Student Magazine Advert; Analysis

Magazine Advert; Student Analysis. on Prezi

Magazine Advert; Analysis 2.

The second magazine advert I have decided to analyse is by Wretch 32 'Wretchrospective'. I chose to analyse this because it is from the same genre as what our magazine advert is.

Text:

The text on this advertisement is in two different fonts. The first being the cartoon style writing of the artists name. The second being the bold and dominant writing across the front telling us the album name, release date and featuring artists. The bold and large writing is something we associate with Hip Hop music as it's confident font representing the artist well. I like that there is not too much writing on the advertisement making it more eye catching so that we're not put off.

Artwork/Image:

The artwork on this advert shows a mixture of graphics and background. This also including an image of the artist himself. The effect of the graffiti background i think works well with the genre of music as Hip Hop can often be associated with urban backgrounds and places, signifying street crime and deviance such as graffiti. The artist is holding a silver chain necklace in this image with a cross on it. This signifies the religious views that there often are in the genre of Hip Hop. Having an image of the digipak on the advert is often a good idea to show what the album you'd like to buy looks like. However, in this case, the album front cover is the same as the image on the advert. Therefor isn't always necessary.

Info:
As mentioned, there is minimal amount of information on this advert besides what we really need to know. Featuring artists may be good to know before buying so that the audience can have some idea of the collaborations with other artists. In the right hand corner, there are logos of places the album is available to buy from. This is important in promoting the digipak so that it can be bought by the target audience.

Layout:

I think that the layout of the advert works well because the artist is central with everything else around the artist. This shows his confidence and bold personality that we expect from a Hip Hop artist. The layout of this advert is exactly the same as the digipak. This works well because it's easy for the target audience to link the poster and the album together subliminally.  

Overall, I think that this magazine advert is successful in promoting the digipak and also the artist.

Magazine Advert; Analysis 1.

 The first magazine advert I have decided to analyse is Jay Z and Kanye West 'Watch the throne'. I chose to analyse this as it's from the same genre as ours. This is a poster that i found advertising the album.

Text:
The font throughout the advert is all similar. The artists names are the boldest and the first thing that we see when looking at the magazine advert. This is because Hip Hop artists tend to be very confident and outgoing. The boldness of the titles reflect that personality. The next biggest writing on the page is the title of the album! This is important to the audience so that they know what it is they're buying. Also that the writing is in capitals, shows the confident character.

Layout:
The layout of the advert is very neat and tidy. With the main image and digipak in the center of the advert, makes it more eye catching and shows what the audience will be buying, grasping the attention of the target audience. The layout works well in this image centralising the main things such as the artists and the album itself.

Info:
There is quite a bit of information on this advert. Not too much that it puts the audience off and not too little so that we don't know enough about, which is good. The title of the album and of the artists is something that is essential to the advert for those wishing to know about it. Added information included on this advert is things such as 'pre order today' and the artists album website. Unlike many advertisements for albums, there is no date saying specifically when the album is to be released. Pre order today, works well in this case and looks more classy on the advertisement than a release date. The website includes more information on the making of the album which all links well to the advertisement. Also more information is on here such as the record labels in which helped to create the album. DefJam and Rocafella records are two labels which relate to the hip hop music industry well and help to promote the artists.

Image:
Having the image of the digipak helps to relate the poster to the album and promote the artist well. If the image was completely different, it wouldn't reach its target audience well enough for the advertisement to link with the actual album. The image of the two artists on the front works well so that the  audience know who they're listening to. Also them being central and at the front of the advert makes them seem dominant and confident artists that they are. This is often the case in Hip Hop which is why i think that the magazine advert is successful in promoting both the digipak for the album, and the artist.

What Is Brand Identity?

Brand identity is where a range of media texts can be associated with one another. For example, Jay Z and Kanye West have an album 'watch the throne'. Both the poster and the digipak link well. This is an example of brand identity.

Conventions Of Magazine Adverts

These are the things that we expect to see on a magazine advert that is advertising an album:

• Artist
• Release Date
• Brand identity
• Image
• Website
• Singles
• Tour dates
• Ratings
• Shops (hmv)
• 'Follow us on Twitter'
• 'Like us on Facebook'
• Record Label
• Parental advisory Label if necessary. 

Ancillary Task 2; Brief

A magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD) package.

Insides Of Our Final Digipak

Inside our Digipak, on the left hand side, we decided to make a six page pullout/lyric booklet for all the songs on the album. This is something we wanted to do as we hadn't seen many student digipak's the same as this. Each page with lyrics on has a different image. Each image is of the artist at different points throughout the video. This gives quite a clear concept of what to expect in our music video for Headlines. We used a white font for this, because we wanted the lettering to stand out and to be readable  I am pleased with the outcome of the pullout.

