Skills development essay

For my Foundation Portfolio I had to produce the front cover of a music magazine, its contents page and a double page spread; it had to be created for a specific genre so I began to research as many possible genres that I could find. To begin with I looked at existing music magazines from genres such as: ‘indie’, ‘pop’, ‘RnB’ and ‘Rock’. Once I started to analyse magazines such as ‘Mojo’ and ‘NME’ I found that they cater for people with interests in indie and alternative music and I then concluded after researching the genre’s further, that it was the genre I wanted to focus on for my own magazine. I then set about by looking at the various different ways in which each one of the different magazine publishers enforced their own layout style, whether it be ‘NME’ applying an intimidating, jagged and striking style or ‘Clash’ magazine producing a more simplistic and minimalistic front cover; both targeting contrasting  niche markets.

Before I started AS Media Studies, I’d only ever used Microsoft Publisher to produce vastly different projects to the foundation portfolio, such as: posters and school newspapers; looking back I now realise that Publisher is a very basic software programme and consequently so were my own editing skills. For example at School I was asked to produce a poster for English the only resources I had where Google images and Publisher therefore this effected the quality of the final product. When I came to Wyke and was given the initial task to produce a perfume advert using Photoshop I was a bit overwhelmed because I’d never used Photoshop before and I didn’t know where to start, I’d never edited a photo/image before so therefore I didn’t know how to cut the image or ‘perfect’ somebody’s skin. Another hurdle in which I had to overcome was using a camera, I had my own camera but again it was only basic and I had no idea about all the numerous different camera shots and angles that existed! Therefore I had to put a lot more effort into the initial task than I first thought and into anything similar that I’d produced before. When it came to producing my actual music magazine I knew I wanted to deepen my knowledge on certain tools within Photoshop, such as the cutting tool, smudging tool and also how to edit texts and fonts to make them look more professional and less forced. Likewise, I wanted to know how to use a camera correctly to give my final product a proficient appearance.

When producing my music magazine I completed several drafts (initially on Publisher to help me get the basic layout and then soon after on Photoshop) and got audience feedback on the majority, this helped me to understand and absorb what features looked bad and equally good too.

I also had to create a Blog, again something I’d never done before. This was so all of our work could be viewed and marked digitally. I really enjoyed the whole process of creating my blog and making it my own, via the creative online devices such as ‘Prezi’ and ‘Go Animate’ – which where presentation tools I’d never heard of before too.

To build on the audience feedback I began to explore more tools in Photoshop as I felt I wasn’t using it to its full potential, I proceeded into using the blur and smudge tool more so I could blend and merge the background and my main image creating an accomplished and skilled look, which is what I felt was primarily lacking each time I received the audience feedback. I soon proceeded into creating the contents page and double page spread for my magazine too; many of the original creative elements – such as the housestyle and the way in which I edited the images remained the same – this was because I wanted to keep a consistent approach and also, as my audience feedback was crucial I knew these where the type of fundamental elements needed. To develop my skills further though I had to research typical techniques and conventions used by the majority of magazine publishers, for example upon the double page spread I needed: the page number, the main image and the page divider- to name just a few- and upon the contents page I needed to feature some tease images to entice the audience and a layout that fitted in with my front page too. I knew that producing many drafts (of the contents page and double page spread) would work to my advantage so I proceeded into making 3 of each; editing them on Photoshop applying the new techniques I found when producing my front page and consequently enhancing their appearance; producing the final products.

Overall throughout the whole time of producing my Foundation Portfolio I believe I came a long way, considering I had never heard of Photoshop before, had only basic knowledge of the entire production process and a minimal amount of technical and creative skills too. After being told what I would be doing for my Foundation Portfolio I was a little overwhelmed but knew that I wanted to approach the task positively and to the best of my ability. After being taught the skills and tools needed to use Photoshop correctly; looking back I feel that the fact I continuously applied the skills helped me perfect them and therefore show what my strengths and weaknesses where. Even now I believe that I could have taken better pictures and possibly taken more too, therefore to give me a wider selection when choosing which ones to use on my final magazine. I now also realise that using presentation tools such as ‘Prezi’ are a great way of enticing the audience too, as I got to display my ideas and research in a more appealing and attractive way. I now hope that the skills in which I gained when producing my Foundation Portfolio will be applied in a useful and creative way when producing my Advanced Portfolio as well as attaining even more.