From constructing a media product, the author learned various technology skills, including using Blogger to organize their coursework, PowerPoint and Prezi for presentations, and Photoshop and Quark to design magazine pages. Through trial and error, the author improved their skills with these programs throughout the project, especially with Photoshop and Quark which they had no prior experience with. By the end, the author felt they had produced work to a professional standard through developing their technology abilities.

1. What have you learnt about
technologies from the process
of constructing this product?

2. From the onset of my project, I developed my skills in several different
areas of technology in order to create the most successful end product
that I could. Through trial and error, from the prelim activity onwards, I
worked hard to improve my skills which meant that my end product
was finished to a professional standard. Using Blogger, PowerPoint, An
SLR Camera, Photoshop and Quark, and online resources such as Prezi
and PowToon, I moved through the project gradually building up to the
production of my Front Cover, Contents Page and Double Page Spread-
which I am happy with the outcome of. Throughout the project, I
worked to improve my skills in all areas, particularly Photoshop and
Quark as I had never used these programmes before, so that my work
could progress and I feel I was successful in doing so.

3. My Initial task, before anything else, was to set up a blog so that I had one place to keep all my coursework
together. Having a blogger page meant that my work was secure and also in a organised, chronological order,
easy to find certain pieces of work if necessary. Blogger, as a tool, was extremely easy to use and meant that I
had a sufficient storage method as well as an attractive way to present my work.
BLOGGER
Firstly, I Logged into my google account so that I could
access Blogger.
Once I had logged in I came to this page, where you can
access your own blog as well as others similar or your
favourites. To create an new blog I selected the ‘new blog’
option in the left hand corner, which offered me multiple
options to set up my blog page.

4. After opening a new blog, I got many options. Firstly, I chose
the template for my blog. I chose quite a simple template so
that I could modify it further on, changing colours,
positioning of features and fonts of the page title, column
headings etc.
I then had to make a title and blog address. It is important
that these are relevant as these are the first things that will
be seen on your blog. I choose the blog address
‘asmediarubymcgann@blogspot.co.uk’ and the title ‘AS
Media Studies’.
After this, I am taken to the post list, which features all of the
content on the blogger page. Each blog post has a name
which will also appear on the blog and also a date and time of
publishing which you can amend to change the order of the
posts if necessary.

5. To create a blog post I selected the ‘new post’ option. Here
I could insert text and edit this text with standard text
options, Insert Images, Videos, links and documents. As
well as this, It is possible to embed items such as YouTube
videos, Prezi and Powtoon documents, an essential
throughout my project. This was done using an embedding
link on the HTML option of the page.
After publishing the page, the post is present on the blog. I
feel that I was successful in using blogger due to the
simplicity of it. The work from the prelim, up to the final
outcome is present and the clear progression is evident
due to the chronological order of the posts.

6. I used the internet as a tool for research throughout the entire process. I was able to find information about
magazines- the typical codes and conventions at the start of the project up to more detailed analysis further
on in the project. When researching the competitor market, I was able to find information such as Price,
Frequency of Publication and Number of pages etc, which allowed me to create a general idea for how my
magazine should be. The internet was a useful tool to get pictures which illustrated my points in many areas of
the work. Without the Internet I would have struggled to present my work in different ways meaning it would
be boring and lack variety.
INTERNET
Both Prezi and Powtoon are free online programmes which allow
you to present your work in different ways. I used both
programmes multiple times throughout my project and they
allowed me to be creative with what would just be written text.
Prezi allowed me to create interactive presentations- I was able
to choose from hundreds of themes and edit the work so that it
suited my needs. Powtoon allowed me to create animated videos
again a great way to present a piece of written text differently.
Although it is harder to use, I like the outcome of a Powtoon
video as it is has a very professional appearance. I enjoyed using
both programmes as they allowed me to vary my work.

7. I developed my skills using a professional camera throughout the project. I learnt about camera angles, types
of photographs, lighting, framing and zooming and gradually improved my skills so that I could have the best
results possible in my final outcomes. I learnt that retaking photographs multiple times helped ensure that
they were at the best quality possible meaning that my piece had a professional finish. I did struggle slightly
with the photography side of the project however I feel that I improved as time went on.
CAMERA
As you can see the photography has drastically improved
as I have considered aspects such as positioning- A
medium close up image should be used, Back ground- It is
important that the setting of the image relates to theme
or complies to house style, and the styling of the cover
star- The clothing worn should compliment the genre as
well as the house style. The progression with the
photography means the work I produced also progresses.

8. I had had no experience with Photoshop before starting this project meaning that I struggled at first to adapt
my skills so that I could use it in a productive way. Photoshop allowed me to manipulate my work in order to
mimic the professionalism of real media products however it took me a while to get used to using the
programme well.
PHOTOSHOP
I learnt that Photoshop consists of layers and
each layer is a separate part of the work.
Firstly, I opened an ‘International Paper’ A4
size- This would be the base for my final
outcome Front Cover. It is important that
these settings are used so that the page is
functional. By using the transform tools I
played around with the sizing and positioning
of the photograph after dragging into the
page, until I found the perfect place for it.
The image has a medium close up quality and
I achieved this through my photography as
well as the transform tools. I downloaded a
font of ‘Dafont.com’ which I thought suited
my magazine page the most and used this
from the font list and also changed the colour
of to a turquoise colour.

