How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
During my production stage of developing my sublimary tasks i had to consider the effect of using similiar texts therefore the consumer can recognise a "house style effect" (using the same colour, form and text style time and again). By doing so it gives the oppurtunity for a consumer to recognise a music poster for example before he concsiously realizes who the band is. This therefore becomes lodged within a consumers mind e.g the style and form of the text so therefore he will remember and associate with it. Many music production packages follow suit by implementing the same background within the cd package and also the advertisments that will feature within music magazines. Therefore it creates a house style effect for the consumer to recognise and therefore can relate to that background pattern towards that band.
The combination could have used abit more flow in terms of following the same style. As the poster is seen as dark and more serious than the CD cover. This therefore portrays two ideals towards the media consumer. With the poster the consumer would pick up that the band is serious and might think the bands music follows the similiar tone. Wheras the CD front cover shows a more vibrant, colourful picture of the band. This in terms of a first time listener picking up the album in a shop would gather that the music follows a happy more fun theme. These conflicting themes may attract two audiences, yet doesnt portray one ideal, something thats vitally important within a music package.
The video itself works in synergy with the print productions as it gives off the band as young and works well by attracting the target audience. By using artist shots it creates additional attention on the lead singer, something that bands do all the time. This therefore gives the band coverage by using a "front man" to promote the band. By using more than one front man, people who have only listened to the band a few times and then see the band with a different frontman may be confused by the idea as they dont recognise the frontman seen in previous videos. Ive worked this concept well within the ancillary texts as the frontman is alsways depicted within the middle of the shots to draw attention to him. This is seen throughout as the poster only depicts the lead singer and within the CD cover package the lead singer is seen in the middle and is the main feature within the booklet provided.
All in all i think that my products work well and insync with each other in terms of promoting the band. The video and poster work well in terms of creating a more serious tone within the album, yet the album cover itself promotes a lesser tone by using pop art to showcase a more fun and vibrant sound. Although this is one of the bands songs and therefore it gives off the vibe that the album follows a more happier tone than that one song suggests.

Here i have created a flickr page to display my photos that i shot when i conducted a photoshoot with a local Jersey band. 

please click on the link below:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mediacoursework

Evaluation 

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Throughout my media project I researched the codes and conventions within the products I was creating. By researching similar traits that each product offers between them I was able to conclude with a list of similar conventions that most CD covers follow for example. By researching into my project first I had some further understanding of how to develop and plan specific media products. When planning the task I decided to follow suit to many of the conventions I found that ran throughout the products in which I researched. In doing so I am able to gather a simplistic yet effective way to design a layout towards my products.

For example the CD Front Covers that I researched each had the artists name as the main forefront to the CD almost viewed as a brand or company advertising, this was nearly always found centered at the top of the cover or shifted to the left. My CD cover followed the forms and conventions I found, by doing so this allowed for my CD cover to look professional, as its similarity was high to that of other Covers that would be on the shelf. In making mine stand out it simply comes down to the image used, its this that’s the forefront of the CD cover that grabs a consumer’s attention. Most CD Covers that I viewed had an effect placed on the forefront image to differ it to that of a standard portrait. I followed the same form to my CD cover by creating a pop art effect of a local band to give the CD cover some originality. Sub titles I found were always pictured below the artists name therefore a consumer can easily recognize that that’s the albums title. Therefore it seems obvious to follow suit to make my layout look like an actual CD cover. With the CD cover there was a sort of unwritten rule to follow as each Album follows the same sort of rules, yet just differ slightly towards image, placing of artists name and title.

The poster in which I created had the same basis for a layout that other posters I researched obtained. Many of the posters viewed had the artists name placed at the top heading of the page, therefore this is easily viewed as these posters feature within the pages of music magazines therefore readers tend to look at the top of the page for an article heading therefore it’s the first thing that they would have viewed, the artists name. I developed the information provided within my poster, many that I viewed stated the date in which it was to be released; yet I just offered an “OUT NOW” in big. Bright, bold font that’s easily displayed. The information I provided challenged many forms of music posters. As I produced mine in much larger font, placed at the center of the bottom of the page to allow for the image to be portrayed clearly as that’s my forefront image. Many music posters found amongst the pages of the likes of NME and Rolling Stones found that their information text (i.e. release date, album title, formats) was depicted at the top below the artist’s name. I found this to be crammed and didn’t split the page up well, i.e. having too much blank space within the bottom of the page. I challenged this form of displaying the poster due to the previous point made, it didn’t split the page up well and I believed having text displayed within the bottom and top and leaving the space in the middle for the forefront image to shine through would work best and I believe it did so.

