Question 7: Looking Back At Your Preliminary Task What Do You Feel Like You Have Learned In The Progression

This is the first magazine that I produced and it was done with little to no knowledge of any of the digital technologies (DSLR Camera, Photoshop, Indesign etc.) The sixth Form Magazine didn't look professional as i hadn't researched or planned it professionally meaning it came out very amateur looking. This is also because of the lack of experience I had with magazines and the fact that I don't read or research magazines of this given genre.

Furthermore, In the production of my first magazine (sixth form magazine) I only used a couple of magazine and media conventions. This flaw meant that my magazine was to its full potential and didn't have a professional looking finish. One major difference in the process of making my first media product compared to the music magazine is the time spent on research and planning. For the music magazine i spent an extensive amount of time researching the genre that i was trying to portray in my magazine and researching types of magazines that are similar (you can see this research here and here). This extensive research was not conducting in the production of my sixth form magazine as i didn't have the knowledge or experience to do so at the time.

Moving on to the music magazine, you can see that various amounts of techniques and media conventions have been utilised to help give my media product a unique and professional style. Firstly, the use of multiple types of typography makes the coverlines and the main masthead stand out individually, but also it connects the whole front cover together to give the magazine its own unique house style that is followed through the media product.

Moreover, the main image on my music magazine is considerably more effective and personal than hat on the sixth form magazine. This shows my step forward in knowledge and experience using the digital technologies such as the DSLR Camera and a step forward in the use of photo editing software such as Photoshop. Also, it is more personal and effective as it is a headshot compared to the full body shot used on my sixth form production. This is a more professional technique and takes more skill to complete. More to this, the coverlines on my final music magazine production are more professional and effective as there is a lot more of them and they have been done so that they hint at the stories inside and entice the reader into buying an issue and reading the articles.

Throughout the time between the process of making my sixth form magazine and making my music magazine i used web mediums such as youtube to further my skills and education on software such as Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign (as seen above). This education helped considerably in the final quality of my media product as i could use professional techniques used in real magazine production to give my music product more of an edge above my sixth form magazine.

What I Would Have Done Differently

If i was to start the process of making my media product again i would have used better time management as it could improve the overall final product of my music magazine. Another thing that i would do, would be to collect and take more photos in the planning stage so that i had a wider variety of images to use in the production of my magazine. Finally, I would seek to interview more people so that i had more content to work with in the production of m Double Page Spread.