Q6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Strengths

Using the program InDesign gives designers a wide variety of fonts and way  to adjust fonts, such as making the letters wider or increasing the gap between letters. There is also a vast combination of colours so the design can be personalised. I've also learned that the use of the internet in order to research the industry and to view designs that already exist is also useful. Furthermore, I've also used programs such as PhotoShop and FireWorks to edit my own images. This came in useful, as I often had to erase the background or crop the image. I've also progressed from my original skills audit, when I had no experience on the Mac, and had to learn how to use a whole different computer system. Now the only sections I am unable to complete are scanning images into the Mac. This is because I never had to do this. I've also developed my camera skills.

Weaknesses
The first problem that I faced was learning how to use InDesign, as I had no previous experience with the programme, or using a Mac. I feel that I have overcome this in the process of making my music magazine, as I've had to learn how to make effective shapes and prioritise the large amount of fonts. For example, in 'Pupil Paper', I knew that, because of my lack of experience with InDesign, I could not create the shapes that I wanted, and was therefore limited to rectangles, circles and hexagons. By the time I completed my double page spread, I was using triangles and could more adequately shape text within shapes to make it the most effective.

Another weakness that I had at the beginning was learning how to use Blogger effectively to showcase my work. It took me a while to decide how my coursework would be laid out, but I eventually developed a style I was comfortable with.

Opportunities
I've learned how to use the majority of the Adobe programs. I've also developed my camera skills, and have been able to take effective images.

Threats
When I initially started the coursework, I had to get used to a lot of new programs within one lesson. I had to be shown a lot of the techniques a few times before I understood it correctly.