Within creating my main task, the music video I kept referring back to previous videos that I looked at and wrote down notes on similar conventions they all follow. One main key that shone through was the depiction of the artist within the music video and the amount of times they appeared. This was split up by mid-shots to close ups of the character to almost distinguish that this is the artist/lead singer. With having chosen a band video I knew that I could go down two routes, have one video with a narrative story and nothing else or split a narrative story up with shots of the lead singer singing using various shooting techniques. I decided to use narration broken up with an artist singing, this way it breaks up from the story line, doesn’t let the story take over from the song and also creates more meaning and sends across a more powerfully message if the story is based on the lyrics of the song, a relation I discovered through Andrew Goodwin’s Theory that there is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics. Having looked at various types of music videos I found that mid-shots and close up shots of the artist are mostly predominant throughout. Within my music video I created various shots to gather the flow of the artist moving around, this was obtained through cuts and fades in place. Most music videos have short yet many different clips of the artist singing, as mine was a slow song with a simple tempo I decided to challenge this convention. I used slower transitions and longer shots to get that slow tempo feeling to place it in time with the music. By including direct address by the artist towards the audience it allowed for more powerfully meaning of the lyrics and highlights the fact that the singer is a performer. This was definitely a common trait that ran throughout all music videos analysed and was a must to be included into my own task.

Within my actual narrative of the story I had to follow codes and conventions of a film in a way, yet focus on the main points I wanted to get across i.e. I had to really highlight the fact that he gets bullied to make it a primary message towards an audience. During the post-production stage I had to determine what shots to use and how to place transitions and cuts ect. By looking at most music videos it’s clear to see that the main transitions are determined by the cut, cross fade or fade to black. In honesty I believe this work the best as the other look tacky and cannot be placed within a music video as the ones offered on imovie for example were for fun ect such as the Wipe. Using various shots to distinguish a story line, such as close ups of characters face to project emotion, or objects such as the mobile phone to show that’s the alarm clock ringing ect tells the story and almost feeds the audience information.

CD MAGAZINE PRINT ADVERTISMENT - THE MAKING OF ...

Having already set my design layout i was able to get started fairly easy and confidently of what i was making. First things first i had to set up a photoshoot with a local band called "The Dirty Trades", turning up to one of their weekly band practise i was able to gather some great shots that could all have easily been selected but i decided to use the one featured below.



Once i magnetic lassoed the image i then had to tidy it up due to fragments of the original sources background involved. To do so i continued to use Photoshop CS3 and opted for the magic wand tool. This tool selects particular bits in the image that are the same colour throughout without any disturbances. Therefore when selecting bits of the background i dont want in the photo with the magic wand tool, i just press delete and it turns it into white, projecting just the image that i have selected. Example shown below.



After the image is then all tidied up, by continuously using the magic wand tool supplemented by the use of a tiny rubber once zoomed in to smoothen it all out aswell as the blur tool around the edges to reduce the pixelation to avoid any rough edges being noticable.
The next job was to actually start on the poster now that the image has been cut and edited. Opening a new Photoshop document in A4 size, the same size as magazines where it will be advertised, i placed the image accordingly onto a custom black background.



The next stage was then to produce the text form and information that was to be produced on the print advertisement. Looking at my previous design layout i opted for the text form to be to the right hand side, slightly centered, a common trait running throughout that i discovered investigating the codes and conventions of a print music advertisement. Trying out different types of text i finally went for an apple text called "Braggadocio", the text was different, it was blocky yet extremely bold in context which allowed it to stand out clearly above the strong central image.



Going for "The" in color overlay red allowed a strong dominance over the black background that was provided in the top right corner. With using white for the artists name "Bravery" it allowed for it to stand out over the colored image and also allowed for that image to keep its powerful orange style. Now i needed to edit the text, using photoshop i took advantage of their text tools effect and it gave me a drop down list of the different type of effects i could use. Eventually choosing the "inner shadow" effect which brightened the colour contrast within the actual text itself allowing for it to be brighter. With an opacity of 100% it maximized the visuals of the text allowing for the consumer to see the text clearly.



