Looking back at your preliminary task (the college magazine task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

My knowledge while completing the first task was very limited. I didn't think it through and after studying the industry, I now see how much more there really is to magazines then first meets the eye. Looking back at my preliminary tasks, I can see how much more I could have done to it to make it much more higher quality and to suit the target audience so much more. I think one of the main changes from my preliminary task to my music magazine cover, is how much I have considered the audience and the thought put behind every little detail. Another aspect which I think the task has enlightened is my skills on photoshop. Before I felt very uneasy and not confident using photoshop, therefore I didn't use it to its full advantage, but now I think very differently when using it. For my main task, Photoshop played the biggest role because of what I have learnt in the previous months while completing my blog, when it came to the magazine, I feel I relied heavily on the program to complete the cover, contents and article.

When using photoshop, I used several techniques to help the image. I used the 'Spot Healing Brush Tool', this was to help the skins of my models to keep in running with luxury, sophisticated feel of my magazine. I felt this now focused the reader much more on the gaze of the models rather then being distracted by blemishes. Another tool which I used was the clone tool, I used this because on one of the models tops, there was several creases which I found really off-putting and may of distracted the readers eyes, by using the clone tool I managed to gain the similar texture on the rest of the top and replaced the creases so there were no longer anything to catch the readers eye, other then full mid-shot. I didn't want the reader of the magazine to focus on the small things and I wanted them to pay much more attention to the bigger picture so I felt the need to make sure all the small things which caught my eye were reduced as much as possible, so even I could concentrate on the bigger picture. Text alignment was also another huge thing which I used on all the text in the cover. This is because I felt the text had to be aligned therefore it did not look messy, which is the complete opposite image that I wanted to give to my audience. Although sticking to mainly black and white colours on the images, I used colour spotting on Photoshop which allowed me to add red text. This colour red matched the colour of the models top. I thought this would be a really clever feature to make sure all the colours were still matching and to keep this simply sophisticated feel. This is yet again why Adobe Photoshop CS5 came in such handy throughout this task and why I felt it helped me tremendously.

The attention to detail which I found I needed to have through out this task was enormously important. I felt I had to analysis every single tiny actor which effected my magazine and how the audience would interpret that. But even though a tedious task, this would be absolutely necessary so that my audience was reached as much as possible and to make sure i fitted the needs to my highest ability possible. While not only gaining knowledge about programs and my specific target audience, I also learnt a lot about the existing magazine industry. Before, I never really put much thought into it and I now realise how much more there is then I first thought. I have found it so interesting discovering for myself how publishing houses, such as IPC Media, control the UK's magazine obsession. I didn't quite realise how many magazine were available, especially when it came to the niche market section. There must be a lot of work which goes into creating the perfect magazine, which became apparent when looking at NME magazine, and I saw the amount of information which they had to tell about there target audience and it really pressured me to seek feedback and advice when creating my own magazine. This is another factor which I found really important. The target audience are probably the most important thing to consider when wanting to create a magazine, and I understood that definitely when looking at creating my own one. The need for feedback and creative ideas are endless, although this is something which I struggled to take in at first, I now realise how much you should appreciate your target audience.