What have you learnt about technologies from the process of construcing this product
- 1. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
- 2. Blogger – What is was used for Blogger is the website used to upload all of my work onto to present and keep it all in one place. I have never used blogger before, however I found it easy to use. I created my work and then uploaded it to blogger through a variety of ways such as: slide share, flip snack, YouTube, prezzi and Issuu. Blogger allowed me to use embedded codes as well as uploading documents such as pictures straight onto my blog. I was also able to make my teacher a contributor to the blog to allow him to review my work and write any comments about improvements that may need to happen. It was also good to allow me to edit posts if I needed to. For example if I needed to alter any documents, I could change them and update the post without having to delete the whole post. I also used blogger to view previous example blogs and also the college media blog which guided me through this whole task. – What I have learnt about it I have learnt many things about blogger such as, how to upload posts through embedding, how to edit posts, how to personalise my blog, how to share my blog, how to set up a blog, how to fid other blogs and how to use other websites to present my work differently. I also learnt how to add contributors to my blog which allowed me to add my teacher to give him access to the blog to allow him to add comments about how my work is progressing. – Advantages and disadvantages One advantage about using blogger is that it is a website, this means all of work is saved publically and therefore I am able to access it from my personal computer as well as computers at college. This is good because I do not run the risk of loosing work just by saving it onto a memory stick. A disadvantage to this is that sometimes the college network is temperamental and not reliable, also some areas of the internet are blocked by the network which makes it harder to access everything. Another advantage of blogger is that posts are easy to upload, edit and file. I can upload posts in may different formats which allows me to fully explore computer skills and present my work better. If I need to make any changes, I can simply edit and update my posts rather than have to delete the whole post. Finally, by using labels, I can label all of my posts which automatically make it easy for the examiner and teacher to find and mark. Another disadvantage to blogger is that when uploading pictures and text together, the layout sometimes gets altered and mixed up, however I overcame this by using other websites to present my work better.
- 3. Photoshop – What is was used for I used Photoshop to make all three of my products. I used a variety of tools such as: camera raw filter, layer masks, colours, backgrounds, text, airbrushing, eraser and rulers. I edited the images that I used through Photoshop to make them look more professional by changing the levels and also by airbrushing the which is a common convention of magazines. I used the rulers to evenly space out my cover lines and to ensure all of the layouts were evenly spaced. I also used the background eraser tool to remove the backgrounds of anything that I pasted onto my magazine such as the text and images. – What I have learnt about it I have used Photoshop many times before, therefore I was fairly comfortable with the program, however through making these products, I am much more familiar with the spacing and layouts that can be created by the rulers and guide lines. I also learnt that background can be removed very simply by using the background eraser tool instead of selecting the areas to remove manually. I also learnt that grouping the layers together into folders helps to move things together in groups, particularly the cover lines that have two different fonts within them. – Advantages and disadvantages One advantage to using Photoshop is that you can do vast amount of things. As well as creating a product, you can also edit images and crop things, all in one place so there is no need to use more than one product. Another advantage is that it is very professional and delivers high quality results, just like in the real magazine industry. One disadvantage is that it is very expensive and therefore I do not have access to it at home meaning I could only wok on the products whilst at college. Another disadvantage is that because it is such a complex software, it is often very slow and when saving things, it take a considerably long time.
- 4. DSLR camera, studio lights and tripod – What is was used for I used the DSLR camera to take my picture for my three products. I decided to use this camera as it creates the best quality picture which I need for my images. As I took my images in the studio, I needed studio lights to create the best atmosphere for my images to look professional. In order to take steady and clear images and get the best results from the DSLR camera, I put the camera on a tripod because it kept it steady and in place which allowed me to control the environment to get the best images. – What I have learnt about it From the DSLR camera I have learnt that there are many different modes that I can use in order to control the images that I am getting to ensure I get the best result. For example I used the automatic mode because it focused my images and used the flash when needed. When I did not want the flash, I could also use the no flash mode which allowed me to focus on the studio lights. I have learnt that where you place the studio lights is important. For example if i had to ensure that I stood behind the lights to allow all of the light to reach to model and ensure that I was not blocking it. I also learnt that my putting the cover over a light you could create a more natural light effect which I felt was successful. The tripod was fairly simple, however I did earn that you can create the quirkiest images by adjusting the angles by moving the tripod up and down. – Advantages and disadvantages The first advantage to using the DSLR camera would be the clear a crisp images that it produces. Another advantage would be the flexibility that it gives you to ensure that you control the final image via the modes. The final advantage would be that there were minimal shutter delays, meaning the picture was captured quickly which allowed me to never miss a good shot. One disadvantage would be that some of the modes were difficult to figure out, for example the shutter speed and aperture modes are very similar to change and this took a bit of getting used to. The camera its self is also fairly heavy meaning it was hard to carry around before and after the shoots. An advantage to using the studio was hat I could control everything that was happening and I could make the images exactly how I wanted them, however contrasting this, it meant that is was a quite artificial setting meaning I was restricted on the amount of relaxed shots that I could take. I over came this by taking some shots in Norwich because this allowed me to take some urban shots.
