Magazine Advertisement Design Idea

My Magazine Advert Design Idea 

For my design idea I included the names of two well know magazines that would have reviewed the album for their audiences. The ratings are very common for many album magazine adverts.

I have also told the reader when the album is out and the name of the album along with the name of the band.

Magazine Advert Design Idea

Magazine Album Advertisement Analysis

Below is a magazine advertisement for the indie rock band The Horror's album called Strange House;

An analysis of the magazine advert using MindMeister;

Magazine Album Advertisment Analysis

The target audience for this artist and the advert are males and female, early-mid 20’s. This is shown through the use of a black and white image filter, this shows that audience who the artist is but it doesn’t focus on his ‘star image’; this effect is suitable for his audience because they will be buying his album for the high quality music not because of his celebrity status or image.

The sketched drawing on the front of the album is a child-like impression of the artist Joe Zeffa. This ‘character’ has been used in the advert, he is hiding behind the artists shoulder, and this may link to the mood of the album. The music may include themes such as loneliness- this is indicated by the sketch of the artist being alone on the CD cover, the songs may also use themes of longing for companionship and friendship- this is indicated by the sketch being behind Zeffa’s shoulder, it could be seeking protection or company.

The advert highlights the artists name and the album title, this has been done to make the audience create a link between the artist and his debut album. The title of the album ‘After the Cake’ is quite obscure, unless the song focus on food and cake the title does not reveal much about the content of the album. Zeffa’s pre-existing audience know his style and understand any references that he may be making in this title. If somebody has not heard his music before, this tile may seem odd or random, this could make this new audience interested and intrigued and want to listen to the album to find out the hidden meaning. But it could just confuse them and make the album less appealing.

This is a full page advertisement; this makes sure that the audience can easily see this advert. Because no distinct colours are used the greyscale colour scheme will stand out against the bright colours on the other pages surrounding it.

Because the album cover has been put into the advert, the audience will know what the cover looks like if they plan to buy it in a shop. The advert also states that the album is available to download form his website, this is ideal for the early-mid 20’s audience who use a lot of technology in their everyday life and increasingly for music.

Half of the artist face is shown; he has a stubble beard and shaggy hair. This is his image which his target audience will recognise but he is not relying on his image to attract this audience. At the very top of the advert it says “Manchester born”, this represents his roots and background. It shows that he is a normal, inner city man who has found success; his audience may feel that this makes him a more down-to-earth and honest person, who they can relate to.

The artist’s logo is large and bold. It dominates the top quarter of the page making it stand out. This will draw the audience’s eyes to the artist name so that they know who the album is by and who he is if they don’t recognise him.

Research for Digipak: HMV

Album Analysis- 'Love in the Future' by John Legend

Album Analysis - Nirvana, Nevermind

The massively popular grunge rock group Nirvana released the groundbreaking album, Nevermind in 1991. It ushered in a new era of rock and music in general with the hit single Smells Like Teen Spirit taking the chats by storm for the many years that followed. In this post I will analyse the album and highlight the underlying message of it's strange and vivid artwork.

The front cover of Nirvana's 1991 album Nevermind

Initially the name of the album was set to be Sheep, which was a subtle joke created by Kurt Cobain directed at the people that would be buying the album. In the end however, Cobain grew tired of the name and settled on Nevermind as it as a metaphor for his attitude on life in general and that it was grammatically incorrect.

The typography of the name of the album, Nevermind, is written in a way that almost reflects water shimmering and bending. The name of the band is written in it's traditional style that is associated with them and that they use on all of their work.

The album cover features a baby boy in a bright blue pool who is seemingly chasing a $1 bill that's on a fish hook. The artistic idea behind the image came from Cobain who had been watching water births with his fellow band member Dave Grohl. Cobain thought that it would symbolise how even at birth a person is chasing money, they're always after it. The nakedness of the child shows innocence and purity, this is enforced by the clearness of the pool and it's vivid blue colour. This idea of innocence is reinforced by the concept that the water is a associated with baptism.

Cobain wanted to create a memorable image that would challenge the business ideas of the time. The entire concept is a strange one as a baby of course doesn't understand what money is and how currency works. The baby chasing the dollar bill shows greed and avarice that is not possible in a child so young but it signifies how big business manages to reel us all in and have us chasing like fish.

One of the most striking parts of the album is the showing of the young boys penis. There was some concern initially from Geffen who though that if the penis was shown that the album would be received badly. Cobain however thought that it should remain. He refused to have it removed and his only compromise was that a sticker could be placed over the penis that said "if you're offended by this, you must be a closet paedophile".

