Task 9!

Task 9- Evaluation Feedback When looking at the work produced it is important to reflect and see how it was improved by several drafts and constant hard work to make sure it was up to a professional standard. Producing the drafts were thanks to feedback from both by peers around me and the tutor offering guidance on what aspects are strong and what could be taken away and looked at. An example of this would be in Task 5 and where the production of the Interview and Primary research was put together. My initial draft included the information that was needed, however after asking for people's opinions I could see that it was looking more like a report rather than an interview for a piece of media. These were small aspects such as adjusting the name of the person and putting them towards the end of the paragraph and altering the order of the text so it was fluent and easier to read rather than dates being all mixed up in the article. Feedback can be important, however I feel self evaluation can be just as vital. Seeing and understanding what is good about what I produced and also what I can improve on. Being critical on your own work can often be hard however I felt when given the time to look back I could see what was needed. Self Evaluation can come from knowing what needs to be done to produce something of a quality standard. This knowledge of it comes from feedback in previous tasks and understanding what is needed from you. Task 6 and the Obituary was a good example into how I used my own o pinion to look and see if the work produced was a certain required quality. Comparing the work to the brief helped me understand that quotes were needed in order to make it much more professional and a believable. Looking further into tutor feedback and Task 7. This was one task in particular where I felt that the feedback helped me hugely. From the initial sentence to adjusting each paragraph and removing unnecessary content it helped me produce a much stronger piece of work. The task involved producing a news report on the chosen celebrity and in the form of a tabloid newspaper. It is from this that I understood the writing had to be of a informal manner and language chosen had to be in relation to the demographic the paper was aimed towards.

In the first draft's feedback it was clear that some language could be altered to be more specific to the tabloid paper. Such as 'Piers Morgan Sacked' rather than 'relived from his duties'. This is something of a small alteration however it had a huge impact on the relevance on the piece and who it was designed for. Towards the end of each task I felt it was important to compare and contrast my work with my peers. This was not a chance to plagiarise work but to see what areas were weak and that could be improved at a later date. This was a good way of advancing the level of work because the peers who were asked, took part in the same tasks and understood what was needed and required. Time Management When comparing the work produced in the time given to that of previous tasks I believe that I am getting work produced in quicker time and up to a higher standard. This is partly thanks to the feedback during the production stage from the tutors. Producing one piece of work in a short space of time allowed room for alterations once feedback was given. From this I could then make several pieces and know what standard was required of me. This is in contrast to previous tasks where the work was produced and completed in the same time given, however when the opinions were made on the work, it was too late to improve as it was given at the end of the project. The time management was improved due to a great deal of planning to know how much time to share out for each task. In the several weeks given to produce the 10 tasks, the dividing of the work load was going to be important. Producing tasks 1-3 in one week of the 4 given was a way of being able to spent more time in the production stages. These first stages to the project were about understanding and researching the topic. Using my own time throughout this project was one of the main reasons to being able to keep up with the large amounts of work given. Task 10 was a good example of this. Having this as an ongoing homework to do outside of class allowed much more time to get detailed pieces of work produced and ones which were not rushed in order to keep in the time period. Each task I was given I managed to produce work for. When looking back into the time given I would perhaps spend much more time researching into existing products in the early stages to understand the work I needed to produce later on in the unit.

Task 8 can be a good way of understanding this due to the amount of time spent on it trying to replicate that of a tabloid newspaper. Replicate aspects such as the house style, positioning of text and the use of imagery. Looking back on this project I would say that the time given was enough and perhaps more time outside of class to improve the work more would have been a better way to achieve the highest grades. Comparing this to other projects such as the Design for Advertising I would say it was an improvement. Much more time was spent on the production of the pieces rather than quick pieces being made in quantity. Spending so much time on the first product on Task 8 could have been the reason why many more pieces were not created and only the tabloid cover and a quick creation of a magazine layout were produced. Reviewing work Looking back and reviewing each task during the project I believe I created each piece of work to a good standard. It was from constant going back and altering the work during the process which helped me get so much out of this project whereas other units the feedback was given too late that adjustments made did not have enough impact on the final grade. Perhaps I could have reviewed each piece of work separately in order to understand what could be improved rather than just looking at each task in relation to the time given. It was in the first two tasks in the project where I felt I spent enough time going back and forth with the brief to complete very good pieces of work. They were that of researching into media products and producing a short essay on bias within them. These can be seen as relatively straight forward tasks, however there was enough time reviewing previous research tasks in the past where I understood what was needed for the highest grades. It is from this where I included multiple examples on each section of the PowerPoint created and for the essay included much more specific articles that reflect the points I made. Reviewing work during rather than after helped me enormously in this project. This gave me the chance to see what the industry is like and reflected that of a journalist handing work to the editor for them to give it back to them and produce it again to a higher standard.

