Milagro Kasese- Gossip Page Evaluation

Evaluation
Working in a group of four people meant that we could split all the work into four so everyone in the group had a chance to perfect their own piece of work which was an disadvantage because then we weren't in a rush trying to do to an entire magazine on our own. The strengths that i faced working as a  group was the fact that I could talk to  other  people in group and we could help one another if we were stuck. The good thing about working in a group is that because there was a lot of work, no one had nothing to do everyone was busy doing something or working on their own work.  Also everyone in the group had an interest in magazines so it was a task that we could all do because it is our interest.
Most of the people in the group knew how to use photoshop very well this helped when someone in the group needed help on a specific thing that they needed to do. working as part of a team we could always contribute ideas that we wanted to use this was a way of how we could make things better when creating the magazine. On the other hand we did face a lot of weaknesses in the group this was caused by the lack of communication and some of the written work had to be done by other group members and not done by everyone because of the deadline some of the other group members were behind with their work  so everyone wasn't working at the same pace as each other. The advantage of working in the group is that  two people would work together and the other two people would work on another piece of work  we all didnt work together to produce all of the work as there division within the group Emilia who worked on the interview page, Georgia worked on the ho wore it best and together they both did the front cover, ´ma worked on the problems page and i worked on the gossip page together we came up with ideas for the contents page and Emma did the contents page this was what caused the division because each member in the group worked at their own pace. On my own i worked very well because i enjoyed discovering how to do things on my own and finding out new ways of creating curtain things on photoshop  i loved creating  the gossip page and using my ideas to put everything in place and where it should be. In the group we faced so many challenges but we all forgave each other for not working stronger as the four of us should have.

The weakness that i faced working independently is because everyone was so busy doing their work i couldn't ask for help if i needed help or other ideas of what i could have done to perfect because the other girls in the group had to do their own work. I found it difficult to keep up with the time set when doing my gossip page because by the time i had gotten all my ideas i didn't have a lot of time left. working as a group i was so nervous because i wanted everything to look perfect i was a bit shy telling the people in my group how we could have improved on our group work as there was a lack of communication skills i didn't want to disturb everyone else in the group , I am a slow worker so i had the weakness of being scared of the deadline.
My strengths when creating the gossip page is that when i got all my ideas and started working i was determined to make my work perfect at a higher level and add things that can make it look better. My other strengths is that i loved learning new things and how to create different things from photoshop i had an open mind i was very persistent even when i didn't know what to do i had a picture of what my work would look like before finishing it. I had that consistency of
wanting my work to look perfect even if it meant me working on the same thing for a really long
time putting all my energy into doing my work and shutting out everyone around me just to focus. the next time i work i need to learn how to work faster as well as making sure that my work is done perfectly. overall working in a group and independently i faced challenges when doing my work however it has made me develop other skills that i can use next time.


The product I decided to do is the Gossip page which talks about the latest news on celebrities to do this i had to use photoshop to create the page i researched other music magazines and put all my ideas together used photos from the internet of the celebrities. i made a rough sketch plan on what i wanted my work to look like. with the research that i had done i slowly started putting all of the information onto photoshop. i used font from the internet  in Dafont to make the writing on my gossip page more interesting and stand out from all the other information. I used this for the headline. I did face difficulty picking the right colour of the background that would match the writing and the images. To make my page more focused i put in grid lines this made creating everything and putting them into place because of the barrier line. After doing my work i had to edit it and fix all the mistakes that i made. When doing my work i made a mistake when expanding all the pictures so i had to go back and make them look like they have not been too stretched out. The next time i do this product i would have some of the skills to make an even better gossip page.

The techniques that i used when creating the gossip page is when i cropped down some of the images that i used from the internet i took out the bit that i didn't need to use. i also the marquee tool, then the layer via cut which i used to split one of my image in half, i also used certain fonts to make the writing stand out. I wasn't so sure on the colour scheme because i wanted the work to stand out from everything else. If i were to do this again i would plan all the details including what colours i wanted and which type of pictures that i want to use from the internet also better ways to crop and use more photoshop shortcuts.

overall the skills that i used helped me produce the gossip page it has made learn new ways of doing things when using photoshop. to improve my work next time i can make sure that i spend more time trying to speed the progress in which i take to do my work.

