Evaluation Question 6

What have you learnt abouttechnologies from the process of

constructing this product?

I used many different types of technology to create my music magazine. At first, I was new to using software such as Prezi and Fireworks, but after the preliminary

task, I got to build up my skills and use them to my advantage.

Introduction

The InternetI used the internet a lot in the research for the music

magazine. I used it to find different articles on music magazine websites, so I knew what type of article to write on my double page spread. I also used it to find example shots and front covers. The internet was also useful to do research about the genres of music magazines, and helped to make my decision. I also used it to edit some of the photographs I then went on to use.

I used Google as my search engine, and used it to searched for music artists, music magazines, example shots, the conventions of a music magazine, and much more. I found everything I needed to on Google, and as it is quite popular, I was all familiar with using it. It also helped to educate me on the different types of media company's that publish music magazines, as I didn’t know much about the different types of companies at the start.

Blogger

I used Blogger to submit all of my work, as well as a commentary on the way. I used it to make a production diary so I knew I was keeping on track. I also used it to display a wide range of different music magazine covers along the right hand side. This is to show what the task is, and so my magazine can be easily compared to real life examples.

I used a website called Prezi to create mind maps and comparisons of different music front covers, the readership profile and for example shots. I also used it to as parts of our evaluation, as it enabled us to round up all of our ideas and show them clearly. I enjoyed using it as it is more interesting than using Powerpoint, and was a new website that I hadn’t used before. It was effective in what I wanted to use it for, which was to see all of my ideas and analysis in one place.

I used the website Surveymonkey.com as my questionnaire. I chose this website over a paper based questionnaire as it allowed us to keep all of the information got from the questionnaires in one place, so I could easily analyse it. Also, it was a better chose as the results are more likely to show a true reflection, as people would be less likely to lie and give false results. This was crucial as I based all of my planning around the questionnaire results.

SOFTWARE

Word

I used word to make graphs and pie charts for the questionnaire results. This let me show clearly what our questionnaire found and what those who completed the questionnaire wanted from my music magazine product. It showed clearly the specific genres and magazines the audience wanted my magazine to follow the conventions of.

Fireworks

I used the media software of Fireworks to make our front cover and the contents page. This was a new software and I built my skills up over time, because of the preliminary task also. It was a useful programme as it was flexible in allowing me to create the front cover and contents I wanted, instead of having to follow a template.

Publisher

I used publisher for my double page spread. I did this because it was a familiar software for me to use, and so I knew how to use it to my advantage. It was straight forward to use, as they gave you options of page sizes/templates. After choosing a blank template, I could do what I had planned and create a double page spread without limitations, which was good.

HARDWARE

Still Camera

I used a still camera to take the pictures. This was important as I needed a good quality to make the pictures look professional. The camera I used was effective in this as it produced high quality photographs, that we could stretch and shrink to any size without them pixelating. It also had a good flash which let me take pictures in darker places outside, as well as in cloudy conditions.

Video Camera

I used a video camera to record the audience feedback for my magazine. This was helpful as it allowed me to use footage to show peoples opinions of it, instead of just doing a questionnaire or writing about it. I also used it to do a brief questionnaire of some audience members to find out their favourite genre of music and what type of magazines they liked to read.

Memory Card

I used a memory card for the still camera. This was good as it had a lot of memory, and allowed us to store all of our photos on one card. It also set the photos out clearly by date. The memory card saved us time as it made the process very quick.

Memory Stick

A memory stick was used to transfer our work from one computer to the another with more advanced software that I could use to my advantage. I also used a memory stick so I could do the work at home.

iPhone

I used my iPhone to take some practise photographs. The app 'Aviary' was used to edit some of the photographs, and ‘PicStitch’ to make a collage of some of the pictures, some which I did not end up using. Using a phone was important as it also let me look up weather conditions for the days I had planned on taking photos, which is why the majority of photographs ended up being taken inside.