On the right hand side, we have the disk and a page behind the disk. These both have the same image on but scaled differently. The image is at different opacity's so that they're not exactly the same. I like the link between the two and think they work well with the rest of the digipak all linking together. The writing on the disk, simply says 'Drake - Headlines' as there is nothing else needed on the disk that we don't have printed anywhere else on the digipak.

Digipak Front & Back

Even though we designed something that is completely different to what we have done here, this is what we have come up with for our final digipak. After playing around with the gradient colours, the gold and black worked best with our genre. Gold represents the wealthy artist and meets the generic conventions of a Hip Hop album digipak. The titles saying the artists name and song name are also in gold. This makes it all link together nicely. On the front cover, we thought it was necessary to put on a parental advisory sticker. This is because, the song we created a music video for has bad language in. As does other songs on the album. Having an image of the artist on the front shows the importance of him as a dominant and confident artist. We used a programme called illustrator to create the whole digipak.



This is the back cover of our final digipak. We took the image of a mixing desk and edited the image in Photoshop. Canging it into black and white and adjusting the contrast. I like the depth of filed in this image and how the image leads your eye further in to it. Black and white is a convention of Hip Hop which is why we put this effect on it. The writing on the back is again quite a different kind of writing you may expect to see on a Hip Hop digipak, however we think it works nicely, representing a more classy Hip Hop artist. To make it stand out a bit more, we but a glow effect behind the tracklist. This will make it easier for the viewer sto see. On the back, we also have a barcode. We created this bar code using the bar code generator where we chose the numbers and style to get the final one. Also, record labels that we have used that promote the artist are also on the back. The small print writing isn't as important as the gold text throughout, but is something we see on many digipaks mentioning the producers and where it was made.

 

Feedback On Our Ideas

So that we could make the best possible digipak that our audience would like, we asked twelve people for feedback on their favourite idea.

Our second idea was the most favourited by the people we asked. They said the link between the back and the front work really well together and show us an idea of what is to be expected in the music video.

 However the inside of our second idea wasn't as strong as the outside. It was suggested to do a pull out on the left inside with the lyrics in instead of them spread among the whole page. 

This feedback was useful and we decided that we would go for this Idea hopefully with a pull out lyric book too. This is the sort of thing that we plan on doing for our digipak.

Digipak Idea 3.

This is our final idea for the digipak album. This image is an extreme close up of Gideon's face. This sort of close up shows extreme confidence in the artist and shows how he is a dominant figure. Again like in our other ideas, there is a bold, capital title showing confidence again. The title of the song in red is more highlighted than the artists name. This is to draw attention to the album to buyers. In the image, Gideon is wearing rayban's. These are to signify a wealthy artist and is a brand of sunglasses that we see a lot of Hip Hop artists wearing in music videos so that it meets the conventions of our genre.

For this inside, we decided we would go and take a picture of some 'beats' headphones on a mixing desk for the left hand side. This is some different things that we see throughout the video and is giving a hint to what the music video may include. The background of the right hand side will be red as then there is a colour code through the whole digipak.

The background on this back cover is similar to the first idea as it is very plain and simple. The background colour would be black, contrasting with the red writing which again is a generic convention of Hip Hop. Keeping it very simple doesn't over crowd the digipak too much either or lead your eye away from the text. At the same time this could be a bit boring for others that may judge a CD by its cover. Because that is the first thing most of us do.

Digipak Idea 2.

This is our second idea for a digipak for 'Headlines' This is one of our urban shots which we have already taken under a bridge while we were filming. The background of the image is urban looking and has pillars in. Gideon is in the foreground, this showing his dominance and confident character. The title and the artists name are both in a bold and capital font. Also the colour red. Red is signifying the confidence of the character.

On the inside of this idea, we decided it may work well to have the songs lyrics printed right across the page, and underneath where the CD disk is to go. This is something we have seen done in another Hip Hop album that we liked.

The background image for this back cover is a similar kind of shot  to the front. We took this whilst filming too and is in the same urban area to the front cover shot. I like this idea because both the front and the back images link together nicely. On the back of this too, as will be on all three ideas for our digipak will be a bar code and company logos and record labels. These help to establish both the genre and to both advertise and show recognition of who helped to create the album.

Digipak Idea 1.

This is the first idea that we came up with for the front cover of our digipak. This image on the front is a shot from our video which was originally a green screened shot. This has a black background and three images of Gideon layered on one another. 

The inside of the digipak on this idea, we decided to keep plain and simple. We did this so that it isn't too over crowded and keeps it looking clear and professional. 

