By Jasmine Howell 

1. Q.7 Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? By Jasmine Howell 

2. Things I have learnt • Working in a group • Photoshop and InDesign • Manipulation • Publishers • Representation • Photoshoot

3. Working in a group • At the beginning of the term, I had to work in a group to find out information about specific music magazines. This helped a lot because we had to speak to one another and gather information from each other. Also for our Preliminary task, we had to take pictures of one another, doing this task boosted my confidence and feel more comfortable in the class.

4. Photoshop and InDesign • At the beginning of the course I did not know how to use Photoshop and InDesign. With the help of YouTube tutorials and my teacher, I was able to use these programmes correctly. I have learnt how to edit photos and make them look more appealing to specific audiences.

5. Manipulation • Since starting AS Media, I have realised that the media has shown me what I really want to see, the almost ‘perfect’. The manipulation of photographs are created by the media, people believe what they see by these manipulated photographs. The realism of the picture before PhotoShop was used. My first impressions of this picture is that she looks perfect; from her eye colour and skin tone. From doing Media, I can now understand how photos are manipulated to how they want us to see them. I can now take this knowledge and use it when reading magazines etc.

6. This is was my preliminary exercise at the beginning of the year. I felt that I have learnt a lot because I know the conventions to include, what looks good and what doesn’t look good. However this was a good image I have taken of my model because I have thought about where she was positioned and where the text would be placed. Furthermore my model is dressed as a stereotypical student with her ID badge and her books. Her smile compliments the whole front cover as it is attractive for a college magazine. Looking back at this now, I could have added more text so the audience can find out more on the front page, I would have used a different coloured text because it is hard to read. I would have also made my masthead stand out more as that should be eye catching.

7. With my final magazine front cover I feel that my skills have progressed as I am now able to utilise the space on the magazine to make it look more appealing for my target audience. For instance the masthead looks more attractive as it stands out on the page. The central image is also attractive because of the poses my models have achieved. Also they are dressed in an appropriate manner for my specific genre of music. I dressed them in a way to make them look like a stereotypical band. The header and footer gives the magazine structure and in my preliminary exercise I did not include this. Using a white backdrop helped make the magazine bolder and less busy.

8. Looking back at this contents page, I feel that I have learnt a lot to my final contents page. In this one its very boring and plain but however very simple because it sends the message across. My images don’t seem to be placed properly however they relate to the student magazine. The colours I feel were used correctly as they were the same colours used for my front cover. If I had to do this exercise again I would of added more colour and maybe laid out the text and images differently. Additionally I would add more text so the reader has more information about what the college has to offer.

9. This is my final contents page. I feel that I have learnt a lot from my previous contents page. For an example, I have found out new ways to lay out my numbers, by using my hand doing the rock symbol and numbers going down the page. From reading other music magazines I have had many ideas on how to present my contents page. With only using 4 colours the contents page still looks colourful. Before I stated this project I thought using many colours would make something look attractive, but from this project I have learned that a few colours can make something look bright and eye catching.

10. Publishers • Starting Media AS, I have learned that they’re many publishers and they mostly have a different target audience. The 2 publishers I mostly researched about was IPC Media and Bauer. I chose IPC Media because even though they have a magazine for a younger audience I did one so it’s a competition with the same publisher.

11. Photoshoot • I used a Single-Lens Reflex (SLR) camera because it allows you to take photographs in less light conditions without flash and the photo will come out very focused. Using this camera, you’re very much in control of what you can do, like you can see how the image is viewed and framed. • Using a Tripod made it easier because it was on one level and you could change it to different levels. I could also concentrate on the lighting more because I didn’t have to worry about me holding the camera. The best shots I took came from using the Tripod because the picture came out more focused. • Using a white back drop is better because as it is white, all eyes will go directly to the image rather than eyes wandering around the page. Also, it was easier to crop pictures on a white background. Furthermore, it looked really professional with a white background.