Group Digipak - Miss Miller

Group Digipak

We agreed on our group digipak by working as a team and putting all of our ideas together by using the best part of each others individual digipaks. We contributed our best elements from our own digipak to create our group digipak with all of our group members ideas, we done this so that we could include the most conventional aspects in our digipak to make it most conventional to the soul genre this way making it the most successful digipak we can make it. We went through each group members digipak and picked out the most creative conventional parts of it and incorporated them in our group digipak.

 From my own digipak we decided to take certain elements from it to use in our group digipak as we thought these portray our genre the best and appeal to our target audience. We decided to use two of the images incorporated in my digipak including the first image i used of the artist and the fourth image in my digipak of the artist writing on the mirror. We decided to use these images in our group digipak as these images are very conventional to the soul genre as in the first image you can clearly see the artists face therefore appealing to our target audience as they are able to see the artists facial expressions, meaning that audiences would be able to connect with the artist and understand her feelings. This is why we decided to use this image in our group digipak although we changed the colour of it as being black and white didn't stand out enough so we used different effects to make it appeal to our target audience more. The second image we decided to use from my digipak was the one where the artist is writing the title of the album on a mirror, we wanted to use this image as it is a unique quirky way of writing the album title. This also portrays the artist as being different and individual compared to other artists who would just write the album title. We thought this would appeal to the target audience as it shows the artist being more personal and involved with her work rather than it just looking professionally done. We decided to keep more or less the same colour of the photo as the writing is in red lipstick which symbolises love and relationships and would give audiences an insight into what the album is about and thoughts of the artist. The strengths of my digipak was that there was a good choice of images used which helped grab audiences attention but the weaknesses of my digipak was the choice of colours as there was a running theme of dull and black and white images which didn't stand out and wouldn't grab audiences attention.

 Next we looked at Shaun's digipak to gain inspiration and ideas. Shaun made his digipak very simplistic but portraying the theme of love and relationship's through the colour scheme of red and pink, we decided not to use these images as they're not very personal to the artist therefore meaning they wouldn't appeal to our target audience very well. Although we did decide to use the same font Shaun used in his 2nd image of his digipak for our artists name in our digipak as the font is unique and quirky and stands out from the background we decided to use, this would appeal to our target audience as they would easily be able to read it and therefore be drawn to the digipak. As a group we felt like Shaun's digipak subverted the soul genre as it portrayed aspects of a rock genre with the use of roses and dark backgrounds therefore we decided not to use these images in our digipak as they wouldn't appeal to our target audience of soul fans. Shauns strength within his digipak was his layout and font as the fonts he decided to use stood out from the backgrounds well and grabbed the audiences attention and the layout was clear and simple making it easy to read Shaun's weakness of his digipak was that it wasn't conventional to the soul genre as it hasn't included many images of the artist making it hard for audiences to engage in the digipak.

We lastly looked at Devon's digipak for ideas, Devon's digipak was conventional to the soul genre and had a lot going on in each picture. We decided to use Devon's 'message to fans' as the image of the artist leaning against the brick wall was quirky and unique and portrays the artist as being different and fun. The only thing we changed about it was we added a black outer glow to the text so that it is easier to read and stands out more from the background. We also added the artists signature on the message to fans image to make it more personal to the audience. From Devon's digipak we also used the last image of the perfume bottle and the tracklist image, although we moved the image slightly to the left so that audiences would be able to see the artist better and made the writing more bold so it stands out and is easier to read. Devon's strengths of her digipak is that it is very conventional to the soul genre which appeals to our target audience although her weakness was there was to many busy images as audiences would think there is too much going on in the digipak.

Overall i feel our group digipak conforms to the soul genre as it shows the artist reaching out to audiences to build a relationship through unique more personal images of the artist and a letter to her fans. This makes it conventional to the soul genre as within the images the artist is looking emotional and sad which is conventional to the soul genre to be emotional and in touch with your feelings. The digipak is also very conventional as the artist is being represented as approachable and like an every day person as she is seen in the street and in places where our target audience will be able to relate to her. Through creating individual digipaks i feel it helped us as a group to evaluate what each member of our group are best at when creating a digipak, this meant that when we came to create our group digipak we used everyone strongest skills.