The final job for was to include the text form at the bottom section of the page. I choose the font "Gill Sans Ultra Bold" to achieve maximum width within the text to make it more visible to the consumer. I chose to keep this text the same throughout the additional information to allow for added simplicity running throughout. Each text form acquired the same text effect, this being "drop shadow" which creates a shadow around the text to make it stand out off the page thus being able to read it better. "Inner Glow" which brightened the whiteness within the text so that the text form doesn't become bland or dull. And also for every second information produced in the bottom center i added a stroke effect which lines the text which colour, choosing the same red used throughout the CD package allowed for the consumer to recognize this and other products by The Bravery alike. This effect just was in place to break up the plain white text used throughout, alot of print advert use different colour to do so, yet i felt there was already a diverse enough pallet on show due to the image to be able to do so.





CD MAGAZINE PRINT ADVERTISMENT - FINAL PRODUCT

CD INSIDE COVER (OPENING SIDE) - FINAL PRODUCT

CD INSIDE COVER (CD SIDE) - FINAL PRODUCT

The Making Of My CD Spine_

Looking at my design layout for the production of my CD spine and with the researching into the similar codes and conventions of a few CD spines i analyzed, i was confident in beginning the designing phase due to knowing exactly what i wanted and why. To begin with i created a blank document on Photoshop CS3 with the dimensions of (width) 11.8cm (height) 0.8cm. These were the guideline dimensions that a CD spine represents. 

With having the correct dimensions to begin the process of designing my CD spine, i went about the layout of the product. I used the paint-bucket 

tool within photoshop to create a simplistic black la

yout to cover all of the space within the CD

 spine. Having done so i then needed to think about text form and placement. Havi

ng chosen "The Bravery" to be depicted in the top right of the spine as th

is being the main element of an album- the artist. With this i used a simple arial font, featured in regular with a size of 12. The color i opted for was a simplistic white to provide contrast to the black layout to make it easily visible.

With having the simplistic text form produced i then had to find an effect tool within photoshop that would allow for me to produce the effect that i longed for. By clicking on the text layer within Photoshop it comes up with a toolbox option that allows for you to define the layer style of the text. By providing a check list of all th

e different effects that can be put in place through the blending options. I opted for the outer glow tool, the effect is pictured within the next screen shot seen below.

Having produced my artists name i then had to move on to create the layout in order to produce the albums title, the second key feature within

 a CD spine as this tells the consumer what they're buying. Having a black background throughout i decided to stick with the white text form as it allowed it to contrast to the black to provide for easier visualization. Although simplistic it proves extremely effective due to most CD spines dealing with simple block colors in order for their spines to be easily visible on products such as CD shelfs. This time round i opted for the same handwriting effect seen

 within the CD front cover and also Back Cover to allow for the same text combination to allow for consumers to recognize the product. 

The last thing on my list of things to include within the CD spine was to produce a record label company to go alongside the artists name and the album title. This was a key featured that was produced within the CD spines that i viewed. Having 

already created it on Photoshop, a simple black and white image using simplistic text and a curved arrow tool using the custom shapes tool within Photoshop i was able to create the image to the standard in which i wanted it to be produced. With the image i created all i needed to do was to place the image within the white space to allow for the product to be completed and finalized, which is seen by the following steps:

CD SPINE - FINAL PRODUCT

The Making Of My CD Back Cover_

For my back cover i knew that i wanted to split the layout into two sections. One big section taking up approximately 4/5th of the page. This was to include the main image which was to act as the central focus point to gather attention and to also promote the band. The next section was to include information about the record label, the small print that states copyright information and also the bands website. I went about creating this section first. To do so i sectioned roughly 1/5th of the whole page in order to work with and using the paint-bucket tool within Photoshop i painted it red using the color picker tool to create a flow of the same shade red that was used within the Front Cover production.

I then had to gather the image to place into the section that obtained 4/5th of the page layout. The photo that i used is of the lead singer used in an action close-up shot of singing portraying that the CD is music related, basically stating the obvious to feed the consumer with information. 

Using the original photo i used iPhoto, a simple programme with apple mac that allows for picture quality to be decided upon through effects such as saturation and contrast. I placed the simple effect of black and white to allow for the back cover to not be "loud" i.e too much color therefore the important things such as track listings wont easily be visible.

Next i simply produced some small text form within the confounds of the red section that i created earlier. This was to act as the small print basis for my back cover about copyright information. This usually states the companies that own the brand, the established date and copyright laws ect. I simply just used a basic font, arial, to produce this in roughly size 2 writing to add authenticity to my product. And to make it resemble the connotations that apply within the formation of a CD back cover.  

