Production Log

Today I finished the analysis of the Rihanna, Ne-yo and King’s of Leon advertisement  

Analysis of King’s Of Leon Advertisement

The print advertisement for King’s Of Leon’s “Only By The Night” is likely been printed around September 2008 as this is when the album was released.

 The typography of the artist name and name of the album is very bold and will attract an audience because its one of the main conventions which stands out the most apart from the main image. Using this type of typography would appear to the ­­male crowd because it’s a masculine font and it’s sharp rather than curvy; having red on the release date enhances how important it is for consumers to go out and buy the album, it also provides visual stimulation as it’s the only vibrant colour on the add.  

With the main image the artist has chosen to make his face look grotesque by combining the features of an owl, this has correlation with the album title because owls are nocturnal creatures who like to hunt for prey at night which could suggest why the whole image has the green effect. Having the face disfigured suggests that he doesn’t want people to see what he’s truly like and the owl features can imply his other side to his music, trying to prey on the consumers to get a wider fan base;

the typography could also connect with the font that is displayed on a night vision camera. The colours used are quite dark and dull which implies that this band originates from the Rock genre, so this adheres to the stereotypical colours that you would usually associate with Rock.

Overall I think this advertisement would reach its audience and be successful because it’s something unique and it may attract more of a younger crowd because the obscurity of the main image, it subverts the ideology of a typical Rock band but the colours compliment the genre. 

Analysis of Ne-yo Advertisement

The print advertisement for Ne-yo’s “Libra Scale” is likely to be printed around October 2010 as this was when the album was released.

With the main image we se that the main artist is in a suit which makes him look sophisticated, the white connotes purity and elegance whilst the black connotes dominance. This look contrasts with where the background is set, it appears to look grim and dark, but the light behind the artist could connote him bring light into the darkness, the light representing his sound and the darkness being the music industry showing that he’s versatile artist. His posture implies confidence and that he maybe untouchable this is given off by his body language and facial expression. With the framing of this advertisement, they’ve placed him in front of the background and his name and success showing that he’s been able to make it into the music industry and people have noticed him and accepted his music “Grammy award winner”. 

With the background being dark it allows the typography to stand out more because the white works well on top of the black. The artists name is big, bold and sharp this enables it to stand out the most out of all the text, the title of the album is written in a italic font which compliments his style of dress, whereas his name ties in with the setting. Overall the contrast with the main image and typography compliment and correlates with each other because it shows the transition of rags to riches through his career.

This would appeal to a younger/middle aged audience because it showcases sophistication and the boasting of his success may draw people in to entice them to buy the product because they represent him in a good light. I think this may not be successful as it could be because an audience could argue that the appeal of the advertisement is slightly bland because it looks like the composition has been done many times previously with other artist, but then again some may prefer for it to be like this because its still appealing and gets it’s message across.

Analysis of Rihanna Advertisement

The print advertisement for Rihanna’s “Rated R” is likely to have been printed around November 2009 as this is when the album was released.

Having the effect of black and white subverts the idea of the genre this album generates from which are Pop and Dance Pop; this is a good idea because the consumer may get the impression that it may be filled with genres like Rock, R&B or Hip-Hop indicating from the heavy make up around her eyes, dark lipstick, and her wearing leather clothing and a lot of jewellery. The main image looks like its been torn from paper this goes with the look she has, showing the hard side to her personality - by her covering one side of her face makes it look like she has something to hide away from her audience but it could be that she shows it within the album.

 The typography works well with the aestheticism of the album, it’s bold and prominent. The “R” allocated in the top right corner could represent an arbitrary sign for her fans to recognise if they’re apart of that culture, so this is a good way to brand her and the album because people will notice it. The featured songs also correlate with the persona that is being perceived from the artist; the body language gives of the impression that she is “hard” and shows she may like to gamble within “Russian roulette”.  This advertisement may appeal to it’s audience because it shows the different side to her, compared to previous albums, this one shows her versatility as an artist and it displays her coming out of her comfort zone and shell.

Overall I think this a successful advertisement because the simplicity of it makes the add more interesting and appealing for an audience and it diverts the idea of the Pop genre and what it would look like with vibrant colours and interesting background settings. This would appeal to teenagers or older because they may like the look of the artist within the fashion sense and the type of genre the album is made up of.

Production Log

Today I finished the analysis of PJ Harvey and Earth, Wind & Fire album covers 

Analysis on Earth Wind, & Fire Album Cover

“Greatest Hits” was Earth, Wind & Fire’s 2^nd album of their collection of greatest hits, between 1973 – 1981; this album was released in November 1998. It was ranked number 12 and number 6 on Allmusic's list of the Top Funk and Smooth soul albums of all time respectively.

Looking at Earth Wind & Fire’s album cover, it uses a range of vibrant colours which complement the symbols and the name of the band. Using colours such as blue, red/orange, green and brown represents the earth’s natural four elements of water, earth, wind and fire which could connote the bond the artist have together, and how they’ve stuck to their roots within their music to keep it original for their audience. This may entice their consumers because it’s colourful and it works well with the band’s name. The main image represents the origin of Egyptian culture, by using symbols such as pyramids, this may interest their audience because it makes the album seem mysterious and it may intrigue them to want to know what inspired them as a group to be connected with that particular country. Also each symbol can represent a part of them and their personality.

