The feedback through the questionnaires (answered questionnaires can be found in my research and planning) were quite as expected as the artists ticked were almost what I expected and the features wanted were also what I expected and ended up being included. So I did not have to make changes to my product through feedback and they did not generate surprise.
I have learnt how to use the program Microsoft Publisher and learnt that although Microsoft Word is much quicker (print previews take a long time on publisher), it is not as good to use for music magazines, mainly on the article (interview) as Publisher featured better features, eg: outlines for columns, etc…
No because Publisher does not have the best special effects and I would have liked to experiment with some professional quality background and had to use whatever was available but this all worked out very well as my decision to use the natural background worked well, in my opinion.
Also I found the program (Microsoft Publisher) easy to use, not needing much help (was shown how to use columns, etc…for magazine article) but apart from that just learnt/knew everything myself, so no software tutorials were needed or used.
There was nothing obstructing or limited the creative process in either magazine as the technology allowed me to do what I wanted and needed to do to create a realistic/good looking magazine.
From my preliminary task (school magazine) which used Microsoft Word to the music magazine, using Microsoft Publisher. From my school to my music magazine I have learnt that Microsoft Publisher is easier and better to use for magazines, that music magazines need much more features/conventions put on them than school magazines, that music magazines have specific requirements (eg: title larger than all other text) and all about music magazine conventions (pull quotes, etc…)
I did both my school magazine (preliminary task) and my music magazine (main task) with no help from friends/people in class and separately, finishing the school magazine first, then drafting and completing the music magazine (with no further work on the school magazine after I started work on the music one). I managed my time by using free lessons to do the work as well as at home as needed. The equipment for the magazine was the computers (at school and home), computer software and a digital camera which was the school’s (borrowed). I spent quite a lot of time on the school magazine, re-editing it, adding stars on the contents and front page logo but spent a lot more time on the music magazine, deleting and re-doing the interview about 5 times until I got what I thought was good/realistic (I completed a draft of interview first, contents second and the front page last, although re-edited them all many times afterwards).
I found out that I needed to make my magazine title bigger as the “HaterProof” feature was bigger than the title “Street Beatz”, which I thought would interfere with my background/layout, so I had to move it around and problem solve to get the product looking right, but it did not cause many problems as I made sure it was still not very close to the group members. I also had to problem solve how I would get the picture to not be stretched and I did this by cropping the background which looked better anyway as the subjects are meant to be quite close up (unedited original picture below:)
I knew 1 member of my group who said he’d be an actor/model for my music magazine, but to tell him the day before (so he could prepare). The next day I borrowed the school’s digital camera, went up to the school’s study room and he got 2 of his friends to join the group- so that I could get my 3 piece group for the magazine and other pictures were also taken for their entertainment, which were later sent to them.
The location was in school so the students did not have to travel to take the pictures but it was outside & an appropriate location for the magazine genre (as if the pictures were taken inside a study room with computers and students working it would not look right). There were no problems with the costumes and props because the group member I knew knew the day before and wore his chain & hat and 1 of his friends (in the group) was wearing a hoodie (rap/hip-hop stereotype). No props were used because the feature is about the group, and focus is meant to be on them.
I changed the music magazine many times, they were drafts now but at the time I thought they would be the real thing. At first (can be seen in my research and planning), the contents & interview background was orange (which did not fit the genre), which I later changed to a part of the background used in my picture (darkened using software), and I re-did the interview about 5 times (deleting and starting again to get it right). I also changed fonts on the contents & front page, made the title on the front bigger, added more features in the contents than in the original draft, etc…Basically I changed nearly everything in the magazine from the drafts, including the additions of things that weren’t previously there. (below are drafts of my magazine)
