Laura has learned several skills in progressing from her preliminary task to the full product. Her photography skills have improved as she has used different camera settings like close-up to get clearer pictures. She also focused more on design layout by studying magazine Q and applying techniques like the rule of thirds. Additionally, Laura has developed Photoshop skills like using lock guides, adjusting brightness and contrast, airbrushing faces, and cutting out backgrounds with the quick selection tool to make the magazine look more professional.

1. Question 7LauraSlater
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in
the progression from it to the full product?
Photography.One area in which I feel I have progressed in is photography. It
has developed a lot since my ancillary task. One example of this is using
different settings on the camera to try and get the best results possible. For
example the camera shots that have been used such as a close up. When using
the close up setting on the camera it enables you to go close to an object and it
does not got blurry no matter how close you are. This is good as the pictures
were much clearer and look a lot more professional as they would in a real
music magazine.
Design layout. I have concentrated a lot more on the design layout this time
than on my actual product. I have done this by studying the magazine, Q. From
doing this I can use some of the design ideas from this so that it looks realistic
and can also be relatable to another real life magazine. One example of how I
concentrated on the layout of my magazine was by using the rule of thirds
throughout my front cover. The main house design is also very similar to ‘Q’.
For example the colours used throughout are red, black and white and the
colours used on my magazine are red, black and white.
Photoshop. I have also developed a lot of skills while using Photoshop. For
example I have made sure that I use lock guides when I design something just
to make sure that everything is in line and neat so that the magazine looks as
professional as possible. My use of photo manipulation has also improved. I
have made sure I used the brightness and contrast scales on all of my pictures
so they were bright and stood out as much as they could. I also used the
airbrush tool on the models faces to get rid of any blemishes so that the
magazine was professional as possible and also looked good. I have also used
the quick selection tool so that I can cut the background out of the pictures
when they are no needed.