First Draft Advertisement

First Draft Digipak

This is my final first draft copy of my digipak:

Advertisement Ideas

Advertisement Mock-Ups
Here are 6 of my first draft advert mock-ups. I have used one basic idea and worked with this to create the look I want. I have used one main image of the artist as the focus for the advertisement, this photo is not exactly like the one I intend to use but I do not have my own photographs yet so I have taken this from the internet for my mock up. 
The background I have used is the same worn/stained vintage-looking paper effect as the one used within my digipak to help keep continuity between the two. For the titles I have used the same font as on the front cover of my digipak, 'Channel' for the same reasons as the background choice. 
I created a 'ghost like' effect using more transparent versions of the main photo, this reflects the idea of the album and reflects the title 'Ghosts'.
The 6 versions here show the variations of layout I have considered for the basic elements of album name, artist name, main image and background; to these I will also add basic information such as release date, a thumbnail image of the album cover, the single title 'Living Dead', the artist's twitter address and the record labels logo.

Advert Research: Album Advertisement Evaluation

Magazine Advertisement - Research

Cee Lo Green - The Lady Killer

I really like this album advertisement as it's simple but effective. I like the use of a photo of the artist as the main focus on the advert. I also like the boldness of the artist's name against the simplicity of the basic colour scheme in use. I think the idea of using the artist as a focal point could work really well for my advertisement. I also think the use of a striking text could help to emphasis the style of the album.

I like the bright colours within the colour scheme as this reflects the pop genre of music, however I would like to make my advertisement and digipak to have a less heavy feel which is created here through the use of dark colours.



The Hotlines - Self named debut album
I like the vintage and retro appearance of this advert, this is the kind of style I would like to achieve with my advert as it would clearly show the 1950's era. I also like the worn paper effect used, this is similar to the background I have used within my digipak, so could be something I use again for the advertisement for continuity. I like the simplicity of this advert, the way the image is faded into the background allows the text to stand out, emphasising the band name. I also like that they have included their myspace address and website address, this is something i can easily incorporate into my own magazine advertisement.

Florence and the Machine - Lungs
I like the idea that this advertisement in an 'extension' of the album cover as they have used the album artwork and added the information about the album release underneath. However, I think there is an overuse of varied font sizes here which makes the advertisement appear cluttered. 
I like the way the different platforms that the album is available on are listed along the bottom, this is another feature I could use within my own advert. 

Britney Spears - Circus
I like the simplicity of this 'circus poster' style advertisement. It perfectly captures the ideas behind the album and the style the artist wants to achieve. It also stands out as it contains a simple 3-colour colour pallet, but has interesting elements, such as fonts, to make it unique. I would like to achieve this sort of statement advertisement for my artist's album that similarly clearly reflects the style of the artist, which in my artist's case is vintage1950's and retro American diners.

Beyonce- 4
I like the plain simplicity of this advertisement, however this has been achieved through a lack of information as the advertisement contains no information about the release etc. However, I like the basic colour pallet within this advert as it has a really strong and powerful look, I also like the use of the album cover as an icon within the advertisement.

Kings of Leon - Come Around Sundown
I really like the simplicity of this advertisement, the basic colour scheme works really well as it makes the text stand out and makes the advert a statement overall as it would stand out well and be eye catching within a magazine. This sort of sepia colour scheme is something I would like to use myself within my own magazine advertisement as I think it has a really strong retro feel that would work well with the theme of our artist and her album. I would however add in an element of colour to create more interest as I think the advert could become lost with an overuse of just a spectrum of sepia colours.

Marina and the Diamonds - The Family Jewels

This album advertisement for 'The Family Jewels' has a really unique look which helps the advert stand out. The unconventional image of the artist creates an interesting focal point for the advert and stops the image being lost being the photo of the album cover at the bottom and all the text within the advertisement. The colour scheme within the advert is fairly basic, following the conventional 3 colour pallet, which in this case contains brown, cream/white and pale pink. The colours work really well and are similar to the type of colours I would intend to use; again this advert uses a sepia type colour basis which works well at making the advert have a retro/vintage appearance, I think this is really effective and therefore something I would definitely use within my own advert. The additional pink colour helps to highlight and emphasise certain elements within the advert, it also helps to create variation within the advert so it doesn't all appear to similar and lost, for these reasons I intend to use a third colour within my advert.

