Evaluation: Question 6 & 7

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

In terms of programme use, when I first started the project I had no experience at all with InDesign. However, being a photography student I was very familiar with Photoshop and the tools that I could use in that process; I was also used to researching in detail before conducting a Photoshoot and knowing what I wanted out of it. Photography requires me to do extensive research before doing a Photoshoot to gain some knowledge of what I want from the shoot, about the background and settings of the shoot and the models I'm using right down to their wardrobe and make up. Being used to all of this was quite a comfort in comparison to my non-existent knowledge of InDesign. Looking back at the preliminary task and how basic my knowledge was of InDesign was and now I can see a vast improvement with the programme and it reflects in the quality of my Music Magazine.

Photography:
To begin my Music Magazine photoshoots I very fortunately had an opportunity model who is my very good friend, she has been my model in photography on numerous occasions and was very kindly willing to be my model for Media Studies. I used the Media Classroom's photoshoot set up that consisted of a blue screen and professional lighting and camera equipment. I had to effectively direct my model into various positions according to the settings and props that were used. Once my photoshoot was over I went onto Photoshop and began the editing process. On each image the editing process is different but the main edits that were for every image was balancing out the brightness and contrast due to the flash from the photoshoots. Sometimes the flashes can make the images too blue toned and washed out which is what I wanted to avoid - using the Photoshop facilities I was able to cancel out the blue tones and make the images balanced. Vibrancy and saturation is always considered as well, as a photographer those components can be what makes or breaks an image which is why I always tweak them until the images are just right. I would also convert the image into black and white to see what effect  works best with the lighting and edits and how professional the images looked as I was shooting for the cover of my magazine at the first stage. Filters and different colour balancing scales would also be checked before saving the image to make sure I would get the most I could from the photo's and produce a professional looking image throughout the contents of my magazine.All of the photoshoot images were edited in the same process but the background would vary. For instance, the double page spread images were shot in a real music studio with all the equipment, in order to create the best possible lighting we went in early morning to do the photoshoot, I then went about editing the images in Photoshop as normal. The newest tool in photoshop that I had learned how to use during this task was the interlaced tool, this was for the benefit of my text I had found from www.dafont.co.uk and had saved as an AdobeFireworks document, I had to convert it in order for it to effectively work for my magazine - for this I opened up the text document into Photoshop and used Magic Eraser tool to erase the white background from the text, upon saving the document I had to click on the option 'interlaced' which enabled the text to be moved about and positioned with ease in InDesign and also allowing all white background contents to vanish leaving with just the text itself. This proved very effective on my double page spread with the headline/pull quote as the text goes over the two pages and interlaced allowed it to do so effectively and professionally without any complications or restrictions.

Time Management:
Before conducting my photoshoots I had to check with my model that she was available when it would be the best time to capture the images and how long each photoshoot would take. For this I went around with my model to choose what outfits she would wear, how to wear her hair and bring her make up so that I could finish off her look once she had arrived onset. I made sure that I provided everything my model required and made sure that there was enough time for frequent breaks in order for my model to not feel too pushed and maintain the interest and enthusiasm I wanted to capture for my magazine.

InDesign:
My InDesign portion of the project was the most time consuming part. This was mainly due to the fact that I'd never used the programme before and was unfamiliar with the vocabulary and even the most basic things like inserting an image to the document. It took some time of me practicing on the programme at home in order for me to gain a basic understanding of how to use the programme effectively. I had understood basic tools when going through my college magazine but the more professional take to the programme took me quite some time. The most commonly used tool for this programme was 'File' and 'Place' when placing in an image, the text tool for typing out my masthead and kickers and cover lines and customising the thickness of the text, the boarders and the colours all accustomed to fit in with my house style. The next most used tool for me was using the quick command buttons 'Ctrl+O' this is a trick that my Dad showed me how to use as he is a Graphic Designer and was familiar with the programme; this is the only tool he showed me how to use and this was for my benefit of changing the kickers and cover lines from text into an object for easier navigation around my layout.

Target Audience:
When researching the target audience I learned a lot about the representations of music magazines and how conventions were formed using influence from other music magazines. This can be entirely dependant of the genre but can also be influenced by other factors such as audiences age, gender and style of music with social representations. My music magazine is targeted at both genders around the ages of 17-21 which has been represented in numerous ways, these include the contents of the article with the informal conversation throughout the interview which represents the artists that would most likely have fans around the ages of my target audience and the music artists I have included on my contents pages along with the festivals I have listed which are usually targeted towards my chosen age range.

Looking back at your preliminary task (the College magazine), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

When I first started the Media Course I had a confident understanding of Photoshop from being a Photography student however my experience with InDesign was none. As my Dad is a Graphic Designer he spent time with me going along with the programme and teaching me different tools as he conducted his own work in order for me to observe and gain some understanding of basic tools when I was doing the preliminary task of the music magazine in order for me to have some background knowledge before going onto the Music Magazine.



I also found a really helpful resource on YouTube which helped reinforce the knowledge I'd picked up and confirmed slowly the tools my Dad had outlined for me. In the above question I have explained what tools I know how to use and what tools I'd gained through the process of this music magazine task by going with the basics and experimenting with different tools in the taskbar; also by referring back to the basics it was easier than I thought to understand and follow the more adventurous tools in InDesign and I was more confident with experimenting to see what tools gave which effects. I'm very proud of my progression from the college magazine to the Music Magazine as the progress I have made is very evident in my final pieces of both.