7:Looking Back At Your Preliminary Task (The School Magazine Task), What Do You Feel You Have Learnt In The Progression From It To Full Product

Looking at both my preliminary task and my final piece shows just how much I have learnt and my work improved. When I first started my preliminary task I had very little understanding of the programs InDesign and Photoshop. This is apparent when looking at both of my front pages and contents pages together. In the beginning I did not know how to select or change the colour of a section (e.g. hair) in Photoshop. I researched into how to do this and soon found ways to do this. I used this technique a lot in my magazine to change the colour of my models hair etc. Another process which I learnt during the making of my magazine was how to make gradients. This really helped to break up the block colour in some of my boxes. This also meant that the background colour showed through (stars or on the cover the models clothes) This gives a much more professional appearance as it looks less cheap. In InDesign I learnt how to create effects that would help my magazine become more conventional such as having drop shadows on text. This is a stereotypical convention of a music magazine as it helps make the text stand out from the page and again looks more professional. I think the fonts and layout of my preliminary task looks quite unprofessional as the colours don't work and there is too much plain space. I have also learnt that to find the best possible fonts that will be appealing to my target audience, I can download these from the internet. Overall my knowledge and understanding of the programs used to create my final magazine have greatly improved which have enabled me to create a professional and conventional music magazine.

6:What Have You Learnt About Technologies From The Process of Constructing This Product

I have learnt a lot about technologies during the creation of my magazine. I have used the programs InDesign and Photoshop on a Mac to produce my work. To post progress of my work on my blog I have also used the websites YouTube, Flickr and Slideshare. Most of the programs that I used to complete my work I had not used before, and I learnt a great deal, helping me to create a professional looking magazine with a varied well made blog.

Technology has changed a lot in recent years which has made a big impact on the work that I am now able to achieve. In the past in pre-production, the photographs would have had to have been taken using an analogue camera which meant that I either had to pay a shop to develop them or develop them myself. This would have been very time consuming and would not have enabled me to be able to be able to edit my images very easily if at all (this would have been pre-production but can now also be done in the post-production stages. During the production process I would not have had the high tech programs that we now have today. Instead I would have had to create my magazine using a much more basic program. In post production, I am now able to change the photos that I have used along with the layout and fonts etc. The programs InDesign and Photoshop are very similar to those used in reality today meaning that I can create a professional looking piece of work. I can replicate similar conventional features of magazines such as text with drop shadows on InDesign. I can also edit photos to a fairly professional standard using various techniques such as colour changing, and cutting out using Photoshop. One of the disadvantages of digital technology is that there are so many options and programs out there to choose from, meaning that sometimes you don't really now when to stop using them.

Due to the new media technology that we now have, I was even able to create a mock up of the sort of style magazine that I wanted to make. I could do this by downloading different brushes from the internet to use in Photoshop to create a suitable background. I could then surf the internet to find a suitable cover image. This was very quick and easy to do and would not have been possible to do this without the use of the internet as I would have had to go out and take images myself.

In terms of my blog, technology now enables me to be able to post using different methods such as uploading videos via YouTube. This also means that my blog can be viewed by a much larger target audience and will become more appealing to others. I can now also upload PowerPoint presentations onto slideshare, and annotate images using Flickr.

5:How Did You Attract/Address Your Audience- double page

Outloud double page a photo by HarrietASmedia on Flickr.

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5:How Did You Attract/Address Your Audience- Outloud contents

Outloud contents a photo by HarrietASmedia on Flickr.

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5:How Did You Attract/Address Your Audience- Outloud cover

Outloud front cover a photo by HarrietASmedia on Flickr.

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4:Who Would Be The Audience For Your Media Product

The target audience for my magazine is the younger generation from the age of 14, but slightly aimed more at females due to the fashion and celebrity contents.

Name- Zoe Adams
Zoe uses her ipod whilst completing her homework, and also on long journeys. Her ipod nearly always features most of the top 10 and features lots from artists such as Beyonce, Cheryl Cole and Olly Murs. During her free time she enjoys seeing her favourite artists live in concert, however this is not always possible as ticket prices are often very high. When she cant see her favourite acts live she watches them on TV on music channels and award ceremonies such as the 'Brit Awards'. She tends to only go to concerts when she has extra money from occasions such as her birthday or christmas. She goes shopping for clothes regularly with friends and often goes out on saturdays. She has a sunday job which helps pay for her music and clothes.

3: What Kind of Media Institution Might Distribute Your Media Product and Why?

As my magazine is aimed at the younger generation from the age of 14, I think that it should be sold in high street stores such as WHSmiths as these are the most appealing to my target audience. This would make the magazine easy to access by my target audience, as they are often seen out at the weekends in town etc. The magazines would be delivered here in large masses as these are the shops which attract the most customers. I would also like my magazine to be distributed by smaller independent news stands or shops such as the Co-Op, which would mean easy access for teenagers that perhaps live in villages or prefer to buy from a local shop. I also believe that a media institution such as IPC Media would be the be a good way to distribute my magazine. This is because at the moment the company mainly focuses on selling more specialized magazines for specific target audiences of the older more mature generation. Another media institution that I would consider distributing my magazine would be 'isubscribe' or 'magazinesubscription.co.uk'. This is because when young people search for something they usually type what they want and go the the first page that the results show. These websites are the in the top three when you search magazine subscriptions, so therefore would make it worth while for these sites to distribute my magazine as they are more likely to be visited by my target audience and therefore enable more profit.