It could also be said that the penis may symbolise an umbilical cord and that the image of the baby seemingly happy could remind audiences of babies in the womb. The deep blue of the water could signify danger despite it being clear that the baby is near the surface of the water. The deep blue could also however signify peace which relates to the name of the band, Nirvana. The Buddha described Nirvana as "the perfect peace of the state of mind that is free from craving, anger and other afflictive states (kilesas). The subject is at peace with the world, has compassion for all and gives up obsessions and fixations" via Wikipedia.

The back cover of Nevermind is very different to the front but it follows a similar watery theme. The background is a turquoiise blue that shimmers almost like water. This, like the watery theme on the front cover could symobolise innocence and purity.

The main image is a collage that Cobain made himself. The collage which has a rubber monkey superimposed over the top of it features images from Dante's Inferno paintings, photos of raw beef and pictures of diseased vaginas. Cobain used many of his collages and paintings in Nirvana's art work as he preferred it to what others came up with. Cobain also revealed in an interview that if you look hard enough you can see an image of the legendary rock band, KISS. Just above the monkey's head the band are shown standing on top of a slab of beef. The collage of images could symbolise an internal struggle or just the rebellious attitude that Nirvana had. Shops would have to show these images whether they liked it or not and they wouldn't know what the images actually were.

Music Press Research - MOJO

We looked through a selection of music magazines on Magforum.com looking for a suitable publication for our band. We wanted a magazine that was appropriate for the genre and reflected the band effectively.

We have chosen to use MOJO for our magazine advertisement. This is because the magazine covers a wide range of genres but it encapsulates the indie/alternative style. Here are some examples of previous covers:

The Smiths

Nirvana

The Black Keys

Album Cover In Depth Analysis

Chorus Lip-Syncing: Practice and Analysis

What went well?
Shooting the clip was successful as the lyrics were well rehearsed and we managed to film without any problems. As a group we chose a suitable spot for the filming of the video; a wooden background which complimented the Indie Rock feel that we were aiming for, for this reason, we may end up using this in the final video. We found that the pronunciation was correct and we managed to stay in time with the lyrics as the music during the chorus was not too fast paced.

What did not go well?
One of the final lines was very quick so it would be better if we had a backup singer for that line so it would work in time with the music better. Also, it would be better if the performance was dynamic with potentially more people in the shot to enhance the video.

What have I learnt?
The artist should be more aware of the tempo of the music and the lyrics and how they should be sung to do this we need to immerse ourselves within the feel of the music in order to get into character and give a more dynamic performance.

What sections will we lip synch?
We will lip synch the chorus and verses that are not needed for narrative purposes. We’ll be more selective about verses which include backing singers, this will overcome the problem of overcrowding the shot.

Album Cover Analysis

A look at album covers of different genres:


A look at album covers from the Indie Rock genre:

A look at the history of album covers

Indie Rock Mood Board

My Indie Rock Mood Board ft. Various Artists and Styles

Moodboard - The Indie Rock Genre

A collection of images which show conventions, motifs and ideas of the indie rock music genre.

In-depth analysis of another students video- 'Do I Wonna Know' by Arctic Monkeys

Analysis of Indie Rock Music Videos

Audience Research - Popular Genres

For our research it will be useful to explore how popular our chosen genre is in the charts to find out whether it has a chance of succeeding. I took screenshots from the Radio 1, MTV and iTunes charts which are three of the most reliable charts available.

Radio 1 UK Top 40

In 1st-place is Cheryl with I Don't Care which is a pop/dance song.
In 2nd-place is Ed Sheeran with Thinking Out Loud which is an R&B/soul/soft rock song.
In 3rd-place is Meghan Trainor with All About That Bass which is a pop/doo-wop/blue-eyed soul song.
In 4th-place is John Legend with All of Me which is an R&B song.
In 5th place is Taylor Swift with Shake it Off which is a pop song.

This chart shows that at the moment pop and R&B are the most popular genres for people in the UK with no indie rock songs within the top 5.

                   MTV 

This is a screenshot from http://www.mtv.co.uk/music/charts/the-official-uk-top-40-singles-chart that shows the top 5 most popular songs in the UK according to them as of the 9th of November, 2014.

In 1st-place is Cheryl with I Don't Care which is a pop/dance song.
In 2nd-place is Ed Sheeran with Thinking Out Loud which is an R&B/soul/soft rock song.
In 3rd-place is Meghan Trainor with All About That Bass which is a pop/doo-wop/blue-eyed soul song.
In 4th-place is John Legend with All of Me which is an R&B song.
In 5th-place is Taylor Swift with Shake it Off which is a pop song.

