AS Preliminary Task

In what ways does your media product use, develop or

challenge forms and conventions of media products?

Masthead
Dateline
Logo
Cover line
Main image
Text anchors image
Main cover line
Bar code
Banner and
cover line
Rule Of
Thirds
In what ways does your media product use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions of media products?

I used the head and shoulders of the person and chose a medium close up image,
unlike the Mens health magazine who didnt use a medium close up. Like the
men's health Magazine I put the masthead at the top of the page in the centre. I
also attempted to use a continuous colour scheme, I also used the red in
the title and the yellow of the title to brand the superman logo and make
everything look professional. This keeps a theme to my magazine. In the
masthead in which the title had purple and green in it (college colours).
Mens health magazine also does this. My cover lines were quite brief unlike
Mens Health magazine in which their cover lines are very detailed. I kept it
brief not to bore the readers. My main cover line is way too small. I was
preoccupied with editing my main image and forgot to edit the size of the
main cover line so it stands out. However Mens Healths main cover line is
big enough for the reader to see. This means I did not meet the convention
of the main cover line. In terms of codes and conventions, I added a
company logo of a superman sign to show branding and intensify the
super in my logo. Also the super connotes a superhero, so I wanted to give
my readers a superhero feel as they read through my magazine. Mens
Health does not have a background it is blank. However I have used one to
show mise on scene. My main cover line anchors the image, this is unlike
Mens Health in which the main cover line is at the top left of the page. I
chose to put it anchoring the main image so people could see the image
then see the cover line immediately. In terms of rule of thirds, my image is
more centralised than in the actual middle third. Similarly, the Mens Health
is not clear cut in the centre third either. My photo shopped front cover is
much different to my drawn draft n terms of colour, as my colours I used on
my draft looked much better on paper than they did on the pc.
In what ways does your media product use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions of media products?

Masthead
Contents title
Consistent colours
Selection of images
Page references
Date
Social media pages
In what ways does your media product use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions of media products?

I used black stroke (number 8) on my text, firstly I did not use the stroke and
the font and text was unnoticeable, so after a bit of trial and error I came
across stroke and it worked greatly. My contents page used the same
masthead I used on my front cover exactly. I did this by print screening it in,
from dafont.com, and deleting the unwanted excess. My photo shopped
front cover is much different to my drawn draft in terms of colour, as my
colours I used on my draft looked much better on paper than they did
on the pc. Furthermore the final contents page was much different to
my drawn draft as I did not have page numbers linked to the images on
my drawn draft, but I did on the real thing. I tried to use rule of three on
my contents page but it was not successful. The genre I was trying to
aim at, was informative entertaining, so the colours I chose were
professional yet sophisticated. I added social media links on the bottom
right hand corner to show the reader they can access the information
on the magazine at any time on the go, furthermore the target audience
(students) use technology and social media a lot, so I feel this was
aimed at them. I made the sub titles larger than the actual text to show
authority and easy navigation through the magazine.
2. What have you learnt about technologies from the
process of constructing this product?

Firstly, in order to transfer my images from the camera to pc, I used a usb cable and copied them into my
media prelim folder. This process was quite quick and simple as I have used it before. On Photoshop, to
import an image I had to Use the dialogue box to browse through my computer for the image I wanted to
insert. I then Clicked on the image file name to select it, then clicked the "Place" of the dialogue box. This
was the first ever time I have used Photoshop, and despite having my reservations, it proved to be a very
simple process and it is now a new skill I have learnt. Photoshop then imported my image in a new layer. I
found this process fairly simple to navigate as it was similar to importing an image on Word, which I am very
used to. In order to add font, I went onto dafont.com, and selected the font I thought would be most suited
for my magazine, I then print screening it in, from dafont.com, and deleted the unwanted excess. i Clicked
on the text tool from the left-hand vertical toolbar. The text tool looked like the letter T, Double-click the
thumbnail of the layer you just typed the text on. This selects your text. I then noticed a square with colour
in it, I then highlighted what text I wanted to change colour, and selected the colour, before pressing ok. The
layer system on Photoshop threw me a bit at first. However after a bit of trial and error, I soon got the jist of
the purpose of the layers and how to use them. After a bit of research on google, I saw that a layer is simply
an image on top of another image, and in order to add another text or image to your design, you
automatically add another layer too. Personally, I feel the layer system is great, as you can treat everything
you add to your design individually, this aids the over all quality of your design. I used stroke on my text in
order to intensify it as at first it was unrecognisable, but after some more trial and error, I found the FX and
dropdown menu and saw the stroke and added it. I learnt how to use stroke efficiently as a result. I wanted
to add one greyscale image on my front cover but I did not how to do it. With some assistance I discovered
the lasso tool, and this allowed me to select around an object and make the part i selected, grayscale. This
was so frustrating for me as, as I was selecting the image I kept on deselecting it, forcing me to go back and
select it all again. Howver eventually i stopped deselecting it and this was a huge relief to me. As a result, I
can now make an image greyscale without assistance.