Evaluation question 6

1. Evaluation QUESTION 6

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

3. My magazine consists of a front cover, contents page and a double page spread. I created my front cover using Adobe Photoshop and I created my contents page and double page spread using Quark Xpress. I also used other applications which included powerpoint and word and I used a various of devices like a recording camera and a Nikon camera to the my images.

4. Firstly, when I was creating my front cover on Photoshop I started by using a blank canvas. To create my front cover it took a lot of steps and trial and error to get me to the place I am. I looked at my magazine that I bought to help me with inspiration and then once I added things I tried different things with different colours and sizes to see what looks the best. Originally my front cover was a really light grey colour but now it's a darker grey colour because I feel like the colour looks better now and fits in better with other things on the front cover. I really enjoyed making my front cover because I was able to experiment with a range of tools that are used very often like on my masthead to begin with it was plain black text but then I used the Gradient Overlay tool which gave my title more of an edgy look at made it stand out more which is what I wanted. I have learnt from using Photoshop there are so many things that you can do to one thing so it's good to experiment before making any final decisions which is why I used a lot of trial and error. Photoshop tools Gradient overlay on my masthead Blank canvas with chosen background colour applied

5. I also earn how useful Photoshop is because I used Photoshop to create some things that I can transfer over to Quark and use for other things in my magazine. I found this software much easier to use than Quark which I think was down Photoshop having all the tools displayed alongside the project and I had more of an idea on how to use Photoshop more than Quark. One thing I did struggle with was when I had to crop around the models hair as the first model I used had whips in her hair so to help me cut it out professional I went on YouTube to see if there was any videos that could help me. Here is the link to the video I watched. I thought the video was very detailed and helped me but overall I think there was too many bits sticking out so I decided to re-take my image so it looks more professional. https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=zQ2ONalr2yE Overall, I have learnt how to use a range of tools which I mostly haven't used before which gave me more experience and confidence to use Photoshop in the future. Original model New model

6. When I was creating my contents page and double page spread using Quark Xpress it took me longer to get to grips with using it than it did with Photoshop. What I learnt from using this software is how useful and important. I thought this because this software is used in high up industries in the world therefore I knew I just had to get use to using it. One thing I thought was very useful on this software was it had guidelines. This guidelines enabled my work to look neat and it also looks more professional as all my images and text could be in line with each other. I realized that you can import things from other software's like Microsoft Word and Photoshop therefore this made it easier to use as I could type what I wanted to write in Word then export it over. Again, like Photoshop I used a lot of trial and error mainly at first when I was slightly unsure on what certain things could do. Even though I struggled to use this software at first I enjoyed using it because I really liked the way my contents page and double page spread turned out. To help me improve my knowledge and skills I found a very useful website with just a few tips on it which helped me make my magazine a bit quicker and with my precision. Overall, I have learnt how to make a professional, neat and effective contents and double page spread and how to use different tools. Transferring text from word onto Quark Guidelines

7. Lastly, for my front cover, contents page and double page spread to look professional they needed good quality photographs. To do this I used a Nikon Camera which was very good quality which was borrowed by the school.I had never used one of these types of camera before so I took a few practice shots first before taking anything serious. For my front cover image I took that in school and the model performed various positions and poses facing different directions and then once I took a few I loaded them onto a computer so I could see what they looked like on screen then I made my decision which one I would use. For my contents page I took various images around the school as I found different things that link in to my coverlines so they all related to other. For my double page spread I had to go to a gig as that's what typical teenagers do therefore I went to a rock gig and took images of the artists. Prior to the gig I emailed the artists to ask if I could take images of them and use it for my coursework and they kindly agreed. Email of the MacBros answering my questions from the gig. Front cover image took by using Nikon camera

8. One thing I found hard when taking my images was the lighting. In the gig the lighting was low therefore even with the flash I still found it hard so I used Photoshop to brighten them up. From this process I learnt to look more closely at images to make sure there easy to work around for example in the first shot of images for my front cover the models hair was a bit frizzy so when I went to cut out the image it was very hard to keep it looking natural. Overall, I learnt how to use the camera effectively for a positive, professional outcome of photographs. Not very clear lighting at gig