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Retrospective Skills Self-Assessment

Skill 1: Using InDesign (and other design software)


Where I started: Before I began my project, I had no experience of using digital design software. Despite using Photoshop occasionally in lower school, I never developed detailed skills in using them. As mentioned previously on my blog, my sister began a graphic design degree and I saw her use the software on a regular basis. Not only did this seem interesting to me as I watched her complete briefs in a similar style to that of the EPQ, I also believed it would be useful for my further education. After reading about the modules I would complete on a journalism course at university, learning these skills at my own pace would allow me through the EPQ would allow me to feel more confident doing the same during projects and briefs.

My progress in this skill: I now have a basic understanding of how to use design software, more specifically InDesign and Photoshop. Through webpages and actively learning through my sibling, I have learned some skills that improve the overall feel of my magazine. Processes like aligning text and font design have allowed me to create a more professional-looking magazine that mirrors those I have seen as examples. Whilst I have not developed professional design, I have definitely gain basic experience in these programs when I begin to use them more in further education.

Skill 2: Researching

Where I Started: A lot of the time, I would use information from the first result of  a Google search and accept it as the truth, without checking its integrity. When completing school work, I would just use research that either got my point across or answered the question I was given. This is not effective research because I wasn't looking at each side of an argument in a fair way, whilst also looking at the factors that could influence the piece's point of view.

My progress in this skill: I can now understand the factors of article production that can influence the viewpoint of the piece. Subjects like political affiliation or prior experience can impact not only the reliability of an article, but also how useful the information it provides will be in the final product. I found a large amount of online articles that provided the information that I wanted to use for my articles, but not all of them provided this information from an experienced point of view. For example, some of my information about record labels came from articles written by a professional musician who had signed a label contract, later exiting it. This author's direct involvement with the industry, in my opinion, gave her much more credibility than the same information coming from a music business-focused journalist.

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