The student learned several key things from completing their preliminary magazine task to their final product: 1) They improved their computer skills using Photoshop and can now more efficiently edit photos, adding effects and touching up images. 2) Their understanding of how magazines appeal to audiences and the techniques used, such as layout conventions and positioning of elements, grew substantially through research and applying it to their own magazine. 3) By comparing their preliminary and final magazines, they saw a marked improvement in the quality, depth, and professionalism of their contents page, cover design, and magazine overall, demonstrating their learning throughout the process.

1. Q7 Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the
progression from it to the full product?
I believe the main progression from my preliminary task is the fact I can now use software and different apps and my understanding of
how a magazine is created and the journey you need to take to create a magazine and the features and conventions that make magazines
appealing to its intended audience.
I have developed my computer skills by using software such as Photoshop. During my preliminary my knowledge of it was very poor as I
didn’t really know what it was. For example the very simple elements of editing such as being able to roughly cut out and add effects to
photos. It has gradually progressed throughout the production of my final piece and after my final draft I believe I have a much more
understanding of the tools and effects you can create using this app. I feel that in comparison to my draft, the editing and the standard of
the magazine is much higher, showing my improvement throughout the course. For example, my ability to cut and edit the background of
things to produce higher quality photos has improved as well as my ability to cover blemishes and change colours. I also am much more
efficient; getting simple tasks such as editing objects and layers completed a lot quicker.
My understanding and knowledge of magazines has much improved. The knowledge was mainly gained during the research (particularly
during analysis of magazines e.g. front cover, contents and article) as I was learning how magazines appeal to an audience and the
techniques, conventions and features they use to do so, such as the rule of three and house styles. I learnt how everything down to the
positioning of certain things on the page was designed to be pleasing and appeal to the target audience. However my understanding grew
more during the planning and production of my final draft as it required me to use the knowledge effectively and to create my own
following the conventions and techniques of magazines I had researched online. The draft magazine was very brief and lacked much use as
a contents page whereas in my final piece I had a lot more detail and depth. For example in my preliminary task there was very little
information of what the magazine contained and the pictures lack any versatility and clearly do not fit together. Contrastingly, my final
contents page features an in depth contents, detailing exactly what we can expect from the magazine. It also sections the contents up so it
makes it easier for the reader to use. The photographs are better edited and work better on the page and show a lot more versatility
suggesting there to be more than one feature in the magazine. From just looking at the contents alone you can see my development and
my understanding of a conventional magazine as this where I have learnt most about. Lets not forget about my front cover, my preliminary
front cover was very brief and quick as I didn’t care where I sections things other than the master head and the main image. As I researched
and it came to my final product I learnt that it matters a great deal on where you place things on a magazine as this would help appeal to
your target audience, Another prime example of what I have learnt along this journey of creating my magazine .