Q7) Looking back at the preliminary task what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to a full product?

Since doing my preliminary task I have learnt my skills have helped me progress to the full product. One of the things I’ve seen improvement on is the quality of my magazine; by learning how to use the conventions I was able to present my magazine to look professional. Looking back at my preliminary task it did not look like a professional magazine and the use of conventions was very poor. Although I included a masthead and cover line it does not look like a magazine but more like a leaflet or a poster.

Also one of the main tools I learnt how to use now was Photoshop something I wasn’t confident with at the start. This helped improve the quality of my magazine as it made it more professional. Unlike in my preliminary task I was not able to manipulate my pictures or use Photoshop to my best advantage, so that was a big improvement which I can do now, which I’m pleased with.

Also as my preliminary task only consisted of a font cover and a content page where as my full product included a double page spread, content page and front cover. I was able to learn how to work on an A3 which brought out more of my understanding in Photoshop.

I had better understanding of laying out my work and where masthead and cover lines should go. I was able to pick colours that worked well with my magazine and look professional. I challenged conventions, something I wasn’t able to do in my preliminary task.

Overall I learnt how to fully attract my target audience and, fully include them in my project. Something I wasn’t able to do in my preliminary task. I also learnt how to focus my magazine on a particular social group and not pick rock or jazz fans and put them together, which does not work out well. This meant I had to do a lot of research in my target audience and put a lot of thought into how I was going to present this in my magazine.

Since my preliminary task I am now able to use Photoshop to the best of my ability and use Canon E05 400D camera effectively, to take good pictures and portray a professional magazine.