me as I had never used
one before. I needed to be aware of how to get the different shot types and how to
focus the camera correctly. In this process I also learnt how lighting can affect
the image and how important a sufficient amount to lighting is needed to produce a
high quality picture.
After learning how to use and advanced camera, I then needed to learn how to use
Photoshop to edit my photos. This was also very challenging as I had never used
Photoshop before. However I picked it up fairly quickly and therefore it wasn’t
as challenging as I thought. After using Photoshop to edit my photos, I then
needed to learn how to use InDesign. I used InDesign to create my final product
that consisted of a front cover, contents page and a double page spread. This
again was quite challenging at the beginning as I didn’t quite to understand how
to use it. Similarly to Photoshop I picked it up fairly quickly and found it quite
fun creating my own product.
The Conventions
When I was putting my magazine together I had to plan it out very carefully so I
could take real magazines conventions into consideration. This meant that I had to
understand what all the conventions were and how to use them. I had to adapt the
magazine conventions to my target audience so it could appeal specifically to
them. I learnt that the conventions of a magazine are what make the magazine s o
desirable to the readers. I also had to make sure that my magazine went well with
my genre and target audience otherwise the magazine could leave a sense of
confusion. Another thing I learnt about making a magazine is that even the
smallest details are very important such as the price, date, repetition of the
masthead, convergence and page numbers. If you miss any of these things out it
could leave your magazine feeling empty. The model on my front cover had to look
astatically pleasing to the audience as it would be a way to please and attract
them to my magazine.