- 5. Prezi, Flipsnack, Slideshare and Issuu – What is was used for – All of these software’s were used to present my work. Flipsnack was used to place word documents into a booklet to make them more interactive. Slideshare was used to put PowerPoints together. Issuu was used in the same way as flipsnack and finally, Prezi was used to present information in a very creative way to intrigue the reader. I uploaded my files to each one of these websites and they allowed me to personalise my products and make them more appealing. After this, I simply used the embedding code to put them onto my blog. – What I have learnt about it I have not used any of these websites to present information before and therefore I learnt quite a lot. From Flipsnack I learnt that you need to ensure your document is in a PDF format and you have to ensure it is in the correct layout. I also learnt that you can change the colours of the pages and front covers to make it personal and appealing. From Prezi I learn that information can be fun and creative and eye catching. I learnt that you do not need to pay for all of the fancy features because you can edit the majority of things manually. From Slideshare I learnt that it is a very simplistic way of uploading PowerPoints as it keeps all of the layout the same and simply just embeds to my blog professionally and simply. Finally, from Issuu I learnt that although it is very similar to Flipsnack, changing and editing your documents is tricky and it is often slow to load and edit things. – Advantages and disadvantages One advantage to all of these software's is that you can log in with your google email account. This is good because it automatically makes it linked to my blog which makes embedding easy. Because they are websites, it also means that I have access to them easily at home if I need to add or change anything before posting it to my blog. One disadvantage to these is that once the product has been created, it is hard to edit it because you have to go back to the original document and change it and then save it again, you almost have to delete the whole document and make it again. One disadvantage to Flipsnack is that you can only upload PDF files and when changing a word document into a PDF, the layouts can get mixed up. An advantage to Prezi is that there are so many different ways to present your work, it makes it much more creative and fun to read. Slide share is a really simple website which makes uploading PowerPoints very easy and fast which is good because it also does not alter the layout at all. A disadvantage to issuu is that it is not as flowing as Flipsnack and often take a while to load.
- 6. Snipping tool and Dafont – What is was used for One limitation to Photoshop was that there were limited fonts, to overcome this, I used a website called dafont. This is a free website which allows you to choose from hundreds of different fonts. I used it for all of my fonts except from my feature article text. I used the fonts ‘primetime’ and ‘white elephant’ for the majority of my cover lines because they suited my style of magazine and also suited my target audiences needs. To get the font from dafont to Photoshop, I used the snipping tool. Once I was happy with the writing, I would cut out the text from the website and paste it onto Photoshop. – What I have learnt about it I have learn that dafont allows you to explore a variety of different fonts as opposed to being limited by the ones on Photoshop. It also has lots of categories such as ‘comic’ and ‘handwritten’ to allow you to navigate through the fonts a lot easier. I also learnt that you can type in your text which will then show your text in all of the different fonts which makes them a lot easier to choose. Originally when using the snipping tool, I thought that you had to save every single thing that you snipped as a picture and then open it, after using I for a little while I then learnt that you could simple copy and paste the text onto Photoshop which saved a lot of memory on my computers and made the process a lot faster and efficient. – Advantages and disadvantages The main advantage to using dafont and the snipping tool is that I had access to any style of font that I liked which meant I could make my magazine more suited to my target audiences needs and I had more control over how it looked. However a disadvantage to this process is that it was very time consuming and I had to ensure I had access to the internet even when simply working on my front cover because I needed to access the website to get the fonts.
- 7. Survey Monkey – What is was used for I used survey monkey to create a questionnaire that I could use to gather market research from my target audience. I created a questionnaire to ask my audience what hey want in my magazine. It included questions such as ‘what colours would you like to see?’ and ‘what would you like the magazine to include?’ I then used all of the results to create my product based on what my audience wanted. After gathering my responses I then turned the results into graphs and tables to help present the information clearly. – What I have learnt about it I have learnt that survey monkey is a great way of collecting and presenting information. I learnt that after gathering responses, it will then turn the results into clear graphs to help me base my magazine on my audiences needs. I also learned that it is easy to share the link to encourage lots of people to fill out the questionnaire. Overall, I learnt that this is a very fast and easy way to collect market research. – Advantages and disadvantages – One advantage of this website is that you can choose different styles of questions which are ready made for you which makes the process quick and easy. Another advantage is that it is very easy to share your questionnaire. The last advantage is that is turns your results into graphs very easily. A disadvantage is that to get more professional results tables, you have to pay extra. Also trying to use it over the college network was a bit slow at times.
- 8. YouTube, PowerPoint and Windows movie maker – What is was used for I used PowerPoint to present some of my research and evaluation. By putting all of my information into a PowerPoint, I created a more interactive way of presenting. I used windows movie maker to put together the videos that I filmed for my evaluation question where I asked a member of my target audience to talk about my products. I had to crop some of the videos and add some parts together to create the overall video. I then used YouTube to upload my video and embed it onto my blog. – What I have learnt about it I have learnt that PowerPoint includes lots of different transitions that make my work for exciting an appealing. I have also learnt that I can put lots of information onto different slides which allows me to upload lots of information at one time. PowerPoint also allows me to easily upload pictures onto it to help me present my information. I have learnt a lot about windows movie maker because it is a new software to me. It is easy to add video clips together and also to crop them to create the video that you want and need. It also allows you to save it so that you can edit it later before saving the whole product as a finished product. I have learnt that YouTube is simple way to share videos to the internet and easily embed them onto my blog for my teacher and examiner to watch. – Advantages and disadvantages – One advantage about using PowerPoint is that it is fast and efficient when creating the document. Another advantage is that you can add as many slides as you need and you can personalise them so they all follow a house style, making them look professional. One disadvantage about PowerPoint is that each slide only fits limited amounts of information, meaning you have to add lots of slides which could get slightly boring. You have to save it onto a memory stick if I want to open it at college to continue working on it. One advantage to movie maker is that it is fast and efficient and allows me to edit videos in anyway that I like, however a disadvantage is that it is hard to find some of the features such as the crop tool. The main disadvantage to YouTube is trying to use it over the college network. There is a restriction which only allows me to access YouTube for 15 minutes which means I have to wok fast to upload the video. The uploading tie is very long as well, meaning I need to ensure I have enough time to upload the video. Also some of the content is blocked on YouTube which also restricts me.