The document provides a preliminary evaluation of a student's media product, a college magazine. It compares the student's front cover and contents page to conventions from real media products like NME magazine. The front cover includes similarities like a masthead and rule of thirds image, but differs by featuring an average college student instead of a famous musician. The contents page also shares similarities such as the logo and editor's note, but includes more pictures and a proper editor's profile instead of just a few words. The student learned skills like using Photoshop, InDesign, and following conventions to construct their magazine.

1. AS MEDIA UNIT G321
PRELIMINARY TASK-
COVER AND CONTENTS
OF A COLLEGE
MAGAZINE
PRELIMINARY TASK
EVALUATION

2. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
THE FRONT COVER-SIMILARITIES
Clear masthead
Image complying to the
rule of thirds
Appropriate cover lines
around the main image
Barcode, date and price at
the bottom

3. THE FRONT COVER-DIFFERENCES
My cover lines are appropriate
to a college magazine and
would draw the students in
whereas NME would have
cover lines that would attract
the target audience of a music
magazine
Footer at the bottom
indicating to reader what to
expect from the college
magazine
On NME, MIA is in big letters,
dominating the cover as she is
famous and would appeal to
the target audience. But in my
magazine it is a average
college student, not famous
who doesn’t need to be
named, you’d just expect her
to be from the sixth form,
which she is.

4. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
CONTENTS PAGE-SIMILARITIES
Keeping the logo on the
contents page, as well as
the front cover
A few words from the creators
of the magazine (in mine, a
editor’s note)
Typical contents page style
(telling you what's in the
magazine and what pages)
Pictures of things related
to the magazine (college
students on mine, bands
on NME)
Date at the top of the
magazine
Use of house theme (Purple Use of subheading to help
and same font for my direct reader
magazine)

5. CONTENTS PAGE-DIFFERENCES
Advertisements to
subscribe on the NME
magazine
On my student magazine I
have a proper editors note
with a picture of ‘the
editor’, a student. On NME
there is just a few words
from the makers about the
picture of Arctic Monkeys
I’ve used more than 1
picture, unlike NME

6. What have you learnt about the technologies from the
process of constructing this product
• Learnt how to use Photoshop and InDesign
• How to use a digital camera and to use the rule of thirds, also what shot types to
take (MCU for front cover)
• Using Photoshop to develop my photos and make them look more professional
and appealing (Changing levels, blurring background etc.)
• Using Moodle to gain resources to help me with my magazine
• Using InDesign to create a double page spread and how to export it

7. Creating the front cover
I used a digital camera and got a MCU of a student around college, I then
uploaded it onto Photoshop and edited it to make her stand out more and so
it looked more professional. I also enlarged it, when I did this I made sure I
kept to the rule of thirds like a lot of magazine covers.
How did I edit the picture?
Using Adobe Photoshop I…
• enlarged the picture and zoomed in a bit,
although I took the original picture with the girl
on the right hand side (rule of thirds) I made it
even more obvious when I zoomed in.
• Changed the levels, making her stand out more
and the colours more vibrant.
• Used the lasso tool and selected around her to
then blur the background, again, making the main
image stand out even more to the reader.
I then added all the other details (masthead, logo,
cover lines etc.) see my stage development for more
detail.

8. Creating the contents
Before I started working in InDesign, I started by manipulating my images of
students in Photoshop. On a couple I just changed the levels and cropped them,
but on two I changed the levels and blurred the background to make them stand
out and look more professional
I then went into InDesign to start putting
together the contents page
• I copied the logo and masthead from my
front cover and then added in ‘contents’ and
the date
• I came up with things to put in my magazine
and then put them under subheading like a
regular magazine, but also to help the reader
• I put my photos in appropriate places, using
one of them as a ‘editor’ and adding a note.
Again, like regular magazines
• I then filled the dead space with a signature
of the editor and a caption by the photos
• I tried to keep a house theme, mostly purple
which fits in with the logo, but also the font.

9. Other students feedback