What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

1. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

2. Before the construction of the 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

3. The Camera • 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.

4. MACs • 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.

5. Photoshop • 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: Mock of Preliminary Task Preliminary Task Mock Up of Final Design Final Front Cover Page

6. Photoshop • 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.

7. 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.

8. Pages • 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 Diary • Flat plan • Questionnaire • After we had completed our tasks we needed to then upload them onto our blogs.

9. Blog • 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.

10. Keynote • 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.

11. Conclusion • 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.