The document discusses the improvements the author made from their preliminary magazine cover and contents page to the final versions. Some of the key things learned were photography skills like using backgrounds and editing photos to look more professional. Layout and design skills improved like positioning headlines and using research of other magazines. Organization and planning skills developed in booking models, locations and sticking to themes. Overall the preliminary versions were basic while the final magazine showed more professional production skills and design conventions learned through the process.

1. Looking back at your
preliminary task, what do you
feel you have learnt in the
progression to the full
product?

2. This is the front cover and
contents page I produced in my
preliminary task, targeting
college students in a magazine
about college itself. My
productions were very simplistic
and the contents page was very
basic and unoriginal compared
to my final production as I had
very little knowledge of software
and cameras/studios that I used
for my final magazine. These look
very different to that of my actual
magazine cover and contents
page that I produced in the end.

3. From my initial preliminary task to my actual front
cover it is clear my photography skills improved. In
the original task I had lots going on in the
background making my writing hard to read, whereas
I had a plain background and used models and the
studio in order to create a more professional looking
photograph for my front cover. I also learnt how to
use photoshop more effectively to edit my photos
and make them look professional and effective. For
example, in my first picture it looks blurry and unclear
yet in my final picture I used a static background and
edited the picture well to create a clear and effective
image. I also used aspects of photoshop like the lasso
tool and the eraser to correct any imperfections on
my photographs.

4. Comparing the two images, it is clear the masthead was in a more
appropriate position and the cover lines are in much more effective
positions with clearer writing to read on a plain background to make it look
more professional like a real music magazine. I learnt how to use common
magazine conventions by doing research into other magazine, focussing
mainly on dance music magazines. Also, I made my image more central
compared to my preliminary task as that is a common convention of many
music magazines.

5. Comparing my preliminary contents dummy page and my final contents page it is clear I
changed the layout I had planned completely. I changed the amount of text so that it was
appealing to my reader and not too text heavy, I also altered where it was on the page to
follow other dance music magazines and imitate their style. I did use a collage like in my
dummy page but I used larger images and then added more on the bottom to make it look
more formal and professional. The use of photoshop was essential for my final contents
page so that I could edit the photographs to all have a similar look and make them look
professional. Linking with this, the use of the studio and cameras was also essential,
therefore I had to learn how to use these effectively too. I also kept the style completely
black and white so that it had a theme and appealed to my audience more.

6. My research skills improved during
the process of creating my
magazine. For my preliminary task I
didn’t research any magazines at all
I just created a college magazine
from nowhere. However, for my
final product I looked at many
magazines (some examples on the
left) and common conventions they
used and also I looked at some
mission statements and reader
profiles to get an idea of their
audiences. I them focused on
mixmag and dance magazines and
looked into their audiences and
also analysed them in depth
(examples on the right) in order to
find common conventions used by
them alone and how they appeal to
their audience.

7. My organisation skills improved from
my preliminary task to my final
product as before I didn’t organise
anything at all, whereas I organised
locations, such as the studio for my
final product and had to book it for a
certain time and day. I also had to
organise models and arrange for
them to meet at the specific time as
well and I arranged their costume so
that they all ended up wearing black
and white so that there was a theme
running throughout all my
photographs. In my final product
however I did not fully stick to the
initial organised ideas such as
locations because I had improved
ideas as I went along.

8. My planning skills also improved during
the process of creating my magazine as
you can see from these images I planned
out the main features of my magazine such
as the fonts I used and the ideas I had for
the photographs I was going to use,
however I didn’t stick to these as I found
my studio photographs were better overall.
I also planned what each page I created
would look like with inspiration examples
from other dance magazines to show
exactly where I got my ideas from and how
I was sticking to the main conventions they
used.