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

Front cover pages

Improvements: Cover ImagesImages: better quality images with better framing and sharper with no blur as I have learnt to use the cameras better and use features such as auto focus. I have learnt that images need to be more striking to attract the audience so that they will want to read the magazine. I have also included musical iconography which is conventional of magazines to include relevant iconography in the cover images

Codes & conventions: The masthead is a completely unique font and looks very different to the other fonts, coverlines are more visible and have more detail and are set around the main image well, there is a positioning statement to give the reader more detail, there is a definite house style visible and is consistent without.

There are also details such as the spacing between the coverlines are all the same and the overlay of the main image over a small part of the masthead which was done using the polygonal lasso tool in Adobe Photoshop.

Contents pages

Improvements: contents page imagesImages: There are 4 images rather than 3 which is more conventional, also images are better quality and not blurry with better framing which makes them look more professional. I have learnt that images need to be neat and uniform and be good quality so that the audience are attracted to them and want to see the articles the are linked to. I have a better understanding of how the camera works and can now confidently take photographs with good framing and clear focus.

Codes & conventions: The title completely fills up it’s space and the masthead is the same as on the cover, the different sections of feature and regular have their own distinct sections and images are set out in a more conventional layout to fit the page well.

The spacing of the different articles is exactly the same which makes it look more organised and professional which was done using the style sheets tool in QuarkXpress. Page numbers are more visible over layed onto the appropriate images and organised.

Double page spreadBefore starting this assignment I had never studied double page spread articles so I have learnt a lot about them making my own. I have learnt the codes and conventions: having a striking image, the 3 column structure, byline, headline, pull quote, drop cap, page numbers. I have implemented these into my own magazine page. I have developed my understanding of double page spread articles as I have learnt all of the codes and conventions and implemented them into my own double page spread below.

I have payed attention to detail by making all of the spacing the same and making sure there are no words that go to the next line with a hyphen. I did this by using the style sheets tool in QuarkXpress which I used to add a drop cap to paragraphs and to set the indentations of the lines

Planning and researchWhilst completing this task I have learnt a lot more about planning and researching to make my magazine pages as professional as possible. During my preliminary task my planning and research was basic and didn't go into much detail. During this task I have gone into much more detail and have researched professional magazines in much more detail.

I have looked at different professional magazines and studied how they implement the conventions of magazine pages into their magazines so that I can make my magazine as professional as possible.

I have also done a lot more planning for example planning what my masthead, coverlines, images etc will be so that I can organise what I need to do to make it the best quality it can be.

I also did research into the audience to see what they would want in my magazine.