Teacher's Comments

Practice Task 1 -

There is not a lot for me to say other than WOW! This is exemplary work. The research is perfectly presented and detailed. You've fulfilled the task perfectly and your magazines look like real magazines. Work on your photography now so that when you come to producing your real coursework it does justice to your talent for layout and design. Superb!

Practice Task 2 -

Task 2:
As with the previous task, you've done a fantastic job here. I am impressed by every aspect of your work. You're use of light, your control of mise en scene and your attention to fulfilling the brief are all excellent. The way that you reflect on the image is particularly good. I'm especially happy with the way that your reflection impacted on the way that you made a few more attempts at your copied image. This attention to detail will see you achieving an A star if you continue to progress.

The one thing that may be worth you doing is to keep an eye on the settings that you use. That said, you use a camera like an artist, so don't let a technical approach stifle your creativity.I really look forward to seeing your first mock assessed coursework piece. I'm actually quite excited to see what you produce.

Practice Task 3 -

Task 3:
Production (Magazine) - 22/25
Your attention to layout and design is absolutely excellent. The way that you use space and your sense of line is the best I have ever seen in a student. The image you chose for your front cover is a little murky (underexposed) and this detracts from the finished production (hence only 22/25). In addition, it is not entirely clear what message you are connoting with your choice of representation on the front cover. Consider the use of anchoring text to make it more obvious, or indeed to make it more clearly ambiguous (I know that might feel paradoxical so ask me to explain if you need me to).

Website - 18/25
This is clearly complete, which is no small feat in time you have had. It is also very obviously a website and the general sense of layout and design works to help me navigate the page. However, the sense of care and attention to design that you demonstrate in the magazine is not present here. Consider the relative sizes of images and how you might help the reader to choose stories more carefully. In addition, the lack of extra text to accompany each story (beyond the headline) suggests that there is not much information. Remember that you are trying to entice your audience into using the website. It is still a good piece, but not so well done as your magazine.

Convergence: 5/10
There are some very clear elements of convergence, such as the use of the magazine cover on your website and some similar stories. However, there is no call to action on your magazine and the sense of layout and design that is so well done on your magazine doesn't find its way into the website. When the magazine has such a clear sense of identity, it is a shame not to clearly use it on the website.

In summary: 45/60 = B+
You've done a really good job here. There are some clear areas to improve, but for a first attempt at a fully graded piece you have both hit the deadline and produced something of a very high quality. Excellent!