Final evaluation

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have

learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

As Media Coursework

This is shown via the horrible quality on the left, in comparison to the one on the right. The final front cover is clean and smooth where the model has been cropped, whereas the preliminary task has multiple irrelevant features surrounding it, like a bag, curtains etc. which have no real relevance to school life.

Since my preliminary task, I have made huge progress when completing my magazine. This is solely because of my advanced knowledge on multiple software devices such as Adobe Photoshop, Pages etc., allowing me to improve the quality of the images used, and overall the magazine.

This is evident in the magazine ‘Skool Era’ as the images used are in extremely low quality, therefore negatively representing the models as they are not very visible. We didn’t use Photoshop for our preliminary task, hence when we used it on our final front cover, the outcome is a lot clearer and way more positive. Having visible images is vital because if you cannot see it very well, there is no point in actually having it.

Low quality images:

Looks too much like a newsletter:My preliminary task looks too much like a newsletter. This was because we chose to find a template from the ‘Newsletter’ section in Pages. We then attempted to adapt into a magazine, but failed as it still has similar features to the newsletter on the far right. For example, the image in the centre, the three/two images on the right column etc. The main aim of our preliminary is to represent a school magazine that needs to be funky and engaging for children/teenagers, and we subverted this as we haven’t included these conventions that represent this.

Unprofessional to professional:The preliminary task wasn’t even completed. This shows how unorganised we were, and indicates a lack of professionalism. From an incomplete newsletter magazine, we managed to create a very bold and professional front cover for our music magazine. This is because I have learnt how to use specific software to create such a great piece of work In addition, I have also learnt to stay on top of your work, otherwise you don’t allow yourself the time to complete your magazine in the detail and quality that you want. The preliminary task was a turning point in realisation for me as otherwise I would not have been able to complete my four pages to the standard that they are. I believe the transition I made from my preliminary task to my final magazine is exceptional as it shows a real sense of progress and development due to their high quality. Finally, the name ‘Skool Era’ is very unprofessional and negatively ironic because it is a magazine for school, yet I spelt it incorrectly. Base is more professional as it isn’t immature showing I proved a sense of maturity from my preliminary through to the final product.

Following magazine conventions:

The ‘Skool Era’ magazine doesn’t follow any conventions presented by published magazines. This includes a distinct lack of entertainment and meaningfulness. It simply looks like an image surrounded by a bunch of irrelevant information. In the magazine business, I have learnt that this is considered as a waste of space as every aspect on the page needs to have a purpose. There is no point in putting something on the page when it has no actual reasoning. From this, I learnt that I needed to find a magazine cover I liked, and replicate it in my own version and format by changing various details about it. By changing certain conventions from Fader magazine, it shows our compliance with the demands of the audience as Fader is a popular, and published magazine, who has specialised in hip-hop.

As shown on the right, our final front cover follows way more conventions in relation to Fader in comparison to Skool Era. I have learnt that following particular conventions meets the audiences demands (supported by my research and questionnaire analysis) as well as showing true professional work as the information is extracted from an experienced, knowledgeable source.

Examples of my progressHere I have incorporated screen shots of my final contents page. I experimented with different images, fonts, layouts, colours, filters and textual information as a result of creating my final product. The top left image was too colour clashing, as the red didn’t suit the graffiti style background of the image, and the text at the top, ‘BASE’, had too much resemblance of a front cover. The top middle example is too empty at the bottom, and the image background is too dull in contrast with the graffiti one. The top right image doesn’t completely follow the conventions of Vibe because of the absence of the ‘Fashion’ title. In the bottom right corner of the black box, it is also too empty, which isn’t acceptable for a contents page. This is also applicable for the bottom left screen shot. Next, the middle bottom screen shot is very unorganised due to the unprofessional layout of the ‘fashion’ title. Once again, the image is very boring too. Finally, the bottom right example has the absence of the social media logos, which is key for a contents page as it shows the different platforms the magazine is accessible on. Moreover, the font is complex and doesn’t particularly suit our magazine because it is relatively unprofessional.

With all these flaws of my attempts to make the contents page, I have considered every negative and turned the overall page into some engaging and positive. The font is bold and clear, there isn’t too much or too little text, the image is engaging due to the filter added to it, and it follows conventions displayed by Vibe magazine, as well as my own developments of them.

My final product has a filter behind it. I cropped out the model and put the filter on the background via the use of Adobe Photoshop. This made the model more 3D and ‘leap off’ the page. The font also shows consistency as it was the same font used on the double page spread and front cover. I also added the ‘Fashion’ title to follow Vibe conventions.

To conclude:• In conclusion, I feel I learnt a lot of vital information in-between

creating my preliminary task and my final front cover. This is because I recognised what makes a professional magazine that looks aesthetically pleasing, rather than creating a boring newsletter that is supposed to be a magazine. I did this via researching specific magazines such as Fader, which is the magazine I took inspiration from when creating my front cover. Lastly, since my preliminary task, I have developed multiple skills in Photoshop and Pages along with realising the importance in staying on top of your work, which has helped me progress to produce my final product in the quality it is.