1. Evaluation Question 7
LOOKING BACK AT YOUR PRELIMINARY
TASK, WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE
LEARNT IN THE PROGRESSION FROM IT TO
THE FULL PRODUCT?

4. Masthead looks squashed which
makes it look unprofessional
Part of Masthead barely
even visible
Can hardly see main sell line let
alone other sell lines
Barcode and price
Plug
Shot is off-centre. One person
partly out of frame, doesn’t
follow rule of thirds.
Only one font style
has been used for
all sell lines

5. • As you can see from the previous slide,
there were some things that I did right with
the design of the magazine. I understood
the basics of layout and conventions
• However, there are some major errors which
hinder the level of professionalism.
• The amount of space the models take up on
the front cover is unconventional. Typically,
the models take up at least 2/3 of the page.
This actually naturally more satisfying to the
human eye; hence this is a convention.
However, my models take up just half the
space
• I also used the same font for all sell lines as
I felt as though this made the magazine look
consistent and professional.

6. Clear, professional
looking Masthead
Sell lines are all
easy to read
Main sell line is big and
easy to read
Image more effectively
framed
Barcode
Wider range of fonts
used

7. • As I’ve progressed from the preliminary
task which was performed with limited
knowledge, I’ve been able to create a more
professional end product.
• I’ve framed the shot much more effectively
which makes the front cover much more
appealing to the eye.
• I’ve used a wider range of fonts on the end
product. On the preliminary task, I only
used one font thinking this would look more
professional and consistent. However, I
now realise that it made the cover look
simple and boring, and that a wider range
of fonts looks better as it’s more engaging
to look at. I’ve used font that work well
together to maintain the consistency.

8. HOW THE PRELIMINARY HELPED MY
PROGRESSION
• The research I did to create my college magazine helped me to be able to
identify conventions and analyse them. This skill enabled me to choose
conventions which are important to creating a professional magazine, but
abandon lesser important conventions.
• The making of the product allowed me to grasp the basics of PhotoShop,
such as layer arrangement, image resizing, changing font colour and
transforming images.
• It also allowed me to identify mistakes when referring back to it during the
production of drafts of my main task.
• Overall, the college magazine was a good starting point to ease me into the
production of the main task, as opposed to going straight into the main task
with limited technological abilities and understanding of design.

9. WHAT I’D IMPROVE ON THE MAIN TASK
• I wish I’d looked at a wider variety of magazines to identify conventions and elements
which appeal to a wider audience. My main sources of inspiration were Kerrang! and
NME. However, I’d research magazines such as Classic Rock, Mojo and Rocksound, as
my magazine tries to appeal to all these audiences as well as those of NME and Kerrang!.
I feel as though researching these magazines would help me to appeal to those
audiences too, as opposed to the younger readerships of NME and Kerrang!.
• I’d also experiment more with location, props, costume and poses of my models when
taking images for the front page, contents and double page spread. I identified that
double page spreads are often more creatively fluid than contents and front pages. I feel
as though my magazine could have looked more adventurous had I experimented with
different compositions and poses.

10. POSSIBLE POSES & COMPOSITIONS
My images were all fairly similar in
composition and taken at the same place.
I could have experimented with:
• More locations
• Poses
• Creative use of colour

11. OVERALL
• I’ve learnt about
• Using technology (covered in detail in question 6)
• The importance of conventions
• The importance of experimentation
• Contrasting and coordinating fonts