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

By Thomas Hessey

How I started.

• Throughout the process of uploading to my blog and producing my magazines I have used various different forms of technology. For example, when I started I didn’t really know any easy way of producing a magazine.

• As a result, I only really knew of Microsoft office publisher as a way of helping me design the layout and produce a magazine. It was very useful in helping me to create a ‘rough’ draft and producing a layout for how I want the magazine.

• It was also easy for me to put something on the blog as you can put it in JPEG format and then easily upload it to the blog.

• Publisher was easy to use and got the job done. However, especially with my music magazine I never really felt that I could use it to produce my magazine to a high standard. Because of this, I decided to look at other options.

Using Photoshop

• I thought I would try using Photoshop and it was far more effective for the production of my magazine.

• It allows you to easily make a variety of layers and colours in your magazine and is far more clearer. It allowed me to easily experiment with all the different background colours, shapes and layers to really improve the overall look of the magazine.

• Because of this change, I now think my final version looks a lot closer to resembling that of a real magazine and that is all down to using the Photoshop software.

• The only downside to Photoshop is that for someone using it for the first time it took a while to get used to and can be quite difficult off putting especially with all the tools etc….. Fortunately, I was able to get advice as well as watching helpful YouTube video’s online.

The changes • The difference between the software really showed in my music

magazine. The first draft was produced on Microsoft Publisher and the final version was made on Photoshop. Here is the difference:

• - Publisher - Photoshop

As you can see, the Photoshop version looks so much more clearer and like an actual magazine compared to the Publisher magazine. It also looks far more polished than the Publisher version and less cluttered.

Overall

• Overall, technology was very important in constructing my product and is essential in producing my magazine. Microsoft Publisher was really good at first but I eventually found that Photoshop just has that cutting edge that makes it produce things to a higher standard and this is why I produced the final version of my music magazine with it.

• Uploading to my blog has also been an important skill in my media project as it has allowed me to progress and upload my work online. It’s easy to upload things to it and without it, I would struggle to easily replicate my work on different software. I have presented these blog posts in a variety of ways from using slide share, links or simply typing up my findings. Without my blog though, I wouldn’t have been able to develop my skills over the course of my project.

Overall

• Overall, technology was very important in constructing my product and is essential in producing my magazine. Microsoft Publisher was really good at first but I eventually found that Photoshop just has that cutting edge that makes it produce things to a higher standard and this is why I produced the final version of my music magazine with it.

• Uploading to my blog has also been an important skill in my media project as it has allowed me to progress and upload my work online. It’s easy to upload things to it and without it, I would struggle to easily replicate my work on different software. I have presented these blog posts in a variety of ways from using slide share, links or simply typing up my findings. Without my blog though, I wouldn’t have been able to develop my skills over the course of my project.