prelim evaluation

 

Did you plan your magazine? If not, what have you learnt about the importance of research and planning?
I planned my magazine in the fact that I knew who I was going to use for my pictures and what I wanted them to be doing in the picture. But other than that I did not plan my magazine.  If I had planned it more, it probably would have come out better than it has and looked more professional. Planning and researching is important as it would have saved time while designing my magazine as I could have based it on others I had seen and gone straight into it. I spent a lot of time just playing around with different designs, colours and fonts.

 

What technology did you use to complete the task and how did you use it?
To complete this task as a whole and put it all together, a computer was my main source of technology. The pictures that feature on my magazine were taken with an iPhone then transferred onto the computer using the iPhone cable. To design the magazine, I used a software called Page Plus X6, which enabled me to edit the background, font size/colour etc. Within Page Plus X6, there was a tool called Cut-out Studio. This was used to cut out the background of my pictures. This was very useful as it made the pictures look better and neater and the enhanced the magazine design.

 

Did you encounter any difficulties? If so, what were they and how did you    overcome them?
The first issue I came across was taking the photos as it was difficult to decide where to take them to get good lighting. Also the photos needed to be medium – close up, but the first set I took were too much of a long shot so I had to take new ones.


I had difficulty with some of my pictures I used for my magazine. The first picture I used for my front cover had a very straight edge to it and looked like half the picture had been cut off. So I had to look back at my photos and choose a better one. I chose another one with more of a rough edge and it looks much better on the front cover. Another difficulty was using Cut- out studio to crop the pictures as it was hard to cut right along the edge. So on occasion I had to go back to cut-out studio several times and tidy up the cutting of the image.


I also found it hard to choose the right background colour for the magazine as it needed to look right with the images so they stood out and didn’t just fade into the background.  So I tried several colours before I came to the final one which looked right with the images and all the font.

 

 

How successful was your magazine? Please identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you improve/do differently?
I personally think my magazine has been successful for a first attempt. I am happy with the design, I think the colours look good together. I have also kept a consistent font and colour throughout so it looks professional and not to overwhelming to look at.
To improve, I think I would edit my pictures better or practice with that tool first as even though I tried my best, the editing looks a bit untidy on some parts of my images. Also, I think the front cover could have potential to look like a poster to some people. So I would maybe change the layout slightly or change the shapes used to make sure it definitely looks like a magazine cover.

 

What have you learnt from completing this task? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing the rest of your foundation coursework, do you think?
From completing this task, I have learnt that planning and researching is very important otherwise you waste a lot of time and don’t know whether you are including the correct conventions and codes.  When completing the rest of the coursework, this will be good as I will know to analyse other music magazines first.


I have also learnt that colour scheme and images are key to making your magazine look good otherwise it won’t draw people in and catch their eye.  So for the rest of my coursework, I will make sure I am confident with using the editing tool so the pictures look neat. I will also make sure that I use a consistent colour scheme and font throughout the front cover, contents and double page spread.


I have also learnt how to use the software Page Plus X6 which I had never used before. This is significant for the remainder of my coursework as this software will be the main basis of my magazine design so knowing how to use it properly will save me time and make my magazine look the best it can.