Evaluation Activity 6

What Have You Learnt About Technologies From the Process of Constructing This Product?

I used the Sony DSC-T10 camera to take my images with, making sure that the flash was switched on in order to ensure that my images were well-lighted, and I used the zoom buttons when necessary to take shots suitable for the context. Even though the camera wasn’t a high quality one, it was the one which I had best that I was most accessible to. However, I learnt to edit the photos effectively to a proficient quality in Photoshop.

During the school day I used the computers to aid the creation of my magazine. But most of the time I used my laptop (Dell Inspiron) at home. I felt that extra time was required in order to complete the magazine to a standard that included the essential conventions put together in a professional manner. Also, allocating time at home to work on my magazine gave me a better chance to reach the final deadline. The school’s computers and my own laptop at home both have the same kind of software, just different versions (the school’s computers have Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0, whereas my own laptop has Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended). I had to learn to get use to the software at school which wasn’t a problem as it allowed me to develop my technical skills.

I ensured that I always backed my work on my USB memory stick, as well as having copies of it on the school’s computers and on my laptop, to prevent it from getting lost. In addition, I learnt that storing multiple copies of it on different types of hardware reduced the likelihood of having to start my work all over again if it did get lost, or if the files got corrupted on one type of hardware. Saving my work on my USB memory stick allowed me to transfer updated pieces of work from both home and school as well. Therefore, I was able to work on my magazine whenever I wanted to.

The main type of software that I used to produce my magazine was Adobe Photoshop (CS3 Extended and Elements 5.0). My editing techniques have developed vastly by getting the chance to experiment with the different tools in Photoshop. This was particularly an advantage for me as I had the software at home on my own laptop, so I was able to work on my magazine and experiment with the tools at any time. Experimentation with the tools has helped me to achieve the effects that I wanted on my magazine.

Google Chrome and Internet Explorer were the web browsers that I used for most of my research into other magazines. Without this research I wouldn’t have been able to plan the production of my magazine. Personally, I prefer Google Chrome as it’s a faster web browser.

Microsoft Office Word 2007/2010 was mainly important software I used to write up my double-page spread article. It allowed me to check my spelling, punctuation, and grammar to make sure that I was writing with technical accuracy.  

I have used Scribd, an online publishing website, to upload general pieces of my work from Word documents, such as some of my research and planning ideas and the feedback of my first draft magazine from teachers. This allowed me to embed the document onto my blog.

To create a moodboard for my pitch presenting my thoughts as to how I wanted to design my magazine, I used the web application Animoto. I believe this interested the audience to get an idea of the kind of music genre that I wanted to focus my magazine on, and the types of conventions I was planning to use. This enabled them to give me significant feedback, especially the people who had an interest in my genre of music (R&B/hip-hop) to produce a magazine aesthetically pleasing for them.

Lastly, Blogger was used to publish aspects of the production of my magazine, which includes the research and planning stages as well. I feel that Blogger has allowed me to keep my project organised.