Comparison from my preliminary task to finished product.

Dale Richardson

Front Cover – Conventions. Within the time I produced my preliminary task to my finished product I have gained and developed skills that make my magazine look better.The preliminary task doesn’t cover many conventions but some are used, like big masthead and cover lines. However in comparison to my finished product I have used more conventions than I previously had, like bold masthead, cover story, cover lines, barcode, price and date, puffs and route of the eye. This shows that I have gained better knowledge and improved my ability to make a front cover. My use of images is much better than before as I have thought about the image and not taken a picture of a random student at school like I did in the preliminary task.

Front Cover – mise-en-scene and photography.

My use of photography has improved significantly as the image in my preliminary task is unconventional and not thought through. I didn’t consider the shot type and angle which made the image ineffective. These points have been improved dramatically in my finished product which includes a conventional medium close up mid shot.Also my use of mise-en-scene has improved as I have not clearly thought through the setting in the preliminary task but in the finished product I have thought about different settings to use that would make the images conventional.

Front Cover – image editing

My image editing has improved substantially since my preliminary task as I put minimal to no effort in editing my image, however in my finished product I have carefully edited the image to make it appealing and conventional for the genre of magazine I have produced.

Front Cover - layoutIn my preliminary task I have not included a conventional layout, the layout is very simple and not appealing to any audience. In my finished product the layout is conventional to the magazine genre as it is very similar to Kerrang which is appealing and conventional. In my finished product I have included a structured layout that uses the route of the eye which again is conventional to the genre.

Front Cover – Fonts The fonts I used in the preliminary task were not conventional they were fonts that were programmed into the software that I used and I did not look at other fonts when producing this cover therefore no effort was put into them. The fonts in my finished product are conventional and more varied as I have used different fonts for the masthead and cover lines which shows a variety of fonts that are programmed into the software and taken from online font websites.The use of the same font throughout the preliminary task front cover wasn’t appealing or conventional. However in my finished product using a variety of fonts was more appealing and conventional for the genre.

Front Cover - ColoursThe colours I used on the preliminary task are not appealing as they are very basic and are not appealing to look at either. Also the colours I used were not conventional of the genre so doesn’t help to appeal to the target audience.This has been improved as the colours I used in the finished product show the correct connotations of the genre and therefore are more appealing to the target audience. From my preliminary task I have been able to find a good colour scheme that is conventional and appealing to the target audience.

Front Cover – Mode of address.The mode of address in my preliminary task is very simple and unclear, it doesn’t make the magazine stand out therefore it would not be appealing to the target audience. Since then I have improved my knowledge and the mode of address is more conventional in my finished product as it uses field specific lexis to target the audience. My magazine cover conveys a message that is conventional to the genre of magazine I have produced and the correct connotations have been used to convey the message I wanted such as aggression and violence, this creates a tone that is conventional for the genre and therefore will appeal to my target audience.