Emma Gammon - magazine evaluation

Evaluation

My media production evaluation included me, Mimi, Amelia and Georgia. Working in a group of people meant we could share each other’s ideas and split the work so we could get more work done in a shorter period of time. The strengths that i found were that working independently helped me concentrate more and i managed to get on with the work, but working as a group we didn't communicate much so we couldn't help improve on the magazine we were making as we weren't sharing each others ideas and mixing it all together.
The advantages for the product are we were all hard workers, we tried our best to finish the work off as soon as possible, also we got together outside of school to take photos for our magazine which shows we were dedicated to the work, we also respected everyones idea’s for the magazine and tried adding in something that each person came up with.
The disadvantages of working on your own are that the work that has been split wouldn’t be the same, so the product wouldn’t be as good as what it would be by working on it as a group, when we put the project together everything was different to what we originally planned the text and colours were different and made it look messy, so if we had worked as a group a bit more, then maybe the project would of looked more like we planned . Another disadvantage for working individually is that there was a lack of communication, which led to some of the group finishing the work and others being behind because they work at a slower pace or just not knowing what work there is to do at all. When we first started the project we lacked in communication so we didn't talk about people strengths and weaknesses so we just did whatever. My weaknesses are that i never asked a member of the group for help, or asked them what i needed to do i just did what i thought was right, so next time i need to make sure i ask if i'm stuck, so i could get the work correct.
The product I created was the problem page, which is a page where people, usually teenagers ask questions on relationship/friendship problems and i answered their questions by giving them the best advice to solve or at least help them with their problems. I looked up different problem pages on the internet and in different magazines to get a idea on the different questions that are asked so i could make something similar to it. I found answering the questions quite difficult but designing the page was If i could create this product again i would make sure i add more questions so it attracts the audience more because it may relate to them, also i would've added more photos to the products and brighter colours you make it look more exciting.  marquee tool
The techniques that were used throughout making this product were tools like the cropping tool, if i need a certain part of a photo i would select the crop tool and highlight the part i want. The other different tools that have been used for this project are the marquee tool, then layer via cut which let me split a image in half, making it look like someone has torn it apart. To get certain fonts i went on to a website called dafont which gave you a load of different genres of fonts which after you had chosen you would download them on to photoshop, which will then automatically come up each time you search for it, the reason why i went for different fonts was because i wanted to make it look more eye catching and interesting for the readers.
In conclusion i think we worked well as a group, we just need to work on communication skills.

Georgia - Magazine Evaluation

In our production working as a team was an important element in our magazine making. In my opinion, our teamwork could definitely be improved if we were to work as a team in the future. The aspects that we could improve on is discussing the roles which we are doing and ensure that they are distributed equally. As in this project Amelia and I  finished our work before the deadline, but other members of the team failed to do so. Therefore the outstanding work - Meeting Proformas, Booking Forms, Risk Assessment, Production Schedule and the back cover, then ended up in it being our job to complete the outstanding work before it was too late, whilst others continued to finish their final individual piece.
In my opinion my strengths are being able to finish pieces of work within the project as well as doing other pieces of work which are vital for this project. Also I think part of my strengths is that I enjoy and can work well both individually and as a team. I enjoy working in a team as i like sharing and discussing ideas with people. And I also enjoy working individually as I do not have to stress and worry about other people completing their projects on time.  Another one of my strengths is that I love learning new things to apply when creating projects. I am aware of others feelings (empathy) as if someone has done something wrong, instead of pointing out the wrong thing and offending them. I would offer a way to improve/ change it. I also think that I am quite creative as I love drawing, writing stories and making new projects.
In my opinion my weaknesses are that I am not very decisive when it comes to making decisions, because I am scared that I will make the wrong decision and then regret it later or that my decision will ruin other peoples things. Another one of my weaknesses is that I am a perfectionist. This could also be considered as a strength as I always strive to ensure that my work is the best that it can be. Although, I see this as a weakness, because unless my work is flawless then I am not happy with it, and I will continue to edit and edit it, which can become quite annoying! I also think that I can be very critical and not very happy with my work, and pick out all the bad things with it. Whereas when it comes to other peoples work I am always really positive and supportive and suggesting ways in which they could maybe improve their work.

At the start of my individual project I decided that I would like to do the ‘Who Wore It Best?’ page. This is basically where there are a couple of celebrities who are wearing the same dress. The audience then chooses which celebrity they think looks the best, and then they give the celebrity a mark out of ten, the woman with the most votes wins. The software that I used for this project was Photoshop. I used this as I found it quite easy to use as I have used it quite a few times before, so I know my way around it. I also find that Photoshop is a good software to use for when editing and experimenting with photos, as in my project the centre focus of it was the pictures of the celebrities. The aspects of the project which i found to work quite well was that Amelia and I successfully managed to complete all of the outstanding work before the deadline. Also I think that the magazines theme worked quite well for all of us, as all of the final pieces matched the theme which we had chosen. The aspects that I found difficult during this project was choosing where to place everything on my magazine, as there was a lot to put on my page and I did not want it to look cramped. Also I found cutting out each picture so I just had the silhouette of the women was hard, as it was tricky to get a perfect rounded edge. The things that went wrong with the project, was that members in our group did not complete their work on time. So the work that was supposed to be done as a group, had be completed by the other two members in the group. If i was to do this project again the things that i would change is that i would maybe work with a different group to see if we do any better than we did last time we did the project, and also it is a good way to socialise with people who you might not usually talk to. I would also change the page i was doing, so that I could come up with new ideas and learn different skills which are required for that project.