Ellie Goulding - Lights

I think this album advertisement is a really good example of a pop genre magazine advertisement. The use of a main image of the artist works really well here and is similar to the sort of image I would like to use within my own advertisement. The colour scheme is also really strong, as although it is basic and minimal it creates a statement and makes the artist herself, her name and the album title stand out really effectively.

The use of graphics on the image, which would've been produced during the editing stage, work really well and help to simply, but effectively, reflect the idea behind the album and its title 'Lights'. This emphasis on the title and theme is something I want to achieve within my own advertisement and digipak, how I do this will probably be very different to the example here, but I will use the idea of using editing effects within photoshop to create a ghost-like theme.

Plan B - The Defamation of Strickland Banks

This advertisement isn't as relevant to my own advertisement as it is from a different genre of music, however I think there are many conventional element that work really well here that are easily adaptable for my own genre and overall product. The main feature of this advertisement that I like is the layout. I think the way in which this advert is set out works really well as it is clear and uncluttered and still stands out. The use of a 'header' for the artist name works well, as it is eye catching and immediately grabs the readers attention when looking through a magazine. I also like the positioning of the image of the artist on the right and all of the text on the left, this makes the advert really clear without appearing too basic. The 3 colour pallet also works really effectively here, and although I would use different colours, I can see that this look would be easily achievable within my own advertisement.

Green Day - American Idiot

Similarly to the album advertisement above this advert has less relevance to my own products as it is a entirely different music genre and overall appearace being created. However, again, this advert has a really effective and simplistic layout. The use of a main image on the right and all text on the left creates a distinctive and powerful look for this advert and the 3 colour pallet helps to emphasise this. 

The Killers - Day & Age 

This advert differs from the overall look I wish to acheive myself as it does not contain a main image of the artist like I intend to. However, the main image on the advert is the cover art from their album. This is an idea I want to use as it helps to improve continuity between my products and gives the artist a more distinctive image and a more recognisable media campaign.

Mika - The Boy Who Knew Too Much

This album advertisement is very different to others I have looked at, but I really like the distinctive and eye-catching look it has due to it's individual look. The unique drawing style used makes the advert stand out and intrigues the reader to look at it, making it a very effective magazine advert. The use of bright colours also helps to keep it in line with the conventional appearance of other adverts within the same 'pop' genre. Looking at this sort of advert really inspires me to draw my own images for my digipak and advertisement, however, I feel this colour either be really effective or look lost when using a 3 colour pallet as opposed to many bright colours like those used here in Mika's advert.

Kings of Leon - Only By The Night

I really this advertisement as I feel it has a really good balance of simplicity and complexity. Although the advert overall doesn't have the pop genre appearance I want, I really like the effectiveness of some elements within this advert. I really like the simple look of the advert and its basic layout, the positioning of the artist's name and album title above and below the main image uses the conventional rule of thirds to its advantage making it eye-catching. I think the image works really well as it is a complex image with many elements edited in, which makes the image intruiging, grabbing the reader. The main idea I would take from this advert is the layout, as I think it has a really clear, statement look.

My Advertisement - Planning

Lexi and the Spectrum - Ghosts

From this research and evaluation of other magazine advertisements I have found several elements that have inspired me for my own advert and given me ideas on elements I would like to include myself. The first is my colour scheme, looking at these advertisements has made me decide to use a 3 colour pallet within my advertisement of sepia brown colours, pink or red, and either very dark brown or white for emphasis on certain elements. I think this will work really well and ties in with the colour scheme I plan to use for my digipak, creating continuity throughout my products. All the advertisements I have looked at contain images from the album artwork as either their main image and focus point or a smaller element of the advert such as an image of the actual album. Due to this I intend to make the main image on my advertisement the same as the one on my album cover, or the cover itself to appear on the advert. I also intend to make the artist the central focus of the whole advertisement as I think this will help to make it stand out, eye catching and obvious when seen in a magazine.

