There are two sets of magazines above, the very top - my coursework magazine, the nearest was the one I created for my preliminary task. Our preliminary task took place at the very beginning of the course, and we were instructed to create a school magazine. I feel that looking back now, I have learnt so much over the last 7 months, not only about the different computer skills for the different programs such as Photoshop, but I feel I have developed a greater understanding for the conventions surrounding what to do, and what not to do with the creation of a media magazine. For example, I have learnt about the rules where the masthead, and cover image take up about 1/3 of the page each. Although this is something I have challenged with my magazine, where my main cover image takes up the majority of the front cover, whereas the masthead only uses about a quarter of the space available on the front cover.
Another convention I have looked at is the three colour rule, where you should chose from a choice of 10 sets of colours in which are three matching colours which go well together and look good on a magazine. This is something I have taken onboard with my final magazine. This is because as you can tell by looking at the colour palette (posted numerous times throughout my blog) you can see that the colours I used for my preliminary do not go together, white, grey & blue. However, I seemed to carry the grey theme over to my final magazine, however I feel this time I have the right mix of colours, black, grey and the red (taken from the colour of the guitar). This is because throughout the creation of my mocks, I wanted to go with a black and white theme, and didn't want to feature any colour. However upon completion of some mock ups, I realised that my magazine was lacking in vibrancy and inspiration, it seemed boring. So upon consultation with my teacher we decided that I was to re-instate my colour picture of my model, and add some colour to headings etc.
Another feature which I have took onboard is the need for consistency and continuity throughout my magazine. I feel that looking back at my preliminary this is something I didn't do, due to the different fonts used on bother pages - especially for the heading. However, looking at my coursework result you can see that I have used the same fonts throughout, and have included the same colour schemes. In addition to this I have also included the logo in the same place on each page. This all helps the magazine flow together, and doesn't look disjointed.
Below is a powerpoint presentation emphasising what I have learnt about conventions since my preliminary has affected my final magazine.
