Arctic Monkeys advert analysis

This is another album advert I saw which has a similar style and look that I wanted to do for my own advert. This is for the band Arctic Monkeys. What attracted me to this advert was that it was mainly black, even though it is just a solid black colour it is still able to attract its audience, the white text on the black background heavily contrasts and makes it very striking. This advert shows two star ratings from two popular music magazines. I think they have put the ratings from big magazines on the advert so it shows that it will be a big a popular album and has big names talking about it. Even though there is star ratings, there isn't any reviews that show us what people had to say about, I think that it would have been good to include this. The advert doesn't say the albums name, it just simply states 'New Album' the only way the audience know the name of the album would be by looking at the picture of the cover and finding it on there. Because the album would have already been released when this advert was shown, it just says OUT NOW in big text, telling people that they should go and look for it. I really like the idea of having a picture of the album cover instead of just using the same picture, or one like it. I think out of the two covers I have annotated I will base my advertisement on a similar design to this one. 

You me at six, advert analysis

I thought I would look at album adverts from bands that have a similar style to the artist i'm using that are shown in magazines. Most album adverts (from the same genre of my artist) will only be shown in music magazines such as Kerrang! or RockSound. This is one I saw that was in Kerrang! it is for the album 'Hold Me Down' from the band 'You Me At Six'. This advert has used the same picture that is used on the album cover, instead of just putting a picture of the album on the advert. One thing I thought was strange about this advert was that it didn't show any reviews or star ratings, this is something that I have seen on most of other album adverts even for ones in other genres. In the bottom right hand corner it shows the label that the band were signed to when recording the album and where it was recorded. Centred at the bottom is the website that the album can be downloaded online. The colour of the advert is quite dark and fades into black towards the edges of the pages, there is colour splashes of bright colour, this is from the text and the splashes that are used in the album artwork. This advert doesn't have much on it but because the album art work is very bold and creative, it doesn't need to add much more to it to attract attention and I think that if it did, it would look over done and far too busy. 

Advert mood board

This is a mood board I have created, I wanted to see what things are usually put on a album advertisement that is put in a magazine. A lot of the adverts have a picture of the artist on them, this will usually cover most of the page. When looking at the pictures I realised that the pictures were the cover of the album. They usually show reviews and the date of the release. I think for my advertisement I think I will include a photo of the album so people will know what it looks like and will know what to look for when shopping. The adverts will often list some of the singles that have already been released to show that popular songs feature. All of these adverts have the same colour scheme as they album does, this is to show that they do actually go together and give a hint of what the album will look like. I think for my advertisement I will use a similar background to the one that I have used throughout the digipak, but maybe play around with the colour levels again so it doesn't look identical to the digipak. I think I will include a picture of the album instead of just using a similar picture. I will use the same fonts that have been featured in the digipak on the advert and will include star ratings and reviews. 

Back of digipak

• I didn't make a flatplan for the back of the digipak as I felt they usually have the same designs. I put the barcode in the bottom left corner, so it would be out of the way and wouldn't cover any of the design that was on the background. I included the logo of Rise Records, the studio that would have signed my artist, and the logo of Air Studios which is where the album would have been recorded. 
• I placed these on the bottom right hand corner, so just like the barcode, it wouldn't cover any of the design on the back. I decided to place them track listing in the middle of the page, I did this because when finding a place for it to go, it didn't look right having it off to one side if there wasn't a big picture such as a picture of the artist on the other side balancing it out. 
• Underneath the track listing I put copy right and licensing, I thought it would be a good idea to put this on the back of the album because its something that is put on every album and without it, it would look unprofessional. 
• I'm really happy with how this has turned out and think I have achieved the professional and unique style that I set out to achieve. I think keeping the same background throughout with slight colour variations was a good idea because it all looked like it belonged together but the slight variations  make sure the background doesn't get boring and stops the pages looking like the same. 
• I added little bits of art work on parts of the digipak and think it creates a unique look and style to the album, at first glance I think it has a sort of scrap book look to it. I like how I have managed to combine art and photographs and have managed to do it succesfully. Although the digipak has a lot of information and art in it, I don't think it looks over crowded or messy. 

Digipak

• This is the inside of the digipak I am making. I followed the design of the second flat plan I made and think it has worked really well. I made a template of a CD slot and made it almost transparent so it would blend into the background but would also show where it would be placed and how it would look. 
• I used the same background I used for the cover but decided to play around with the colour levels and use colour variations throughout the digipak, so every page wouldn't look the same. I placed the track listing in the left section. For the header I used the same font I used on the cover and really liked the look of a blocked text. 
• I woudn't have been able to of used the same font for the song names as the letters wouldnt be visible. I didn't think the text would have been visible if it was put straight on to the leopard print background and decided to place it on top of a text box, I lowered the opacity levels so you can see the background through it, i had it fading from back to purple. I made the fade go from black (outer part) to purple (inner part). 
• I reversed the colours but thought it didn't look right having the fade go from light to dark, as I originally put the text box in place so the font would be visible but also having it fade to a colour similar to the background would help the box blend in and not look to blocked. I thought I should include the record the artist would have been signed to and the studio that the album would have been recorded in. 
• Because I put the track listing in the left section, I thought it would be a good idea to put the names of the people who worked on the album in the right hand section and have a brief 'Thank You' from the artist herself.

Flat plans of digipak

These are some flat plans for the inside of my digipak I will be making. I decided to create a digipak like the 'Myth' album I previously looked at, this means that the digipak won't be made out of plastic but will instead fold open and won't have a booklet of lyrics inside.