Digipak Inside Panels

For the inside panels of my digipak I have decided on a few key elements I want to include in order to create the right appearance and theme, these are:

• Photos of the artist, in black and white to create a vintage appearance
• Song lyrics
• Images of props to reflect the retro, 1950's theme 
• Strong fonts, that also reflect the 1950's

I believe these 4 elements are really important for creating the inside panels for my digipak and in turn, achieving the right appearance for the whole album. I have made 3 inside panels for my first draft. All 3 of these panels include black and white photographs of the artist and the lyrics printed over the top in the font 'channel' which I also used on the front cover.

First Draft Inside Panels:

Here are two of my first draft digipak inserts and the two options for the third insert. For the first one I have used the 'Channel' font to put lyrics on my insert. I have placed the lyrics on the two sides of the insert to frame the photograph behind. This photograph is of Marina and the Diamonds, I got this photo off google and edited it in photoshop to create a more defined image in black and white. I really like the clarity and definition of the photograph here, it's really good quality and works really well in black and white. This is the sort of photograph I want to achieve myself if I use photographs in my final digipak.

In the second insert I have also used the same 'channel' font for lyrics. Again the lyrics frame the main image in the background. This is another photograph I have taken from google of Marina and the Diamonds. For this photograph, I also used photoshop to edit the photo and make it black and white. This photograph doesn't work as well as the previous image as the lighting is not good enough to work well in black and white and there wasn't enough contrast within the picture. This is something I will change with my own photographs as I want a more striking appearance within my photos.

For my third insert I have created two versions. For both, similarly to the previous two, i have added in lyrics and placed them so that they frame the image. However, i had a lot of lyrics to fit onto this insert and I feel it has become too cluttered. To try and resolve this i experimented with font. In the first version I used the same 'channel' font to tie in with the others however I felt this looked too busy and unreadable. For the second version I used the 'Scarlet Ribbons' font which left more space on the page and has a clearer appearance. However, I still feel this doesn't look quite right. 

Draft Digipak Cover Ideas

These are my first mock up ideas for my final cover idea, working through and making improvements I have created my final idea for my draft digipak. In the first mock-up I have used a 'stained paper' style background to give the cover a vintage feel. I have used the font 'Scarlet Ribbons' from my research for the artist's name, I have also added an outer glow to create a 'bubble' feel around the word, which adds a fun and pop element to the overall appearance of the cover. The main image used within the cover is a 'retro' style milkshake which ties in with my idea to incorporate the america diner style to reinforce the 1950's era of influence. I feel the prop itself and the high contrast and saturation used in editing makes it represent this idea well. The text used at the bottom for the album title 'Ghosts' is in the font 'Air Conditioner' which also works really well with the 1950's retro american diner theme as it reflects this perfectly. However, I felt that this album cover could be improved because, although all the elements work they way I intended and well represent the ideas behind it, I felt the overall look could be altered as the texts used don't balance well.

