Question 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel that you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

This presentation will be looking at what I have learnt in progression from my preliminary task

New tools learnt on Photoshop I have learnt how to use more advanced

tools on Photoshop, such as the colour sampling tool and the gradient tool which has helped me adjust the tone of my pictures so that they stand out.

I also learnt how to make different colour swatches, which allowed me to create the colour that I wanted for some of my magazine’s cover lines.

I also learnt how to add an outline on the cover lines so they are able to stand out on the background.

Preliminary task As part of the preliminary task, we were

instructed to construct a front cover and contents page for a potential college magazine. As you can see, the front cover’s cover lines are either blue or red, which was my chosen house style. But I didn’t follow my house style on my contents page. The features and regulars columns are written in black, when I really should have written them in navy blue.

I think that the only positives of the preliminary task are the good quality of the images. I feel that the negative of the preliminary task is the lack of consistency with the house style.

Comparison between my Final Front cover of my music magazine and my preliminary magazine front cover

• As you can see, there is a massive gulf in difference in terms of quality. For instance, I have stuck to colours that match my house style.

• Also the alignment of the cover lines on my final media magazine is more consistent and this enables it to look more professional.

• The quality of the cover star on my final media magazine looks much better than the image used as the front cover of my preliminary task because I used a Nikon D40, which is a type of camera that is used by professionals, so this enables my final media product look a like real magazine that could be published.

• The masthead of my preliminary magazine looks to basic and it is highly unlikely that it would appeal to its target audience of college students.

• However, the masthead of my final media product follows the convention of a music magazine by having a strapline above it mentioning who else features in this issue of #FRESH magazine.

Comparison between my Final contents page of my music magazine and contents page of My preliminary Task. The contents page of my preliminary task has some positives. For

example the use of images are of a good quality, but not good enough to look professional.

The features and the regulars columns of the preliminary magazine seem to basic and if it was to be published, it is unlikely that it will appeal to its target audience because it looks too plain.

The contents page of my preliminary task has some positives. For example the use of images are of a good quality, but not good enough to look professional.

The features and the regulars columns of the preliminary magazine seem to basic and if it was to be published, it is unlikely that it will appeal to its target audience because it looks too plain.

The pull quote also goes over the image that is used as the background of the college magazine, which makes my preliminary magazine seem amateur and simplistic.

With my final DPS, I paid more attention to detail and quality. I stuck to the house style as well as adding more images that relate to the Urban/Rap genre of my music magazine.

I have also added a reference to my magazine’s Facebook page, Instagram profile, and their website. There is also a QR code which has become a common convention in most music magazines.

The use of images are high quality which are courtesy of the Nikon D40 camera and the Canon Compact Digital Camera that we were allowed to use. The quality of the images allows my magazine to have a sense of originality and uniqueness.

In summary, I feel that in my preliminary task, I went for the safe option and keep it simple. But with my media product, Ii decided to be adventurous and try out new styles so that my magazine looks professional as well being unique

Analysis of my Final version of my DPSBecause I didn’t do a DPS for my preliminary task, I had to refer to my case studies as well as some displays in my media class to see what I could use as inspiration before I constructed my DPS. I also used drop caps, which again is another convention of a music magazine, so this allows my magazine to look professional. I have kept my house style consistent, which follows the conventions of a professional magazine.

I also used a pull quote in the top right hand side of the DPS because many music magazines like Vibe, NME and Q use pull quotes, which acts like a reference to the article. I also used drops caps for the answers to the questions of my article, which yet again makes my magazine look professional. The image that I have chosen suits the house style because he appears relaxed

Furthermore, I have put a background story below the title of the article because we were told by our media teacher that this is a convention of a music magazine, so I followed this convention and decided to add a story of how the cover artist became famous at the age of 17 whilst being a student at a local college.

Adobe illustrator

We were given a workshop on how to use this software by one of the media technicians. We were taught how to isolate the letters of our masthead if wanted to make our magazine look professional, but I opted to stay simple and isolate the letters by adjusting the spacing between them rather than change their appearance.

As you can see, my final music magazine front cover looks professional because the house style is clear as the cover lines vary between red and white as well as using a high-quality image that is clear. The masthead as shown above the front cover was the result of my work on Adobe Illustrator.

My masthead took me a few tries to get right because I found it difficult to use at first. My first masthead was created on dafont.com, but after looking at my case studies as well as various music magazines, I found that it would be better to create my masthead on Adobe Illustrator and I feel that the masthead I created is better than the one that I created on dafont.com

Thank you for reading/listening to my presentation. AND KEEP IT