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

When i first started my preliminary work i was not able to use photoshop and never had done before, however since then i have learnt how to crop and cut images using the star and square tool and the side monitor, how to add different shapes ranging from animals to arrows which i have included in my drafts and finals magazine pages. i have also learnt the use of layer whereas before the concept confused me and the magazine got mixed up having figure overlapping the text. most of all i have learnt how to edit picture through zooming and the changing colour, even blemishing to improve the image/photo on the screen. This was one of my favourite part of making my magazine as it enabled me to colour co-ordinate the colour of the text with the models lips and other features.


Also i have learnt how to set up a plan to your magazine including the draw up plan to test out the different layouts, i found this helpful as i then could compare which one i preferred and which one looked best. By looking at colour palettes and learning to focus on three main colour which contrast for the attention but also compliment and work well with each other for a neat look, helped me develop the presentation of the magazine as my preliminary work looked like a children's magazine with not many magazine feature on it. These magazine features included the date and issue number, along with the numbering of the page and the layout of the cover lines.


By looking at the posing positions on music magazine since my preliminary work i have gained a feel for the pose and what i am meant to be looking for and the particular style that are often seen on music magazines. Where as in comparison to before my model has just a straight face, therefore not giving the eye contact and serious/sexy look upon the magazine. I learnt that the model on the front cover will attract the audience alone with the bright bold colours resulting in the pose needing to be strong.


After the preliminary work i also looked at and learnt the type of text style relevant, for example big bold fonts to attract attention to a special feature of advertisement, i include this in my magazine by the word 'EXCLUSIVE'. the text also had to be columned in the article, not only to follow the conventions of a magazine layout, but also i was then able to fit more on the page.  For the cover lines the text had to be short and snappy without too much detail but enough to draw the readers in to buy and read more. After researching and analysing a few magazines i found out that usually a name is catching enough when relating to who is feature or what specifically is in the magazine.


How to position and use the camera through different shots played a major part in the process of learning, so not only how to position a pose but also how to angle the camera to get a mid shot, close up ect. I wanted to use a mid angle shot for my front cover so i tended to take most of my shots in that position. On the other hand i tried other shots such as low angle shot in my sample to widen my variety and to see which stood out and best suited that style of the magazine.


Overall, from the preliminary work i think i have progressed into learning and adapting the magazines conventions into my own work through the research. However i then looked more deeply into the music magazine conventions closer to be able to focus on the genre more, i found as a result of this that the music magazines tend to have a relation to fashion as well, i then also included that into my own magazine.

Preliminary                      Final Peice