What have you learnt about technologies from the

process of constructing this product?

Before constructing the magazine, I didn’t have any skills or knowledge of how to use any of the technology that

would be needed to produce an effective product.

Some of the technologies that I needed to gain skills and knowledge about how to use includes:

A Camera

MACs

Photoshop

Pages

Blog

Keynote

Before the construction of the

product

For the images I found that to have effective and non-pixelated images a good quality camera needed to be used.

I first used a digital camera for the images however when I went to edit and enlarge them, they became pixelated and I felt they were not good enough for my product so I decided not to

use them.

I then borrowed a professional camera to take the images. I learnt how to take images, how to use the flash, and how to

save them onto a pen drive.

I needed to take several images so that I could have choose the right photos for the individual pages.

The Camera

I have developed knowledge and skills of how to use a MAC computer.

The MAC computer has updated features which we needed to practice using before starting the

construction of the final product.

It took a while for me to know how to use the different programs but with practice I slowly gained the skills needed for the final product.

MACs

I have only used Photoshop once during secondary school and I found it difficult to use.

By doing the first mock up, the preliminary task, and the final design mock ups, I have gained skills of the different features of it and how to use them

to create an effective product.

I have learnt how to create a magazine through Photoshop and also how to create the conventions in an effective way.

For the images I have learnt how to use different effects, how to change the light levels and how to delete the background.

Below shows the progression of my magazine front covers:

Photoshop

Mock of Preliminary

Task

Preliminary Task

Mock Up of Final Design

Final Front Cover Page

I feel that the Mock up and the final design look more professional and realistic than the other two. The first two

designs use block colours whereas the other two use effects in the background.

I feel all of the designs have their own unique colour scheme however the final front cover with a black and white colour scheme looks more effective than the other three designs.

Overall I am pleased with the progress I have made through Photoshop and I feel I can show that I now can create an

effective and realistic magazine front cover.

Photoshop

Some of the tools that I needed to learn to use to make an effective and professional magazine include:

Magnetic lasso – This tool allows me to select the main part of the image that I want to use, i.e. the models. I used this tool

particularly in the editing of the main image on the double page spread. I needed to select the models and then move them so that

it layers on top of the image of the car park. I needed to accurately select around the image so that it looks realistic and

professional.Paint – I have used the paint tool when editing the background of the individual pages, I have selected the “spatter” effect behind the images and text and also on the headings. Again, I wanted to

use this effect to make my magazine look professional and aesthetically pleasing.

Crop – I have used the crop tool to select parts of the images that I wanted, so that the excess part of the image would be deleted.

Photoshop

Instead of using a word document, we had to learn how to work and operate pages, which is a program

that we need to use to write certain documents on the MAC.

Some of our tasks that are written on pages include:The textual analyses of two magazines

The development DiaryFlat plan

Questionnaire

After we had completed our tasks we needed to then upload them onto our blogs.

Pages

WordPress is a free and open source blogging tool where people can upload and present work.

We use this tool to present our work when we complete tasks. Our blogs include a production log which is written

as we meet and achieve our targets.

At the beginning of this course, I had to create a blog and learn how to upload my work for marking.

When on the MACs, I have learnt that I needed to save certain documents in a certain way.

I would have needed to save the pages documents as a word documents so that wordpress would allow me to

upload my work.

I would also need to save a keynote presentation as a PowerPoint, again, so that wordpress would allow me to

upload my work.

Blog

Keynote is a presentation software and I have used this software during the planning and research for my magazine

product.

I have used keynote to present my results from my questionnaire and I have included several pie charts and

bar graphs.

On each of the slides, I have commented on what the audience want and how I may apply this to my magazine.

I feel that keynote is a clear and easy way to present and to communicate data.

As I already have knowledge of using Microsoft PowerPoint, I was happy with using Keynote as it features similar tools

elements that I am familiar with.

Keynote

To conclude, I feel I have learnt a great deal about the new technologies that I

needed to use to create my final magazine pages.

Without these technologies, I wouldn’t have created a magazine that would look

realistic, professional and effective for the audience.

Conclusion