Through creating a pop music magazine, the author learned about various technologies: They used an SLR camera for the first time and learned how to control focus and lighting. Photoshop was used to edit images, and a graphic tablet helped speed up and improve accuracy of edits like airbrushing. PowerPoint was utilized for fonts and layout. Various web applications such as Blogger, Slideshare, and Prezi were explored to showcase work in animated and visual ways, helping the author learn new presentational skills.

1. Evaluation
Question 6
What have you learnt about technologies from the process
of constructing the product?

2. Photography
 To take the photos for all of the segments of my pop music
magazine, I used an SLR camera.This is actually the first
time I have this type of camera, but I managed to pick up
the skills in using it fairly quickly.
 I learnt about the different functions such as controlling the
focus, or blurring only the background so that it would
focus on the foreground instead. The flash wasn’t a
necessity with this camera because I had the help of
lighting within the room which provided sufficient light for
the image.
 Using this camera meant that I learnt a lot about the
different aspects that need to be taken into consideration.
For instance, I learnt more about the different angles and
positioning that you can use in order to create a high
quality image.The only problem was that I was not able to
incorporate all of the photos into my magazine.
An example of some of
the photos I used within
my magazine

3. Post Production
 Through the production of my magazine, I used a variety of
programs. For instance, I used Photoshop in order to edit my
images. I found it difficult at the beginning as I was not familiar
with all of the controls. However, after looking at some tutorials
onYouTube and simply playing around with the tools was able to
pick up the functions quickly.Which I was then able to apply to
my magazine.
 Editing the images and creating the layout of the magazine was
difficult when just using the computer mouse.Therefore, I was
very lucky to own a ‘Kanvus’ graphic tablet. Using the tablet
meant that I was able to edit the background or create
handwriting fonts much quicker and to greater accuracy. Using
both Photoshop and the ‘Kanvus’ I also learnt how to airbrush the
models. In terms of erasing imperfections, creating a base for the
skin tone and merging the different layers to create a flawless
finish on the models
 I also came across using PowerPoint during the production of my
magazine. In addition to ‘Font space’ (a website that gives you a
selection of fonts to use), I used PowerPoint to create the general
font and colouring. I used PowerPoint to set a transparent colour
for the background of the texts. So that I would be able to apply it
to Photoshop later on.
Image
before
Image
after

4. Web applications
 In terms of web applications, throughout the production
of my magazine, I used a variety of applications to
showcase my work. Of course, ‘Blogger’ was the main
platform to display my work. I was able to upload images
and work directly to it, making it easier to comment and
evaluate on my work as well.
 Otherwise, I found sites such as ‘Slideshare’, ‘Prezi’,
‘Survey Monkey’ and ‘Powtoon’ very useful
presentational devices.This is because I was able to
present my work in a different manner, For example,
‘Prezi’ allowed me to make the presentation more
visually appealing, as it was more animated unlike a
regular PowerPoint slide show. I also enjoyed using
‘Powtoon’, as once again the animated element of the
presentation made it more visual when displaying
information.
 When it came to the evaluation stage of my pop music
magazine. I was introduced to more presentational
devices such as ‘Presenter’ and ‘Voice thread’. Once again
it allowed me to display my work in a more interesting
manner. Even though, at first I wasn’t familiar with these
sites, I am comfortable in applying them in any piece of
work.
I also had to ensure that I looked at
regular magazines of the genre. So
that I concentrated on the main
conventions