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?

From looking back at the first product I made, a college magazine cover and contents page, I would say I have learnt a lot about both the making and designing of magazines as well as a much wider knowledge of the magazine industry as a whole, and the distribution of magazines. Before starting the project we looked at the magazine industry in a lot of detail, looking up the various magazine publishers and the information on their websites about the sales of magazines and the profits they make. This gave me a wider understanding of the way the production of magazines works as I didn't know much about it before I started Media Studies. We also looked at the target audiences for magazines and the demographic and pyschographic methods which are used to show who the magazine is aimed at. This helped me to decide what information to include in my magazine and specify the exact audience it was aimed at.

I also believe I have learned a lot about the different programs which I used in order to complete the products, especially Adobe Photoshop which before starting the magazine I only had a very basic knowledge of how to use and the different tools which could be used. This is obvious from the simplicity of my preliminary task, the college magazine. In my opinion I have developed my skills in this a lot as my music magazine looks a lot more proffessional and realistic than my college magazine.

I think I have developed skills in understanding how to write a magazine article, which I used for my double page spread. I looked at other similar magazines and decided that I would base my double page spread on an interview, using the cover girl on my magazine as the interviewee. This is typical of magazines which are on the market now which are similar to my magazine. The double page spread article in my magazine is helpful for me to have done as I am thinking of a career in journalism and this is something I would need to be able to do, therefore it was helpful in gaining ideas and skills in this area.