Evaluation Questions

What have you learnt from completing this task?

From this task I have learnt a number of new skills. Firstly I have learnt how to use Photoshop. This was a new software which I have never used before. The thing I found the hardest on Photoshop was moving images. This is because I kept forgetting to select the layer first, before moving an image to a different place. Another thing I found hard on Photoshop was adding a layer style to my text. This is because this was one of my last changes I made to my magazine however by using this tool it made my text funkier. Secondly I have learnt what conventions are, for example a title is called a mast head and a competition is called a plug. For this I had to research three college magazines and analyse the positives and negatives of each one. I found this useful as it helped me to plan my draft of my college magazine.  Also, I have learnt how to meet a deadline; however this has been difficult as it has taken me awhile to get use to the new software. This is my first time working towards a deadline which is Friday 26th September 2014 at 4pm. Thirdly I have never used a blog before, therefore I found this hard to set up at first but once I had set it up I found it straight forward to use. The final thing I have learnt is what different camera framings there are. For one of my tasks I was given 10 different camera framings to take. I enjoyed taking these images as I learnt something new, such as how to take an image of an extreme close up.

How have you used technology?
For this task I had to use a variety of technology. I have found it difficult using some pf this new technology. This is because it is the first time most of it. The first form of new technology I have used is a Mac. I found it extremely difficult to work on them therefore I decided to use PC for most of my work. Another piece of technology I have never used before is Photoshop. I found this programme hard to use as it is different from Microsoft programmes such as PowerPoint. The piece of technology I most enjoyed using was my camera. This is because I love taking picture and experimenting with new camera angles. One of the things I have learnt and enjoyed is taking new shots, such as High angle shot. However, in order for me to make sure my images were safe I inserted an 8GB S.D card into the camera. Therefore I could take it out and insert it into a Mac which has a S.D card slot. I found this very useful as on a PC this function is not available. Once I inserted the S.D card I had to import all of my images onto a 16GB memory stick. The reason why I did this is so that I didn’t lose any of my images off the Mac. This has been helpful because, it meant that if by accident I deleted an image, I had a backup on my S.D card and my memory stick. Also I could then work on my magazine at any time because I had the images saved onto a portable device.

What conventions have you used and why?

In order to use conventions I did some research into what types of conventions you would find on college magazine. For this task I researched three different types of college magazines and wrote the positives and negatives of each. Then I created a draft with this knowledge. Some of the conventions I learnt were; a title is called a mast head, a competition is called a plug, text at the top of the magazine is called a skyline and a text at the bottom of the image is called a footer. The reason why I used these conventions is because they were appropriate to my brief.  For my magazine I used a large bold orange font for my mast head. I chose this because during my conventions analyse I found that a lot of magazines used a bold snappy mast heads to attract their audience. The reason why I used a plug is because I also found that a lot of college magazines use a plug as students like entering competitions to win the latest gadgets.

What would you change if you were to do this task again?

If I was to do this task again I would do a few things differently. One thing I would do differently is being more creative with my programmes. I used Photoshop which was a new programme for me however I think that if I used different programmes my finish product would have been my professional looking. Another thing that I would do if I was to do this task again is ask more questions to my teachers. This is because I fell behind as I didn’t start asking questions until my last few lessons. I believe if I had asked for extra help with my Photoshop task that I would have found it easier to make my magazine.  A final thing I would do differently is I would be more organised in completing work after my lessons instead of leaving it to complete in my next lesson. This is because I found it hard to catch up in some lessons. However overall, I think I did very well in completing the task on time and to a good standard. The one thing I am most proud of is being able to use Photoshop as I found this very hard in my ‘Introduction to Photoshop’ task.