Advertisement - Ideas for the Advert

We have decided to gather some ideas for our magazine advert, as this will help us in the future, when we come to design it. All of the images shown were taken by me.

This first image is one which we could recreate if needed, as we feel that the image is emotive and congruous to our music video. The natural lighting is dramatic and effective, as there is an obvious bond between the two subjects. Moreover, we could easily place text over the image, meaning that we have a number of options when creating the advert, as we could include the photo as part of it.

This image is the my favourite, and would seek to recreate it for our advertisement. The photograph is strong and eye-catching, and would fit the relationship portrayed in our music video. White text could be placed over the top of the image, or place around it.

This image is the weakest out of the three in terms of us being able to use it. The image looks too happy, and therefore would not mirror our music video. As a consequence, we would not look to capture an image that's similar.
Overall, it would beneficial for us to take a variety of different images, all capturing the same mood, and then decide as a group which is most suitable for our advertisement.

Advertisement - Further Analysis

To gain a further idea of advertisement in the music industry, I have decided to look at one more advert, with this one promoting an album rather than a tour.

The advertisement is for the Kings of Leon album Come Around Sundown and features a series of neutral colours and tones which provoke ideas of stained photographs and spoilt paintings; the wash of colour looks as though it did not begin that way, but has a faded over time. This may suggest that the album is being released after a lengthy period of time, or that the music is reminiscent of a past era or musical movement. Additionally, the inclusion of tropical leaves at the top of the advert infer that the music will take the audience on a journey; to a better place.
The font is not entirely congruous with the background as it is sharp and contrasts the darker areas of the advert, thus making it stand out, as well as highlighting the potential fusion of genres in the band's work. The name of the album and its release date is lost slightly in the darker tones of the background.
The advertisement includes a HMV logo, which shows that it will be stocked there, as well as the logo for their record label.
Overall, I feel that this is an effective advert as the vastness draws the audience to it, and the message of it is simple and easy to understand. I feel this is something we would like to include in our own advert, as we intend to create our digipak in a similar manner.

Advertisement - Analysis

As part of our coursework, we are expected to create an advertisement promoting the artist and their music. Therefore, researching various advertisements will help us gain an understanding into how an effective advert is made and why they are successful.

I think this advertisement for a performance by Bjork is particularly effective. As Bjork has copious amounts of stage presence and uses elaborate costumes, hair and make-up for many of her performances and music video, it seems fitting that her advert should be unique and abstract. The colours used both clash and are complimentary; the mixture of warm and cold colours creates an interesting juxtaposition - something that is usually prominnt in her performances. Additionally, these colours help to grab the attention of the audience, which is an obvious advantage. The use of a peach-coloured background again underlines the artist individuality; most artist wold have chose a black, white or grey background.
The advertisement contains a face which resembles that of Bjork, thus making the piece personal to that artist and her fans, whilst simultaneously marketing her as a brand. This is useful as it displays the iconic face of Bjork to a mass audience, potentially expanding her fan base and making her more widely known.
The font used reflect the other areas of the advertisement as a number of bold colours are used. Moreover, the name of Bjork is in the largest font, which will most likely mean that it is read the most. Other details such as the date and location of the performance are included on the advert, which serves its purpose.
Overall, I think this advertisement is effective as it reflects the artist it is promoting whilst still being interesting and able to grab the attention of the audience.
Link to Own Project
This advertisement has given us a standard we should meet when creating our own advert. We want our work to both reflect Allie Moss, as well as providing her fan base with something new, fresh and different. Furthermore, we now understand that the advert can also be simplistic and doesn't have to be overcrowded with information. This is something we would like to include in our work.

Advertisement - Components of an Advert

To make sure our magazine advertisement is of a professional standard, we must ensure that we include the correct information and follow the codes and conventions set by other adverts. We are undecided, as of yet, whether our advert will be for the artist's album, or their tour.
The things we feel we must include are:

• The name of the artist
• The name of the album/tour
• The date(s) of release/tour
• The location of tour dates (if appropriate)
• An image associated with the artist
• A logo or piece of text of a branded company that would sell the product
• The URL of the artist's website
• The artist's record label logo
• A star rating with a suitable source

If we include these, we are confident that we can create a professional-looking advertisement.

Digipak: Inside Cover - Second Draft

For the inside cover of our digipak, we felt that the central panel was slightly bare, as it only included the image that also featured on the other two panels. As a consequence, we felt that we should place something onto this panel, but were unsure what we should add.
After searching the internet for inspiration, I came across an interview with Allie Moss posted on a music website. I then paraphrased a quote from her, and wrote it on a piece of paper, which I then photographed. Below is the photograph.

Using the Lasso Tool in Photoshop, I then selected the area I wanted, copy and pasted it into the template, and rescaled it accordingly. After altering the brightness and contrast, I then placed it into position and saved the draft. Below is the second draft.

I really like this additional feature, and feel that it adds a more personal element to our digipak - something that we was aiming to achieve. If we have enough time, we decided that we will design the front cover of a booklet that would be placed over the top of the central panel, revealing the quote when removed from the digipak. Some booklets include the lyrics to the songs, which is what we would expect to include if we made the inside pages too.

Digipak: Inside Cover - First Draft

Today we began to design the inside cover for digipak. After looking back at our previous posts regarding the digipak, we decided to use the image we intended to choose. We edited the photograph in a different way than before, brightening the photograph and making the image seem less harsh and overwhelming. Below is the new edited image.

We then applied the photograph to our template, and added disk impressions in two of the three sides of the digipak. We decided for two discs, as the digipak is primarily for a DVD of our music video, but we will also include a second disk that would feature additional footage or music for the consumer. Below is the complete first draft.

We may create a design for the disks themselves, and may add some text onto the inside cover in the future.

Digipak: Outside Cover - Fifth Draft

Hopefully, we have finished the final draft of the outside cover of our digipak. We have added text to the spines, which we feel works well with the continued image from the central panel.

The font we have used is the same as for the tracklisting, and the size has remained the same.

We feel as though the spines are the final touch to our digipak, and are very happy with the overall result.