The document discusses the evaluation of an extended project. It summarizes the time management techniques used, difficulties experienced with software and meeting deadlines, thoroughness of research conducted, how the final outcome differed from initial intentions, skills developed, and audience feedback. Key points include poor time management, software issues causing delays, research could have been more thorough by including more primary sources, and the final outcome was improved from initial ideas through an iterative design process. Feedback was generally positive but indicated some aspects like colors and images could be improved. Reflection on the experience will inform doing the project differently in the future, such as improved time management and more primary research.

1. Evaluation How did I manage my time? As part of my extended project I had to take some consideration of time management. When working on a project of this nature it’s essential that I manage my time well and have a contingency if there was anything to go wrong potentially jeopardising my project. There are a few methods which help with time management the foremost being a gannt chart, this chart will represent each day of my project and what I was going to do on each day stated in a clear colour coded format created on excel. Another use of time management I used was my reflective journal, this helped me keep in check all the things that I have done and any progress I had made so I can look back and see what I have to aim for next. I also used a project progression record, similar to the reflective journal this denotes all what I have completed and where the evidence is located, it helped me realise that I had dome and what needed to be done next which I would then refer to my gannt chart to induce any changes.

2. What difficulties did you experience and how did you overcome them? I used my gannt chart very loosely as I knew there would be certain changes within my project due to some issues that might be faced such as illness, software barriers, server malfunctions, computer problems ect. These are what I refer to as my contingency, some of these did occur and my gannt chart had to be revised which I did a few times accordingly. During the beginning stages of the project I followed my gannt chart religiously and tried to perform every task in accordance to the sheet. However, towards the production stage I refereed to it less as I was facing many problems with the software I was using, this caused slow progress of the production making my original gannt chart obsolete. I changed it a little, and therefore began to abuse it and not follow it up towards the end of my project. On the contrary I successfully filled out my reflective journal every week which did give me some idea of what was going on and some timescale I was facing. I had many difficulties with my project and there was a huge process of design involved, this I did not account for and hindered my timing. I believe that without that process I would have had a weaker end product, so for that I’m not regretful. I also faced some difficulties when working with the editing software due to it being slow and unresponsive quite often. Other difficulties included restraints on gathering feedback for the research and evaluation of my product. Due to the strain on meeting the deadline for the production I didn’t have enough time to gather and collate enough results as I wanted. Some of these difficulties put stain on my time management and other parts of my project suffered, however in the end I had all the work in on time. I am disappointed because I could have managed my time allot better to allow for more problems that might occur.

3. How thorough is your research? As a part of my project I had to gather research to help me understand and gain some knowledge about how the professionals who work in the industry produce similar type products on a mass scale. Research in any projects is essential because it helps create a basis for your product and gives you something to aspire to and compete with. I started my secondary research by gathering information on my content, as mine product was about my course I already had self knowledge therefore I knew where to look. I visited a few websites that promoted the diploma but did not explore this thoroughly as I already knew all about it. I then progress on examining other products that offer a similar theme, mine being an informative promotional prospectus. I began to gather examples and annotate them to show what I thought was good and what needed to be improved, I believed this helped me gain ideas and heavily influenced my final product. This part of my research was thorough as I wanted my layout, colour scheme and structure to be as effective as possible. I also explored what E-magazines were and how they have made an impact on 21st century society, along with more detailed analysis of structure and layout. After I finished my secondary research I moved on to my primary research, I began this by exploring what primary research is, how it’s managed, collated and examined. I produced a questionnaire that asked questions to the current media diploma class asking their opinion on the diploma, the results were comprehensive and I used some of the answers as quotes in my final piece. Although I believe I produced sufficient evidence that helped me with my product I think I could have made it allot more thorough by using more primary resources rather than secondary, this will help me get a clearly more precise view on the product I’m creating. I did use so much research because much of It I already knew from my experience of the course, this is a valued asset because I can give a first hands approach although my opinion could be classed as bias if it’s all just my own knowledge. If I was to re-do my research I would examine a broader range to get a more concise prospective rather than opinions of people I don’t know.