9. I continued to experiment with the sizing of the mast
head and its location, using the tool bar to do so. By using
the text box I inserted another layer which was the
positioning statement. Again, using the font list, I chose a
more generic font differing from the mast head font and
placed in beneath the mast head in the top left hand
corner. Again, I experimented with the size of the
positioning statement using the transform tool. I decided
to do it much smaller than originally planned so that it did
not take attention away from the mast head. Using the
‘Layer style’ pop up tab I lightened the colour of the
Masthead slightly, using the colour overlay option to do
so. I was still unhappy with the appearance of the mast
head on the page however I found it difficult to work out
why and did not know what I could do to improve it.

10. I ended up changing the font to a more simple font, adjusting the font size
where I needed to. I kept the colour and stroke of the text that I had earlier
changed and decided to use more generic font. Using the import setting in the
file menu I inserted a bar code which I has found online. I struggled with this
process as I was unaware of the drag and drop feature at this point and did not
know how to get the Barcode onto the photo as a layer. I decided to minimise
the size of the Barcode to a smaller size in the corner so that It was see able but
didn’t take over the page. Using the shape tool in the tool bar I drew a box
which would be a strap banner and filled it using the fill tool so that it was black
the white text would stand out.
I experimented with fonts until I found the
perfect font for the main cover line. I
made sure it was not bigger than the mast
head by the font size listing in the top bar
and changed the colour to an exclusive
colour using the colour maker.

11. The cover lines were inserted one by one using the text
tool and shared the same font and size meaning that
they were uniform. Initially, there was no editing on the
cover lines however they did not stand out and blended
with the background, taking away from the authentic
look intended. Because of this, I utilised the ‘Layer Style’
pop up tab once again and outlined the cover lines in
white as well as gave them a small shadow so that they
stood out and did not merge with the multiple colours
in the background of the photograph.
I also moved the
cover lines around
multiple times using
the navigating tool
and made sure that
they lined up- This
was possible through
the margin feature.

12. I decided to again change the font as I felt
that the more generic, plain font did not
represent the Indie music scene in the
slightest and therefore the cover had an
amateur, unrelated look about it. I used the
stroke, Inner shadow and colour overlay
tools to give the Masthead texture so that it
stood out on the page.
Overall, I feel that my skills in Photoshop improved drastically
from the prelim and I was able to produce a piece with a
professional standard.

13. Again, I had had no experience with Quark before starting this project meaning that I struggled at first to
adapt my skills so that I could use it in a productive way. I used quark to create both my Contents page and
Double page spread and used knowledge from tutorials to attempt to create retail worthy pieces in this
programme. I worked on the programme extensively in order to achieve this.
QUARK
My Initial step on both the contents page and double page spread document was to open a new page rather than working
on the A Page, which is present when you open a new document- It is important to ignore this as it does not function and
therefore the work would be lost. I Inserted my image immediately on the Double page spread, making it the background of
the page and Inserted column guides so that I was aware of where my text would go on the page. I also did this on the
contents page- The title was my first concern, and using the text tool I inserted this also, so I had a brief idea of its location.

14. I imported my text using the import tool In the
file menu- It is important to do so as copied
and pasted text is not formatted correctly and
will therefore appear in the wrong order and
form on the page. I moved the positioning of
the text downwards using the select tool which
meant that my text carried over onto another
page, become the third page of my article- I
did this through the text link option, meaning
that the article continued in a chronological
order onto this page.
I changed the text of the title
using the font drop down
menu and decided this font
would be the main font used
on the page as well as the
colour so it complied to house
style, matching colours in the
photographs. I inserted the
images using the image box
and import feature and
positioned them in relation to
my draft.

15. I Imported my content and then organised it into categories
which I had inserted using the text box feature. I changed
the colour of them to green so that they matched the tile
of the page. As well as this, I made the size of the page
numbers bigger and also changed these to the green colour
using the colour pipette tool so that readers Identified
these conventions as key feature. Using the text options I
bolded the Content names using the B Button so that they
were easily distinguishable from the sublines/descriptions-
as they are the title of the pages. Using the shape tool I
drew black boxes on the images which I would then put the
page number into, anchoring the picture to a page.
I inserted the stand first and by-line using the text box tool
and referred to my publication plan to choose a font from
the font list that was suitable. Again using the colour
pipette tool I took colours from the clothing of the artists
included and their instruments and used it for these
features so that the page linked and complimented itself
well. This font is bolder than the article so readers know it
is of importance.

16. Initially, the idea was to have a black title so that It stood
out and was bold against the white sky however I did not
like the black text as it clashed with the colourful aspects
on the page and didn’t look attractive atall. Utilising the
colour I had made for the By-line, I changed the colour of
the masthead to blue and although I was unsure about
the font now, I preferred the colour. I searched
Dafont.com to find a font I preferred. One thing I liked
about Quark was how easy it was to download a font into
the programme that I could therefore use on my work.
This meant that I could specialise the page to my liking
and have the best result I possible finish with the best
result I could achieve. I changed the font to a block font
using the font tool and using the transform tools I
changed the size so it was apt to the space provided.

17. I decided that the title of the page as well as the column headings needed to stand out more so I used the shape
tool to draw boxes and filled them with colour using the fill tool. Initially, As I was using a green colour for the
text, The title banner was green with a black background however I didn’t like the finish of this so Inverted the
colours using these tools. I kept the column headings the same so that the title could stand out on its own
however they still stood out on the page. They also matched the photograph numbers which made more sense.

18. The third page of my article included a pull quote which I inserted using the formats option in the pull down menus
along the top of the page. The text In columns and I made sure that it moved well around the pull quote mimicking
that of a professional magazine double page spread. In this formats menu I was also able to create a Drop Cap at
the start of my article and chose the number of lines it should span as well as the colour and font that it should be.