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

This question focused on the progression of my work from the beginning of the course to the end. I discussed how I felt my skill, specifically in Photoshop, had developed significantly through the course of the topic - which has lead to a high quality end product. Furthermore, I also discuss the quality of the pictures I took, and compare them to the original piece I completed. 

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

I think the level of my work has improved significantly since I created my preliminary task. Looking back on this task, the overall feel and look of my magazine was very amateur. My skills in Photoshop were severely lacking, and this combined with a lack of knowledge on how to take a good picture lead to a very poor attempt at a school magazine. I had no knowledge of how to create certain effects in Photoshop, which lead to an inability to create a high quality product.

Since completing this task, my general knowledge of Photoshop has increased greatly. Since the course began, I have gradually began to learn how to use each individual tool, and how add it to my magazine effectively. In addition, through the use of this program, I have been able to add any of the common conventions that are seen on a music magazine, such as specific images and mastheads to a high quality, something that my preliminary task lacked. The images I used in my original piece were taken in front of a background, as opposed to a green screen. This lead to a very amateur looking magazine, as there was a mixture of colours in the background of each of my pictures, and due to this, It was difficult to attain a specific colour scheme throughout the process.

Overall, I think there has been a great and significant improvement in the level of work that I have completed. Over the course of this project, the improvement of my general knowledge of music magazines, coupled with the significant increase in Photoshop skill have lead to a greatly improved product than what I created for my preliminary task. The most important things I think that have improved throughout the course is my general perception of magazines, and how they look/what to include, and my skill level in Photoshop. Without the use of this program, many of the effects that I have included would have been unable to achieve, as can be seen in my preliminary task, in which I had very little knowledge of Photoshop.