The document discusses the various software and technologies used to create music magazine products. Photoshop and InDesign were used to design pages and add layers of images and text. While familiar with Photoshop, the author learned to use InDesign's features to link and flow text boxes. Survey Monkey and YouTube were new tools used to conduct research and present videos. Word and PowerPoint were mainly used for organization and planning rather than the final products. Overall, the author felt Photoshop and InDesign were most critical to making the final products look professional.

2. TECHNOLOGIES USED
When creating the final products, I used lots of software's in order to create the
effects that I wanted. Most of them, including InDesign, Photoshop,
PowerPoint and Microsoft Word I had used before, but ones such as
InDesign/Photoshop were never in this context and it was interesting to learn
how they could be adapted to create something like a music magazine. For
the software's such as PowerPoint and Word it was more a case of
organisational need and was useful in planning and presenting my work.
The technologies I used that were new to me were the websites available on the
internet such as Survey Monkey, YouTube, Blogger and Slide Share. Most of
these sites were new to me and I learned how to create all sorts of resources
in order to complete research and how to present my work all on one blog.

3. PHOTOSHOP
Photoshop was not a new software to me before this project. I was familiar
with how to use it, however I did learn how to add new layers to an existing
image (for example text boxes and photographs) in order to create this front
cover and also the contents page of the music magazine.
INDESIGN
Similar to Photoshop, I have used InDesign before but not in this particular
way. I had never created a document before and it was useful to learn how
to link text boxes together so that the writing flowed; to learn how to reduce
the opacity of the background image so that the text was clear to read and
to create column lines across the document so that I had the conventional
guidelines to follow, of that of a real music magazine.
WORD/POWERPOINT
These two software’s were pretty easy to work with. They are really familiar
with most people yet they were extremely helpful in organising my work into
clear and concise documents in order that when uploaded to the blog they
were clear. I also used them within the planning of my final products, for
example when creating a pitch or just drafting the final pieces.

4. SURVEY MONKEY
I had never heard of Survey Monkey before this project, but however
found it extremely useful when completing my market and audience
research for the product. The service I found to be very quick and easy
to use and was a key piece in learning how to acquire the information I
needed in a clear and easy way for the audiences.
YOUTUBE
I used YouTube additionally on the blog as a way to present information.
I learned how to upload an edited video of my creation and post it/embed
it onto my blog
SLIDE SHARE
This service was again used for presentational purposes, as it allowed
me to upload my slideshows onto its sight, also making it public to
audiences and available to me to embed it to my blog in a suitable
mannar.

5. Looking back at the production processes of this project, I feel it would have been
impossible to create it without Photoshop and InDesign. These software's
made the final outcomes look professional and allowed me to complete more
that one task at a time, which in turn make it quicker to create and gave a
more authentic effect.
On the other hand certain software’s were not as necessary, for example
Microsoft Word and PowerPoint. These were only used for presentational
effect, and therefore could have been replaced with hand written pieces that
would have conveyed the same information.
After this project I do however see the benefits that technology has and would
have preferred to use it over hand writing. The technological convergence
allowed it to be efficient and quickly one but with greater quality and accuracy,
and that each piece of software is compatible with each other is another
benefit (posting slide share’s on the blog/Photoshop and InDesign for images
etc.) The other key convergence is that of social media’s. Without being able
to share creations online, market and audience research would have been
made difficult and wouldn’t have been done with the same accuracy
otherwise.