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

Software usedPowerPointWordPublisherPhotoshop CS2/CS3Adobe acrobatBloggerSlide shareSurvey MonkeyGoogleYouTubeInternet Explorer

Hardware usedCameraMemory StickComputer/ Imac

Research and Planning

PowerPoint, word, publisher, internet explorer, survey monkey, Google, slide share, Adobe acrobat, camera, Blogger, memory stick

Production

PowerPoint, camera, Internet Explorer, Photoshop CS2/ CS3, Blogger, memory stick, Google

Evaluation

PowerPoint, internet explorer, Slide Share, Blogger, Memory stick, Google, YouTube

Survey Monkey

Survey Monkey was a great way of getting answers for my questionnaire as it was easier then writing everything out and automatically compiles the results together rather then having to type everything up.

Slideshare

Slide share was a great piece of technology to use as it allowed me to put my work on PowerPoint separating information onto different slides and then upload it onto slide share where it could be reached through a link on blog as blogs cannot have power points on them.

BloggerI had never used a blog before but I learnt it was a very simple and effective tool to use.

The clear lay out of the blog a simple functions makes it a very easy tool to use.

I could also edit any of my posts anytime I wanted or correct information I put in them that was a very useful tool. It also indicates what parts are in the draft stages.

This was where you create new posts on the Blogger

There were many familiar tools identical to the ones in word

These were more advanced tools for uploading images and videos but could also create links between other websites and insert videos through YouTube and other sites

You can save the progress of your post and preview it before it is published the post may also save by its self so you don't lose any information

A simple white space where you write in but also place and move your images and videos to suit your layout.

Photoshop Initially I did not know much about Photoshop or its tools and learnt many fingers about what could be done to greatly improve the outcome of my final product

Photoshop had a range of useful tools that could be used. Some I already knew how to use some I did not.

The burn tool was extremely useful in helping my images look like they have a ore natural lighting after I applied effects

The gradient tool gave a good effect . It was a simple tool as you only had to show the area where you wanted the effect but in my final product I did not use.

An incredibly useful thing I learn about Photoshop was that you could go back through your history and remove certain things you had done before with removing changes you had made more recently.

Another useful tool of Photoshop I learnt about was that by double clicking on any of the blue area a menu could be brought up where many effects such as drop shadows and glows could be added.

The menu brought up showing what could be applied to the object I mostly used Drop shadows for my text

Text without drop shadow

Text with drop shadow

the use of a number effects on my magazine images was incredibly useful and helped improve all my images .This was probably the most important thing I learnt in Photoshop.

Levels allowed me to change the darken/ lighter my image as whole. I generally made slightly darker as it improves quality greatly.

Before

After

Hue/ saturation was a useful tool that could easily be undone to test out many different effects on an image quickly

By lowering saturation I could dull the colour of an image until it is greyscale. I used this the most of the 3 tools and I rarely used hue or change the brightness.

The Hue tool could change the colours of my image because of this I didn’t use much and only around + or – 10 at most as the effects are very noticeable very quickly.

By using curves I could edit the colour to be more green/ red/ blue or combine them for interesting effects

The curves are easily used you can edit Blue, red and green or combine them by pulling the middle line.

Could you have completed your project without using any technology?

It would have been impossible to have completed the project without technology as several were vital to completing it such as Photoshop, cameras and access to the internet. As well as this I would not of had enough time to complete the project without technologies such as the computer and Blogger.

What technologies could you have done without?

There are some pieces of technology I could of gone without such as Survey Monkey as I could have written my questionnaire by hand but survey monkey greatly helped cut down the time by compiling the information together. I could of also gone without the use of Slide share by placing my work directly on my Blog however Slide share allowed me to use PowerPoint which is useful for creating a mix of Images and text. I could have gone without the use of Microsoft Word, publisher and Power point. Again this would have been done by placing my work directly on my Blog. These 3 are however very useful in different ways as you can create more interesting and detailed work on them then on a standard Blog. I could have easily gone without a memory stick but it is always nice to have backup files.

Which pieces of technology couldn’t you have gone without?

There are some pieces of technology that were vital in the Project. The main one I could not have gone without is Blogger. The use of a Blog is incredibly useful in holding all the information of the music magazine. It allows much more technology to be used and can include links to other websites with even more useful technology meaning it was an invaluable tool in the Project. Photoshop is also a piece of technology I do not I think I could have gone without using or a similar programme. Photoshop was incredibly useful in the creation of the actual magazine product and while initially confusing and complicated after learning how to use better it greatly improved the finish of my magazine product . In addition any images used would not have been able to benefit to the effects available on Photoshop. The use of the internet was incredibly useful especially for my research and planning as I was able to have access to hundreds of magazine covers, contents pages, DPS and media packs. These were all needed in order to carefully plan and create my magazine product. The internet was also useful into getting information on different areas such as publishing companies to help my evaluation. There are also the several obvious technologies I could not have completed my project without such as the computer and the camera.

What were the positives of using technologyThere were definitely many ways in which technology improved my work. Microsoft Word, Publisher and PowerPoint allowed me to present my research and planning in several ways which were better for certain areas of the project. Survey Monkey was very useful in place of a written questionnaire as it compiles the results automatically saving time. Blogger is a much better way of holding all the work I did on the project then a folder and means I cannot lose it when I have backups on computers and a memory stick. The internet was useful in gaining access to massive amounts of info with ease and entire magazines in The Flys case. Photoshop was a great think to create and edit my magazine rather then being limited on other programmes.

What were the negatives of using technologyOverall there were very few negatives about using technology and these in comparison to going without technology are small. Occasionally programmes crashed and work was lost if I had not saved it before hand. You do not know directly were the information you are using has come from an d could be poor or false.