The document discusses what the author has learned about various technologies from constructing a magazine product. Regarding Mac computers, the author learned how to use Macs and became more comfortable with them. The author also learned how to use InDesign for page layout and creating magazine elements like covers and spreads. Photoshop was useful for editing photos to make them look more professional. The author gained knowledge around photography best practices and uploading/inserting images. Finally, the author discussed learning to set up and use a blog to present their work online in an organized manner.

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

2. Mac’s Before this project I had never used an Apple Mac computer before, so the whole set up was new to me. As we did more on the Mac’s I became more confident using them and remembered where certain programs were and how it all works. I had only used a PC previously but adjusted quickly as there are quite a few differences like the internet and the programs that can be used on Apple Mac’s, such as InDesign. As Apple Mac’s are becoming more widely used I thinks its good I now know how to use them and am more confident to use them especially as they are widely used in the media and magazine industries.

3. InDesign I had never used InDeisgn before this project so it was very new to me, but I quickly became custom to the lay out and the workings of it such as the tool box at the side. I think it is a very useful program and extremely good for creating magazines due to the page layout and how you can put layers on top of each other to create different effects. I learnt how to create a magazine cover layout and also a double page spread and contents page. I learnt how to insert photos and other images and how to move text around photos and other objects. This is my front cover I created on InDesign using the techniques we were taught in class.

4. Photoshop I had never really used Photoshop before but I found It really useful for improving my photos and making them look more professional. I liked how you could change the brightness of the overall shot and cut out certain parts to change the colour or put it on a different background. I used both of these methods in my magazine cover and double page spread. For example I edited the photo on the left into the photo on the right. It is used widely in the media industry for airbrushing and editing photoshoot pictures especially of celebrities so its very useful.

5. Photography I learned a lot about photography through this project like what lighting works best and whatare the best type of photos to use for cover shots, as well as shots that don’t work. For example this shot isn't very good because my modelisn't looking at the camera and the back ground is all mis-matched. He is also sitting in a weird position. I also learnt how to upload photos from a camera onto a Mac computer and then put them into InDesign.

6. Blogging I had never used a blog before this project so using one was new to me but I found it easy to set up and to get started with. At first I found It hard to upload images and photos onto my blog but soon got used to it and found It easier to do. I liked how you could change the background and layout of you blog and make it original as well. I thought it was a good way of presenting all your work instead of printing it all out or putting it onto a disk. It also meant it was all together and you couldn’t lose any sheets.