Final Evaluation Question Seven

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

In the progression from the preliminary text to the final product I have made significant improvements. In the preliminary product my photography skills were at a very basic level, and the images themselves were very low quality. I also had no experience in Photoshop at this point, and so consequently my editing was limited to cropping the image, and this was done poorly. In the final product these differences are clear, as here I had furthered and developed my photography and Photoshop editing skills. In the final product I took much better photographs, using a DSLR camera and lighting equipment to ensure high quality images. I had also spent a lot of time refining and perfecting my editing skill, so my editing here is much better, and the cropping has improved significantly as I learnt to use the ‘masking’ tool on Photoshop for the final product.

However, there are elements that are similar between my preliminary cover and final cover, and this is due to my understanding of magazine conventions. For example, within both covers I have a clear 3-colour pallet, which both use a bold colour with black and white. I have also included the same, conventional, position of the masthead, coverline and artist; and the same shot type of the artist. However, the masthead is much more complex and eye-catching in my final product, this shows my progression in Photoshop skills and considerations of typography. The cover lines are also very basic and limited; I changed this within my final product and also challenged the conventional content of cover lines. The final shot of my artist is also much more powerful and professional, helping to boost the professional finish of my final product; this appearance contrasts my preliminary cover because my preliminary work looks like an amateur publication.

The colour choices within my final product are also much more vibrant, helping to make the product eye-catching and intriguing; this is most obvious within the contents. Within my preliminary contents page I used several grey tones and a darker background, this makes the text less accessible because it's not easy on the readers eye. The higher contrast between the black and white makes the text much easier to read, this choice of colours also continues the theme from the final cover page, making the tie between them stronger, which helps to create a better sense of branding and image for the product as a whole; this was a link that was not clear or defined within the preliminary product that I created at the start of the course.