Preliminary Task Evaluation

What I have learned from completing this task:

From completing the preliminary task I have learned how the typical conventions are used on a magazine cover and how the conventions allow the theme (house style) to be used throughout the magazine. I understand how this is effective and allows the reader to easily distinguish the genre of the magazine. It also makes the product appeal to be more professional.

I have also learned how to manipulate images through Photoshop and add text to produce a finished product. My understanding of Photoshop has been developed and I have learned how to erase and adapt parts of an image to make it more appealing.  I have also attempted to change the background of an image through removing existing parts.

Through the process of creating my college magazine, I have been aware of working towards a deadline and managing my time accordingly to ensure my work was complete on time and to the best of my ability. This at times has been a challenge but is something I have learned to adapt myself to manage and best enable myself the opportunity to make my work of a higher level.

Technology:

I have used Photoshop to allow me to create the magazine cover and contents page, which is software I am unfamiliar with and have had no previous experience with. In Photoshop I have acquired many new skills and been able to use the facilities it offers to create a finished product that follows the conventions of existing magazine covers and contents pages.

I have also had to learn how to operate a camera and upload the photographs onto the computer, which I have not done previously. To do this I had to use a SD card to store my images in and a card reader to transfer the images across to the computer.

Another part of technology I had to learn to use efficiently is blogger to create my blog. I have not previously used a blog so the software was unfamiliar, but I learned to use it quickly.

What conventions I used:

The conventions featured on my magazine cover and contents page included a masthead, feature stories, main feature story, main image, a plug, page numbers, date and issue number, price, and a skyline. My magazine cover follows the conventions used by other existing products in order to allow it to resemble a magazine and make it easier for a reader to understand.

All the conventions I have used are typical of other magazines, although, I have missed out a number of conventions such as footer as I struggled with the spacing of my features and was wary not to overcrowd my cover, as this would make the product less appealing to the target audience. Equally, I didn’t need to add to much detail to the cover as the skyline I have used adds a lot of content in a small amount of space, which is also what a footer does so I felt it would be unnecessary to include both features on my product.

Changes I would make:

If I were to do the task again, I would manage my time differently to allow myself more time on Photoshop to improve and adapt my cover and contents page to be of a higher standard in order to represent a more typical college magazine and fit better within the genre. This would also allow me the opportunity to do more research into the features of a magazine and try to include more in my product.

I would change the font style and size and affect in order to make the font stand out more and be more apparent to the reader; this would also allow my product to resemble a typical magazine, as this is a common convention. I would do this by editing the text to make it have a shadowing affect so it stood out from the main feature image and would be easier to read.

I would also conduct more research into the layout and conventions of other college magazines to find out more on their language, ideology, institutions, audiences and representations. I would do this to allow me to carry over the ideas of existing products into my own product.