7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

In retrospect, it is easy to see that my preliminary task was a lot less professional than my present magazine and shows evidence of little practice and amateur design skills. This was due to the fact that no research on my demographic or planning was carried out before I started constructing the school magazine. 

Comparing both magazines together, I now see the importance of understanding and utilising the theories which are at the core of the media industry. These, alongside certain codes and conventions have to be taken into careful consideration when designing a magazine. Understanding these helped me create a more professional and directed piece of work.

I have also learnt the importance of in depth research and analysis of your audience. During my preliminary task I underwent no research on my demographic and used my common knowledge about what students, parents and teachers expect from a school magazine. This demographic is also very large and, if it were made professionally, would have taken a vast amount of effort into audience research and analysis to be able to start constructing a magazine for a demographic of such a size. This goes to show the importance of narrowing down your audience so you can cater to them in the best way possible. Looking at existing texts and analysing their codes and conventions gave me a good idea on what conventions I wanted to include in my magazine to suit my audience and get an idea of what colours, typography, layout etc to use, something which I didn’t have the chance to do with my preliminary task. 

Exploring theories such Maslow’s hierarchy of needs gave me good knowledge about what to include in my magazine to fulfil my audiences needs. My research into the male gaze theory helped me see firsthand evidence of the effects that representations of women can have on girls and helped me make an informed decision about whether i wanted to include this idea in my magazine. After further analysis of this theory I understood the importance of the male gaze in order to make a profit as, after all, this is a business. 

I also feel I have learnt valuable skills in using software such as Photoshop and publisher which I will use in the future. Through this, i have been able to see just how easy and effective these programmes can be in creating an image which adopted jean Baudrillard’s theory of hyperreality/simulacra. 

After this process I definitely value the means of research more as I have seen the effects it can have in transforming a magazine. The knowledge and skills i had when constructing my preliminary task are minimal in comparison to those I now have after my current magazine and this knowledge, I hope, will be used in future projects.