Evaluation Question Seven

Looking back at your preliminary task,

what do you feel you have learnt in the

progression from it to the full task?

How have my skills developed and what benefit has this had onmy work?

O My Researching skills have definitely improved whencompared with my initial print task. During my initial printtask, I was too general with what I wanted to research into.School magazines was a vague topic so it was hard toresearch into conventions.

O I think the biggest improvement is the detailed audienceresearch I did prior to planning. The key thing I found out waswhat GENRE, and ARTISTS interested my audience. Thisallowed me to specifically research around therepresentations and conventions of the most popular choiceswhich is why I feel I have really improved when compared tomy previous efforts during the initial print task.

O During the real print task, I also took on board any critiquesand improvements, which is what I was hesitant in doing onmy initial print task research and planning.

O In summary, I have definitely planned and research in moredetail which has helped me improve and adapt my designthrough every stage of my print task coursework.

Did you produce work more in line with professional practice as youhave a more detailed understanding of the forms and conventions ofreal media products?

O By finding out what my target audience read and liked the

most – Indie magazines – I was then able to research into

Indie magazines (NME, Q, REWIND) and see how they

represent the lifestyle and music. I was then able to

challenge these conventions when designing SOA

magazine, adapting their ideas and representations

around mine – through planning and detailed research.

O In contrast to this in the initial print task I did not research

into other college magazines, so I didn’t have a great

understanding of the conventions. I felt this was an area

for big improvement, so made it one of the most

important elements that must be done, improved and

experimented more during the Print Task Coursework.

DID I MANAGE MY TIME BETTER?

O During the initial print task coursework, when

reflecting back on it, I felt I had rushed my

work to get it out of the way before any

deadlines.

O This time around I feel like I have spent more

time on my work. Audience feedback and

critiques I have received – I have dealt with,

trying to make my work the best that it can

be.

O So far I have managed to reach all of the

deadlines on time….

Was my work well planned?O I feel I have planned my work well. I am happy that I

chose to do my audience research straight away, as that

allowed me to plan my planning and research really

easily!

O I also set a check list with what had to be done by

certain dates. This made the workload much easier and

manageable – especially though the research and

planning stages.

O I have placed everything in an appropriately

manageable order on my blog, tagging and categorizing

every post so I can refer back to them.

O The use of software such as Timeglider, Gliffy and Voki

allowed me to summarise my audience feedback, and

plan what needs to be done ahead using online flow

charts and timelines.

CONSTRUCTION

Comparing the initial print task, with the Print task coursework.

FRONT PAGE - COMPARISON

SIMILARITIES & DIFFERENCES – front coverSOA MAGAZINE THE SIXTH ISSUE

Photography Medium close up which has

been edited on photoscape.

Taken on a high quality DSLR

camera

Medium close up, edited on

microsoft publisher and

photoshop. Taken on iphone.

Composition Black white red colour scheme.

Colour images.

Black white red grey colour

scheme. Black and white images

Page

layout/Design

Model the main image. All

information on the left hand side

listed.

Model the main image however

background is in view. Features

and short summaries also

included. Small section beneath

the photo

Fonts Wide variation of fonts that look

like unique band names.

Important features irregular from

most of the white writing and are

in black and red.

All the same standard microsoft

font. Some features such as

“FRESHERS” vary.

Mise-en-scene Bright, unique, quirky Black and white - dark

Content INDIE MUSIC

MAGAZINE

SIXTH FORM

MAGAZINE

CONTENTS PAGE - COMPARISON

SOA MAGAZINE THE SIXTH ISSUE

Photography Photo window of “Winners

pictures” with their instagram tag

as a caption. Taken on a high

quality DSLR camera edited on

instagram

Wide shot, edited on microsoft

publisher

Composition Black white red colour scheme.

Colour images editied on

instagram

Black white red grey colour

scheme. Black and white images

Page

layout/Design

Picture window, features broken

down under “Features” and

“regulars” section

Centre image, all contents listed

and a small convergence link

showing magazine availability on

iphone

Fonts The same font, in a variation of

sizes and styles (bold italic etc)

All the same standard microsoft

font.

Mise-en-scene Bright, unique, quirky Black and white - dark

Content INDIE MUSIC MAGAZINE SIXTH FORM MAGAZINE

SIMILARITIES & DIFFERENCES – front cover

FRONT

COVERFor my Print task coursework, the software I’ve used

enables me to experiment more with my magazine designs. I

used Adobe-In-Design, Adobe Photoshop and photoscape.

This software is a lot more complicated than the basic

Microsoft Publisher I used for my initial print task.

The physical hardware has also improved the quality of my

magazine. My front cover image for the initial print task was

taken on my 4 megapixel iphone4 camera, where as for the

Print Task Coursework, I borrowed my friends professional

DSLR camera which improves the quality of the images.

I have also experimented with my own fonts. The initial print

task one used is a standard font, which is kept throughout

the running theme of the magazine. On SOA magazine, I

used a wide variation of fonts, as well as experimenting with

them on my masthead.

CONTENTS

PAGE

Like the front cover, I used some more interesting software when

compared with the Initial print task Microsoft publisher. On my

front cover I edited them on the social networking application

Instagram. This allowed me to incorporate a modern new social

edge to my magazine by linking the images to Instagram users.

Also similar to the front cover I used DSLR images, and digital

disposable camera – this improves the quality as well as making

it more appealing and striking towards the audience.