To produce the albums title, Dreams Of A star i used a font called Garamond Premier Pro that was a default text that featured on Photoshop. I chose this as it was vastly similar to the Dakota text that i previously used to create the text form on the Album front cover. The reasons i changed this text style was due to previous mishaps in trying to make the text stand out through base layer effects such as drop shadow. I found that this text worked better in  order to portray the albums title visually.

With the text form produced i then went on to select the suitable text effects and base layers to feature onto the albums title. With having selected the checklist on Photoshop to view the best, most suitable effects i then chose them. These were Drop Shadow, in order to allow for the text to stand out for the overpowering stature that the image behind it gives, therefore it becomes more visable to a consumer. An outer glow was produced to further enlighten the outside contours of the text to bring it to the front more. This was important again due to the background image and to also create a visual effect within the text to allow for it to be more visually pleasing. The last base layer used on the text was bevel and emboss was to really focus on bringing that text off the page. By choosing an inner bevel it darkens the insides to produce a much bolder outer layer to the text due to the contrast in dark and light on both sides of the text.

Heres what the final masthead looks like:

After i was finished with the production of the masthead i moved back onto the lower section. In order to give it that CD feel about it i need to build up this box with lots of information. To begin with i just enter a website address and placed it directly above the copyright text featured in white. Just using the simplistic arial tool to create an easy to see website that is produced clearly and matches the color tones of the layout of the back cover as a whole. 

The next step was to place a barcode within this section in order for it to be scanned at a till. I simply created this barcode within Photoshop simply by using the pen tool to create varying thickness within the lines of the barcode and then using the text selection tool to place numbers directly underneath these lines. I believe the end result is exactly how a barcode would look like.

I then simply placed the company logo that i created thats in place within my CD spine design to create an authentic CD cover feel by having a record label for the band. This is always featured on artists which have associating companies to work with as it gives them credibility. 

With having finished the bottom section and included the title and main image into the larger section all that was left was to place the track listings that were to feature central running down the page. Using a basic arial again to keep the transition of text similar to create ideology and a synchronized layout through text form. I then placed the same effects by clicking on the text layer to bring about the base layer effects that could be applied. Again using the effects of drop shadow, inner glow and bevel and emboss to bring the text forward to make it stand out from the powerful image portrayed behind. 

A final idea that i had was to prodive some sort of symbolism to match the albums title "Dreams Of A Star", therefore i wanted stars to be depicted running diagonally through the side of the back cover, again synchronizing this design layout with the front cover therefore media consumers can relate and recognize that the product designs flow and to also provide recognition and a sense of house style towards the production of the CD package. 

To produce these stars i used the custom shape tool within photoshop and allocated the correct shape to match my requirements.

Having now found a custom shape that fits my stars requirements i then had to individually place them to match its suitability with my front covers stars. By making each star individually through the use of the layer system within Photoshop i was able to change the width or height of the star accordingly and thus creating a good visual effect to add some creativity towards my Back Cover. Heres how the final production of the star placing looked.

CD BACK COVER - FINAL PRODUCT

CD FRONT COVER, HOW IT WAS MADE...

To start of with i had to produce an image to work with. In my planning designs i stated that i wanted to use a classic band pose image and created a simplistic shot of band members popping out behind a tree all with smiles, laughter ect. I decided to stick with this idea as it was a good basis for a front cover, it allowed for a consumer to see the band as fun and entertaining whilst being mainly aimed towards the teenage target audience of around 13-20. Having gathered the tree shot i then had to edit the image to create a pop art type effect. In doing so i used Photoshop effects to create this effect. By lowering the threshold of the image, i then duplicated that image and edited the blending options. This allowed for me to paint over in a dark grey and white the areas that i wanted the pop art effect to be in place as this was an underlying layer. Therefore when the original image was placed over the top it contained the editing i had included to create a pop art type effect that looks artistic.

Having then just simply used a dark red background using the paint bucket tool on Photoshop to create a strong colour for the image to project out of. Looking back on my design plan layouts i wanted the artists name to appear in the top right, a common trait for albums to have.

For the font i chose Apple Chancery in size 4 font in strong. I felt that this font offered something different and unique to other CD covers in which i've viewed. With this text if offers a sort of flow effect were by the writing is visually pleasuring to the consumers eye. I found this an effective yet simplistic way to display the bands title. To gather the effects that i created i had to change the formation of the text form using photoshop. Having many pre-set functions made this easily accessible to produce exactly what i wanted.