The idea that the work created has to be very detailed on a consistent basis. After doing this reviewing constantly in the project, the later tasks only took one or two drafts. This was due to understanding the feedback as it was fresh compared to other projects where the feedback was looked at after the tasks were all completed and did not have had that greater understanding. Technical competencies Using new tools in this project is all part of the learning process in the subject. Expanding my abilities is always something I am willing to take part in. In a technical point of view I would say the work produced is of a good standard but not a great one. Looking at task 8 again is a good way of looking at this. Everything is included, the advertisements, the house style's in relation to The Sun newspaper such as the red bullet points, the large imagery is taken into account also.

All the content is there such as the price, the large pun in the title, the logo, the competitions and 'exclusive interviews' with people on the main piece. There was also the attention to detail on the additional topics such as the sporting aspect. In terms of the technical ability I would say to be pleased with what I have created. The way in which I used a combination of both Adobe Photoshop and InDesign. The use of the Rotoscope tool to remove background colour was an important side to the aesthetical look.

This is seen in the Aeroplane overlapping other work. The attempt to create my own logo and circular price symbol left the piece looking less professional than it could have, however the attempt is something that can be improved upon in previous projects. When comparing to the Design for Advertising and a project which spent more time on Photoshop, I would say a large improvement has been made. In that project that feedback given was that of imagery being squashed and not having the correct proportions. It was in task 8 where I remembered that opinions given and tried to make sure the imagery that was such as huge part to the piece, was correct and looked professional.

When looking at research in the tasks leading up to this piece, it was clear that the imagery was looked at in a compositional point of view. It was moved either to equate for the text or it was kept underneath with the heading going over the image. Many experimental stages were looked at and it was decided after good feedback from my tutor that importing the image into Photoshop first, selecting the oval shape tool to retain the face and then selecting the black paint bucket to make all the background in a dark shade. This would keep the most important part of the image as well as giving room for the large white heading and bullet points. It was not just this one image of Piers Morgan that had thought put into it. From the image of the theme park, to the holiday destination to the Maldives. These had to stay with the Flatplan ideas and be of a strong quality. The image of Andrew Neil on the tabloid used similar tools such as the circular selection one. This allowed me to blend the image in rather than making it look out of place.

When looking at how I could improve my work further I look into existing products and see the difference in creation. Similarities can be seen straight away such as the large font that is underlined with a dark background behind. However, this is made to look much more clear. When looking at the small text box on the article it is clear what could be improved in my piece of work. Here on the example, the first few lines are in a

larger font, and in bold, the following lines have spaced capitals. From this straight away the attention is caught. With mine, the content is there and is made in the same style as the text box, however the presentation is not of the same quality. With small alterations in the future it would look much more professional. The size of the heading should be much more larger also. I did experiment with it being of that size however this left no room for the advertisements and perhaps the need to show it was a tabloid newspaper made me choose to decrease the size to equate for the additional information. Creative Abilities

