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

I used 4 programs to create my front page, contents and double page spread. The main program used was Adobe Photoshop CS5. I used this program to create the layout of my magazine, and to add pictures and text. Also to edit my photo’s, to remove unwanted marks and to change the contrast. An advantage of using Photoshop is having everything you want to create a magazine. It has everything from page size or orientation to picture contrasting and texts/fonts. Having everything in the same program allows you to try different styles and not get confused with so many windows open. The only disadvantage of using Photoshop is the difficulty. At the beginning of developing my college magazine I was a novice, only having a few lessons to learn the basics with no past experience. But soon after trying new ways, and experimenting (clicking random icons) , you work out what does what. Without Adobe Photoshop CS5, I would have not been able to create my magazine.
Another program I used was Microsoft word. This is an easy, simple program to use. I only used this program to the double page spread, to draft my interview with ‘Bromance’ my main feature. It would have been hard to type all of the text into Photoshop. The only disadvantage of Mircosoft Word is the limited fonts/text available.
Arguably the most important was Internet Explorer. I used this program for all of my research, comparing other magazine to mine, finding relevant pictures and content. Internet Explorer is easy, and quick to use. Also have no boundaries to what information you can find relevant to my final product. Information such as sales figures of other magazine, and also pictures of NME magazine, which my magazine is based on. A disadvantage of using internet explorer is that with the endless sites and pages you can find, you can find yourself wasting time.
The final program I used was blogger.com. This is where I uploaded all my coursework, such as planning, my final piece and my evaluation. Blogger is also quite fun to use, being about to change the display of your own blog allows you to add your personality to your coursework. The problem with uploading vital coursework ti the internet is that it carries a risk of getting lost, and possibly losing all of your work. Another disadvantage of Blogger was the length of time it took to sign up, and get use to the site. Once again, I have to teach myself how to use the site, but after that, the site became very effective and easy to use.