IMPROVEMENTS

PRELIMINARY TASK VS MAIN TASK

PROGRESSIONI feel as though I have really improved my Photoshop skills as I have moved through the AS course, and comparing my preliminary task with my music magazine will demonstrate this. I have also managed to develop my InDesign skills – a programme which I had never used before I began making my music magazine.

HOW DID I GET FROM THIS…

… TO THIS?

COVER

On the left is the cover I created for my preliminary task, and on the right is the cover I have created for my main task. It is clear to see that I have improved my magazine-making skills. One of the main things I learned from my preliminary task is that dark colours don’t work well on covers because they are not eye-catching enough and make it difficult to see the text, and also that too many cover lines/too much text on the front cover and be overpowering for an audience. So, on my final piece I used bright colours and far less text. In terms of Photoshop skills, my manipulation of text has become more professional, and I have used a bigger variety of tools on my music magazine than on my school-based magazine. For instance, I used the magic wand tool, the quick selection tool, the smudge tool and the eraser tool on a low opacity to cut Chelsey’s face out of the background smoothly, catching every bit of blue, but when I cut Lucy out of the blue background for my preliminary task, I only used the magic wand tool and the eraser tool.

CONTENTS PAGE

On the left is the contents page I created for my preliminary task, and on the right is the contents page I have created for my main task. It is clear to see that I have improved my magazine-making skills here too.One of the main things I learned about contents pages from doing the preliminary task is that the dots in between the article names and the page numbers aren’t effective because they are so boring functional. So, when I created my music magazine, I decided to use a different structure which is similar to some of the ones I saw when I was researching and deconstructing magazines of a similar genre. I also used a brighter colour scheme on my music magazine, which like with my preliminary task, matched the colour scheme of my cover.In terms of Photoshop skills, I have used a bigger variety of tools on my contents page, too. For instance, through making the contents page on the right I have learned how to add effects, such as drop shadows, to shapes and images. This is what I did to my pinned editors note and Polaroid-style photographs to make them look more realistic.

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

Although I didn’t create a double page spread for my preliminary task, the creation of this double page spread for my music magazine shows how my skills have developed. To create these pages I used InDesign because it is a software that is more suited to this purpose than Photoshop. However, I had never used it before and so I had to learn how to do it from scratch. I did this by watching tutorials and seeking advice from my teacher. Through doing this, I learned how to import and place images, create columns and manipulate text among a multitude of other things.I am proud of what I have achieved.

THE LEARNING PROCESSThe main way I learned how to use Photoshop was through trial and error. Before I started working on my music magazine, I did a mock-up of a music magazine cover using an image from the Internet so that I could become familiar with the different tools and the software itself, because it is very different to any other programme that I’ve ever used.

I did the same for InDesign, but as it was a completely new software, I also watched tutorials and sought some help from my teacher when I needed it, as I mentioned previously.