In previous tasks I feel the need to show much more creativity in my work is something that has stopped me from achieving the higher grades. Creativity comes in many forms, not just the visual aspect. I feel in this project I have expanded my creative writing skills. The fanzine was a good way of expressing an opinion in a different approach to what the text would usually be written in. Take the title and first few paragraphs in the fanzine on task 4 for example. 'Taking the Piers! Why is it that Piers Morgan pushes people so hard that they snap and even the most light hearted of comedians can be taken to a high level of anger and fury? When looking at Mr. Morgan we all share the same opinion, don’t we? How does he keep getting away with it? If it is not Publishing images from something as trivial as an alleged Jeremy Clarkson love affair, he is almost starting WW3 with the publication of photographs about Iraqi prisoners being abused by British soldiers'. It is from this where I started to learn much more about my abilities to produce much wider varieties of work. When looking at Creative writing I feel this has come on much more than the aesthetical use in actual production. With the creative abilities in relation to producing a product of professional similarity I feel there is room for improvement. Design For Advertising is a good example into where my qualities lie and what is needed for greater improvement. I believe my stronger side is in the written form rather than producing products of professional value. The energy drink project clearly outlined this. There was good creativity behind the name qWake and the use of the earthquake theme, however when it came to producing the advertisements such as the web banner, they did not reflect the original idea. I feel that my creative side is there however producing the pieces to reflect this can be hard. This was shown again in this project, with it being more text based it helped me focus my strengths. Idea generation is something I feel comes natural to me and that of coming up with great names for products. 'Falling to Pierces' for the sacking of Piers Morgan, 'Taking the Piers' for him getting away with large amounts of wrong doing and from the previous project 'qWake' incorporating waking up with the natural disaster. This creative side however is not shown in the work produced and the large amounts of work created on Photoshop lack that detail.

The Finished Product I believe I achieved what I set out to do in the process and produced pieces of appropriate quality. Each task has research, planning and feedback to it. There was a great deal of effort put into each piece of work and I went above and beyond including time outside of the class to finish the project. This project allowed room to understand different approaches to writing, from Essays to fanzines to tabloid newspaper and to Obituaries. In all of these I spent an enormous amount of time making sure each were up to the standard I have set myself in each project given. This consistency was hopefully seen in the feedback given for each piece of work. Task 1- A straightforward research task that I completed in a short space of time and had more examples than were asked for. Task 2- An essay using examples found in the research side to help form an argument in relation to media bias. The use of the additional examples helped in the essay being of a higher standard. Task 3- Further research however in relation to a chosen celebrity. Here I spent large amounts of time on the examples and could have looked better in the Primary research to gather more results. Task 4- A fanzine using less formal language on the chosen celebrity. This was to include all the information collected in the previous task. This was up to a standard I was pleased with. Task 5- The interview, using primary research collected and creating an interview for a magazine. After several drafts this was again up to a good standard. Task 6- The press release and the Obituary. Further ways of exploring factual writing and I was pleased with the outcome of both. Task 7- A news report, this was something I felt I could have improved should more time was given for the production stage. (Time Management could not have been altered much more and was down to the lack of time to produce great detailed pieces rather than the separation of the allocated time) Task 8- This I felt was my weakest piece in all the tasks and if I was given the chance I would spend much more time making sure this was up to a standard I was pleased with.

Task 10- Using large amounts of examples to explain the serious points made me feel as if I achieved what I set out to and again was pleased. In terms of commercial practice I feel the majority of the tasks would not look out of place in actual pieces of work, such as the Fanzine, the News report and the Obituary. The press release was something I was proud of. Appropriateness of the work for the audience In this project it was all about designing the same content but in a variety of pieces that were aimed towards different audiences. From informal language in a fanzine all the way to a very formal Obituary. The reasoning behind the creation of each task was to see how versatile I was and to look into which piece was the strongest and what could be worked on in later tasks or outside of class in order to have the required skill set in each way of writing. The appropriateness of the work was vital and if it did not appeal to the audience then it would come to nothing. A huge amount of thought and research had to be put in to understand what each of the tasks wanted. The fanzine in task 3 was all about producing the research gathered in the previous task and making a platform from where the later tasks could spring from. 'Like many of his stories, these were seen to be false and the fake images are what brought him to the end of his eventful Daily Mirror career. What I am desperate to find the answers to are why he does not get punished further and why do companies still employ this person that is frowned upon by the majority of the media and public?' In this fanzine the piece had to be written in a much more different way to what I was used to. Placing rhetorical questions and trying to interact with the reader makes it that much more engaging. This is indeed appropriate to the audience because it is written in a way that people with the same opinion on Piers Morgan would agree. 'During the trial it emerged that Morgan had in fact bought £67,000 worth of Viglen shares, emptying his bank account and investing under his wife's name too. £67,000! This was more than three times as much as what was first believed. Investing under his wife’s name! You just couldn’t make it up. How is it that Morgan is never found guilty? Why does he find himself in these situations yet he is never to blame?'

