Preliminary Task

 

Preliminary task self evaluation sheet: Magazines

 

The planning and organization in the pre-production stage was very important as it gave me clear guideline of the work I needed to produce. Keeping my work organized meant I could work at a faster, efficient pace.

Overall, I felt that I met the requirements of the brief well. The brief states that a school themed magazine must be produced. I have met this requirement as my magazine is school themed. I have also included a masthead and laid- out text, which are key features stated in the brief. The brief states that a mid-shot image should be used which I have corresponded my image to. Another way in which I have met the brief is that I have drawn up a mock-up layout of a contents page to demonstrate my understanding and suggest how it would look if I were to produce that.

My strength on this task was using the software. To ensure that I was able to use InDesign effectively, I watched tutorials and researched more about the software.

The difficulties that I encountered whilst using the cameras was the adjustments needed to change the lighting in the different environments. For example, the lighting had to be changed when shooting outside and when inside.

I had difficulty in importing pictures when using the DTP software, as the pictures came out blurry and looked slightly stretched. I found a solution by watching tutorials and researching on how to transfer pictures onto the software.

I think that my magazine looks very professional as it contains key conventions that a school magazine would have. The front cover includes a masthead, issuing date and laid out text. These features all look professional, as well as the image that I have used; which is of a student in a school.

The magazine that I have chosen to briefly compare my front cover to is VOGUE. Both my magazine and VOGUE contain a clear masthead and laid out text. The layout of the front cover is similar to mine as it is very simple and professional. VOGUE sticks to a colour theme just as I have done with my front cover. A difference is that VOGUE uses close-up and extreme close-ups, whereas I have used a mid-shot for my magazine.

The image I chose for my front cover is a mid-shot of a student in a school. This is appropriate as it complies with the school theme and is appealing to the readers.

I have been consistent with my fonts to ensure a professional outcome. The main font that I have used is Minion Pro for my text, as it is visually appealing and legible. As this is a school magazine, I added some colour to the fonts to appeal to the target audience.

My weakness in this task was using the cameras, as I had never used that type of camera before. It took me some time to get used to the cameras as I learnt what the different settings were.

I plan to improve my front cover by adding more pictures to it. This will be more visually appearing and create some variety. I would also alter some of the fonts to see which one looks better.

If I could do this task again, I would add more pictures and texts to the front cover. I would consider other fonts and colours too.