Planning Magazine Advert - Miss Miller

Planning Magazine Advert

Magazine adverts are very important in relation to promoting an artists album as they advertise the artists new album or song to a audiences. Magazine adverts are effective as they advertise to a wide audience as many different people will read the magazine therefore marketing the artist to a much bigger audience than just the target audience. Magazine adverts are essential when promoting an artists album as they give audiences an insight into what the artist's album will be like and also shows some of the artists personality to the audience, therefore attracting them as they may find the artist interesting from the advert and therefore buy the album.

We will be creating a magazine advert for our chosen artist Paloma Faith as it will help our audiences to find out about her new music and gain an insight into what her personality is like. We will do this by including elements of the soul genre and her personality within the magazine advert. It is important to plan before creating a magazine advert so that we can make sure we make our advert as effective as we can. We will do this by planning each element and have reasons for our actions therefore each part of the magazine advert will have a purpose to the audience and have the best effect.

The colours i have used in my magazine advert are mainly red, orange, black and yellow. have decided to use these colours as; orange - is the iconic colour of our artists hair and therefore audiences will recognise the artist from this and buy the album as they may have liked her previous music. It will attract audiences who may not know much about the artist but recognise her from her appearance. Orange is also a colour that isn't used much on magazine adverts which also shows that the artist is unique and different, therefore promoting her individuality. I have used the colour red to indicate the theme of love and relationships occurring in her album. This attracts the target audience as they have an insight into what the album is going to be about. This promotes the artist as red is a very relatable colour and many audiences will be able to relate to the artist from this. Also i have used the colour yellow to indicate fame and popularity as it has only been used in the lights which shows her fame. This promotes the artist as it shows that she is important and popular meaning that audiences will find the artist intriguing. I have used black as a basic colour for the writing - this colour stands out on the poster and makes the artist relatable. 

My magazine advert is conventional to the soul genre as there is a main picture of the artist which is directly in the middle of the page, she is seen to be looking emotional looking to the ground. This is conventional to the soul genre as it shows the artist is passionate about her music. This is conventional as it shows the artist has a lot of her emotion and compassion in her music. It is also conventional to the soul genre as there are unusual colours being used which shows the artists individuality and her personality through the poster. This is conventional as soul music is personal to the artist and is a way to express their personality. This will make my poster appeal to the target audience as it will show that she is serious about her music as she is putting her personal thoughts and feelings into her songs. This will also promote my artist effectively as it will promote her as a unique different artist as she is portrayed in this way on the poster.

The images used helps to promote my artist effectively as the target audience and fans would be able to recognise the artist from this image and therefore buy the album from artist recognition. This would promote the artist effectively as fans would recognise the artist and buy the album therefore promoting the artist to the audience. The images included would help appeal to the target audience as they would recognise the artist from the image of her and would therefore appeal to the target audience as they would assosiate her face with her other music and then have the same opinion of her.

The layout of the magazine advert promotes the artist as the name of the artist is in large font at the top of the page and with the name of the album directly underneath in the centre. This would draw the audiences attention to this as the writing is at the top of the page and this would appeal to the target audience as they would straight away see the artists name and album title which they may have already heard of, which would lead to them buying the album. The image of the artist is placed in the middle of the page and takes up the majority of it, this appeals to the target audience as they would see the image straight away as its placed in the centre. This would make them be drawn towards the advert as they would recognise the artist and then appeal to the audience as they would have already known about her. This layout also promotes the artist effectively as audiences will be able to recognise her image more from the layout as it is more easily viewable and can the artist can be easily known. This would mean that the target audience are more likely to buy the album as they can recognise the artist easier.

The typography used on the magazine advert includes the artists name, the album title and a title of a hit song featured on the album. The font style of the artists name is fancy swirly writing in a large font. This appeals to the target audience as they will be able to recognise the artist easily from the title and will draw their attention to the magazine advert. This promotes the artist as the artists name is in bold big letters which stands out from the rest of the advert grabbing peoples attention. The album title is in bold block capital letters, this appeals to the target audience as they will be able to read easily the name of the album and will promote the artist as people might recognise the name of the album and therefore be interested. The font of the song title which is featured in the album is fancy italic font, this appeals to the target audience as they would recognise the name of the song from somewhere and therefore be more interested as they may have liked the song and are interested to find out more about the artist. This promotes the artist as audiences will be attracted to the album more if they recognise a song that they already like which promotes the artist as they are more likely to buy their music.

