The author reflects on improvements from their preliminary magazine task to the final product. They learned to use InDesign better and improved photo quality. Comparing covers shows higher realism in the final product due to planning conventions from example magazines. The most important difference was increased planning for the final task, including a photoshoot, layout, and social media strategy to engage the target audience. Overall, the author believes they have progressed in software skills and understanding to produce a quality final magazine.

1. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to
the full product?
Looking back at the preliminary task that I created back in September, I feel that I have come a long
way in the creation of my magazine, and have made some improvements in my knowledge of the
software. For both the preliminary task and my final product I used the software InDesign, when
comparing the two products I can see a vast improvement of my ability to use the software and my
knowledge of the various tools that were possible for me to use.
I feel that the photos play a massive part in the quality and effectiveness of the magazine. When
looking at the preliminary task that I created prior to the music magazine, the images lacked the
professionalism which the images used in my music magazine did. The images for the preliminary
task were taken using a basic camera on my iPhone compared to the high quality images that were
used on my music magazine which were taken using a canon SLR camera – the images that this
camera took were much better than those used in the preliminary task and made the magazine look
a lot more realistic.
When comparing both the front covers of the preliminary task and the final product I can definitely
see a vast improvement in the quality of the products. The preliminary task lacks the realism of a
magazine as it looks a lot less realistic than the music magazine I created for my final piece of
coursework. When creating the preliminary task, there were not any examples of magazines similar
to its type in which I could use for ideas of what is and is not successful. However when creating the
real task, there are many music magazine on the market which are extremely successful such as Q
and NME which I could look at the successful codes and conventions which I could imitate so that
they fitted my house style and genre of magazine.
The most important factor that I felt affected the difference in quality between my preliminary
magazine and final task and that was the process of planning the creation of my magazine. I planned
the photoshoot, the layout of the magazine and much more which you are able to see under the
‘planning’ tab on my blog (g321zoeramsdaleclark.blogspot.co.uk). I took a lot of time planning the
process of the magazine; looking up various music magazines, contents page ideas, sell line ideas,
colour scheme ideas and other various aspects that make up a successful magazine. It was very
important that I followed the other key conventions which would allow me to create a successful
magazine which would effectively attract my target audience. One key factor in which I planned was
the involvement of social media as I felt that this would play a massive part in how successful my
magazine was due to having quite a young target audience. I researched what forms of social media
were frequently used at the moment and utilised my knowledge to make sure all of the key areas
were covered.
Overall I believe that I have progressed successfully since the start of the year and I believe that this
is noticeable in the quality difference seen between my preliminary task and the full product. My
knowledge of the used software has grown massively and I feel that my understanding of the various
technologies has heightened massively. With all the practice and application of the skills I have
acquired over the past months I feel that I have made a good, strong piece of coursework.