Improvements to my Final Product

After receiving some feedback on my final products, I decided to make some last minute changes to improve the final outcome. Here's what I changed:

Front Cover

I added a strap line to the top of the page so my magazine would follow more conventions thus looking more professional. It informs the reader that there are free posters included in the issue and tells them what they are of to encourage them to buy the magazine if they’re fans of this band. The buzz word, 'free' would attract my target audience and make them believe they're getting more value for their money. I made the puff on the right more specific by including a band name to draw in the attention of their fans which appeals to my target audience. The band name is in red so it grasps the reader’s attention and isn't overlooked. The black strips beneath the main cover line looked harsh so I adjusted the opacity to allow it to blend into the page and look more aesthetically pleasing to read whilst still enabling the cover line to look bold in comparison to everything else on the page. I changed the text in the puff on the left to inform the reader about the awards hosted by the magazine to give Voltage more of an identity and advertise its success to make it appear more attractive and successful. I moved the puff down slightly to make space for an additional cover line to make the magazine seem fuller and contain lots of interesting information. I edited every other line of text in the section below 'articles with' to differentiate them and make them stand out without all going unnoticed together. By making some of these bold I think it would attract the eye of the reader more effectively and therefore appeal to the viewers. I also made the web address at the bottom of the page red and larger so it is more noticeable.

Contents Page

I added a stroke to the sub headings so they are more noticeable and eye catching. I also made the features section larger to fill up the white space and add everything else included in the magazine here so it is all together and easier to find. I aligned the page numbers and lines of text to make it appear neater and visually attractive as well as giving off a more professional impression. I then updated the subscription image to be consistent with the changes made with the front cover.

Double Page Spread

On my double page spread, I added another pull quote overlapping the smaller image in the bottom left corner of the spread to attract the viewer even more by encouraging them to engage with the article. I also made this photo slightly smaller so it is evenly set between each column of text and corrected and spelling mistakes I had made to avoid small errors. I aligned the text of the left regarding the tour dates to make it look structured and neater which I believe makes the page look more professional and attractive. Additionally, I included the year next to the tour dates title to inform the reader exactly when the gigs are happening and make my magazine more informative.

Question 7

Question 7 from KayleeH

Question 6

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Blogger

I decided to use blogger to keep track of my progress whilst creating my music magazine and collecting research for it. At first I found it confusing to use as I wasn’t used to the layout but as I posted more content I learnt more about how to use it effectively. I had a little practice using it with my preliminary task of the school magazine so when creating my music magazine I knew how to use it efficiently. I learnt how to add hyperlinks if I had used a presentation to display my work and how to add photos. It allowed me to digitally present my progress in the creation of my magazine and to present it easily like an online diary.

I learnt how to add labels to my posts to make my blog easier to navigate and keep each stage of it together. For example, I could group together my introduction, research, planning and evaluation to make my blog look more professional and more appealing to the people who view it.

I could also change the widths, backgrounds, themes and whole layout of how I wanted my blog to be presented. This allowed me to customise it to fit my personal preferences and allow me to make sure all my content would fit on the page well and look proficient.

Photoshop 

I used Adobe Photoshop to construct my magazine as I had some practice using it with my preliminary task so felt more comfortable using a software I had some experience with. I wanted to use this as it was easily accessible from school as well as at home. Photoshop is used by professionals who make magazines so I thought it would give me access to make mine look as realistic as possible compared to real products. I knew how to use the basic features such as changing colours, adding photos or text, however whilst making my magazine I learnt how to use the stroke tool, change the opacity of shapes and how to layer different features accurately. I asked people available to me to teach me how to use certain tools or how I could achieve something I had in mind, but on those rare occasions they couldn’t help me I used the internet to teach myself. The creation of my magazine required me to use tools such as transformation, colour, shape, text, stroke, crop and the eyedropper tool. Leaning how to use these tools allowed me to make my magazine look more realistic, professional and help me make it look as close to what I envisioned. 

Camera 

I used a high definition camera to take my photos for my magazine which meant I could achieve high quality images that would look good for my magazine without them looking blurry or pixelated. I used my sisters Canon 1100d camera so I was already familiar with how it works and how to use it effectively to produce the best looking photos possible. Here are a few examples of the high definition pictures i was able to take.

Slideshare

I used slideshare to present a few posts. It enabled me to make power-points and upload them onto my blog which I think looks neater and makes a change from looking at posts in the same style. In doing this I learnt how to change the styles of different presentations and create my own to make it look as aesthetically pleasing as possible. i could make a presentation on Microsoft PowerPoint and upload it onto this site to then publish the link to it on my blog

Prezi

 

Prezi gave me the accessibility to make presentations with interesting visuals and motion to make it look appealing and allow my blog to have various different methods to present my posts. I learnt how to make my own frames and customise them to get the shape, size and positioning I wanted to give my presentation the best look and layout i could

 

Padlet

 

Padlet enabled me to collect my ideas and brainstorm them to be displayed in a neat and ordered way. I learnt how to add photos and text onto the board and position them to be presented in the best way possible to be understood by the audience and looks eye-catching. Whilst using Padlet, I soon learnt how to change the display and layout of my information and to have the freedom of moving items around and resizing them how I like.

Question 5

Question 4

 https://padlet.com/kayheckford/xe8245wa07v

Question 3

Question 3 from KayleeH

Question 2

http://prezi.com/qtc_2pgsyi3o/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

Question 1

Question 1 from Kaylee Heckford

 http://www.slideshare.net/secret/iGrQbU1cA7ib9c

Finished Magazine