As well as my music video, I also have to produce two ancillary texts to further promote my bands album and video. I have chosen to create a magazine advertisement and a Digital-pack for my band's album and DVD. In order to create a successful and professional product I will research and analyse three existing magazine adverts and digital-packs by current bands. From this i will then gain the necessary codes and conventions for my own and incorporate these into my own product to look realistic.
Advert 1 analysis -
This first poster is for the album 'The boy who new too much' by Mika (2009)
This poster at first glance of course is a very detailed poster but can immediately reflect the thoughts and imaginations of a young boy. This would be very appealing as Mika has mainly a youthful following aged around 7 to 14 years old. The album name is clearly illustrated by the drawing suggestion that he knows a lot through reading. We can also recognise as an audience from the mise en scene of the picture that the character is a stereotypical teenager with a messy room, lots of posters on the wall and how he is in his own little world, miles away in his thoughts which is portrayed by the drawings of space, stars and planets. The lively, bold colours again suggest the youthful target audience and how they might relate to the drawing more than if it was a photograph of something. The artists name is in a very large font, in order for the audience to immediately recognise him and his new album. The font is not only bold but looks raised and 3-d like in order for it to stand out from the page. The white colour of the font also allows it to be noticed as it contrasts with the colourful background. So the boldest font is the name of the artist to draw the target audience in, and the album name is smaller as its the next thing they should read. The font again for this album name is different and more childlike and could reflect the boys handwriting. You can also see a black and white picture of Mika the artist, which contrasts with the bold colours which could display the age gap between the boy and the adult. The picture is also in the form of a poster, as not to stand out too much and blend in with the other wall posters. There is then further information which the audience if they are interested will be informed about. This includes the date that it's out and two hit tracks that should entice the audience further to go out and buy the album. There is also an official website for Mika fans to join up to and find out the latest music, events and competitions.
Magazine advert Analysis 2
My second analysis is of the magazine poster for the Basement Jaxx 'Rooty' album (2001)
This poster to me is very abstract with its two layers of outer space and random pink and blue paint. The contrast in these layers could outline the different sounds and textures to their hybrid genre of deep house, electronic, house and techno house music. The imagery of space and stars could reflect how your mind subconsciously moves into another dimension through the music, an almost out of this world feeling. I also feel that the pink paint could signify also a more lively, unpredictable levels within the music. The colours could also connotes a mixed gender target audience through the use of pink against black to contrast, but yet appeal to them both.There signature artist font for the band name has been used to immediately gain audience recognition. The contrast of smooth and sharp edges within the font could reflect the different layers and textures of the music again. There is also a stripey pattern displayed within the face of the font which rises up and down unevenly across which could be associated with the volume and measurement of the bass line. This pattern and colour scheme has also been used in a more recent album called 'Oh my gosh' released 2005 which the audience could relate back to the bands earlier roots with this album cover art. This font is also used smaller for the album title 'Rooty' which doesn't really make sense but the image of the monkey chewing on what could be the root of a plant could amplify the album name further. This image also creates a comical element to the album cover as monkeys are generally considered humorous animals. Therefore it lightens the mood and creates a warming inviting feel to the album and not to take the band to seriously. There is again like the first magazine poster, further information of the date its out, a website to follow them and even an event in which to watch them play live. This was all in very small print as its less important when trying to grab and entice and audience to read the poster and is just additional information.
Magazine advert analysis 3
My last magazine advert analysis is 'The Best Of -The Vines'( 2008 ) which is a compilation album of their greatest hits. Their album is kept rather simple with just green and white colours used. However i feel it is really effective and stands out, and the vines look rather modern and abstract. Of course the leafy vine pattern that is used on this album illustrates literally the bands name and is a clear signifier of the band to an audience as they've kept this theme throughout their album work. However there is more of the vines in detail on this particular album which could reflect their growth of success as a band and how much they've progressed. The same font is also used on all their albums for the name of the band which would create continuity and recognition from their target audience. There is quite an eery more grungy font that says 'the best of' next to it which is a definite clue in the genre of the band's music. There classed under the genres of alternative rock,garage rock, post-grunge and neo-psychedelia which is seen to be different and quite dark in some areas of their music which is illustrated by the font. Again there is additional information of when the albums released, main hits and an exclusive bonus track and what formats their available in like Cd's and downloads.
