Ampersand Reflection

Various traits I learned through the magazine project consist of stronger sentence writing, layout designs, and editing. I learned to become a stronger writer during humanities due to the audio tips that Randy played during class. The little tips showed pointers that strengthen writing by making it flow smooth and precise. Layout and designs was simple enough to me. It felt natural to work with in design and complete a spread in the matter of 20 minutes.

Learning the basic steps I didn’t know from fellow class mates, I had all the knowledge I needed to complete the layout but not to perfection. This is where I learned better editing skills. Reviewing the spread looking for little errors that didn’t match the rest of the magazine was harder than it seemed. Catching little grammar mistakes or not having a drop cap can be a noticeable mistake to the consumer.

Individually writing, layout, and editing are important, but together they are of the most importance, because structure needs to be developed within the layout design, especially with a spread in a magazine. When designing a spread you can’t design it one page at a time, but both together to make it appear as one wide page. Creating balance with a picture and text can be some what difficult but is possible. This is where developing skills in structure take into affect. Editing the layout to make sure balance is in place allows the spread to show structure.

Reflection

Overall when I look at my writing and see what has improved I notice the length has grown as well as the actual writing itself. For example the text into the point and the sentence structure has developed over time. In my opinion it developed because it went through 5 drafts.

Improvements that could be made to my writing are made through drafts and critiques, because I feel the writing isn’t as strong as it could be. When reading each paragraph it almost doesn’t flow together as if it jumps between different topics.

Initially when staring this writing it was only 3 paragraphs long. The problem with this is it was to short. So to expand on the writing, I added an additional paragraph. This final paragraph ties in the writing as well as concludes it.

A few things I learned about writing during this project was cut down on the ING words, because all it does is diminish the meaning of the words appearing after them. Another example would be cutting out useless words when writing. This allows for shorter more precise writing.

Magazine Reflection

Areas that went well when creating the magazine was the simplicity in my article. I didn’t have as much work creating a spread since mine was only 2 pages long. I noticed that students who chose to do a photo essay had more work in terms of resizing pictures and having to work on more than 1 spread. I had only one critique and the advice that was given to me was used to the fullest extent.

The only real difficulty throughout the project was extending my article to at least a page, because it was so straight to the point I didn’t know what else to add. I went through about two drafts before adding the final 2 paragraphs which concluded the article.

A road block that got in the way of me not nearly completing the layout was time management when it came to designing the first draft. It wasn’t complete in time to critique but I did finish it within an hour after the deadline.

Magazines I looked at for ideas would be National Geographic and The Atlantic. I found the style of layout was very professional as well as simple. Choosing to follow it allowed for better time management as well as a professional look and feel.