What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Before I started this course, I had never used computer programs such as photoshop or indesign. I had used other programs such as Firefox and Microsoft Word though. Also, I had only ever used an apple mac once or twice, so again was very unexperienced. My photography was poor as I had only really ever taken photographs on my phone and I didn't have the equipment needed to improve this. However, over the course I have improved massively. I would never have thought I could take a good picture, let alone edit it and create a magazine around it. There is more included in making a magazine than I first realised. First I had to get a camera. I had no idea what to get but in the end I got myself a digital camera as it is easy to transfer files and store them in more than one place. I used a Canon Powershot A1100 which I really liked as it was 12.1 megapixels and the images were very high quality. I arranged a number of photoshoots and by my final one, I became a lot better with the pictures I was taking.
When it came to the computers I used I had a lot of problems. Originally, I was very unconfident on the Apple Macs that we used at school and preferred to use my dell laptop at home which ran on Windows Vista. Because of this I often did most of my work at home as I had my own version of photoshop. However, after an incident involving some orange squash I no longer had my laptop so was forced to learn how to use the Apple Macs more effectively. I found it very difficult at first with the extra apple button and no right click and got very stressed over the whole process. I thought I had been saved when my replacement laptop arrived but this one ran on Windows 7 which I am not used to either so I sat down and tried to learn the Mac again, more successfully this time. However, I never really mastered grabs so most of my work I took home and used print screen on instead. The best thing I found was that whatever information I created on either computer transferred fine to the other, so I was able to work as effectively at home as I could at school.
The main programmes I used for my magazine were Photoshop and Indesign. For most of the project I used Photoshop as I could get effective and unusual effects. Also, I had spent a little longer learning it at the start of the course, so was a little more confident with it than InDesign. I learnt many things within photoshop such as cutting an image fromt he background and blurring it's edges so it doesn't look so rough. I also learnt how to create a number of effects such as transparency, drop shadowing and adding a gradient. I learnt many ways of changing a font too, such as emboss and bevel, satin, colour overlay and more.
As you can see I made a variety of changes to this picture. First using a combination of the quick selection tool and the lasso, I cut her out from the brick backround. I then placed her on a white background and blurred the edges using both the smudge tool and the brush set to white. I then adjusted the brightness and contrast. I feel that this had made a huge improvement to the picture as it now looks more professional and classy. I feel that the loss of the background was a good decision as now she stands out more and is more attention grabbing. Also, the lighting difference has make her more mysterious and alluring. I did the same to the other images I used in my magazine.
InDesign took me a long time to master. I had created all of my work previously on Photoshop
and originally attempted the double page spread in it too. However, the text wrap I wanted to use was just not precise enough on Photoshop so I decided to brave InDesign. The text wrap I worked out easily with some help and so was inserting the text and to begin with I was pleased. However, when I tried to bring inthe pink circles which have the quotes on I had a lot of problems. For example, when I brought them into InDesign they would lose their transparency and other effects I had included. Then, when I finally sorted this out I couldn't change their size. Once I managed that I couldn't place text on top of it. After a few tantrums and cursing I simply applied the text on Photoshop, free transformed the whole thing and transferred it across. I had never used a blogging website either, and I had a lot of problems logging on to begin with. After a lot of hassle I got it working but I found it hard to present thins how I wanted in each post, expecially how I positioned the images I added. After a lot of practice though, I have improved.
Although I had some difficulty with some of the programs, I am pleased with how much I have learnt over this course. Before hand I had never taken a digital photo or used an Apple Mac, but now I am able to use both a long with Photoshop and InDesign. It may have taken a lot of tears and tantrums but I am pleased with how much I have done and my final product.
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