Planning a magazine advert has been useful in relation to taking pictures for our advert as we now know what images we need to take for our advert as we know what we want to include. This makes it easier as we can make sure we get the best images we can as we now have a good understanding of what we are going to include in our magazine advert. Therefore we can make sure that each element of our advert will be as effective as possible and be appealing to our target audience as well as promoting our artist. Planning a magazine advert has been useful in terms of preparing to use Photoshop when creating our real magazine advert as we will be more familiar in how we want the layout to be and the typography, in which we will use to promote the artist and her work. I feel like i am more aware of what pictures i need to take as i now have a good understanding of what images will work best on a magazine advert and be the most effective.

Digipak Analysis - Miss Miller

Digipak Analysis

A digipak is a type of packaging for CDs or DVDs, typically made from cardboard with an internal plastic holder for one or more discs. Digipaks typically consist of a gatefold paperboard or cardboard outer binding, with one or more plastic trays for the CD. Digipak style packaging is often used for CD singles or special editions of CD albums. Digipak usually contain a letter from the artist directly to the fans giving it a more personal feel when a CD case only includes the lyrics of the songs which makes it more relatable for the audience. Also Digipak's usually include bonus tracks, they are more long lasting and very easily accessible where as a CD case only includes the songs from the album. The digipak i am looking at are Lana Del Reys for her album Born To Die. 

The colours used in the digipak are mainly white, red and blue. White is mainly used for the background of all of the writing and the CD disc, this shows the artists innocence and purity as the digipak looks clean and exclusive making it appeal to a wider audience. Also the colour white is the colour of the artists shirt white shows she is pure and innocent, this portrays the artist as unique and individual and can therefore appeal to a wider audience. Blue is also seen in the digipak as the colour of the album title and the songs on the back and the blue sky background. Blue is a very common colour which makes it more relateable to the audience as although the artist is showing her individuality through her style it is still relateable to audiences. Red is also included on the roses on the CD disc, this could symbolise the theme of love and relationships which gives the audience an insight into what the album might be about. This is conventional to the soul genre as the colour red symbolises how her music is personal to her and her past experiences and white and blue are conventional as it shows that the artist is pure and innocent making her more relateable to audiences. 

The design layout shows the artist directly in the middle of the front cover with her eyesight looking straight forward. This shows that she is the most important part of the digipak as she is placed dead centre. Also, the fact that she is looking straight at the audience shows that she is very confident and proud of her work as she is not looking away or being shy. This is conventional to the soul genre as it shows that the artist is proud of her work which shows that the artist has created the music as something they want to be noticed for and is something shes proud of. Also the artists name and album title are on the front cover alongside the picture of the artist. The effect of this is that it will attract audiences who recognise the artists name or the album and therefore help to have a wider target audience. This is conventional to the soul genre as it shows that the artist is proud of her work as her name is the main writing. 

The choice of image on the digipak is a picture of the artist looking straight at the audience with a blunt expression. This shows that the artist is proud of her work as she is being serious about her album and also shows that she is professional. Also the artist's hair and make up are perfectly done and very precise showing that she is a perfectionist which may portray what her music is like.

The typography used includes a bold capital letter font which stands out from the rest of the cover. This grabs audiences attention as they would recognise the artist or the album name. The writing stands out from the rest of the cover as the style of font is clear and easy to read making it more appealing for audiences. The same font is used on the back of the digipak to write the song names, the clear easy to read font makes it more appealing to audiences as they would be able to recognise song names that they might already know. 

Overall after analysing Lana Del Rey's digipak i have taken some ideas from it which i will include when planning our own. I am going to make sure we include a big bold title of the artists name to attract audiences who will recognise the name, also with the layout i am going to include a large picture of the artist looking directly at the cinema, dead centre. Therefore, this will mean that our artist will look confident and proud of her music she has created making it more appealing to audiences. 