This is the back cover of our first idea. This has an image of Gideon (our actor) on it. The composition of the image is with the subject to the right. This is because we want the track list to stand out against the image clearly. The track list will be white, capital lettering and bold in this first idea. This is a generic convention of a digipak in Hip Hop which is why we chose this lettering and font.

Analysis of a digipak 2.

This digipak that I have chosen to analyse, is the album and music video which we are recreating. This is Drake's second studio album 'Take Care'.

Front Cover:

The front cover of the album shows the artist. However in Hip Hop we would expect his facial expression and gestures to be more confident than they are here. Here he is showing quite an introvert appeal about himself and doesn't look like a dominant and confident person. This contrasts with the actual music though and how he is through his movements in his videos, so this shows that the conventions of the genre have been challenged in this digipak. There is a parental advisory label on the front cover of the album. This is important to the buyer to expect bad language throughout the album or at some point. The name of the album 'Take Care' is at the bottom of the cover. The font is not very out there and matches how it is trying to show the artists personality. The colour gold works well as it is linked to many other gold items throughout the digipak. Gold also represents wealth and upper class lifestyles which I think Drake is. The sticker on the front saying 'deluxe' is an addition to the album cover which is there to show that there are extra songs on this album as appose to the original album.

 Back Cover:

The back cover of this album is kept quite simple yet still gives the same effect. The black and gold colours are again to show wealth and upper class lifestyles, which promotes the artist well. The bar code is something we always get on a digipak which is also on this one. Along with the record labels and the company logos. This helps to promote the artist and companies helped to produce the album.

 Insides:

The insides of this album are kept neat and simple. There is a pullout on the left side of the digipak. This includes many recognition's to producers, companies which helped in making the album. Along with pictures of Drake (the artist). I like this idea to have a pullout inside the digipak, which is something i'd like to include in our digipak, along with lyrics. The disk again, is neat and simple which represents the artist. The insides and outsides of it all link together making the digipak more professional. Again the colours showing wealth and upper class lifestyle of the artist.

Overall, I think that this digipak has been very successful in promoting the artist. I would like our final digipak for our recreation of Headlines to be as professional as this one.

Analysis of a digipak 1.

Besides analysing a student digipak, I decided to analyse another digipak that is genuine. Again i have chosen to analyse a digipak from the same genre as our music video. This is an album by Jay Z. His eleventh album, and third blueprint album.

Front Cover:

From this front cover we can see how this album has already challenged the conventions of a Hip Hop genre. Instead of using an image of the artist on the front, there is some original art used. The art is an image of many different instruments that may in some way reflect on the background of the artist. Another thing challenging the conventions of this genre, is the titles. We'd often expect to see large bold names to show the power of the artist, but here the artists name is quite small in the top corner, and the album name also, i the other corner. However the font of the writing is still what we'd expect from Hip Hop, as it is quite sharp and bold, even though it's presented quite small. The colours used connote bravery and a bold character. Red against black and white works well in contrast with each other too. Black and white is a theme we often see in music videos, often showing an urban upbringing. On the front of this album also there is a parental advisory label. Needed to tell the audience that what is in some of the songs, may contain bad language.

Back cover:

The back cover, like on a lot of Hip Hop digipak's is a plain background. This helps the lettering and patterns to stand out a lot better. I like the track list on the back of this album because of the way it is presented. The red lettering again is something that is often used in Hip Hop. On the back also, is a bar code which makes the product official. There is also the company logo, producers and where it was made, which is something we expect to see in every digipak for a CD. The colours of red signify a confident and important feel. The spine of the digipak is kept simplistic like on most that we see. It's telling us the artist name, the album name and company 'Roc nation'. 

Insides:

The insides of this CD link with the rest of the digipak which works well altogether. Even though one side is quite simple and just red, the colours still connote a lot for promoting the artist in a particular way. The red side is also a pull out where there are many thanks and shout outs to people that helped with each song. The right side of the insides is a close up of the image on the front but in more colour.

 Overall I think all of the colours and images work well together to create a successful and simplistic digipak which helps to promote the artist and both meets and challenges the conventions of a Hip Hop digipak.

Conventions of a digipak

On any digipak, we always expect to see similar things that are needed or that we associate with a digipak. The following are the conventions of a digipak:

Front Cover:

• Artist or artists name
• Album or single name
• Image - usually of the artist. The image may also be original art.

Back cover:

• Track list
• Bar code
• Background image or colour
• Record Label and logos
• Copyright information
• Where it's made.

Inside Panel:

• Writers and producers
• Song information
• Back catalogue
• Artist information. Sometimes the artist may ask for a list of names to thank for the album, and a message.
• Lyrics, usually in a separate booklet
• Tour dates and competitions too sometimes ans small handouts

Spine

• Name of the song or album
• Artist name
• Record company

Conventions of a Hip Hop digipak

On a hip hop digipak, we all expect to see something similar to eachother. These are all conventions of the genre Hip Hop:

Front Cover:

Simple colours and backgrounds. Or urban location backgrounds and colours, with the use of black and white. 

