After completing their preliminary school magazine task, the author learned several important lessons that improved their second magazine product. For their music magazine, the author created a detailed plan, researched professional magazines for inspiration, improved their photography skills, and implemented helpful feedback from teachers and peers. As a result, their music magazine had a well-thought out layout, strict color scheme, and overall polished, professional appearance compared to their initial rushed school magazine. A survey of 14 respondents confirmed that the music magazine was more attractive and preferred over the school magazine due to its organization and execution.

1. Looking back to your
preliminary task, what do
you feel that you have
learnt in the progression
from it to the full product?
QUESTION 7

2. SCHOOL MAGAZINE SKETCHES

3. BEFORE

4. Throughout this magazine production I have learnt that having a plan is important
because it’s the best pathway to achieve your goal – which in this case is my
magazine. The plan for my final products were beneficial, as they guided me on what
type of decisions I should make on these products while giving me something to
picture in my mind on how I want my end results to look like. Compared to my school
magazine, i put so much effort in making the plan as best as I could and this is evident
in my sketches. However, i wasn’t entirely sure who i wanted on my contents page
and you could see on my sketch that there was blank spaces on my images, which
foreshadows how i didn’t think of a well thought plan. Henceforth, i used the same
model for my contents page as i was uncertain who should be my model and i took
the pictures the day before it was due which reinforces how i didn’t think of a well
thought plan. Also, any decision or changes i made for any of my products I asked my
teacher for advice which was helpful in order to achieve the best results. However, in
my school magazine I wasn’t really asking for anyone’s opinion or my teachers
because I was trying to get used to Photoshop since it was my first time. While, I was
investing all my time in choosing the best picture for my front cover and contents
page and what types of fonts that are appropriate for a school magazine and was
focused on making it look similar to my sketch. In addition, when it came to my final
products I wanted it to be perfect so, I took my time on making it look the best as I
could. Whereas, in my school magazine it was very rushed, the layout was very
unorganised and the placement of my sub images were inaccurate while there is still
white space around those images which shows the lack of skills I had on Photoshop of
not cropping it. Overall, the school magazine didn’t conform to the conventions that a
school magazine has because it lacks of banners and buttons which would of caused
my magazine to look more quirky compared to my music magazine where I thought
about every decision and had a layout in my head on how I wanted it to look like.
PROCESS FROM SCHOOL MAGAZINE TO MUSIC MAGAZINE

5. After completing my preliminary task, I started to look at music magazines to
get some ideas on how a professional one looks like and looked at student
magazines of their media products to inspire me. This was helpful as it
motivated me to start to watching videos on youtube on how to use
Photoshop and I asked year 13’s on some tips and tricks when using
Photoshop.
Furthermore, my photography has improved immensely as I started to adapt
to this camera as my pictures were more in focused and there was different
types of shots – like mid shot, close up, cowboy shot. Also, when it came to
choosing my models I wanted this magazine to appeal to almost every race
since r&b is mostly dominated by a black race. While, I focused on making my
magazine appeal to females as r&b is mostly male dominated. Therefore, I
subvert both of these conventions. In addition, when it came to the colour
scheme I used red, blue, black and white which are stereotypically male
colours so it is possibility it could attract males especially the front cover –
which is a female. While, I used this colour scheme throughout my media
products which compliments well with the dress attire of my models. This is
evident in my the front cover which makes it look aesthetically pleasing.
Lastly, I cooperated studio lighting in my media product which I didn’t do in
my preliminary task which made it look not appealing and striking to the
consumer. Also, the lighting wasn’t really good outside – since I took it on the
grass making my pictures look washed out compared to my media product
which looks more enhanced and high def.

6. AFTER

7. My media product have a strict colour scheme; which consists of
black, red, white, red and blue as they are dominantly used in r&b
music magazines so, I wanted to conform to this convention. While, it
is not overwhelming to the reader since it compliments well with
what my model is wearing which is evident in my front cover. Overall,
this makes my magazine look aesthetically pleasing and professional.
When typing my music magazine I made sure that every detail and
every decision was critically thought of. This resulted to everything
being aligned and in proportion. An example of this is my spacing in
my front cover as my mast head covers majority of the top cover
whereas my school magazine doesn’t really and it is not bold and
striking enough to be a masthead.
After experiencing the construction of my school magazine I was
more aware of the process – meaning I was used to Photoshop and I
took any mistakes which I did in my school magazine into
consideration when I was constructing my music magazine. In that
case, I was more organised and prepared to produce my media
products.

8. In addition, I made a survey which included 7 questions on
my school magazine and music magazine which gave me
some insight on what my target audience’s opinion is.
Half of my respondents found my music magazine
attractive and they prefer this magazine to my school
magazine.
Majority of my 14 respondents said that my best feature of
my school magazine was models.
Majority of my 14 respondents said that my worst feature
of my school magazine was layout and I completely agree
with them because it was very unorganised and I didn’t
have a well thought out plan to make it look the best of my
ability. While, I was rushing which made it look
unprofessional and inaccurate.
AUDIENCE FEEDBACK - SURVEY