Evaluation Question 7

Looking back at your preliminary task (the college magazine) what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

Here is my front cover I made for my preliminary task, I feel it is very badly made as I could not use photoshop at all here and it lack any real layout or theme. Although elements are correct I feel this does not look at all professional or like a magazine cover. The font is too basic and the main image is badly taken, images are not well edited, there is too much dead space and it’s un-engaging, overall a bad product.

My new cover I feel is much better, I feel it could be marketed as a magazine cover and be believable. It looks professional, fits the desired genre, is aimed at a suitable demographic and is well constructed. It is informative but not overcrowded and there is no dead space. There is only one image because of the minimalistic genre conventions and I did not want to take attention from the cover artist. The masthead and topics are also tailored to my consumer and made appealing. I feel this would fit on a shelf in a record store and not look out of place.

 My preliminary contents page is again badly made, due to my previous photoshop skill. Although the conventions of columns and an image are used they have not been applied correctly, making it look disjointed and unfinished. The image is also irrelevant as there is no caption or pull quote to support it. A website was included as an attempt at convergence however this product remains unfinished and unprofessional.

 My new contents cover looks well made and uses the same signs as my cover (colour use etc.), making the product come together better than my preliminary one did. Having the text well margined makes the product appealing to the consumer and not intimidating. After learning the effects of conventions such as pull quotes and competitions I applied them here in order to make the best product possible.

Photoshop: These are the 4 main tools in photoshop that helped achieve my product - 

• Rulers - especially on the feature article. The helped find the centre of pages and equally space text and images, helping my design and layout greatly.
• Quick Selection Tool - this is particularly handy as it allows the user to locate and change what they want instantly, this greatly speeds up the production of the product.
• Black & White Options - this was used only on my cover and I used them to greyscale the image and leave the jacket lining its original color, without losing definition in Kate's face.
• Layers - as well as the quick selection tool the layers are an easy way to locate things within the document. They also keep things very well organized, making things effortless to alter and adjust. 

Overall I think this project has massively widened my knowledge of magazine construction and photoshop, I feel comfortable using it now. I feel my products were a success as they are aimed at the audience I wanted and represent my intended genre well.