The student learned several new skills in progressing from their preliminary magazine task to the full product. They learned how to use effects like drop shadows and glows in InDesign to make elements stand out. In Photoshop, they learned how to use the quick selection tool to cut out parts of photos, like using a bubble gum bubble for the letter "O" in the magazine masthead. The complexity of page layouts increased as the student learned to use layers in Photoshop more effectively. Overall, the student's understanding of software like InDesign grew substantially over the course of the project.

1. Question 7 - Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have
learnt in the progression from it to full product?
From the start of creating my magazine, my knowledge of using InDesign has
increased considerably. For example, I now know how to make elements of my
magazine stand out more by using drop shadows and outer glows. In addition to
this, I have increased my knowledge on how to select parts of photos using the
quick selection tool in order to cut things out in Photoshop. An example of this
would be the bubble gum bubble that I used as the letter ‘O’ for the masthead of
my magazine’s front cover. This gives the front cover of my magazine more
interesting features that my target audience would remember to help identify
my magazine. As well as this, the complexity of my page layout has increased as I
have learnt how to use layers in Photoshop more effectively. I feel I have used
more of a variety of techniques than my preliminary task. For example, I have
included pictures for the cover lines, smaller than the main image, and I have
also offered freebies and information to appeal to the target audience where I
believe my preliminary task lacked this. The image taken for the preliminary task
I feel did not give as strong an impact as the main task that I have just completed.
By using a digital camera in the college’s studio, I believe I have thought about
the mise-en-scene, costumes and props into much more detail compared to the
preliminary task. Sing the studio also allowed me to get high quality pictures as I
could use the studio lights and allow my models to have a white background by
using high key lighting.
Overall, my understanding of many software’s have improves greatly throughout
this project because at the start I had barely used software’s such as InDesign
and now I have produced a professional looking magazine by using this software.
Also I feel I have a greater understanding and knowledge on how to produce a
music magazine as my main task looks much more interesting and professional,
and links much better to what it is about. This is due to my improvement and
development I can clearly see in comparison to my preliminary task.