The student learned significant skills in using Photoshop and magazine design from their preliminary school magazine task to their final product. In their preliminary cover, the font and color scheme were not eye-catching and the cover lines were poorly aligned. However, their final cover had a more effective color scheme that drew attention, well-aligned cover lines, and improved image editing. Their preliminary contents page lacked professionalism with misaligned images of inconsistent sizes and little design elements, whereas their final work showed mastery of layout, formatting and aesthetics. Overall, they improved skills in image editing, cover design, font selection and use of color schemes to create a polished, visually appealing final magazine.

1. Evaluation Draft 7
Looking back at your preliminary task (the school
magazine task), what do you feel you have learnt in the
progression from it to full product?

2. Preliminary Cover
Looking back at my preliminary work to create a school
magazine I believe my overall use of image and Photoshop has
improved drastically. My masthead on my preliminary cover is a
fine thin font, the title is in a large photo so attention is
instantly drew to it, however the font itself isn't very eye
grabbing and affective. Along with this I don’t feel the overall
colour scheme works well, for example in my final cover the
colour scheme the title is in blue and it is extremely
clear, whereas in my preliminary cover it is in plain black which
looks uncreative and isn't eye catchy.
The cover lines in my preliminary task are extremely plain, also
they aren’t lined up correctly, this can give off an
unprofessional look. However I like the use of my colour
scheme to highlight specific words like damaged. In contrast to
this the overall look of my cover lines for my final piece are a
lot more affective. Attention is instantly drew to ‘the
everything’ efficiently.
On the other hand I like the overall look of my image, the mid
shot is very sharp and the use of the magic wand tool is
creative. Along with this model breaks the fourth wall by
looking into the camera, this is a useful affect for luring people
into buying.
I believe I have progressed a lot since designing my preliminary
cover in every aspect, however the preliminary task helped me
get a better understanding on how to use Photoshop before I
started my drafts.

3. Preliminary Contents
My contents page is extremely poor and of a low standard. The overall skill and look gone
into the piece is very limited. There is very little font accompanying each image used. I
could have spent more time on the contents page to have a more affective look.
Furthermore the use of images are very poor. The positioning of each image doesn’t align
and along with this the sizing of each image is stretched which gives off an unprofessional
look. The overall page is very simple, there is no use of date and headings for each feature.
Along wit this there are isn't a page number which is something a magazine wouldn’t miss
out.
Although the target audience where different to my final piece, the overall look isn't
aesthetically pleasing. It features the same person throughout which isn't what would be
seen in conventional magazines.
The obvious uneven sizing of my images is very poor and I should have put more care into
making it look neat. The overall improvement between both pages is evidently clear, this
can be seen by the amount of information and the professional overall look and layout
used in my final cover in comparison to my prelim.

4. Overall Progress
Comparing my preliminary work to my final coursework I can see the overall
improvements in my ability in Photoshop. In the preliminary task I have only
shown the basics of literally inserting an image and writing around it, showing
only the use of colour schemes and image positioning, however in my final
magazine covers I have show a wide variety of skills, including professional
positioning of images and a lot more effort put into the overall looks and
layouts, including the higher affective colour scheme.
I have also improved in the image sizing and positioning on my final covers, this
makes the magazine look a lot higher in quality and professionalism.
Furthermore I have improved in my ability to alter photos, for example I can
now successfully change the contrast and brightness in my images to make
them fit the overall look of the cover whereas before I had little understanding.
In addition I have also improved a lot in the aspect of cover lines, my final
covers cover lines had more thought and work gone into them to make them
affective linking in different uses of colour schemes. This leads me to explain my
use of colour schemes, and I have learnt a lot about affective overall looks and
how important the colour scheme is when designing the magazines as it draws
a huge amount of attention. My overall awareness of fonts has also increased as
the fonts in my final coursework are more professional and suitable to the
audience. Along with this I have learnt how to use the fonts in order to gain
attention, for example my masthead ‘BASIC’.
Overall I extensively prefer the look and layouts in my final pieces compared to
my preliminary work. I believe I have progressed in every aspect when designing
every specific detail in my magazine, ranging from fonts and cover lines to
image positioning and colour schemes.