Question 6: Evaluation

Q6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

This is the Dell inspiron laptop I used to create my magazine on. I did use the school Apple Mac computers during lesson times, but the majority of my work was done on this laptop to hopefully great effect. I found using this laptop more effective as it was simpler to transport around with me in comparison to a computer, so I could do my work in various locations.

I also used aUSB memory stick to transfer the work that I had done on the Apple Mac computer to my Dell inspiron laptop. This was beneficial, as I was able to do the work done in class at home, ever finishing it off or improving on it. I did have some trouble; however, as I had lost my first USB stick which contained my initial front cover. I should have prevented this by backing up my work, either on another computer, or on another memory stick if possible.

When taking the pictures used for my music magazine, I used a Canon camera. The camera had a wide range of lens sizes, lens zoom and shutter speeds which enabled me to take a variety of different camera shots, angles and views. The camera also contained a memory card, which was easily placed into the back of the laptop and assess the images via the desktop.I learnt how to use “Adobe Photoshop CS5” by creating my magazine and editing my photos during the preliminary task. In terms of using Photoshop, I found it reasonable simple as I have great experience using it for other subjects, as well as having the software on my laptop at home. I found using Photoshop highly beneficial, as it is again a software which I had vast experience using, so I could therefore use various tools and application on the programme to great effect.

Furthermore, I created a blog account using “Blogger” to post all of my research and planning for the preliminary and main task activities, as well as my final magazine and evaluation. Using Blogger, I found it primarily a success, as this enabled my work to look more visually attractive and aspects such as losing quality when printing your work was not an issue using this application. However, I found that using Blogger would not enable me to layout my text and images effectively, as well as the restriction of the template designs available which may have made my blog more visually creative. Overall, I have learnt a lot about technology on a whole throughout this project; before creating my magazine I had never used Blogger, an Apple Mac and even a Canon camera. In addition to this, I had never used Photoshop to create a music magazine, however I now feel confident in using the programme for other creative measures.