The document discusses what the author learned from their preliminary college magazine task to their final production. Some key lessons learned included using professional lighting techniques, varying fonts and colors for visual interest, choosing unique and identifying masthead fonts, using different shot types to establish subjects and genres, and manipulating photos for higher quality. The author also learned about including appealing and interesting journalism, contents page layout conventions, and house style considerations like using complementary yet contrasting colors. Overall, the author felt they gained valuable knowledge around fonts, color schemes, and journalism to create a more professional-looking magazine.

1. Evaluation Question 7
Looking back at your preliminary task (the college magazine task), what
do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to your final
production?
Final Production Prelim Task
Research and planning- During my research and planning, i discovered that the
images used on a front over are always professional. Even Though i used an image
for my preliminary task taken with a professional camera, the lighting is not correct
for the genre of the magazine. I have discovered that light is very important when
taking an image; on my prelim task image, the lighting is coming from the left of the
image which shadows the right side. This would often connote with a rock genre
magazine; however, it is a college magazine therefore the lighting should have been
key lighting. I used key lighting within my final product main image as that also
connoted with an indie genre (shows the image more clearly). I believe that the
colours i used stood out well against the grey background, however, the colours are
too broad. I have researched that a house style colours of a magazine are often
varied and different in order to stand out on a magazine. Although the colours are
very bright, the colours aren’t different enough and don’t contrast each other to give
the eye catching effect. Also, the fonts that i have used in my prelim task are far too
boring. I researched that on professional magazines, plain fonts are often used as

2. sell lines. I used very plain sans serif fonts all across my college magazine which
obviously doesn’t make the magazine interesting. Therefore, after i researched a lot
of different magazines, i realised that in order to have a professional looking
magazine, you need a variation of interesting and plain fonts.
Mastheads- The masthead i used for my college prelim magazine task was very
bold and large. I have discovered throughout my
research that this is typical for a lot of
magazines. However, the masthead font is too
plain. The sans serif font is seen a lot as it is a
popular font. Professional magazines often use a
unique font in order to attract the audience, but to also give that
magazine a specific identity thus making it more well known.
The font i used doesn’t have that appeal as it is very boring.
That is why, for my final product masthead, i used a unique font
as it will furthermore give the magazine some identity but will also be easier to
identify what magazine it is. Moreover, the colour of the prelim masthead is too
similar to the background colour. Even though the background is grey and the
masthead colour is blue, the colours don’t contrast against each other enough to
become eye catching. Therefore, for my final product masthead, i used the colour
yellow as it stands out against the grey background and makes the magazine easy
to identify.
Titles and headings- I used a variation of different
headings and titles for my preliminary task as i had
already seen a range of different magazines. However, my
titles, headings and sell lines are very boring and lack
interest especially for the spectator. Therefore, i
researched a lot of different magazines to get a clear
idea of what sell lines, titles and headings usually look
like in order to appeal and interest the audience.
Furthermore, for my final product, i used different fonts
and colours for my sell lines (all included in my house
style) to attract the eye of my audience. Whereas, even
though i used a range of different colours i didn’t choose different fonts. Overall i
have learnt that a range of different fonts and colours can make my magazine look
more appealing and professional.
Shot type- In my college magazine, i used a mid-shot for my image as i had already
seen magazines that showed the subject from the waist up, especially of magazine
front covers (however i didn’t know it was called a mid-shot until i researched it).
Therefore, i was quite pleased with the main image for my preliminary task as it was
my first attempt at creating a magazine cover. Moreover, i also used a mid-shot for
my image on my final product as i researched and discovered that a mid-shot is

3. often to establish the subject and the genre of the magazine. For my magazine
contents page i used a candid image which was at a long shot to get the whole body
on the subject. I did this to establish the subject and the genre. Also, my double page
spread image is a long shot to establish the surroundings and the subject too, this
would present the genre, subject and the implication of what type of person the
subject is. I researched this from other magazines and shot types.
Spotlights and Footers- Spotlights and footers often present the implication of
professionalism and interest. I used both
on my prelim college magazine, as again
i had viewed magazines in the
past that had these details.
However, mine are very boring
and lack ability to interest. Even
Though the colours contrast well to catch the eye of the audience, the font and the
use of a simple white and blue/yellow just makes the magazine very bland.
Consequently, i decided to look further into my research to find the right idea to add
to my magazine and to make it interesting. I found that the more different the font
and colours, the more outstanding they would be.
Colour Scheme- For my prelim task, my college magazine front cover had 6
different colours; Yellow, white, black, red, orange and blue. Although the magazine
has a variation of colours, some of them such as; orange, red and yellow don’t
contrast against each other enough. Therefore the house style of my magazine was
far too broad. Therefore, I only used 5 colours for my final product;
red,white,black,yellow and blue. I still believe that this is a wide variety of colours,
however they all compliment each other well by contrasting and becoming eye
catching. I learnt that the more contrast within the colours, the more they will stand
out.
Puff- I used a puff on both projects, on the other hand, i have to admit that the prelim
college magazine’s puff doesn’t stand out well and is pretty plain. Therefore, i
decided to use contrasting colours and a more bold font in order to
become eye catching.
Images on contents page- Even Though I only made a prelim mock
up contents page, i had a clear idea of where i would have presented
my image if i had more time to create it. The
image would have been placed at the right
side of the page. However, for my final product
my images is on the left hand side of the page
as due to my research, i noticed that a large
percent of magazine contents pages involved
an image on the left hand side.

4. Journalism- The journalism between both of my magazines has changed quite
dramatically. For my prelim task i didn’t have a clear idea of what would be placed as
information on the front of a college magazine, furthermore, that is why the text is so
tedious. On the contrary, for my final product, i had a lot of time to research and look
into real magazines to see what kind of information is presented throughout a music
magazine. Therefore, i learnt what would be interesting and appealing to a real
audience.
Photo manipulation- For my prelim task, i didn’t use any kind of photo manipulation
because i didn’t believe the image to need any. In contrast, i manipulated all three of
my images for my cover page, contents page and double page spread. I took away
the blemishes on the subjects face, but also sharpened them to look of a higher
quality. With my contents and double page spread, i also increased the brightness
and contrast in order to make the images stand out more as they weren’t taken with
a professional camera.
Locations- My main images for my college magazine was taken in a studio, which is
also the same location of my final product front cover image. The contents page and
double page spread both had outside locations to establish the genre. Therefore
making my magazine look professional.
Overall, i have learnt quite a lot in order to create a magazine to look professional
and presentable. The main thing i learnt overall, was the fonts and the colour
scheme as that plays a huge part in the presentation of the magazine. However i
may also argue that journalism was also a large learning curve for me as it was the
hardest part of creating my magazine.