Looking back at your preliminary task (the school magazine task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?
When I compare my preliminary task and main task side-by-side like this I realise just how much I have learnt over the course of only a few months. However, one can also see that my core designing thoughts (such as my love for whiteness and simplicity) have stayed the same. The first thing I learnt after doing my preliminary task was that things always take longer than expected, and so I tried to address this by leaving more time for me to get things done on my main task. Also I had to take into account that while models, props and backdrops were easy to come across at school for the preliminary task (after all, I was doing a school magazine and so only needed to grab whatever student was walking past and chuck them into a classroom) this would not be the case for the main task. This is why quite early on I organised a get-together in my friend's garage where four of us could get together and we'd have access to instruments. However, I did underestimate how difficult it would be to get good photos first time, and that's why I ended up having to take two more sets of photos afterwards, although previously I hadn't planned to.
Something fairly major that I changed in the creation process between the preliminary and the main task was the software I used; for both the school magazine cover and contents I had used InDesign whereas for my main task I chose to use Photoshop for the cover and contents. This is because the music magazine cover required a lot more snazzy effects than a school magazine cover, and I could only do these effects using an image editing tool like Photoshop. This includes things like lighting effects, placing layers over one another and lots more things that either boosted the quality or the ease with which I could do things. Unfortunately, as I only used the simpler aspects of InDesign while making my preliminary the experience wasn't of much use when I chose to use it for my main task double page spread.
There are still quite a few similarities between my preliminary task and how my main task ended up. For example, I first had the idea about splitting the contents page into different sections when working on my preliminary task, and this was reaffirmed when I did research on music magazines for the main task. It's good I had practice on my preliminary so that I was used to placing the page numbers in non-chronological order, otherwise I may have found it a bit confusing. One can also see that I retained the features and reviews sections, since they seem to be fairly universal in magazines, regardless of content.
Comparing the front covers of my school magazine and my music magazine, one can see that there is a lot more content included on the music magazine's cover. This is because I learnt that magazines should try to use the space on the cover as effectively as possible, as the things on the cover are what's most likely to attract people to buy the magazine. I decided to see how my music magazine cover would look if it had roughly the same amount of content on it as the school magazine cover. I did this by hiding all additional elements of the cover and cropping it, and the picture left shows the results. As one can see, it really does look quite pathetic and empty. By the way, the half erased button on Kerry's shoulder is what's left when I remove the album cover that was previously obscuring it, and is not meant to be seen as another fault of the cover.
Another thing I learnt in the progression from my preliminary to my main task was how modes of address differ in different types of magazines. In my school magazine, despite there not being much written content, one can see that there is a rather condescending tone. This is seen by the use of phrases like "cool kids" and "fun" on the contents page. On my music magazine's contents page, however, there is the phrase "bloody amazing". This difference in language is not necessarily just due to the magazines being aimed at different age groups, after all the age group of my target audience starts at 15, rather it is because school magazines are given out for free so there is less need to appeal to the target audience. In music magazines you are trying to entice someone to actually buy your product and so coming across as patronising is not a good idea, as people don't like to be looked down upon and will therefore not buy the magazine. In the image above right I've highlighted some phrasing in the school magazine contents page that could be seen as patronising. I learnt that it would be best not to use anything that may be seen as such anywhere in the music magazine.
A big thing I learnt going from the production of my preliminary to my main task was the importance of audience feedback. This was something I didn't consider much while making my school magazine, as I was not yet used to my classmates and didn't feel comfortable enough to question them about my work. However, in the time that passed I got to know people quite well and realised that some of them fitted perfectly into my target demographic. I asked these people for their opinions on my magazine and it often proved useful in telling me what was good, what needed to be changed and so on. I also showed my work to people outside of school who also could be part of my readership, so that I had a wider range of opinions than just those of my classmates. You can see references I've made to how feedback from others influenced me throughout my blog and also you can see comments that my classmates gave me.
Overall my progression through this project has taught me a lot. I learnt that just having a magazine that looks visually like a real product isn't good enough as there are many other factors (such as those described in this post) to take into account. I am happy with my music magazine and it is far superior when compared to my school magazine. If I were to go back and re-do my preliminary task I am confident that, using what I have since learnt, I would be able to make it to a much higher standard.
When I compare my preliminary task and main task side-by-side like this I realise just how much I have learnt over the course of only a few months. However, one can also see that my core designing thoughts (such as my love for whiteness and simplicity) have stayed the same. The first thing I learnt after doing my preliminary task was that things always take longer than expected, and so I tried to address this by leaving more time for me to get things done on my main task. Also I had to take into account that while models, props and backdrops were easy to come across at school for the preliminary task (after all, I was doing a school magazine and so only needed to grab whatever student was walking past and chuck them into a classroom) this would not be the case for the main task. This is why quite early on I organised a get-together in my friend's garage where four of us could get together and we'd have access to instruments. However, I did underestimate how difficult it would be to get good photos first time, and that's why I ended up having to take two more sets of photos afterwards, although previously I hadn't planned to.
Another thing I learnt in the progression from my preliminary to my main task was how modes of address differ in different types of magazines. In my school magazine, despite there not being much written content, one can see that there is a rather condescending tone. This is seen by the use of phrases like "cool kids" and "fun" on the contents page. On my music magazine's contents page, however, there is the phrase "bloody amazing". This difference in language is not necessarily just due to the magazines being aimed at different age groups, after all the age group of my target audience starts at 15, rather it is because school magazines are given out for free so there is less need to appeal to the target audience. In music magazines you are trying to entice someone to actually buy your product and so coming across as patronising is not a good idea, as people don't like to be looked down upon and will therefore not buy the magazine. In the image above right I've highlighted some phrasing in the school magazine contents page that could be seen as patronising. I learnt that it would be best not to use anything that may be seen as such anywhere in the music magazine.
A big thing I learnt going from the production of my preliminary to my main task was the importance of audience feedback. This was something I didn't consider much while making my school magazine, as I was not yet used to my classmates and didn't feel comfortable enough to question them about my work. However, in the time that passed I got to know people quite well and realised that some of them fitted perfectly into my target demographic. I asked these people for their opinions on my magazine and it often proved useful in telling me what was good, what needed to be changed and so on. I also showed my work to people outside of school who also could be part of my readership, so that I had a wider range of opinions than just those of my classmates. You can see references I've made to how feedback from others influenced me throughout my blog and also you can see comments that my classmates gave me.Overall my progression through this project has taught me a lot. I learnt that just having a magazine that looks visually like a real product isn't good enough as there are many other factors (such as those described in this post) to take into account. I am happy with my music magazine and it is far superior when compared to my school magazine. If I were to go back and re-do my preliminary task I am confident that, using what I have since learnt, I would be able to make it to a much higher standard.
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