This paragraph above is exactly what I wanted to produce. Something that shows the passion in what is written. Many other types of factual writing which are seen in later tasks all include balanced arguments with hardly any bias. The part 'You just couldn't make it up' is starting to show to reader what they feel towards the issue. In the research and briefly looking at previous fanzines produced, they all had a good understanding on the topic and backed each point up with fact and opinion and also it was very clear to notice the difference which was important. This last sentence of 'Why does he find himself in these situations yet he is never to blame?' enhances that idea of the hatred towards Piers Morgan and it is from that point if they had not already, where the reader really starts to enjoy the piece as they begin to see their similar views. The next task may have only been days between each other however the leap in content was huge. Going from a fanzine into an interview for a magazine using the primary research gathered. With many pieces in magazines and newspapers, the first sentence has to grab the reader's attention and make them want to carry on reading. This was something attempted in task 5. 'It is no secret that CNN have been struggling for viewers since Piers Morgan took over from Larry King 3 years ago. This was seen in January with CNN's third-worst ratings in its whole history.' This opening paragraph appealed to the audience as it was designed to be in an American magazine, TIME. The interview explained the fans views on Piers Morgan. Something many of the readers wanted to hear about. Piers is not liked by the majority of the American viewers due to his strong outside views on how the country is run, particularly in their dealings with guns. If the first paragraph did not please the reader than the second would almost do so. 'We want to understand how much the public actually knows about the man who is wanted out by over 100,000 American citizens who have signed a petition for him to be deported.'

Looking at the first opening sections and they both share similarities and almost reflect what the rest of the piece is going to be like. The facts and figures being placed to support arguments. 'CNN's third-worst ratings in its whole history' Or the petition signed by over 100,000 Americans to get Piers Morgan deported. These are clear indicators to see how the full piece is going to be like. All points made to be supported by numbers and actual facts.

Something research into magazines has shown, especially when looking at the high reputation TIME has. This work would not look out of place in the magazine and the content would appeal to the reader. Task 6 of the Press Release and Obituary really stretched the abilities to try create the same piece of work again but in yet another style. This was something I wanted to try as I was really intrigued by the prospect. I felt this task was my best creation of the work gathered on Piers Morgan. This again demonstrated my ability to come up with a title that engages the reader as well as being very appropriate to the text.

‘Happy as Larry’ Piers Morgan takes over at CNN. The Cable News Network have announced today that controversial Journalist and Television personality Piers Morgan will be taking over from Larry King on their Friday night show. The first paragraph in this piece had to give the reader the knowledge on what was happening. This achieved that. 'Happy as Larry' was something that appealed to the text when I came up with it. The idea that Piers Morgan wanting to emulate the work done from Larry King. Something that did not happen of course. The press release was a way of getting the same information however produced in a style that was giving only the parts you actually need to read. Including quotes was very important in order to add the professionalism. "I... I, I don't know what to say except to you, my audience, thank you. And instead of goodbye, how about so long." King is retiring after 25 years in December because of wanting to spend more time with his family. He suggested it would be best to leave on his own terms. Morgan, his successor, who made his name by posing tough questions to so-called ‘celebrities’ will have big boots to fill.

“I dreamed of one day filling the legendary suspenders of the man I consider to be the greatest TV interviewer of them all…” Having quotes from both the people involved in the piece showed great knowledge on the topic and gave the reader a much stronger understanding. With this being written to an Editor or head at a magazine or newspaper, it did not need to engage the reader as much, that would be for them to decide should they want to take the story. The required information was there.

