Diary Entry - Week One: 31st January – 4th February 2011

Week One: 31^st January – 4^th February 2011

As an introduction to our Media Studies coursework, we were set the task this week of producing the front cover and contents page of a new school magazine – both to try out the skills we had acquired while learning to use Photoshop and to ensure we could work to a tight deadline. The task involved several stages that all had to be completed within a short space of time: First, to research the codes and conventions of existing school magazine, for inspiration and in order to make sure out final product was as convincing and professional as possible. I analysed five different magazines for this section of the task, taking notes on the key ways in which text and image were used. I then went about the task of actually producing my cover and contents page – only original images were permitted, so my photography skills were put to the test as I took pictures around school and transferred them to Photoshop in order to begin the design process. Having previously done a draft copy by hand of what I wanted my product to look like, the final stage was to add text and make any alterations to the images; putting all the pieces together to create my final cover and contents page of a school magazine. The final step of the process was to evaluate my work, considering both the ways in which I took inspiration from existing products and what I had learnt about technologies in the process of constructing my final product.