Magazine advert analysis - Miss Miller

Magazine Advert Analysis

The purpose of a magazine advert is to advertise the artists new album to the audience. This allows the audience to find out about new albums and releases and brings publicity to the artist. The purpose of advertising in a magazine is to attract a wider audience and create convergence, this would therefore increase sales of the album as different types of audiences will view the album and buy it which will consequently increase sales of the album. A magazine advert also allows the artist to get support from other companies that could push sales further and also links in with other advertisements of the album to create for marketing for the artist. A magazine advert allows the audience to see a representation of the artist that the artist wants the audience wants themselves to be viewed as. A magazine advert also allows the audience to find out about information about the artist such as new singles, the release date and extras included in the album. I have looked at Paloma Faith's album magazine advert and Adele's album magazine advert.

Adele's magazine advert for her album portrays her to be quite shy but serious about her music. The colours used in the advert are black and white and light green on some of the writing. Black and white are seen to be quite classic colours and aren't bold or in the audience's face. This shows that Adele is serious about her music as the advert is all black and white meaning that the title of her album 'Adele 21' is the main focus meaning that her music is the most important aspect of her career as the writing is what we are drawn to look at straight away when we look at the poster. The positioning of Adele is slightly off screen with her looking down. This shows that she is not interested in her look but that her music is the most important thing rather than her appearance, this also shows Adele looking quite sad and emotional. This could mean that she is portraying her music as emotional too from her facial expression. There is also a small picture of what the album is going to look like in the left hand bottom corner, her facial expression in this is looking down again with her hand by her head. This emphasises the point from the main image that she is emotional and sad. Only half of Adele's face is seen in the main image, this shows that she is being modest about her work and isn't bragging about her success at all. Also as she is a successful artist audience's will be able to recognise her from what they can see in the picture without having to have her the main focus in the advert. The font being used is quite basic. This makes it clear to read and is eye catching also as it is in capital letters and a clear font is being used. This makes it appealing for consumers as they will remember the name of the album as it is clear as is the first thing their eyes are drawn to. Overall this magazine advert is conventional to the soul genre as it portrays the artist as weak, emotional and vulnerable and this would make audiences think these themes such as heartbreak will be explored through her music. 

Paloma Faith's magazine album advert portrays her as quirky and different as the different images of her in the advert shows that she has different aspects to herself and possibly her music. She is represented as confident as there are many different images of her, this may suggest that the characters she is playing may have influenced her music or may have some sort of involvement. Paloma is also portrayed as quite sexual as two of the characters she is portraying herself as, are exposing her body in sexual ways.
There are many different colours being used in the advert but the main colour that stands out to me is the background colour gold. Gold connotes the idea of money and being successful which means that Paloma is using this colour to show the success of her career. Also another big colour being used in the advert is the red of her hair, red connotes passion, love and relationships. This shows that her music is going to be based around these things and also explores her unique side as her hair colour is very bright and 'different' which shows that she is a unique artist. Also the colour of the material covering her naked body is white which shows her innocence and purity which portrays her as an individual. All the colours used helps the audience to understand the artist more and about her personality. The main focus on the poster is Paloma dressed up as different characters, she is places right in the middle of the advert which shows that she is the most important thing and the main focus should be on her this is conventional to the soul genre as soul music is about the artists own personal experiences and should express their personality. Also Paloma is portrayed an attractive person as her hair and make up compliment her and make her look attractive to audiences. She also looks well groomed which shows she has money as she can look after her image which shows she is a successful artist. The font in the advert is in a vintage style this portrays the artists personality as Paloma is seen to be quite individual and vintage. The writing is clear to read which means consumers will read it clearly and have their eyes drawn to what it says as it stands out. The font is in white which makes it stand out from the rest of the advert making the text grab consumers attention which would lead to them buying the album. The album advert overall portrays Paloma's personality of being unique and different which is conventional to the soul genre as soul music is meant to be about artists own personal life experiences and to express their personality.

Overall analysing both magazine adverts has helped me learn what to include when making my own magazine advert for my artists album. I am going to make sure that my advert portrays the artists personality and what their music is like, therefore the audiences will get a better understanding of my artist and an insight into their personality.