I used a range of techniques in my project. Firstly, with the front cover which was done by Amelia and I, we thought that using a typeface that looked handwritten would look really good on our magazine. As a handwritten looking typeface looks laidback and more personal to the reader, and it fits the theme of the magazine rather than using a really hard, bulky font. To do this we acquired a small paint brush, black ink and some paper and practised writing our cover line over and over, till we were happy with it. We then used the scanner to scan the handwritten typefaces in so that we could use them on our front cover.
Then for my individual page I used the cutting tool, which I used to cut round the celebrity so i just had the silhouette of her. To do this you need to zoom in on the object you want to cut round - so that you have an easier view of where you are cutting. Then you just slowly click round the outside of the object till you go all the way round and meet the point where you started at. Click on the first point, click ‘copy selection’ and then paste it onto your document.
For all of the text on my page I used a type of effect to make the text look more interesting and attractive. I used things on my text such as bevel/embossing, shadows, outlines, bolding it etc. Also I drew squares using the shape tool. These squares were for decoration to make my page look more interesting and I also used them as a background for text.

Amelias Magazine Evaluation

After deciding that we will be creating a magazine we gave each person an assigned role which we agreed we would each complete. Each person in our group completed their part. Georgia and I also then completed Meeting pro forma’s, Booking forms, Production Schedule, Risk Assessment and then an advertisement for our back cover as certain people in our group had not finished their product. An important part of our production was teamwork. We feel as though all of us did not work as a team as well as we could of done. Next time we will communicate more and ensure that all of the work that needs to be completed is distributed evenly. Even Though teamwork was not successful in our group, individually we worked well and eventually completed the project.
Overall our product turned out well once completed.  Georgia and I worked as a team to complete a photoshoot at my house and organised specific dates and times to do this. We decided on a theme of black and white for our images based on a Burberry  campaign we had previously seen. Georgia was our main model and as she had this job we decided that the font should have the effect that it had been wrote in lipstick as we felt this would be something that seemed quite clever and well thought out.
To ensure that we created an appealing magazine that would attract people we did a lot of research on the internet and looked through current magazines to see what was currently on offer. We then thought of anything we liked and could maybe improve and have as a feature in our magazine.
When planning our magazine we drew out a number of ‘draft copies’ so that when we created the real thing we had a good idea of what sort of things we wanted and how we wanted it to be set out.
To ensure our magazine was at the highest of standards we used various techniques and software. To complete the interview page indesign was used and to complete the front cover we used Photoshop. To create the main font for the front cover our teacher helped us used ink and paint brushes to create the effect it had been wrote in lipstick. We also noticed that many magazines currently on offer had various advertisements throughout. We therefore decided that we would create our own using one of the photographs me and Georgia took while out on location. We took a variety of different shots from different angles and decided on which ones we thought were the best. As I was writing an interview I had to decided how I would lay out the images and text on the page. I used an image per page therefore two pages of image and two page of text which I set out in columns on the page so that it looked professional and neat.
We originally decided that our magazine was going to be aimed at teenagers, however we found an appealing burberry campaign in black and white therefore we changed it as we felt it would be would be more marketable and appealing to a range of audiences rather than just teenage girls.
During the production of our magazine we realised that we did not have as much time as previously thought and had to work quicker and spend more time on it to meet the deadline that was set.
While creating the magazine I noticed that I had a variety of strengths and weaknesses. In my opinion I am good at meeting deadlines given but also ensuring that it is to the highest standard it could be even with a time limit. I also think that when everyone is cooperating I work well in a team but also well on my own as I do not have to rely on other people, it is just up to me to get it done. I feel that we were very fair to everyone in our group and helped each other out with tasks if they were behind with work. I also feel that I was very good at being persistent in order to get the work completed by the deadline. I also had some weaknesses in that Georgia and I lost our work a number of times due to the fact that we did not check where we saved it. I think that something else that hindered me was the fact that I like to ensure everything is perfect therefore each task took longer. Me and Georgia also were very wary of the deadlines therefore we had to work use more time than we originally planned to.

If I completed a project like this again I would change the page I created. I would do this so I could gain even more skills so that in the future I would be able to do whatever page needed completing. I would also make sure that next time we had a more reasonable amount of
work to complete so that we did not have to spend more time than initially thought when we could of been doing other things to improve our magazine.
When completing our project we had to think about a variety of legal and Ethical issues. All the images I used in my part of the product I took myself therefore I did not need to get permission to use images owned by someone else. I ensured that the interview I published only had the answers that the person I interviewed gave and did not add anything in to make the interview seem better.