Codes and conventions of magazine album adverts
From researching and analysing other magazine adverts I have identified the main key features necessary to promote an album:
1) Large/ bold / signature font used for the name of the band to capture audience's attention
2) Name of the album in fairly average font size usually in a different font to bands name
3)Relevant background/images/drawings which can be associated with album name/issue
4) Additional information of the hits included, any bonus tracks, date release, live events and an official website address
5) Also, a very small the record company label which the band are under
Classic album cover analysis
I will now look at three classic album covers from three different bands and eras. I will again look for the codes and conventions with them and try to identify and incorporate these into my own ancillary text.
Analysis 1 - London Calling - The Clash
This is a very classic album cover for the album 'London Calling by The Clash (1979). The British punk rock band used political rants and reference to world social events that were happening at the time in this album, especially the hit song itself 'London calling'. The font is bold and colourful and in exactly the same style as Elvis Presley's first album in 1956. The bassist Paul Simonon admitted that when Elvis's record came out, rock and roll was pretty dangerous and he felt that when he brought out their record it was 'pretty dangerous stuff too'. This may be the inspiration to lift the text from Elvis Presley's album and use it for theirs. Elvis Presley's picture is also an action shot of him singing hard, and the clash have brought even more passion to their album cover with a release of frustration and anger as the bassist Paul, violently slams the guitar down. It was hard times for them back then, and i feel it really comes across within this picture and is a very effective photograph. The black and white colour furthermore adds to the dark side and emotions of this picture. The clothes are very iconographic of that era and genre too, with the tight jeans, sleeveless jackets and leather boots creates a harsh, edgy rock punk style which further promotes their genre of music and ideologies. I found it unusual overall though that the bands name is considerably smaller than the album title which i haven't found yet in my previous research into magazine album posters.
Analysis 2 - Super tramp
I find this album cover very fascinating to look at as its just so unique and effective for the audience. Of course the whole layout is based on the concrete jungle of new york city but of course the whole theme is based around having breakfast in America and all the menus, cutlery, plates and cups etc all make up the skylines of all the buildings. The waitress holding up the orange juice is also suppose to reassemble the statue of liberty in a similar pose. Her skin is made to look shiny also, like a fake statue. However the overall image is comical and amusing from how it is cleverly constructed together. From the audiences view, its as if you were looking out of a plane window to see it as its even got the little droplets of condensation on the window to look like a realistic drawing. The woman is a typical happy, American waitress as well, with the generic uniform, hat piece and large figure as big breakfast are served in America generally. I find the writing clever too, the way it has two tones of blue and white fading from the sky into what seems the clouds. I also interpreted the writing as if the letters were super hero's zooming up into the air with super powers. Almost like the super hero superman, but in this case a comical figure, super tramp. I like how the album name is on the menu as well which is very relevant as if it was the restaurants name on the front like a normal one would.
Analysis 3 - The Prodigy - The Fat of the Land
This is another classic album cover for 'The Fat of the Land'- by Prodigy (1997) and again is another different genre mainly consisting of Big beat, synth punk, break beat and hardcore techno. I really like this album cover too as its again comical from an audiences point of view as it looks like the crab has its hands up raving. Audiences familiar with thee prodigy's music will associate this type of movement with fans dancing in crowds and the band themselves worshipping the music with passion. The motion blur on the photo adds further effect as it connotes fast tempo, loud songs that surrounds you and almost hypnotises you into a trance. It could also reflect the drug culture associated with the prodigy's music where everything around you is disorientated but the loud bass of the music you can still hear. The picture also looks abroad, like Ibiza for example which for some sub genres of their music (more dance trance music) would blend in well as its the party capital and the prodigy's music is all about letting go and losing yourself in the music. There is of course the bands name at the top and their signature symbol to represent their band - a tarantula(which is also the name of one of their more famous songs) so they already get audience recognition just from that. The album title then follows in smaller font underneath 'The fat of the land' generically.
Through analysing these classic albums, i have studied the meaning, issues and analysed the reasons behind the construction and concious decisions made. There is a strong theme of humour on the last two album covers which i feel is an effective technique for attracting and engaging an audience with the album art. There is also the broad charchteristics of having just one photo and layering the bands name, symbol and album title over it. As the albums have progressd you can see a change from black and white images to colour, more experimental fonts and sizes and less serious front covers and more abstract or humorous album covers.
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