Usually featuring the artist.

 The fonts are usually bold and in capital letters so that they are seen clearly and made dominant.

Often a long shot of the artist, but also close ups of the artists face are often shown to represent power.  

Back Cover:

Sometimes you may see a long shot of the artist. Mostly on Hip Hop back covers of a digipak, it will just be a plain colour that still matches with the back.

 A tracklist is almost always shown on the back.

A barcode for the product is always included along with any copyright information that it may need.

Record company logo

Preview Video

Before finishing our final video, Tom and I decided to make a short preview of the music video for the audience to view before the release of it. This video is not advertising the video as such. It shows some behind the scenes clips of us and many bloopers. We thought this would entertain the audience and to attract their attention to want to see more! I posted this video on to Facebook and on Twitter so that people who are friends with me and Tom can see this, hoping that someone interested in this genre may have an opinion. on our clips so far. However, as it's quite funny to the actors peers, we didn't get any useful feedback from that. But was also a good task to get us use to the tools on sony vegas and play around with different effects. Below is the video that we made.

Analysis of student digipak

I decided to analyse a student digipak to give me more idea of what my final digipak would look like. Also to see if I could get some more ideas. This digipak that I chose to analyse, is from the same genre as mine and Tom's, which is why I chose to analyse this. This is the front cover of a past students digipak to a hip hop song 'pass out' by Tinie Tempah.
Just from looking at the digipak you can see that they have all the relevant information and logos that is needed to promote the artist and the record label. It's showing the Artists, their names, the song name, lyrics and logos.
The front cover:

Straight away, we can see the main artist or protagonist expressing himself through his music. Him being the only subject of the image and in the center of the shot, signifies the artists power and confidence that he has. The use of a plain background in this image works well because it shows the importance of the artist. After watching the video for this digipak, it's clear that this shot also gives a massive clue as to what is in the video too. The Vibrant bold title is clearly attention drawing. Bold lettering and capitals connote the confidence of the artist and the importance to its genre. The colour red of the lettering also shows confidence and that it is important to the song. So that we know what age the audience is for this music, the parental advisory label tells us straight away that this is aimed at teens or older. This is important to include so that the audience know to expect some kind of bad language.

Back cover:

This back cover for the digipak, is again quite simplistic but not too plain. It looks very professional as there is no background clutter to lead your eye away from the subject of the image. I like the composition and layout of the back cover. This shows the other artist that is in the video. He is displayed on the back because he's not as important as the other artist in this video. The bar code on the back cover looks very precise and professional too. With the labels logos and companies just above it, it too makes this very realistic. The track list is something we almost always expect to see on the back of an album. Again, it's kept very simple and easy to read. The lettering being red, still shows importance and confidence. The font that is used throughout the whole digipak is something that works well because it's not difficult or too fancy to be able to read.  The spine of the digipak is just where the artists name and song title are. This works well as the spine is the same colour as the rest of the digipak making it all link together nicely.

Insides:

The insides of this digipak are what we expect of most albums in this genre. The song lyrics are possibly seen as quite important here which is why the student chose to put them in. Also in hip hop albums, many artists like to include who wrote the songs and 'thankyou's' to those helped throughout it. This is included in this digipak, which is good to see! Where the disc goes I think that the image works well behind it as it is still linked to the theme throughout the digipak. However if i was to change something about it, I would show both the artists together at this part because it is confusing to know who the real main protagonist is.

Overall, this is a very well structured yet simple digipak that meets the generic conventions of any hip hop CD/ album cover. I would like my final digipak to clearly show the importance of the artists and t meet the generic conventions of hip hop well, like this one does.

Editing

We have now done more editing on different scenes. This is the table scene. To sync with the lyrics "tuck my napkin in my shirt 'cause i'm just mobbin' like that" Gideon will be singing this at the point we want to use him for especially. We will also use other parts of him from this scene which we haven't yet put in. 

This scene was a single shot of a ring dropping into a champagne glass. We chose to mirror this shot to fill the frame more than it does alone. Champagne is a convention of our genre, and is something we often see in hip hop music videos. This is why we also decided it would be a good thing to include in our video. The ring also represents wealth. Most hip hop artists contrast between their urban upbringing and wealthy outcomes in life. Or 'rags to riches'. Which is what we are showing by the contrast between this scene and other urban performances.

Digipak Brief

• A cover for it's release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package)
• A magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package) 

A digipak is a style of CD or DVD packaging that promotes the artist.