This chart is almost identical to the Radio 1 chart with the top 5 consisting of exactly the same artists with just the top 2 in a reshuffled order.

iTunes Top 100 Songs

Below is a screenshot from the iTunes top 100 songs list as of the 13th of November, 2014.

In 1st-place is One Direction with Girl Almighty which is a pop song.
In 2nd-place is Gareth Malone's All Star Choir with Wake Me Up which is a cover of Avicii's original song which is part of the EDM/soul/folktronica genres.
In 3rd-place is Ed Sheeran with Thinking Out Loud which is an R&B/soul/soft rock song.
In 4th-place is One Direction with 18 which is a pop song.
In 5th-place is One Direction with Steal My Girl which is a pop song.

This chart shows us some new artists but none from the indie rock genre either. The top 5 is made up generally of pop songs much like the two previous charts.

Conclusion

In general the most popular songs in the top 5 of each chart I have investigated are pop songs from pop artists. There are not any indie rock artists or indie rock songs within the upper levels of any of the charts. This shows how niche the indie rock scene is. There's a hardcore group of dedicated fans that may not be in as many numbers as the pop fans but they are just as, if not more, dedicated to the genre and supporting its artist's.

Audience Research - Promotion Strategies

When promoting videos YouTube gives you advice on how to build your fanbase, keep fans coming back and how to expand your audience amongst much more. You can find their strategy points here - https://www.youtube.com/yt/creators/music.html#yt-creators-topics-strategies-card-7

The image to the left shows the points that YouTube offers to content creators on how to build their channel.

Some of the key points are -

• The time of uploading the video should considered. Releaseing a video when it is most relevant will gain it the most views whereas releasing it when no-one is interested will not gain many views.
• Lyric videos are very effective at garnering interest as viewers prefer to be interactive with the video. Offering samples could also build up hype surrounding the video and this is a key tool we could use.
• Using effective and meaningful metadata can help gain lots of views as more will be searching for it. Having this is the description and title will help.

Audience Research - Vlogs

A video log or "vlog" is a form of blog that is produced in the form of a video. The first vlog was posted online on January 2, 2000, by Adam Kontras and since then it has become a hugely popular way of delivering various forms of media.

YouTube is a high-traffic site for vloggers who's main aim is usually to get as many views as possible on their videos. Out the 100 most subscribed to channels on YouTube, 17 are vlogs. The YouTube Partnership Programme has given many vloggers a great platform to increase exposure and gain money from making their videos. In 2013, the highest paid vlogger earned $720,000 for the year.

BFvsGF

One of the most popular vlogs on YouTube is BFvsGF who have over 5,000,000 subscribers with a total of 1.22 billion views on their videos. They aim for satire and viewers can follow certain parts of their lives through their videos.

Jenna Marbles

Another very popular vlogger is Jenna Marbles who like BFvsGF she aims to deliver funny and interesting videos to viewers with an insight into her life. She has over 14,000,000 subscribers with over 1.59 billion views on her her videos. Most of her videos are aimed at girls, mainly teenagers, who want to be like her.

Music Vlog example

A great example of a vlog based around music is Misty's Music Vlog, from the YouTube channel Clevver Music, which aims to bring music lovers the "hottest young adult pop hip hop music news every day".

She has a variety of videos on her account which focus on music news, predicting awards and responding to comments. 

Her account focuses on her love for music and this is shown in her image which is of her by her computer holding a ukelele. This instantly shows what she's about and it's an effective way of showing the audience that she enjoys music.

The vlog has a very logo that enhances the experience for the viewer who will be able to see that it's a serious and professional account. It's a good idea to have this to come across effectivley and understood well.

Audience Research - Promotion Strategies

Youtube offer lots of strategy advice for music artists and album promotion, as shown below. You can find the list below at https://www.youtube.com/yt/creators/music.html#yt-creators-topics-strategies-card-7

Main points to remember:

• Uploading a lyric video will increase interest for our music video, offering video 'samples' (short footage of the music video) may also promote our music video, these could be regularly uploaded to maintain interest. 
• Naming and describing videos with easy to search words can make it easier to find online. And creating playlists helps viewers navigate through our channel contents.
• We can make it easy for fans to access more information about the music video by linking to blogs, Facebook pages, subscription button and other playlists on our Youtube channel.
• Time of uploading should be considered, we should aim to upload the final video when we will have the most viewers. Uploading time should be a set regular time if we are updating regularly so that our viewers know when to expect a video from us.