In the second mock-up I have used all the same elements, however I changed the text used for the artist's name. I really liked the font and the editing so I decided to change the placement of the text to try and better balance it with the title, 'Ghosts'. I did this by removing the arc layout, making the text straight and in line with the text at the bottom. I felt this worked much better as the layout made it easily broken up using the rule of thirds. It also meant the text was straight and better matched the straight line at the bottom. However, I still felt that the feel of the appearance was not right and it could still be improved and better balanced. Within the third cover mock-up I removed the editing on the title, so it was just a simple title that let the font stand out better. I made the colour of the font match with that used for the album title as this helps to balance our the two texts. However, at this point, I did not like how different the two fonts I used were, as I felt this was the reason they were not balancing and so at this point I started considering what other fonts I could use. Looking back at the fonts I found whilst researching, I experimented with various fonts for the artist's name, as I felt the font I was using up until this point, 'Scarlet Ribbons' was too bold and didn't fit the elegant and simple appearance I had created. After trying several fonts, I decided the font 'Channel' was the best option, as it was thinner but also still bold enough to make the artist's name stand out. I also felt that this font was better balanced with the image of the milkshake, as after changing the font and looking back at the previous font, I felt that the 'Scarlet Ribbons' font had taken too much attention away from this main image. Although I much prefer this font, I felt that it was still unbalanced as this font didn't have such a 'straight line' appearance. I then started to consider what I could change to improve this, and so I decided to add in the line either side of the text so that it appeared more in balance as the album title as the also had the line either side of it.
Therefore, this was one of the key changes made for my fourth mock-up. I also decided to experiment with changing the bottom font used for the album title 'Ghosts'. I had refrained from this previously as I felt that 'Air Conditioner' font really well reflected the ear and the 1950's retro american dinner theme. However, at this point, I felt that using the same font for both text elements on the cover would help to balance the appearance of the overall cover. I first decided to try using the 'Air Conditioner' font for both the artist's name 'Lexi and the Spectrum' and the album title 'Ghosts'. I really liked the use of this font because it best fits the era, however, when using it for both text elements on the page it became lost and make the main image more of a statement than I intended. For this reason I felt the font 'Air Conditioner' would not work for my cover. I then decided to use the font 'Channel' for both text element; I feel this works much better and gives the cover a really balanced look. At this point, I also decided that perhaps a photo of the artist would work better on the cover than an object such as this milkshake, as this is a prop that could be used elsewhere within the digipak, such as the back cover with the track listings. I experimented with these ideas and created my final first draft digipak cover and back as shown here:

Digipak Cover:

Digipak Back:

Digipak and Advertisement Research: Colour Pallet

For my digipak and advertisement I want to use a specific colour pallet. I think a 3 colour pallet would work best for my advertisement as this helps to create a bold appearance that catches the audience's attention. However, for my digipak I may use a 4 or 5 colour pallet as there are more sections and elements to take into consideration and the use of just 3 colours may make the album appear to simple and uninteresting.

Advert Colours:
For the advertisement I intend to use a worn/stained paper effect background, therefore a pale brown/sepia colour will be one of the 3 within my colour pallet. The second colour will be either a dark browny-black colour or a greyish colour, such as the one shown below. As these two colours are to be used for basic elements such as background and text, they are therefore basic colours. For this reason I will make the third colour a contrasting colour to these dull colours and use a pale, pastel colour such as light turquoise or baby pink to make the overall appearance more interesting but to also add character and a fun, pop music feel to the advertisement that will reflect the artist and her music. The two colour pallets below are the type of colours I intend to use.

Digipak Colours:

For the digipak I will use more colours as there will be a larger amount within it. Similarly to the advertisement I intend to use a worn/stained vintage-looking paper effect background, light brown/sepia will therefore, again, be one of my main colours. I will also use the same colour for the text, either a dark brown or grey. I will also use a pastel or pale colour within the digipak, to match the colour theme of the advert, but I may use one or two more to create a more interesting appearance. I may also use a darker colour to add contrast, such as a darker shade of purple or pink. The digipak will contain black and white photos, therefore these will be two of the main colours within my colour pallet. The colour pallets below show some of the colours and kind of colours I intend to use.

Digipak Research: Cover Layout

I really like the idea of using a simple layout for the cover, I intend to achieve this by using an object as a focal point picture for the cover and the artist's 'logo' and album name to appear above and below this respectively.  I want the main object to be a prop that relates to the 1950's era, props used within the music video and/or the american diner theme of the logo. Here are some examples of the type of appearance I would like:

I really like the use of the old retro monitor on this album cover as I think it has a statement appearance that makes it stand out to the consumer and it also has a really strong retro feel to it. However, I would like to incorporate more colours into my cover to emphasise the pop, fun and modern side to the artist and her music. I would also use bolder font to emphasise the artists name and the album title. I would also prefer to have a sepia, more vintage background as opposed to the grey used here as I think it would help it to look warmer and friendlier rather than the cold, harsher feel of this one.

