The student created a cover for a music magazine using Photoshop. They succeeded in following conventions like using a masthead font related to the genre and including bands their target audience would like. Their design improved from their initial sketch. They learned to use Photoshop with minimal teacher help to create a relatively professional product. Their weakness was time management, as they struggled to finish in the allotted time. Moving layers and making the masthead disappear behind the cover star were the most difficult elements. Since their preliminary task, the student has become more confident using Photoshop through repetition. They better understand conventions and can structure covers to suit audiences.

1. Skills Development-
Front Cover

2. Strengths and weaknesses
I think I succeeded in creating a cover which follows
most of the codes and conventions of a professional
music magazine. For example I used a masthead in a
font which relates to the genre of the magazine and my
cover lines contain bands which my target audience
like.
Another strength would be the design of the cover, as it
was designed by me and turned out better than the first
sketch because I found out what looked better on the
screen after trying out different fonts and positions.
I managed to use Photoshop with minimal help from
the teacher and ended up with an outcome that looks
relatively professional.
I think my weakness for the production of this cover
was time management as I struggled to complete the
cover in a short space of time.

3. What did I find easy and what did I
find difficult?
I found that most of the processes were easy because
they were repetitive.Adding text boxes for example
was not difficult so I just had to find the fonts I needed
and change the colours when necessary.This was also
an easy task.
Moving the different elements of the magazine was
time consuming because you had to search through the
different layers until you found what you were looking
for.
The most difficult element of this production was
making the masthead look like it disappears behind the
cover star.This was a new technique for me and
required a lot of concentration in order to make it
disappear in the right places.
Apart from that, there was nothing that really
challenged me.

4. Main tools
The main tools I used were the text tool to create all of
the cover lines. I used the text tool to create all of my
own fonts so I didn’t have to copy them off another
piece of work. I then had to change the colours of them
so the colour chart was something I used often as well.
Another main tool was the shape tool which allows you
to draw shapes and use them on your product. I used
the rectangle stamp tool the most for things like the
skylines and the small rectangles above each cover line.

5. How does my use of Photoshop
compare to the preliminary task I
produced?
Since the preliminary task, I have become more confident with
Photoshop because the repetition of the processes made me
better.
I understood the conventions better and therefore knew how to
structure my front cover better to suit an audience. For example, I
used a destroyed looking font for my mast head which fits the
indie vibe and I was able to import this font from a website which I
wouldn’t have known how to do during the preliminary task.
I learnt how to add a barcode and change the scale of the image to
better fit the magazine.
The cover lines on my music magazine fill up the spaces around
the subject better then they did on my college magazine.The
colour scheme I used is also better fitting and it is more refined.