Above is a screen shot of the effects that i put in place within the text. A drop shadow was put in place to lift the text from within the page, it places a shadow around the letters contours to allow it to be produced in bold. The outer glow is what causes it to shine therefore making it more visually appealing. The inner glow is used to synch this shine to create this glow both inside and out to appeal to the consumer. The bevel and emboss effects simply places the text to make it bolder and more visual to a consumer. By placing these effects within the text form i belive it makes the bands title stand out and differs from the colours used within the front cover making it eye-catching.

The next step to include was the albums name, titled "Dreams Of A Star", my design layout stated that i wanted this to be produced underneath the bands name to give it some familiarisation as to that is the albums title. This was to follow a different text form to make it differ from the bands title therefore a consumer can associate between the two, i.e which ones the bands name and which is the album titles.

I placed the text form in black therefore it splits the colours up between the two. This being important so that a consumer can recognise that it isn't part of the same text, i.e the bands title and can associate with it being the albums title due to the smaller text form and with it placed below "The Bravery". With this text i used the same chancery text to establish the link between the two through using the same text style. With this i didnt include an inside or outside glow jsut simply a drop shadow which pretrudes it from within the 2d dimesions of the page using Photoshop.

FINAL PRODUCT_

Research Into Target Audience


With having researched on the internet to discover what particular genre of music sells i discovered a statistics site that collected data of the sales of music in particular genres in the years of 2006 to 2007. I decided to use this as the basis of selecting my song to create a promotional package for.




The graph shows an overall decline in music sales across a range of genres, with new age decreasing the least. Yet i didn't really understand the new age genre, with classical and soundtrack music following i found it hard to think of ideas or even artists to use. Therefore i decided to use the genre of rock as my foundation to starting this project. Rock genre has the highest amount of music sales and a considerably low decrease in growth compared to the likes of Rap that fell by -30%. Rock in 2007 sold just shy of 150,000 albums creating a strong audience to appeal to.

I then decided to create my own questionnaire to hand out within the town centre to discover what type of music genre is favourable of the people. I picked out a varying range of people that differed in age to grasp a solid idea of the relationship between age and music genre also, giving me a relative target audience to aim towards when creating this production package. The questionnaire was handed out as follows:

Background Music Sale Research

The target audience for the production of a music video is vast. The popularity of music has steadily increased due to the ability to produce music videos coinciding with that song. This therefore allows for a greater target audience due to the likes of music television networks such as; MTV or the creation of social networking sites such as Facebook or Youtube.

The above table shows us the trade value in USD millions of music sales for the year 2008. Physical refers to shop sales of the actual product i.e the C.D itself. Digital refers to the sales that are accumilated on the internet from payed sites such as iTunes that requires the music to be paid for before download. Performance Rights is the percentage in sales that have come from record labels selling their rights to be used within movies and other media productions alike.

As we can see from this table, the two major continents contributing to global sales is USA and Europe, with Europe contributing to the majority of Physical sales, wheras the USA prefer digital sales.

From this table, depicting the change in percentages of recorded music sales in 2007 compared to 2008 we can see that the fluxuation of physical sales has decreased due to the enhancement of digital software and marketing to create download programmes such as the likes of iTunes. Yet we can also see from the totals column that the overall sale of music is down as much as 18.6% in the USA due to illegal downloading sites that offer file sharing to download free music.

Codes And Conventions Of A Magazine Advert

Green Day are an American based worldwide band and their status in music is recognisable. This was taken from the back page of the ever popular Q magazine. It used display advertising wherby it covered the whole of the back page, therefore it will become more visable for consumers to see and will give off that its a must-buy album due to its forseen importance of being on the back page. The composition of the advert reflects the simplistic values of any advert. The central focus point, that being the image is composed in the middle. This graphic image ties in with the colour conventions of the layout. By using a red brick will it invites our attention to the centre by standing out from the plain black background. The people pictured in the image are also wearing black, showing connotations of the bands rock image as its considered to be the dark side of music i.e rebellion, black stereotypically symbolises evil. The image itself relates to the title of the album "The War Is Finally Over" as the couple are shown to be kissing. This relates to the title as war symbolises evil and kissing symbolises love opposingly. The title of the band "Green Day" can be simplistically seen in the centre top-half of the layout. The text form is much larger and bolder than the rest showing its importance. This therefore allows consumers to visually see who the advert is advertising as such. The text form itself is produced in a bold white therefore making it strikingly stand out from above the black background. The other text forms that are seen on the page are produced in rememberance of the colourways used in the central focus point, this being red, orange, white and yellow. Another code that may album advertisments follow is through a band/ record labels unique selling point for the brand. This is usually advertising a popular single that has been released coincidingly with the album therefore promoting the album to be like that single if it becomes popular. This layout has used "includes the single know your enemy" produced near the bottom of the page. This tells the reader that this band has created the song and has become popular as they wouldnt mention it contained this single if it hadn't proved sucsessful within the chart shows. The release date of the album is just as important as the albums title. It produces the details of the albums release date to the consumer so that they know when the album is available to buy or download. This is increasingly becoming a key factor due to album sales influencing the sucsess of the artists career. A website adress is produced at the bottom therefore it gives consumers the chance to review the bands website which may contain tracks that feature on the album, therefore using cross media convergence to advertise their album release.

