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

Camera: When taking photos of the models in which I would use on my magazine I needed to take into account that these photos would need to be of high quality and look professional, which is shown through other magazine covers, who use professional photographers. During my test shot process I used a Nikon D3200 which I found captured the pictures to a high quality, so ultimately would also be the equipment I would use to take my final images, this meant that I was able to create my magazine to a professional standard to entice my initial target audience towards reading my magazine. The camera proved relatively easy to use and I was able to transfer the photos I had taken quickly, using the SD card provided within the camera. This would be one of the first times I would be using this type of camera, so took me a while to learn how it worked. Through practice, when taking multiple photos for my preliminary, mock and final magazine, I managed to figure out the basics of how the camera worked, such as turning the flash on when I thought would be appropriate to compliment the lighting I had already set up.

Tripod: When taking the photos, I attached the Nikon D3200 to a tripod so that I was able to capture a high quality photo that ensured I had the correct proportion of the model and the background. I learnt how to adjust the height of the tripod, to choose which type of shot I would use. I made sure that the tripod was at a medium to high height, as I wanted to achieve a mid shot photo for my front cover, and along the way adjusted it even higher so that I could concentrate on my models from chest upwards. I thought that by using a range of shots would provide my magazine with a different look/style so that all of the pictures didn't appear the same, which may draw readers away from my magazine if they think that it looks too repetitive. I also learnt how to adjust the camera, when attached to the tripod, to decide whether I wanted a landscape or portrait shot. This allowed me to decide how my magazine would look before I had actually

Lighting: I decided to use artificial lighting to gain the effect I wanted for the photos and also ensured that no shadows were present in the photos. I felt that by using artificial lighting it also contributed to the high quality of the photo as it helped highlight the key aspects of the model e.g. clothing and makeup. To compliment this form of professionalism, I also decided to use a white backdrop, which also enhanced features of the model, especially their clothing, as what they were wearing was very plain, so needed the extra boost, to ensure that they looked the part.

Photoshop: when creating my magazine I needed to consider a programme which would tailor to my needs when It came to the editing side of my magazine to ensure that it would look professional and would stand out between the already composed magazines out there. To create my magazine I used Photoshop CS6. Being new to Photoshop, I found it quite a struggle, as I was very unfamiliar with the tools to begin with but managed to pick up the skills in which I required to ensure that my magazine was made to the best of my ability. When making my magazine I learned how to edit the images to fit with the personality of my magazine, which was an import part when creating my magazine so that the target audience I was looking at would be drawn in by the overall display of my magazine. This involved editing different layers, cropping& recolouring images, aligning different elements of the magazine to make it look professional, etc.

Research& planning:

For my research and planning, I used many online sites, which really helped me to produce high quality work;

Blogger I used this online website, to store my work on, so that I was able to display it in a neat and professional style. By using blogger this means that I am able to order my work neatly, which helps teachers, examiners& myself to navigate through my work with control, knowing where every aspect of my work is. Blogger is another prime example of software I have never used before, and though complicated at first, I feel that my knowledge has expanded as I am still to this day learning how to use Blogger to the best of my ability.

Scribd I used this website to upload some of the word documents in which I had created, during my research and planning as this would ensure that I was able to format the document in the way in which I created it without having to edit it into blogger which would ultimately waste time. To display it on my blog, I would copy the embedded code into a new post and it would display my work in the previous format. I thought that this would make my work look neater and much more professional.

Animoto I used this website to create a quirky magazine pitch, which was different from others. By using this website I thought I was able to ensure that my porch wasn't boring by including music in the background which linked in with Indie genre of my magazine. I felt that it was a better way of presenting my pitch, as it engaged the audience in which I pitched too, much more. By using and learning about Animoto at the same time, this meant that I was able to make short videos that would be useful when it came to other parts of my research and planning.

UK Tribes - UK Tribes was one of the most helpful websites I have used, as I was able to look into the website to get a better understanding of the type of audience in which I would be aiming my magazine at. There were many different groups but with just the right amount of research I was able to knuckle down and chose the group I would aim my magazine at (Indie Scenesters). By using this website I was able to broaden my understanding of the needs of the audience, to ensure that my magazine would be popular. I learnt a lot when it came down to the social groups, as I have never categorized myself into any of them before, it gave me lots of information on different groups, so that I was able to decide which group my magazine would be aimed at.

Slide Share Whenever I was to use PowerPoint for a piece of work in my project, it meant that transferring my work to blogger would be difficult, so this is where Slide Share came in. I learnt how to transfer my PowerPoints onto another website, where I could upload them for others to view. I could then take the link, which it provided me with, and I would copy and paste this into the HTML tab of blogger, which would then insert my work into blogger for people to view. This was a new website for me, however was relatively easy to use, and it required a few simple steps.

Standard research - for the simpler parts of the research, I used simple search engines such as Google and Yahoo, as I was able to obtain various different prices of research for different parts to ensure that I was considering all alternatives, when it came down to planning.When doing my standard research, I learnt that Google was probably the easier to use than Yahoo, down to the standard layout in which it possessed but also the information in which it held, as I found that it held more relevant sources, in which I needed (being the biggest search engine in the world).