Q7. Looking back at the preliminary task what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to a full product?

When I started the preliminary task it felt like a waste off time because we were just planning our magazines and ended up making a front cover and contents but as I got further into the planning I understood how important it was for us to do the preliminary task because it helped me understand the amount of work needed in order to become successful in this piece of coursework. From the preliminary task I learnt to set out certain time and dates to do each task as it spaced out the work load and made it easier for me to cope with. I have also learnt how to use the camera effectively and how to take a professional picture.

Within the time I got I have learnt and improved many skills both technically and mentally, on the technical side I have learnt many skills which include taking professional photographs, how to set up certain shots to get the most of the photo and I’ve learnt how to analyse magazines and take in denotations the images used could mean. Although I’ve learnt many things I have also improved some skills for example Adobe Photoshop, I have a decent amount of understanding with Photoshop because of my graphics lessons, and during the preliminary task I have learnt how to further my understanding of it and create pages that look professional, I’ve learnt how to edit certain parts of images, how to make and use different effects like the gradient tool and blending options. The mental skills I have got a old of are learning how to keep a schedule and keep everything organised for example I scheduled a date in order for me to take my pictures and setting certain days I would do each part of planning, this helped me a lot into completing my magazine.

Drafting I would say is one of the most important part in the planning because you can express your ideas on a sheet of paper and if it doesn’t work out you can still post it on the blog and you will still get credit but if it works out you have yourself a magazine, so drafting is one of the most important part in the planning stage. My final design is very similar to my drafts but I decided to change some aspects as I’ve asked my peers what they think about them and I took in what was said and hopefully it pays off.

Another thing I’ve learnt from the preliminary task is that your peers are very important in this piece of coursework because without them there would be no use for planning and also without them I would not have a magazine because I would not have a model for my pages and no feedback to help me develop my magazine.