1. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

2. I used Photoshop for my front cover. I had only ever used Photoshop for my preliminary task, so every tool I used I learnt in the process of designing my front cover. It took a lot of trial and error to get it to look how I wanted and I am very pleased with my final product. In the next few slides I have outlined the process of constructing my front cover to show the skills I have learnt.

3. I used the brightness/contrast tool to make my artist darker and more vibrant to stand out on the page more and give him more colour. This is the starting picture I wanted to use for my magazine front cover. I then outlined across the bottom of the photo with the magnetic lasso tool and clicked the black/white button to match the rest of the background and to make the colour and vibrancy of the artist stand out even more on the page. I then added the title which I had got on a font making website and downloaded and then drag and dropped it onto my photo, resizing it to fit bold and big across the top of the page.

4. In another tab, I got up the original photo and using the magnetic lasso tool I outlined the hair and drag and dropped it onto my magazine cover, resizing it and using the brightness/contrast tool to make it the same as the rest of the picture. I did this so that the artist is in front of the title, a feature that is used often with magazines. I then got a picture of a barcode and drag and dropped it to the bottom right hand side of the page. Using the text tool to write the price just above the barcode and the issue number and date just below the title. Using the elipse tool, I created a circle and filled it in black to add a quote from my main story to attract the audience to want to read further and show it was a real interview and not just a gossip story. I put the text in white with ‘my life’ in red to make it stand out more to highlight the artists dedication to music. I then used the text tool again to create the headline for my main story, changing it into a bright red to stand out I used the rectangle tool to out black rectangle behind the smaller text to again make it stand out more and be bold rather than blend into the background.

5. I decided to use the rectangle tool and add thin lines between the stories to break them up, use the most of the space and attract the readers attention to it more as it makes them look bolder on the page. I then begun to add headlines for my other stories to show that my magazine is full of information and make people want to read it. I thought my magazine was quite dark and the text couldn’t be seen clearly enough, so using the rectangle tool I added two rectangles where a lot of text was and where it was too dark, I then coloured it in white and changed the transparency. This meant the text could be seen, and I also think it added a final touch to my magazine and made it more professional and used up the space well. To use the space underneath the main headline so that my front cover looks busy but not overwhelming, I added another story on the right hand side, I added a line above it to show it is a separate story from the main story above it and added an arrow next to the writing to encourage people to want to read on.

6. I used the programme InDesign for my contents page and again had only used this for my preliminary task. I started off with using the rectangle tool across the top and colouring it in black and adding the title ‘contents’ to it. I then added the photo I wanted, which I had edited on Photoshop beforehand to fit with the rest of the magazine with the black and white background and the added vibrancy of the artist. I then added the two other pictures beneath it and sized it all so that it fit on the right hand side of the page like how I wanted it to. I then used the rectangle tool for the headlines of the stories and added text beneath them. I then added boxes and filled them in black to the corners of the pictures and added in the page number that the stories were on. I used the same alternating black and red text as well as the bold title as I wanted this colour theme to continue throughout my magazine and didn’t want the contents page to look completely different to the front cover.

7. I used the programme InDesign for my double page spread as well as the programme is better to use if you want to add a lot of text to something. I started by adding the picture I wanted to the right hand side, which I had again edited in Photoshop to continue the black and white background theme throughout my magazine. I then cropped the photo in Photoshop so that I had the fence and drag and dropped this into the right hand side of the page and resized, I did this so that the background could continue through that pages so that the double page spread looks as one rather than two separate pages. I then added the headline, using a quote from the article to again attract readers to want to read it. I continued the theme of bold black rectangles behind the text to make it stand out as one of the main focuses on the page. I them proceeded to add my interview in long columns, using the elipse tool to make a circle with another quote from the interview in it, I added it in the middle of the interview, this is another feature used frequently throughout magazine interviews so I decided to add it to go along with the popular structure of interviews. I added a white rectangle over to background picture on the left hand side page and changed the transparency so that on that page the text was more dominant and clear rather than the background photo taking the attention away and making it unclear to read.

8. LOOKING BACK AT YOUR PRELIMIINARY TASK, WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE LEARNED IN THE PROGRESSION FROM IT TO THE FULL PRODUCT?

9. I have learnt a variety of skills as seen in the previous question. But also, I have learnt a variety of things about what a good magazine looks like. For example, with the front cover, in the preliminary task I used bright colours that looked unprofessional and the main photo isn’t showing the people faces, which doesn’t engage with the readers and doesn’t draw a readers attention to want to read it. The title is also not bold enough on the page and the stories are randomly placed. The same with the contents page, there is no structure and the colours don’t look good. I feel my final product looks much more professional and has aspects such as the artist facing the reader, a bold title, a clear structure, and just overall looks much better and more like a real magazine would.