The document summarizes the learning and improvements the author has made from their preliminary magazine design task to the final product. Some key areas of improvement include using a more stylized and attention-grabbing font for the masthead compared to the softer font used preliminarily. The front cover of the final product also includes more information, draws the reader in more effectively with the central model photograph, and looks more professional overall. The contents page of the final design better highlights features and conforms to magazine conventions compared to the preliminary version.

1. EVALUATION 7: LOOKING BACK AT
YOUR PRELIMINARY TASK, WHAT
DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE LEARNT IN
THE PROGRESSION FROM IT TO THE
FULL PRODUCT?

2. MASTHEAD
These are the two mastheads that I made as part of my work, in terms of the layout
they are very different pieces of work. By looking at the first images (my preliminary
work) we can see that the words are in a simple font and the ‘BD’ is sideways in front
of the ‘Times’, I wouldn't say that this looks very professional or effective, however,
comparing it to the second piece of work you can see a vast improvement. The
improvement comes from the layout and the font of the text amongst other aspects.
As you can see, the masthead dominates the top quarter of the page and is in one line
and not too complicated. The font is also an aspect that adds to the difference of the
two pieces, as you can seem the text in the preliminary task looks much softer,
smaller and therefore less effective whereas, in the main task a stylised font has been
used alongside bold capital letters, this looks far more effective and stands out much
more than the first masthead. I also included the names of some famous artists on
top of the masthead to identify the genre.

3. FRONT COVER

4. The difference between the two cover images is quite a contrast, this is
mainly due to the way in which the photographs have been taken and the
presentation. When looking at the preliminary task we can see that the
cover is quite plain, there is not much added information and the picture
is not of good quality. The overall aesthetics of the cover does not
capture the attention of the reader. Comparing this to the main task
however, the cover is completely different. There is more information
about the contents of the magazine, it meets genre conventions and
overall looks quite professional.
Another aspect to consider is the positioning of the model in the
photograph and the body language he uses. With the preliminary task the
photo is not very focused on the models as such, we can not really see
their faces and this is because the models are sat down and looking at
work in front of them. In contrast, the main task features the model
filling most of the page with him being closer to the camera and in the
middle of the page. This is more effective in two ways, the first of which I
would say is the connection the audience have with the character on the
page, he feels and looks closer to you, and the second being that with
the model in the centre it creates a more interesting image and allows
space on either side of the model to add information.
FRONT COVER

5. CONTENTS PAGE

6. Looking at the layouts between the two tasks you can see that they
are similar in some aspects such as the listing of the contents. I
wanted to use one main feature picture in both of the pieces
however, I think the image for the main feature in the main task is
much better because it is a photo that really addresses the
audience and captures the genre. The preliminary task does have
quite a structured layout, however, I think after looking into the
conventions of magazines more, I was able to develop a better
layout which is separated up and easy to look at. By using the lines
between features on the page the contents looks professional and
stylish. What's more, I decided to have a focus on the side of the
page with my main task by placing the image of the model on the
far left and the list of the contents on the far right, in contrast to
the preliminary task it does create more of a focus. I feel that the
main task looks way more professional because there are the
normal features and I isolated the special feature which is an
interview with the model used and placed the page number on
him.
CONTENTS PAGE

7. FONT USED ON FRONT COVER

8. In terms of the font used on the front cover I have learnt a lot since the
preliminary task. You can see the difference with the style of font straight
away, the preliminary has smooth, soft and plain font and looking at it in
comparison to the stylised font of the main task it looks far less effective. By
using the stylised font I used it is far easier to attract attention to the page
and using a bold font, as I have for the masthead, emphasises this more.
Another aspect of the font that I have changed is the use of capital letters.
The preliminary uses capital letters only at the beginning of the words, it has
lower case letters in the masthead. However, the main task has used capital
letters in a very effective way. As you can see, the masthead and the main
features use capital letters, conforming to the conventions of a magazine and
looking very effective at the same time, it is a vast improvement from the
preliminary task.
The colours of the font have changed, I chose a black font because of the
white background, also most commonly the mastheads of magazines are
black. I decided to add a little colour with some dark red font, also it makes
the cover more attractive because most of it is white and black.
FONT USED ON FRONT COVER