This is the first design I made, I thought I would see what it would be like if the CD slot was in the left section, I thought it would look good if there was text in the middle section , such as a track listing, the names of the people who worked on the album and maybe the artists 'Thank You's'. On the right section I would put a picture of the artist and place similar drawings that are used on the cover in the background. I don't think that having the CD in the left section is something that I will use for my digipak, as I think because it is the main focus it should be placed centered. I like the idea of having a track listing and other bits of information included in the digipak, because I think if it was placed all on the back, it would be too cluttered and the digipak would look bare and boring. I'm not set on the idea of having a picture of the artist in the digipak aswell as having one on the cover, I think having a similar background to the cover, having drawings and text would make it look too busy.

This is the second design for the digipak i'm making. I placed the CD slot in the middle section and think it looks alot better placed here, making and showing that it is the main feature of the digipak. I thought it would be good to split the text into two different boxes as I thought it would be difficult to place it all in one box. I placed both text boxes on the outer halves of the left and right sections. I would put similar drawings that are on the cover in the remainder parts of the left and right sections, leaving the middle section plain for the CD slot. I think the symmetrical layout of this digipak design works really well and think it woud transfer well. I would be able to have a similar- if not the same background inside and it wouldn't look too cluttered. I decided to leave out a picture of the artist inside because I think it would take up too much space and would make it look too busy and messy.

Digipak cover

• This is the cover the digipak I made. I decided to use the design from the first flatplan I made. For this I used a photo of the artist Lauren Figurski, I thought the idea of her drinking tea would contrast against the name of the album 'Wild' making the cover some what humorous. 
• I decided to put a leopard background as it went well with the title. For the flowers that I have put on the backgroud, I painted them in a tattoo style and then scanned the painting into my computer. I wanted to have them fading as they went down the page, so the ones on the top of the cover are at full opacity and the ones at the bottom are barely visable. 
• I really liked the stamped font I have used on the cover, but the letters were originally transparent meaning theat what ever the colour the background would be, the letters would also be. To prevent the letters being leopard print like the background and not very visable, I put a white rectangle shape and placed the text on top of it, I think it works best in white as it contrasts against the black surrounding and doesn't get lost in the colour of the background, like a colour such as pink would. 
• I put a  'Parental Advisory' sticker in the bottom left hand corner as some of the lyrics included would be explicit. I put it in the corner because it would be out of the way, wouldn't cover any of the design and would still be visiable. I think the stye of the roses, the colour and style of the text and the 'Parental Advisory' sticker all contribute to give the cover a pop-punk style that fits with the style music within the album. 
• I'm really pleased with how the cover has turned out and think that I will use a similar background and drawing/painting style in the rest of the digipak.

Digipak flat plans

 I have been designing some flat plans for the cover of my digipak. These are 2 of the designs, the ones I think will look best on a cover.

This is the first one I made, I decided to place the artist in the center of the page and have a close up shot. I placed the parental advisory sticker in the bottom left corner so it would be out of the way and wouldn't cover any of the design on the cover. I put the name of the artist and the name of the album at the top of the cover. On the background I thought it would be a good idea to do some drawings and paintings and photoshop them into the background and have them fading as they go down the page.

This is the second plan I made, I thought I would see what it would look like to only show half of the artists face. I thought it would be good to use a plain but bright background with just the name of the artist and of the album and keep it fairly plain. I kept the parental advisory sticker in the bottom left hand corner like I did on the other plan, as I feel it is the best and most convenient place to have it. I'm not too pleased with how this one looks and don't like the way the half face picture looks. 

For my cover I think I will use the first plan, I think the placement of the artist, and the name of the artist and album work best when placed in the center (picture of the artist) and along the top of the page (name of artist and of the album). I think the idea of having drawings and paintings fading down the page will be a good design and will give the album a sort of scrap book and vintage feel to it. 

Myth digipak analysis

• When looking at the design of digipaks I found out that there are variations of the layout. This is one I found that doesn't follow the usual design that are used for digipaks. 
• The first thing I noticed was that there wasn't a little booklet used in these ones, all of the text, and information was neatly placed within this or sometimes even put on the back, the only thing that is missing that would have been placed within the booklet is the songs lyrics. 
• I liked that they hadn't used lyrics in this one, as I feel they aren't always needed and honestly seem to just be page fillers. I feel that having the lyrics in a booklet is an old convention and it something that does seem to be dying out. 
• Usually the CD slot in these type of digipaks are placed in the middle section, unless there is two in that case they are placed in the left and right sections, but this one has only one discbut it is still placed in the left section, to me this seems like a strange placement. 
• This digipak has a very dark and dull colour scheme which consists of black, and brown but has colour splashes of a dull orange colour. The colour scheme and the background used in the photos give the impression of the enviroment, character and maybe even music are all grunge and dark. Like the Evanescence digipak, this one does follow the convention of using the same style photos within the digipak and these are usually from the same photoshoot.
• Less materials would be used to create this style digipak meaning it would be cheaper to make, giving the artist and the company more of a profit. Althought it would be cheaper and uses less materials, I don't think it cheapens the look of the digipak and actually makes it looks smarter and professional.

• I really like the layout of this digipak and think it is how I will layout the digipak I create, I think I will place the CD slot in the centre section and have pictures, track listing and other information in the left and right sections. For the cover I haved a leopard print design for the background because it worked and supported the albums name 'Wild' so I think I will continue using the leopard print but maybe try using colour variations to make it look a bit different to the cover. 
• On the cover I also painted a tattoo styled rose and scaned it in to place on the cover, I really liked the mix of having an actual photo, and my art on the cover so think I will maybe try adding some other drawings and paintings in the digipak. I won't be including lyrics in my digipak as I wont be including a booklet and feel that lyrics would be a waste of space and materials as they aren't vital for the digipaks success.