Bob Dylan is a legendary "folk rock" artist who has worldwide recognition with the older generation. His target audience would differ to the likes of Green Day as seen above, due to the ever changing popularity in different types of genre through the years. The poster is simplistic due to the standard form of layout. "Bob Dylan" the main seeling point for the album is pictured at the top and central, displaying to viewers the name of the artist and also giving off that his sucsessfull as he is displaying his name using the largest form. The font used for "Bob Dylan" is symbolic and could be related to his age. As the artist is approaching 68, the form of the font suggests his age as it looks aged and faded. This being a re-occurent theme throughout the text yet only in minimal measures. Red is a colour used predominantely throughout almost ever media text. The colour red has been found to cause the blood pressure and heart rate to rise, thus injecting excitement into the body. This therefore invites us towards that product and makes it visually more appealing for the consumer. The magazine cover uses red to highlight the key point within the advert, the release date. If consumers didn't know the release date then the sales of that album within its first week of being on the shelves will decrease. Below the release date it states what format the album can be purchased from, that being: CD, deluxe CD, vinyl and download. A main central focus point is used to entise the consumer towards that product, the image used within magazine adverts places just as important as the name of the artist itself due to the consumer being attracted towards the image/design. The image depicts a man and women kissing on a bed. This shows love and attraction a symbolism being related back to Bob Dylan and his love for music. With the main target audience being consumers around the ages of 40-70 the image works well in conjunction with the taget audience. As love and affection is shown as being caring, nice and could describe the personality of Bob Dylan. Artists such as the likes of Green Day use an image of lovers but portray it in a dark, evil way as this describes their bands genre, yet Bob Dylan is a "folk rocker" and therefore will write about sounds with topics evolving around love mainly. The image is depicted in black and white and could also resemble the ageing Bob Dylan and that it is working away from the hip new generation of music being brought in alongside the 21st century. It shows his music is old and still cherishable instead of using funky colours and patterns to entise an audience.

The new album Roadsinger by Yusuf is quite simplistic in the design element, sticking to basic fonts and a central image that doesn't leave much to the imagination. The artist can be seen aligned to the right hand side playing a guitair, this resembles the idea of busking in the street. The background is mainly black and contains a darkened theme throughout allowing for the street light to become more effective. The light resembles to that of the albums selling point "warming you through the night" which can be seen below the albums title Roadsinger. The light has an orange glow about it lighting up the space around the artist. This acts as a spotlight, i.e the attention is on him therefore making him stand out as the central focus point. The orange glow acts as a warming colour relating to the sub title of "Warming you through the night". A van is depicted on the left hand side shwoing connotations with the title "Roadsinger" as the van is parked and the artist singing in the street it gives off the idea his parked and starting singing, i.e roadsinger. The text uses the same colourways throughout (white and orange) to produce a simplistic design. The white is produced in bold to make it stand out from the black background, this is used for two of the most important pieces of information about the release: the titles name and also the release date. The orange is used for the artists name and also the featured track, a reoccuring theme throughout all the album covers ive researched. Above the artists name is a forefront word sayiung that Yusuf is now the new name for the former artist Cat Stevens. This gives the consumers information about the "new" artist as he was formerly known as Cat Stevens. The Roadsinger font is seen as abit rugged giving off the feeling of being on tour, for example the artist having to stay in different hotels and on buses ect would give off that particular vibe.

