Blogger was a useful tool for the student to organize their research, planning, product construction updates, and evaluation questions. It allowed all their work to be in one accessible place. Photoshop was the main software used to create the magazine and billboard, and the student had an existing knowledge that helped create their work to a higher standard. Prezi was used to present research in an interesting way rather than large chunks of text. WIX was used to create a professional looking website for their ancillary task, and features were included to appeal to their target audience.

1. Evaluation Question 4

2. Blogger was an essential tool in my planning, research, construction and now
evaluation. It has kept my information organized and I can also access it on
multiple digital platforms as there is a computer website and also an app for the
iPhone therefore I could update posts quickly from my phone. It has allowed me to
organize my research in order to look back on it when creating my product and also
post screenshots of my product construction process, and post my evaluation
questions so all my work is in one accessible place. I used blogger at AS therefore
had an existing knowledge of the programme however during my A2 coursework, I
built a more in depth understanding and was able to organize my information
more effectively through the use of labels; they appear as tabs at the top of your
blog in order to place posts in a specific label organizing them into category's
making specific posts easier to find and refer back to. Having a general knowledge
of how to use blogger also made it a lot easier and quicker to post my work.
Blogger allows you to present all your work in media rich ways due to the option to
embed videos and work from sites such as Prezi, Powtoon and Slideshare. This was
useful in regards to my research and planning and my evaluation as it makes my
blog more digitally up to date and interesting.
Overall, I used blogger to effectively organize my research and planning, post
updates on the construction of my products, post the final version of my product
and post my evaluation questions.

4. Photoshop was the main software I used when creating my product as it has
various tools suitable for the creation of a magazine and billboard. Due to
using Photoshop at AS and also doing a Photography A-level, I had already
established a good understanding of the software by A2 making it a lot easier
and quicker to create my work to a better standard compared to last year. For
example, this year I learned about text outlines known as a ‘stroke’ in order
to make my text stand out more over images, which helped hugely with
regards to my magazine and billboard.
When creating my billboard I came across the issue of the text covering a lot of
detail in the image therefore I learned how to make the text over the image
transparent through using various image adjusting filters such as ‘lighten’ in
order to make the text see through however still keep the coloring just making
it fainter.
Photoshop also allowed me to make my images look more visually impacting
and glamorous through editing them to remove blemishes from the models
face or brighten parts of her face and hair linking greatly to the fashion genre
of my magazine ensuring my model looked like a glamorous person who would
appear on fashion magazines. This also helps improve the overall appearance
of an image making the magazine look more professional.

6. All the software I have used with regards to my product was used on an Apple IMac
computer. These computers are new and are therefore fast and high quality
allowing the use of the most up to date technology. I use apple products at home
and have a Macbook therefore I am quite familiar with how apple products work
giving me an advantage to using the device.
The Mac allowed me to access software such as Photoshop and online websites like
Blogger, Prezi, Powtoon etc. These contributed greatly to the creation of my
products. Also, due to the device being modern, all the features worked fast
without crashing allowing me to complete my work in good time.
Although I already had an existing knowledge of how the computers worked, I also
learned new features such as how to use I Cloud to save my work which allowed
me to back it up and also access it from my laptop at home allowing me to do my
work at college and at home.

7. All of my images were shot using a Canon EOS
100D ensuring they looked professional. I used
this camera last year in Media and also do a
Photography A Level therefore already have an
existing knowledge of the features; however my
knowledge has expanded enabling me to take
better images indoor and outdoor. For my
indoor shoot, I used automatic setting however
also used a light meter to connect the settings
of the lights with the settings in the camera. For
my outdoor shooting, I used a feature
specifically for location shots in order to balance
the exposure due to the lighting being natural.

8. When taking my images for my indoor
photo-shoot, I used a photograph
studio with high key lighting. I wanted
my lighting to be soft and not too
bright or harsh therefore I used a
beauty dish over the light in order to
soften it creating a positively connoted
image. Using professional photography
equipment allowed my images to be of
a high quality and professional looking.
I also used a light meter in order to
input the readings of the lights into my
camera in order to get accurate, high
quality images.

10. Dafont.com was an extremely useful website in terms of choosing a variety of different
fonts suitable for my magazine which would appeal to my target audience. It also
downloads the fonts directly to your Fontbook on the Mac computers which links to the
Photoshop font library therefore they are easy to use and link with Photoshop. I used this
website last year however was not aware of the preview feature. This year, it was a lot
easier to compare and find the right font for the writing I was using as I could type the
text I wanted into the preview box and it will show a preview of the font. This saves a lot
of time and avoids downloading a font then realizing it doesn't suit the text.
The use of headings is useful on the site as there are category's for specific styles of font
for example, handwritten. Due to my main inspiration being COMPANY magazine and
wanting to create a quirky style for my female target audience, I made specific use of the
handwritten style fonts.
For my masthead, it was important to look at the bold, more simple styles in order for it
to be easily readable and recognizable. If a font was too complicated, the audience would
not remember or understand the masthead as well.

12. Prezi is a presentation software which allowed me to present work such as research in a
professional, interesting style rather than large chunks of text. I used Prezi for a lot of my AS
research and evaluation question therefore I already had a good understanding of the
software and could make presentations a lot quicker this year.
The most effective parts of Prezi in my opinion is the fact you can control the transition of
slides and also give the option for the viewer to navigate their way around the presentation on
their own. There is also a lot of variety in regards to themes and backgrounds which made it
possible for me to choose a style which relates to my genre such as brightly, pink coloured
presentations relating to the fashion genre and my female target audience. Prezi also allows
me to extended the template allowing me to include as much information as I like along with
the option to incorporate images which supported my text and made the presentation more
visually appealing.

14. I had never experienced WIX before therefore I had to learn from scratch how to use this
site. Luckily, when you first begin to create a webpage, the website gives you a brief tutorial
allowing you to get to know the tools. I already had a brief knowledge of the tools before
beginning my ancillary task as I created a reconstruction practice on this website at the
beginning of the year. After a few uses, it was easily to use and I was able to create a
professional looking website for my ancillary task, using the tools and my research into
existing webpages. The website has a variety of options and features allowing you to include
social media links, subscription bars, comment boxes etc, All features which add to the
appeal of the website and making it look more professional within the interests of my target
audience. The option to include social media links would specifically appeal to my target
audience due to their generation stereotypically being familiar with social media and using
it frequently.