Research

Nicki Minaj (Rap/Hip Hop/Pop)

I chose this album cover because I like the use of bright colours, I think it fits with the genre because it appeals to a young audience. Also during my research I have noticed lots of the genre I am going for shows the artists face very innocently. Some feature male gaze type images but never too obviously because the target audience are young females. When making my digipak I am going to use bright colours (pop art) similar to this because I think it is very eye catching and fitting of the genre.

Beyonce (RnB/Pop)

I have chosen this cover because I think even though it is not bright like most in this genre it features a very plain image which gives a calm effect which I like. I would like my digipak to have a bold album name however small like one word or number like this. I like that all the writing is in the same font and the background is just plain. With my image I don't think I will use a male gaze type image because I want my target audience to be slightly younger than this. I think this target audience is older because of the plain maturity of the cover.

Jessie J (Pop)

The same as most pop album artwork this features an innocent looking artists face on the cover. I think this gives away the target audience very clearly because she looks young and innocent. The brightness of the image gives it an almost pop art effect with her bright lipstick and black hair. the simpleness of the image is what I intend to have mine as. The plain writing however with her signature name font looks effective because it is not too bold and overwhelming. 

Rihanna (Rnb/Pop)

This is my favourite cover because I like the brightness of the image because it gives a pop art effect with her bright red lip and hair. The innocent expression on her face fits the genre which is young females because she is not over exposed or anything. I like the use of capital letters for the album name because it makes it bold yet not because its in a soft whiteish colour. I would like to use this sort of cover for mine because I like the effects used and I think it will fit my type of artist perfectly.

Rita Ora (Pop)
I really like this digipak because of the use of black and white for images and bright coloured writing. With this genre there are usually bright coloured images with dull writing, with this being a redundant form of a pop digipak it is also amplifying because there are lots of differences. When I create my digipak I would like to have one similar to this, featuring similarities with a few differences. I like the use of one main bold colour throughout all the artwork. All digipaks show the label and distributors, so I would be required to do this. Rita Ora's digipak connotes her star persona through images, these show she is bold, outrageous, youthful and informal. The images show her to be very relaxed and down to earth which make it easier for her fans to connect with her on a personal level, this is common in Pop digipaks. It is common for Pop albums to have names very simplistic whether they are one word or just a number which I will include in mine. I think showing the artists star persona is very important because it shows they are serious in the industry and well known.
Important Features:

• Barcode
• Parental Advisory
• Tracklist
• Copyright information
• Artist name and album (front and back)
• Images of the artist
• Website/Fansite

The main image on the front cover is of the artist who appears to be looking at the camera. The direct mode of address shows how determined and confident the artist is. The facial expression is not stern or relaxed so i think its giving the impression she is approachable and gentle. The font is quite plain being a sans serif font it makes it very informal. This fits the target audience as they are young. The typography is the same throughout the album with all titles being in bright red capitals, and the less important things in white and black. Thee bright red lipstick gives it a sexual feel however not too extreme.
The CD is bright red creating a strong contrast with the bold white writing which stands out to the audience. Still keeping with the colour scheme with the same font and capitals.
The back cover shows lots of images of the artist in different ways. These images give a good view of her star persona to be very childlike, carefree and fun however determined and confident in the music industry. Still keeping with all the patterns of red, white and black writing with capital letters. The side panels show the album title and artists name including her record label.


                                                       Nicki Minaj (Pop/Rap/HipHop)

The front cover the shows what the artist is like having bright pink and the album being called Pink Friday because Nicki Minaj is known for being girly and doll-like, she often wears the colour pink in her videos. The target audience is able to notice the use of colours and obvious characteristics of this artist. This theme is obvious throughout the digipak. Her outfit is very girly and similar to what a princess would wear, this shows her star persona because she feels shes is the queen and often refers to that in her songs. The back of the digipak is very similar to the front cover by following the same colour scheme. It is obvious her appearance is what the audience is meant to be focused on rather than the music and track list because the images are very large whereas the tracklist is very small and subtle. Her outfit is a long trailed skirt which shows her in a sexual manner with the front of the skirt being basically invisible to the audience all we can see are her legs in a sexual way which is not fitting with the target audience because they are young teens, whereas the back of the dress is obviously like a princess dress which does fit with the audience. In her music videos her costumes are commonly crazy and out of the ordinary which is similar to her as an artist because she is know to make strange noises and voices in her songs. There is a lot of male gaze however this does not match her music because it is generally very simple with a very catchy chorus which targets the younger generation of females. At the bottom left hand corner are the institutions which are positioned in the bottom left so that they are the last thing the audience sees. These will be demands of sponsors or the record label so they are shown to be connected to the audience.

Album advertisements have become much less common due to illegal downloading, record labels would much prefer to put money into advertising their artists tours. I have noticed this during my researching. This has changed my idea from creating an album poster to create a poster for an arena tour.

Typical conventions of a music magazine advert are:

• An image,usually from the digipak
• The date the CD is out or released
• Band name
• Album name
•  Reviews e.g. 5 stars
• Available from e.g. HMV, Amazon
• Record label logo
• Tracks featured
• Website
• Slogan/strap line
• Tour date
• Limited Edition
• Offers to download
• Quotes from newspapers and music magazines
• Name at the top of the advert

                                                                        

  

 Both Jessie J's tour and album album advertisements are basically the same, they both have common factors which the audience will be familiar to, for instance the black, gold and white colour scheme. They both have the same image, they have similar contents too. They are both very plain with minimal information however there are still clear demands from the record label in smaller font on both posters. On my advertisement I am going to create on for a tour because it is becoming less common for artists to have album adverts, they are now promoting them more themselves by having appearances on popular shows ect. I would like to use a colour scheme with a bold interesting image similar to Jessie J's because I think it is very striking and draws attention to it. Album advertisements always show a popular song which has hit the charts because the people feel the rest of the album will be just as good, like this one. Also the use of putting on their website is common in both tour and album posters. It seems like it is important to put only the key information because in this genre I have not found any cluttered posters from information, only from images.