The Enemy's new album "Music For The People" was taken from the music magazine Q. The black background is used to make the white text and image to be produced more powerfully. The white writing used to depict the artists name and the the single featured is created strikingly. The artists name and album title can be seen at the top opf the page acting as the heading, this being what all albums follow making it a standard procedure. This therefore allows the atrists name to be easily found and also seen. A grey font is also used for other information to describe that the album can be bought in CD/Special Edition/Digital ect. Many album covers use two different colour fonts to make it more visually pleasing. Wheras using one font creates a bland design, mixing it up using two contrasting colours makes it easier to depict one piece of text from the other. Otherwise it looks like its all the same block of text. A small font is used to show the consumer their website which is pictured right at the bottom, i've found that this is usually used amongst the the newer generation artists to sort of show that they're the new generation and among the new scene of music being created. The main image differs from the other albums ive researched. This one doesn't use the band/artist directly in their image yet use a logo as their main image. The image works just as well if not better than an image of an artist. As it's colourful and attractive it would entise the consumer to pick up their product. It doesn't relate to the artist or album name directly and therefore cannot be related to what the albums about. Yet due to its colourful visualisation it can be used to basically describe the target audience for the album. Due to its vivid colours it places the album into the younger generation, stating that its music is new, fresh due to the image standing out so much it basically states that the album is different, new and exciting. This works well as an image due to it being entising and attractive and would stand out from the same standard layout that other albums usually follow, therefore it would stand out on the shelf of a music store.

This music advertisment follows a different suit to the others in which i have analysed. This appears to be less revealing, i.e it's hard to tell what its advertising if it wasn't featured in a magazine such as Q. For me it's far too basic and doens't really grab the readers attention. A simplistic unedited image of a sandune relates to the title of the band, Four Winds. Even here i struggled to source the name for the band, it wasn't clear enough and didn't sell to me. The simplistic font creates a basic over view of the advert, yet could relate to their music i.e simplistic rock ect. The page is broken into two parts, the top inserted with an image, a posters main focus point and the other is broken into a plain white background. Here it explains abit about the product that features in every advertisment i've looked at so far. Its states that its advertising a "NEW ALBUM", its available for "CD/DOWNLOAD" and the date of its release. This is shown in such small font that it gives no relevance to the reader as if he was reading the magazine an advert is produced evry 2 or 3 pages or so. The purpose of an advert is to stand out from the others, to make the reader stop and take note of what's being advertised. This is too basic and wouldn' jump off the page in my opinion. Due to the image being standardized, unedited and not layed out centred i believe this is the main reason for this, it doesn't have a background that the picture can explode out of therefore wouldn't catch a consumers eye visually.

The Kooks - Shine On The Kooks's Shine On album uses clever artwork to entise an audience into buying their product. Its the Front cover thats pinnacle to grab a media consumer to buy their album. The album frontcover is a close-up shot of the lead singer, Luke Pritchard. A common theme that runs throughout bands' album cover is a mid to long shot of the band toghether. Yet this is a much too common trait to follow and therefore the Kooks have opted for a close up of the lead singer, who resembles the band as a whole due to being the central focus point of the band. The white and grey colour restraint of the image works well with the white background to produce an antique looking shot. A collage is created inplace of Luke Pritchard's hair this works extremely well and is visually appealing to an audience. It offers more than a simplistic close up shot of a lead singers face. The image of Luke is a representation of The Kooks as a whole and the collage features the other band members around him, creating a sense that he is the main focus point, as people recognise lead singers as the band itself this works well from a consumer point of view. Luke is shot following an indirect mode of adress, as he isn't looking at the camera this is a subtle album cover and doesnt rely on a hard hitting image to capture the attention of the consumer. The form of the text can be seen in the top left and right, inbetween the central image. The text is small, yet strikingly bold and contrasts to the covers background. The text remains the same throughout and relatively small in size. This makes the album cover give off a smart, simplistic suit. Due to the images contained in the collage, the black writing remains in suit making it simplistic yet strikingly attractive.

The Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, Thats What

The debut album from the Arctic Monkeys follows in similair suit to the above, The Kooks - Shine On album cover. There was much controversy over the albums cover, with critics saying it promoted smoking. Yet the band's manager Mr.Bradshaw said "You can see from the image smoking is not doing him the world of good". Yet i believe this album cover works well and is hard hitting. The grey and black image is used to show connotations of the taget audience, which would be teenagers - late twenties of a middle class. It depicts a man shot using direct mode of adress as his looking direct at the camera. This is great to capture a consumers attention due to the eyes being one of the main focus points, using them to entise emotion.
The cigarette is used in conjunction with the albums title, "Whatever People Say I Am Thats What Im Not", this plays upon stereotypical views, i.e he is smoking a cigarette, unshaven with a rough cut look. Many people would stereotype this guy as a thug or a criminal due to the ever-growing violence of youth culture and their false representation within the media. The picture has a symbolical meaning, giving of the age-old "dont judge a book by its cover". The form of the text is titled in the corner and follows suit to the image of the man by using uneven edges to give off that rough depiction that the main has connotations of. The font is seen to be handwritten, containing a scruffy image giving off to the listeners what exactly the album songs will be like. They use the album cover to entise the audience but to give an insight through visual perception as to what music they create.

Jack Johnson - In Between Dreams

This album cover differentiates from the other two above as it doesn't use a close-up shot of the specific artist. Whereas this co er uses a long shot to depict the shadows of the artist and a tree. This symbolises the artists love for nature and the world as he is a slow meaningful acoustic singer. With him touching the tree it symbolises this love for nature and provides a powerful symbolisim to entise the consumer into buying the product. By using the yellow background it provides a powerful stimulant which would attract the consumer into looking at the product in a store. The yellow and black contrast well and is visually pleasing, with the yellow representing sunshine and the black acting as a bold outline to the graphic pictured.

The title form is seen depicted in the top left hand corner out of the way of the image. Many album covers use this as it allows for the text form to be properly seen. As the picture's focus point is aligned to the left, it allows for the text to be seperated from the picture. This differs from many albums as the artists name and album name is made to be the central figure depending on how famous or popular that particular artist. is. The albums name "In Between Dreams" is hardly recognised due to the insignificance of it. Being an artist like Jack Johnson is the album name doesn't really relish importance yet the production of the album tries to entise consumers through their graphics and using a medium sized text form to establish the artist.

Paolo Nutini - These Streets

This album cover works well as its visually pleasing on the eye and differentiates itself from other album covers as it depicts more than one image or main central point. Paolo Nutini is a young soleful acoustic artist and this is shown through the albums cover as its fun, bright and colourful. There are four single images depicted, each with its own colour code ranging fromm white to deep red. Each image differs from the angle based on the angle in which paolo nutini is standing. The long shot capture still stays the same therefore an audience can see the difference in changes in stances much easier. The colours blend in well toghether and provides a quirky yet funky stance on the graphics. Paolo is pictured with his guitair showing his music resemblence in the album cover which sometimes is lacking from other artists. This shows that he cares about his music and has a real passion for it as he is depicted with his guitair alongside him. The text form is yet again seen to be to one side, a reoccuring theme throughout the album covers i have been analysing. It seems, through evaluation that the artists with more fame/popularity produce their name as the central focus point. This therefore stands out to consumers as they most probably have heard of their name, therefore they already have a recognisable branding i.e their name to market their album to boost sales. As for the likes of Jack Johnson and Newton Faulkner they have to rely on their imaging to appeal to music consumers if they havent heard of them before. The text form is pictured in the top left hand corner, away from the images produced. The writing for Paolo Nutini is yet again quirky yet fun as its produced in bubble handwriting to make it stand out. Its produced in black to make it appear bold against a seemingly light coloured first two colour seperations.

The Bravery - The Sun And The Moon

  The Bravery's album artwork is considered to be more in-tune with the general requirements of a bands front cover. This being having all band members appear on the front cover, something that the previous album covers haven't opted for. By using the whole band on the cover the consumer gets a feel for who the band is and who features in this band. They cop a feel for their style through the way they are styled and through the design of the album artwork. The cover depicts five band member each sitting down together, this shows interaction between them and therefore as viewers we see this as a tight-knit band. The shot is relaxed and may resemble the type of music the band play. The calm yellow and white diagonally striped background shows conntations of being sun rays through its shape and color resembelence suggesting the bands bright future. The way that the background is used and how the band members are outlined give off characteristics of pop-art culture, a modern, fresh take on art using bold colours and outlines. This works well to give off the bands youthism. All the band members are styled in black so that there aren't too many colours on display. This is a common theme running throughout and something i'd have to consider when creating my own as to what specific colours i use and how to match accordingly throughout. The text form remains black against the white and yellow background. The font for the bands title and also the albums remain the same throughout, yet the bands name is produced in larger font showing that the bands name is more recognisable and important than the albums. Yet again the text is slightly aligned to the left corner of the cover, this gives off a professional aura as its too basic to slap it in the middle.