EVALUATION QUESTION 6WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT ABOUT TECHNOLOGIES FROM THE PROCESS OF CONSTRUCTING THIS PRODUCT?The hardware I used to plan my pages were used by a computer, this was effective to me because it allowed everything I needed to be in one place and also I knew how to use a computer to the best of my ability to help me succeed in all my pages. Although hardware did allow me to succeed, I think that the software I used played at much more of an advantage to make my work look professional.

For my magazine construction I used programs such as:

Adobe Photoshop Adobe In Design

In Photoshop I used this program to construct my cover page and contents page. I learnt particularly how to place my main image, for the cover page, in front of my logo for the magazine. This helped me to access the professionalism of the genre and focus greatly on the main conventions. However, I had not learnt how to do this in the preliminary task so I had to ask for help, by someone from the media staff, on how to bring forward the image. Not only did this help with my Hip Hop conventions but it makes the main image stand out much more and attracts my target audience.

For my contents page, I found that it was hard to remember to keep on clicking the item before you could move it. This became frustrating for me because I would accidentally move the previous thing I had clicked on from the side bar. Therefore I learnt how to keep a rhythm functioning when moving things around the page because without this it would be a lot more time consuming. Overall on Photoshop I think that I have become quicker using it, in comparison to the preliminary task, as I have become much more confident in using it.

In In-Design, I learnt a lot of new things because I hadn’t used the program before. I used In-Design to create my double page spread and one of the first things I learnt was how to spread my main image over the full spread of the page equally. I also learnt how to import my cover and contents page into the same saved file for exportation which allowed my magazine to be complete in one place. Through exportation I discovered problems with the pixels of the cover and contents page. However, through some help off staff, I learnt that some of the links between the pages were not formed properly and this was why the pixels were looking blurred. This gave me more of a clear idea of the links between all pages and how the program works to structure them together in exportation.

I also learnt how to insert a drop cap into my article and how to create columns equally. This helped me because it allowed the information on my page to look professional, like a real product. The thing I found most interesting was blurring one side of my background image, this was to give more emphasis on the text in front of it. I found this interesting because, in Photoshop I did this for my contents page and found it difficult to do. However, in In-Design it is much easier and could easily be repeated without help. Here is the example when I formatted the image to blur on the right hand side for the text to stand out better:

For presentations, for example my evaluation questions, I used software such as:

Prezi Presentations Wideo Slides Emaze Powtoon PowerPoint Microsoft Word

All of these software presentations allowed me to express I can use a range of digital media. Previously, I have used Prezi, PowerPoint and Word before, however the other software’s were new to me. I found them easy to use and I also learnt how to express my writing in different formats of technology and in more creative ways. For example, I enjoyed using Powtoon because there was so many creative cartoon pictures and objects you could use to create an interesting slide show. I really enjoyed using different presentation software because I now have a more creative mind when designing my work. Therefore I have learnt how to be more creative with my written work.