Including an Embargoed release, date and Fax made the work that much more believable. The Obituary was part of the same task however was to be written in a different way to the press release. The Release was the first part to a story being written and selling the story to a newspaper to use. The Obituary was created on the basis that the story of the celebrities death had already been produced. 'Leaving four children and a wife was not the only thing he left behind. Piers Morgan left a legacy, the idea that if you work hard and are determined to achieve success you will reach it.' The idea behind the Obituary was to focus on the positives and makes sure everything written was only the good points towards Piers. In some ways the total opposite to the fanzine created in earlier tasks. This was suitable for the audience because the people reading it would be wanting to hear about his career, not all the controversial aspects. The last creation of a story concerning a chosen celebrity was in task 7. A news report on Piers Morgan. 'With this being such a delicate situation, Downing Street were informed however they refused to comment on the topic and left the Mirror to sort their own mess out.' The language and audience had to be altered again once more into something less formal. Using words such as 'Sacked' and phrases such as 'sort their own mess out' made it evident who the demographic reading the piece were. Content, style and the skills used When looking at content, of the main issues was the imagery, particularly in Task 8. The use of Stock images was something of a hard nature. In the planning stages a selection of photographs were taken from the internet. However the ones used I feel had the best quality and would work well within the tabloid layout.

I chose this image as it had the best compositional quality. By that I mean, when taking into account all the other content that will be surrounding the image, it will still be strong enough to use on a cover. This is due to him looking forwards at the camera rather than a candid image. I feel I had no issues concerning the image itself, only the placement on the product.

Originally I wanted to use this as the full background on the cover to make sure no white space occurred, however when looking at other work in the same tabloid style and with feedback from the tutor is was clear that the image could cover the page, however the need for Photoshop was clear. To take an aspect from the image and cover the remaining section in black so it would be easier to overlap text and various other content. Other images I chose such as the Maldives, the Alton Towers and the image of Wayne Rooney were to enhance the main image and there to make the piece look more aesthetically pleasing. The style in my pieces were kept the same even when the audience and language altered. I kept to a system of point, backed up by either fact, opinion or quote. The visual style in relation to task 8 I would consider to be that of trying to emulate existing products and their house styles. In many aspects this can be seen as a good however there are many such as the creation of the logo where this may have been easier to source the image. The skills I have learnt from this project are that of being able to adapt to whatever is put in front of me and getting my upmost best to produce quality, professional pieces of work. I have also learnt to take research much more seriously and in future will look into primary research much more as this will be able to give me a greater understanding into the tasks and especially when the data is to be recorded in the means of a interview such as task 5. I have learnt the importance of feedback, without the thoughts of the peers around me and the tutors guidance I would not have noticed the areas which lacked quality. I can now understand and am able to look by myself and compare with the brief to see if the work is of the required standard. In technical terms I feel my skills on the software used have gone up and I have improved so much more, however I still feel there can be additional practice spent on them, especially Adobe InDesign. Developing skills was something I was looking forward to in this project as I feel often my practical side can let me down in contrast to some written aspects. Using InDesign was something very new, however I made a good attempt to use what was in front of me to produce the task in hand. Task 8 on paper was the easiest task, however I felt this was difficult. To produce an identical tabloid paper. It was from this experience where I can develop my skills in later tasks and use what I have learnt in this process. I now know and understand how to use drop capitals, guidelines and rulers, all which will help in the text part of the work.

In terms of imagery, with the help of Adobe Photoshop I now understand how to use an image and import it as a TIFF file. This way it can keep good resolution as well as being able to alter it. Before I would have used JPEG files. The most important part which I found to be helpful was the creation of the black space in Photoshop. Being able to manipulate the image to fit the other content on was something I liked and the skills can only be enhanced further when using the software.

Areas for Improvement I feel there are always ways in which work can be improved, however in this project I feel one main area is outlined as something that could be looked into, this is because it was something that held me back from getting the grade I wanted in last project as well. Production- The written part to my work may sometimes need a handful of drafts to be up to a very good standard however this is something that only takes a small space of time in the project. With the production, a great amount of time is spent on the work, however they still do not seem to be of the standard I set myself in all my work.

In feedback from previous projects such as Design for Advertising it has been the lack of planning and research that resulted in the Product not being of a similar professional standard. Here I feel I spent a good amount of time in the time management area and allocated enough to look into existing products. To help make my work that much stronger in the production side would be to put even more research and thought into it. The Secondary research in this project I feel was extremely good, however the Primary less so. When producing the questionnaire on Piers Morgan, I now feel I should have spread this through more ways. Not just relying on SurveyMonkey. Although I did get some very detailed responses I would have liked to get more than 6. This I would say could be improved. Perhaps producing handmade surveys and asking peers would be a good idea in the future.