Looking back at your preliminary task (the college magazine task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

I think that I have learnt a lot in the progression from my preliminary task to my final task, I think that this development can be seen in my before and after pictures. I think that it is evident that my photography skills have improved, choosing a photo that is a mid to close-up shot for the front cover helps to attract attention to the product. It also makes the artist more instantly recognisable.

It is interesting to see that the layout of both my before and after images haven’t changed that much. Both have master heads at the top and headings down the side, I think that this shows my awareness to the forms and conventions of a magazine before I made the preliminary task. However, even though this main layout has stayed the same, the finer details such as the amount of writing, the style of text and the image placement have become more sophisticated and complex.

I think that my fonts and mode of address have become more centered on my target audience, this will help the product to sell as the audience will see that this magazine has been personalised for them. I didn’t add this personal touch to my preliminary task as a wide range of people would be reading the magazine, each with their own ideologies and preferences.

I used the stroke device to help make both my masthead and images stand out. Along with this I used the drop shadow tool; this helped to make the masthead stand out and made sure that it no longer blended into the image.

I used space reduction to help make the spacing of my lines more effective, this would mean that there would be less white space on the page and therefore would make more of an impact on the reader.

I manipulated many of my images, making them black and white. I did this to create the effect of a newspaper; this would appeal to my reader. I also ‘warped’ some coloured blocks to create the post it style box that is featured in the corner of my magazine. This had the effect of a reminder and advertiser for my audience, as it would attract them to what was written inside and consequently any deals or competitions that the magazine was advertising.