The author reflects on how their skills have progressed from an initial school magazine cover to their completed music magazine. They realized the school magazine cover had plain text on a dull background that did not stand out. However, their music magazine cover uses techniques like photo editing and layering to make the design more appealing to its target audience of 18-24 year olds. The contents page for the school magazine also looked childish compared to the professional layout of the music magazine contents page. Overall, the author learned important design techniques in Photoshop and InDesign that allowed them to create a more sophisticated and eye-catching double-page spread for the music magazine.

1. QUESTION SEVEN
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you
feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the
full product?

2. Back to schoolNow looking back at my
school magazine front
cover, I have only just
realised how much I have
improved since I've looked
back. I think I have done a
much better job with using
techniques that I know
now. The text is very plain
with a dull background
which means they don’t
pop out enough. I still quite
like how I have edited the
photo, however I do find it
a bit too dark and boring
pose. Although this is the
first time using this soft
wear I believe I have made
a good first attempt of a
magazine cover.

3. Back to school
The same with my contents page: If I had the
techniques back then I would have created something
to standard with my music magazine contents page.
The layout of this look ok but also looks childish at the
same time. This means it has this non professional,
making it look bad. An example of this is that I have
taken the photo in a landscape view rather than
portrait, this cause me to stretch the photo cause it to
look bad. However with the new stills and techniques I
have acquired I wouldn’t make a silly mistake like that
again.

4. With direct compassion,
you can see just how
much I have progress I
have made. I have kept
some similar features
such as having one main
images, the positioning of
most of the text. However
I have used many more
techniques such as
replace colour and used
the liquefy tool. Also I
have used the brightens
tool to make it look like
my music magazine has
a spot light on him. With
both of the cover pages I
have readable and well
spaced out text.
Front covers:
Here I have included special events which are happening and
lots of stuff on my cover to make this look busy and interesting.
Unlike my school magazine , the title has a unique look( the
brand is what differentiates the magazine)
My music magazine
‘Triplemmm’ ,looks very
interesting and
professional. Since my
school magazine I have
learnt how ton make
text bold with the stroke
tool and also how to use
several layers to make
the composition fun and
more appealing to my
target audience. The
layout of the magazine
is simple and easily to
read as I found out this
is what my target
audience wants in my
background research.

5. Contents pages:Again, seeking these two
next to one another
allows me to see the
mature and unique
progression I have made.
I have changed the layout
quite a lot but still have
the main single
figure, showing the main
story. My school
magazine looks very
boring and generic. I
have barely edited the
main image and only
played around with the
text, also the background
is slightly blurry due to
me taking a landscape
photo not portrait. As you can see the title of my music magazine looks
more attention- grabbing than my school magazine, this
is because my music magazine title stands out and
contrast the background colour where as on my school
magazine I have a green title with a green background
which doesn’t contrast each other
Unlike the school
contents page I have
used layers! This has
allowed me to make
exciting contents page
which would interest my
target audience, 18-24
year olds. Despite only
have one main picture I
think this makes it easier
for my target audience to
establish what the main
story is as this is the
main image. I have used
other images to
advertised the rest of my
magazine. These are
smaller images because
they aren’t the main
story.

6. How these improvements have affected
the outcome of my double page spread
As I created my double
page spread last, I have
knowledge since designing
my school mag’s FC. This
has allowed me to make the
most dynamic and creative
piece of work. With the use
of Photoshop Cs6 and
Adobe InDesign I have
made a simple but yet
sophisticated and eye
catching double spread
which is ideal for my target
audience 18-24 year olds. I
designed my double page
spread like this because this
is a simple layout which
isn’t over created, allowing
the audience to read the
main story and enjoy it.
I have used a similar colour theme through my
music magazine of black; red and white.

7. To conclude…
On the whole I have learnt how to properly use software such as
Photoshop and InDesign. Also I have progressed in the way I
use the effects to convey my work. I have personally think that
my designs have matured and become more distinctive than the
generic music magazine. This is because of the target market I
am aiming my magazine at, no one else has targeted them given
me a niche market. In addition I have used many other
technologies ( which I have never used before) to present my
evaluations.