Through completing the school magazine preliminary task and full music magazine, the author learned how to use various design tools like Photoshop more proficiently. Their editing, research, and layout design skills improved. Feedback on the school magazine helped them create a more appealing, professional, and audience-focused music magazine that effectively uses visual elements and storytelling techniques.

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

3. I have learnt a lot since the preliminary task and I have become more confident with using new technologies such as Photoshop. My editing skills have improved and I have become more efficient. Through the research stages I have learnt a lot about the conventions of music magazines and have then been able to apply them to my own magazine designs. I have also learnt about the different ways in which magazines are distributed and what the effects are. Generally, I have a greater understanding of the magazine industry.In terms of using the blog I have leant how to add different types of files, organize posts accordingly and use other programmes such as Sound Cloud and Slide Share and then embed them on Wordpress. Therefore I have demonstrated that I can use a variety of programmes to enhance the quality of my blog which I may not have known how to do before.

4. After learning how to use a variety of different tools on Photoshop I am now able to create more professional designs. My school magazine was very basic looking back. I like the use of colour but the text wasn’t strong enough on the front cover. It was also out of line and the colour scheme didn’t really work. My school contents page looks bare. I did not fill in all of the space provided and therefore it looks lacking in information. I also feel that my coverlines are more interesting on my music magazine and on the school magazine they don’t seem to be ‘catchy’ enough or make a statement.

5. However, with my music magazine I have worked to the best of my ability and made a design which appeals to my target audience, is attractive, eye catching and professional. I concentrated a lot more on mise en scene for my music magazine and wanted the colour scheme to be uniformed and run throughout so that the three pieces fitted together and could be recognized as one. I also thought more about what the models should be doing in the images to attract my target audience, what clothes they should wear and their facial expressions. I considered representation a lot more and asked my target group questions so that I could get their opinions. I also think I have taken photographs of a higher quality and have edited the lighting so that they look more professional. The only part of mise en scene that I considered in the preliminary task was for the models to be stood outside school in their uniform. My mastheads are more interesting as I used Dafont to experiment with what worked well and I think overall the layout is much more structured and professional