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

I think that I have progressed an awful lot in my skills, from the preliminary task at the beginning of the school year. I believe that I have particularly improved on Photoshop, learning new skills; I never used to be able to use the magnetic lasso tool without it cutting off parts of the image or having jagged edges, in the end I was able to ensure that the edges were smooth.
My preliminary magazine was extremely simple, looking entirely unprofessional. I also wasn't able to properly portray what the magazine was about, other than the name "Time To Pretend"; as it was a school magazine based on Drama, Music,

Art and Media. However, I learnt from this for the production of my full product; ensuring that there are captivating cover lines and it was clear what the magazine what was about.
After the preliminary task, I was able to experiment with camera angles; though I only used a mid shot for the cover, the posture and expression worked well with it so you could tell from looking at the cover model that she was a band member on the cover of a music magazine. I also used many on the contents page and double page spread; taking shots from all sorts of different angles in order for it to look more professional, rather than a student messing about with a camera.

Putting both of the tasks together, you can see that my camera work has improved a lot, it is more structured and you are able to tell that it had been properly planned. I was able to choose more carefully the models and poses; the ones in the preliminary you could tell didn't quite know what to do and were unprepared for the photos. I ensured the models all had the style I was aiming for and looked confident, expressing the right personalities. The ones before looked as though they did not want to be there, emitting the wrong sort of atmosphere for the magazine. There are more artistic elements to my final magazine, which I had aimed for, and I think I achieved the style and genre very well. Most people I think would base their choice in colours on how they look, or to copy other well-known magazines, whereas I liked to think about the meanings. The colours I used were a main element of style and genre, particularly the purple and black; purple has connotations of mystery and is associated with spirituality, again linking to the artistic aspect of the finished product. Black is said to have conflicting connotations; The connotation I chose it for was again the mystery, and the colour to symbolise rebellion, or mourning. The other colour I used was white, which contrasts with the other colours as it is usually lighter and more 'positive'; it is suggestive of purity, life and happiness. I wanted these to contrast, as to me and anyone else in the audience who would think about it, it would be to signify that there is both light and dark inside of us; we choose what to act on. We can either rebel, or do as we are expected, or simply, do what we want and not care. My magazine was reflecting rebellion and not caring; being yourself, so that wouldn't mean that none of the readers would be pure. With the preliminary task, to avoid complications as I was new to Photoshop, I went with standard black, white and red; I did not want to do this for the final task.
I think that there would certainly be a few changes that I would make to my magazine. First of all, I would make it slightly more busy on the cover, like AP or Kerrang!:

 

I wanted the picture to be simple, but now looking at it I feel as though I should have at least put something more on the right hand side. I would also add perhaps one more intriguing cover line; no more than one as I feel like the "PLUS" bit invited the reader in enough. I don't think that I would change anything on either the contents or double page spread as I feel I achieved what I wanted, with the genre and style clear. Overall, I am happy with my full product, and am pleased it went a lot better than the preliminary.