With typography its bold upper case lettering which enables it to stand out from the cover, also by using white it allows the artists name and title to be more prominent and noticeable for the consumer.  The title gives of the impression that this group have been around for along time using words such as ‘Greatest’, symbolises experience within the music industry and it showcases their talent as a group. The genre that they derive from is American R&B and Soul, these genres might appeal to an older audience because they were alive when the music was released or recorded, so not many of the younger audience would prefer this kind of sound compared to the current sound of R&B or Pop.

This album would’ve been successful because all the elements link and work well together, there’s a good range of colours being used and the main image stands out the most which will catch the consumer’s eye; but whereas in some cases some people would not understand the meaning of this main image, and the symbols on this cover may not appeal to them. 

Analysis on PJ Harvey Album Cover

“Let England Shake” was PJ Harvey’s 8^th studio album after “White Chalk”, it was released in February 2011 and took the period of 2 and half years to write the entire album. It was named best album of the year in 2011 and won the Uncut Music Award in November 2011.

Analysing this albums front cover, it has a very simplistic look by only using black against white and it has the title within the middle. The effect of the splashed black paint filtering into little birds creates the illusion of a bird nest being shaken, representing England and the explosion being the music; indicating this album will be popular around England and many will hear about it. The explosion can also represent the growth within the artists and his music because it spreads far out, but the birds can symbolise the music being heard everywhere; also the birds flocking away has correlation with the word ‘shake’ being apart of the albums name.

The main image could also connote a picture of a black hole, by not giving any signs of what the album may contain and it gives off a mysterious look, or it can show the effect of loud music being played and the movement of how birds flee away when they’ve been irritated.

The title is what makes the album stand out more because the typography is bold and written in upper case lettering; also it looks like the birds are over taking the title which creates a nice effect because it gives the impression of the artist’s music taking over and getting a wider fan base.

This album doesn’t give away what type of genre it may be but the effect of the birds fleeing could suggest it generates from a loud genre such as Rock. This album may appeal to teenagers or people over the age of 25 because it looks enticing and there isn’t much on the album cover and that may appeal to them more rather than a lot going on.

This album would be successful because the simplicity of it makes it more intriguing and it would engage the consumer and get them to make their own opinion of the album. I think this album is branded well because you can’t tell it derives from the Alternative Rock genre and it has a subtle approach and the main image has many implications which an audience would like.

Production Blog

 Today I finished the analysis of the Gorillaz and Madonna’s album cover

Analysis on Gorillaz Album Cover

Looking at the Gorillaz album cover we see that they’ve gone for a clean background by using black, connoting dominance and gives a mysterious appeal to the album, the colour doesn’t give too much away but looks enticing. The main image of the four artists contrasts the purity of the white squares because it could represent mug shots, and it could compliment the different characteristics of each artist. By using the unique selling point of animated characters helps give them a better brand identity, it draws in a different audience because they don’t see the artist physically and the animated characters can symbolise their alter egos or the other side to there personalities which they like to display to their audience/ consumers. Also featured on the album cover is a tie – in which will help entice the consumer to listen to that specific track and it emphasises on how important or good it might be.

With the typography they’ve used sharp upper case lettering which enables it to be more prominent against the black and works well with it; the title of the album links with the main image; “Demon” correlates with the eyes of the characters, and the black once again showing the mysterious side of the album.

Using a Parental Advisory sticker enables an open market for younger audiences to indulge within profanity or sexual referencing, the effect of this shows that it works as a promotional device to get them to buy this product and to fit within society because, it’s seen as a new culture of the younger generation. Overall  I think the simplicity of the colours and main image could compliment their type of music but with the animated characters it shows the intriguing side to their music which their audience will like most.

Analysis on Madonna’s Album Cover

“The Confession Tour” was Madonna’s 7^th tour and 10^th album she recorded. This tour was released in May 2006 and successfully sold 194.7 million (US dollars) by putting on over 60shows.

Looking at Madonna’s album cover the first thing which stands out is her name, this could connote she’s fun and bubbly and it could show how the album will be up tempo and keep its audience in suspense. The effect of the glow on her name creates and illusion of her personality but then it contrasts with the main image and background because it’s more dark and mysterious and represents her other side. With the main image it has the static effect across her face which shows how she may keep it old school within her music but her name is bright and shows there are still some modern day aspects to the music she makes and it works well together. With the album title it seems more personalised because it appears to look hand written and it’s curvy; in comparison to the artist’s name which is in upper case lettering and it has a bold/ sharp font. This may come across more sentimental for the consumer and the title still has correlation with the artist’s name because it shows the neon effect behind the text.

Also with the main image it doesn’t give away too much to its audience which can be an advantage because all the clues could be within the artist’s name; the O could represent a disco ball which can suggest this album is filled with the genre of Disco or Pop and these specific genres would appeal to teenagers or older.

Using the Parental Advisory sticker would also appeal to a younger audience because they’re more likely to take interest within profanity and inappropriate views/ opinions; this shows the sign of being rebellious, and trying to fit in with society, this sticker also works as a promotional device.  

Over all I think this album cover would be successful because it works well and even though there’s a contrast between the artist’s name and main image, the colourful aspect will attract its audience and it not a common thing to see within the genre of Pop or Disco because usually the album cover would be colourful all over rather than on element.