4. Are your final outcomes originally what you intended or are they different? Overall I’m very happy with the way my product has taken shape though a rigorous design process and in the end I’m extremely happy with it and I believe that is effective in what I intended it to do. However there are some differences which changed from my original design, I thought that creating a simple layout and design would be effective, this was not the case. I created a simple design and decided that it would not be as effective as a more creative, comprehensive and colourful approach. So I began to change some details which then progressed further, the stages began to get better and I was soon realising my final product. With many tweaks and changes I believe that I have ended well and put most effort into the production of my final piece. The difference in my final piece from my idea is not bad, it is the opposite if I had gone with my original idea and kept that throughout I would not have been as satisfied and would not have learned from mistakes and built upon my creative ideas. Within my folder and displayed on my blog are the different key stages in which I designed my product and how I reached the final outcome.

5. What skills have you developed through doing the extended project? Throughout the project I have gained many skills along the way which have helped me not only in my project but other units on the Diploma in Creative and Media, I have also transferred skills I have gained from the principal learning units and built on them. I have learned a lot about project management, this is highly important I have come to realise, it’s the whole structure and plan of what you intend to do and when you intend to do it. It is a key part in keeping the project running smooth. I have learnt new ways to manage my project although I didn’t follow them as I intended in the future I will be more responsible because I have come to realise it’s essential to keep it running smooth. I have also developed many skills in research which I had some knowledge of but have never used it to the extent in which was needed for this project. With this I found out that not only website research in valid, there needs to be a range of sources to get comprehensive research, that has to comprise of a mixture of primary and secondary research. I developed a different outlook on primary research as well finding that focus groups are an easier way of gathering research. Questionnaires can also be used effectively on social networking sites though the Survey Monkey website, also I discovered the difference between qualitative and quantitative results. The production of my product helped me develop my skills immensely and I've gathered lots of new skills along the way. My constant battle in development on Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator enhanced my skills a lot further than I had first expected. I used new techniques that I found out self-explanatory and used them to create a better product, with these skills on the graphics programs I can transfer them to any project that I do. Throughout the production I also gained skills in graphical design and layout, this has helped me shape what the target audience expects to see, the images I used a took many of them myself, this give me lots of hands-on photography skills and a learnt how to take the perfect photo for my end product. From this reflection I believe that I have learnt allot form this experience and by reflecting on it has helped me realise what I would change if I was to re-do this project. There are many aspects I would change and I would further develop my primary research and development of my idea. Trying to get the opinion of others is essential I have come to realise and this reflection has helped me.

6. How have audience responded to your final outcome? As part of my reflection I created a questionnaire which would help me discover what people think of the magazine and whether it would be effective on a public basis. My questions posed closed questions asking if the person strongly agreed, agree, disagreed or strongly disagreed, then one question at the end for further comments. Overall the general feedback was good, many people agreed that it was a good idea and it was presented well. Some people agreed that it gave them some insight on the Creative Media Diploma. However there was some aspects which people agreed there need to be some changes these included the colour scheme, images and text. On the contrary I don’t think that I performed enough sources for audience feedback this was due to timing issues which I have already stated in this evaluation. These time issues restricted the time frame in which I had to collate and evaluate my results. I used the website survey money to try and gather some response however this was not filled out by anybody so I had to product printed document s and hand them out to my class peers and other students.

7. What would I do differently if I was to do the extended project again? Although I was happy with my end product and I achieved everything I set out to do and more I think that there are many aspects I would Change if I was to re-do this project. Firstly was my time management, this was a huge mistake of mine because I didn’t follow my gannt Chart as effectively as I intended to. This put a huge strain on my project as I began to lag behind and some of my project became very stressful to try and finish in the elapsed timeframe. Also I would perform a lot more primary research, this is the fundamental research as it Analyses what the people actually want to see and what they think if the product, therefore it’s the most important. However when there’s bad there’s always good as I have fully concentrated on my production and am very happy with it’s outcome, the only Bit of the production I’m disappointed with is the back page. Again this was due to bad time management and complication with the software that I was using. If I was to redo this I think I would change the content to something that I’m less comfortable with and what needs a lot of research To understand. I think I knew too much about the content already therefore my reach evidently lacked.