Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

After comparing my preliminary task to my final product it is evident that i have progressed a large amount in skills and techniques used as my final product looks far more proffesional and tidy then my preliminary task. My preliminary task was to construct a school magzine, set out in order for us to practise our photoshop skills and get used to the mac computers. From doing this at the start of my coursework i have gained a large amount of knowledge concerning how to create a successful media product. When carrying out my preliminary task there was hardly any time space for a decent product to be produced, therefore i did not carry out any useful research such as constructing a target audience profile or questionnaire to understand the needs and wants of possible buyers. For the real product we had a much larger time scale in which to produce the magazine, therefore i was able to thoroughly anaylse my target audience and what essentials to be included on the product to attract these specific types of people. Further more due to the lack of time for the preliminary, i was unable to research any existing magazines which i have discovered seriously affects the quality of the overall product, as no conventions of typical music magazines are used such as a pug, or barcode to enable a professional and realistic look. Nearly everything on my final product was planned with initial ideas. I then gained feedback to receive an incite of other peoples opinions, then i finalised these ideas analysing good and bad points about them helping me to produce the best possible product i could. This differs a great deal to my preliminary task which i didn't plan at all. The pictures were rushed and took with a low pixel camera and consequently looked boring and dull. Unlike my final product which was planned with feedback from my target audience, the pictures were taken on a much higher quality camera, with a large amount of thought put in. This is evident as the images on my final product are captivating, bright and quirky yet the preliminary consists of boring pictures. To continue, it is clear that both my contents and front cover for the final product have a distinct layout, allowing the page to look more distinct and professional. Yet the preliminary has no order in particular the contents, which looks dull and plain connoting the wrong impression that the magazine has minimal content.
Overall it is clear that in order to create a successful media product, planning, development of ideas with feedback from a target audience and finalizing ideas is clearly an essential to create the best media product possible. It is also evident that time is very important, as creating a realistic front cover is extremely time consuming as a lot of thought and consideration has to be put in. Finally research is also needed of existing popular music magazines, so you can use inspirations and conventions of these magazines to interpret on your own product, giving it that professional look.