Evaluation Question 4

I researched all about different newspapers, web pages and posters on the internet to find out more techniques and interesting ways of doing things. This gave me ideas on how I could change and adapt photos to my newspaper and change the formats. Also it helped me plan the payout of my newspaper and web pages as I did not know where to start. By looking at other newspapers around the area at the moment it gives me suggestions on where things should go on the page. Such as the date. Most newspapers have the date on the top right hand corner on the front page and on the left hand side on each of the pages at the top.

Wikipedia was a good way of finding all about newspapers and what it involves in a local newspaper. It gave me topics which are normally situated within a newspaper such as sport, lifestyle, community and news. It was also a good way of researching about the companiesthemselves. This includes who owns the company and background information like that. This is useful asit allows me knowledge on the newspaper which helped me when I was doing my newspaper.

The News website helped me find out what information is needed on a newspaper website and how it is laid outwith the layout and settings. Also the categories on which it focuses on such ‘lifestyle’, ‘sport’ and ‘community. Like most of the other websites I have researched it has an advertisement at the top. The web page is neatly planned out with each of the different topics in a different box.

The Daily Echo has an advertisement at the topof the page so the advertisement doesn’t effect the layout of the whole website page. It has the weather on the home page which I found quite interesting as The News’ web page and some of the others did not have this. I think this is to bring more people to the page because a lot of people like to know the weather in their area and what better place to look for it than on your local newspaper website. The ‘search’ box always seems to be on the right hand corner at the top. I think this is because it’s easier to have it at the top of the page where everyone can get to it.

I used modern day technology such as the web and Google to find newspaper web pages and different idea’s and ways to challenge the media. Google was the fastest and easiest way to find any information on the web and that’s why I used it to find out about the newspaper companies and background knowledge on it.

I used Photoshop to change and make the photo’s better in order for my newspaper. That could mean cropping it to make the photo fit in with the layout better and cropping out things in the picture that ruined it. I often used Photoshop on all my photo’s just to tidy them up and make them more professional. I sometimes used the magic wand to get rid of the background the photo was on. This was a good tool for the advertisements I had to make for the web pages and my newspaper as I could change the colour of the background to fit in with the product.

Illustrator helped me plan and detail my newspaper to put it all together. I think that I used Illustrator more than InDesign as I felt more comfortable with the techniques and styles. With Illustrator I made the advertisements and the newspaper front cover and second page. I think that it worked better on Illustrator rather than InDesign as I understood the tools more on Illustrator.

I used InDesign to plan and design the newspaper and make the layout of it. I found it easier to plan it on InDesign and then move it to Illustrator rather than just use Illustrator. Also because InDesign had some different techniques and ways of changing the settings and layout I tried my newspaper on it first but found it easier and more interesting to work with Illustrator.

I found using IWeb quite fun as I could do and put whatever I wanted into my web page rather than having a layout kind of already planned out with the newspaper. I had more freedom as it could have and be whatever I wanted it to be (so long as it was to do with my newspaper). I made a Home page which is like a welcoming page too. The second web page I decided was going to be about news in the local area. This is because it links in with newspaper more as the topic is the same.

I often used my phone to write down ideas or take photos when I didn’t have my camera. I then used Bluetooth to take the photo’s from the phone and put them on to the computer in order to add them to my product. My phone only has 8.2 Mega pixels so it meant that I had to change some of it on Photoshop to make it as good as the photo’s from my camera.

I used my camera to take most of the photo’s for my product as the photo’s have to be my own. The camera has 10.2 Mega pixels which is better than my phone and therefore made it easier to edit and change on Photoshop. I connected the camera to the computer with the USB lead. This made me able to transfer and edit pictures on the computer.

I used Word to type up all my notes and thoughts on each of my screen grabs. I then copied and pasted it to my blog to save time writing it out again. Using Word was easier and more sufficient as it told me when I had spelt something wrong or if my sentences didn't make sense. Whereas on blogger it does not tell you and therefore makes it harder to spot my mistakes.

I used PowerPoint Presentation for all of my evaluation questions as I found it simpler and more professional to add in photos and links to it. PowerPoint was better to use than just typing it out as it meant I could bring it to life more and explain things in greater detail with pictures and video clips.

The blog holds all my information and ideas for the whole product. Using Blogger was fairly easy as I could update videos, pictures and copy and paste Word documents onto it. It was simple to upload photos and videos to as and took no time at all doing so. This meant I could focus more on the practical rather than the blog and whether it was uploading or not.

I used the scanner to scan in any paper work I had done at home on pieces of paper. I think it mostly ideas and things I wanted to try out on the Mac. Such as changing around the layout or trying a different colour. The printer was useful as it meant I could print it off and see what it would be like as it was an actual newspaper. This helped me see if the colours were too bright or dark and it looked professional like a local newspaper was.

Facebook was a good way to find out what other people thought of my products. Each time I change something I would normally ask one or two of my friends to write what they dislike about it and what they like about it or post it to my wall and ask everyone their opinions.

All my photos were put onto Flickr as it was a good way of keeping all of my photos in group so that they were tidy and easy to find. This also meant I could post the link on my blog so that if anyone else wishes to see some of the photos I thought of using but decided not to, they can.

I uploaded all my evaluation questions to SlideShare as it was not possible to just upload them to my blog. SlideShare is the middle and between the m and helped me join my PowerPoint to the blog.

Overall I liked the Poster the best as I could change the colour depending on the place it was going to be. Such as at a bus stop it could be a colour that matched with the buses colours of completely opposite to make it stand out more. If it was put up near a park or somewhere with greenery I thought that the colour should be green as it links in with the surroundings. I also liked having the freedom to put things where I wanted them to be on the page rather than having a certain layout. It meant that I could put the title at the bottom of the poster if I wished and it would still look good as the audience can still see the name and are drawn to it.

I didn't like my Home web page as much as I like the News web page. I think that was because I found it difficult to adapt on what to put on it and where to place things. I felt that the Home web page should have been the best out of the two but was disappointed as it didn't turn out the way I would have liked.

If I had more time or the chance to do it again I would have changed the Home web page because out of all my work I felt that piece was the one I disliked the most. I think I would have changed the layout of where I put the normal advertisements and where I put the advertisement for the newspaper as I felt that the focus was taken away by the other advertisements.