I like the idea of using an object, such as this 1950's telephone, on the album cover. I think this type of prop could make a really clear connection to the 1950's as well as a link between the music video and the album as this is one of the props we're using within the video.

These sorts of props are also easy to draw, giving the option to either draw or photograph props for my digipak.

Digipak Research: Requirements for Digipak

Record Label Information and Copyright Requirements:

The album back shown below contains the following information:
© 2010 679 Recording Ltd
© 2010 679 Recordings Ltd. the copyright in this sound recording and artwork is owned by 679 Recordings Ltd. A Warner Music Group Company. Unauthorised copying, hiring, lending, public performance and broadcasting prohibited. All rights reserved. Made in The E.U. LC14666

I will use this same record company details, but change the date:
© 2012 679 Recording Ltd
© 2012 679 Recordings Ltd. the copyright in this sound recording and artwork is owned by 679 Recordings Ltd. A Warner Music Group Company. Unauthorised copying, hiring, lending, public performance and broadcasting prohibited. All rights reserved. Made in The E.U. LC14666

This is the back cover of Marina and the Diamonds - The Family Jewels.


Other Requirements:

Back of Digipak:

Barcode:

Record Label Logo:

I will be using the record company 679 for my artist as this is the same label as 'Marina and the Diamonds' and other artists that we have taken inspiration from in order to create our artist. It therefore has similar music under the label so our artist would fit well.




Track Listing:

This is the track listing from Marina and the Diamonds album - Electra Heart. This is the album we took our song choice from for our artist to perform in her music video.

Digipak: Cover Ideas

For my album cover I have considered using either photographs or a drawing as the main image, as well as for images throughout the digipak and on the advert. I like the idea of using photographs of the artist as this could help to give the digipak a really professional look and finish, however the photos must be really good quality and well lit in order to achieve this. I have not yet taken any of my own photographs, however, the photo below of Marina and the Diamonds is an example of the type of photos I would like to get.This is just an example of the sort of appearance I would like both the photographs and the artist within them to look. However I intend to edit my photos to make them either sepia or black and white to help tie into the vintage theme. For my first draft I will use these images edited the way i would like my actual photos to appear.

Marina and the Diamonds

I really like the strong appearance of this photograph, this is the sort of photograph i intend to use within my digipak and advert as I think strong photographs will help to give it a professional look. I really like the spotlight lighting used here, this is something I intend to replicate within my own photos. I also think close ups, like this, of the artist will work better in my digipak.

I have also considered using drawn pictures, below are albums i have looked at for inspiration:

Maroon 5 - Overexposed
I like the busy appearance of this album artwork, I think the colours work really well as it's bright and stands out. However, for my album I want to achieve a more subtle, simplistic look, therefore I would probably limit the colours I use to a basic 3-colour-pallet throughout my digipak and within the advertisement. The main element of this album I like is the drawing style itself, the blocks of colour and cartoon effect with some pattern mixed in works really well and creates a cluttered effect that suits this album. It is also a style that's relatively easy to manipulate or recreate myself. If I use this style I would draw and image of my artist in this style in black and white and scan it in to edit on photoshop and add in colour that way.

Digipak Research: Artist Logo

Logo Ideas for 'Lexi and the Spectrum'
I felt that the idea of an artist 'logo' could work really well for my artist, using the idea of the logo for 'Katy Perry' as below I have created some logos, using fonts found in my previous research, that I could use for both the digipak and advertisement.

This first logo idea uses the font 'Scarlet Ribbons', I really like the way this logo looks, as I think it has a playful and fun appearance that looks both modern but also reflective of the 1950's inspiration. The font has a really strong 1950's connection as it has connotations of the 1950's american diner style fonts used at the time. However, the over all logo has a modern feel as I have used bright, pop colours and I feel it connotes connections to current artist such as Katy Perry who uses a similar logo idea for her name. I have used an inner bevel and glow on the text to create dimension and give a more exciting, 3D effect. To improve this logo I would make a bubble around the text to make it a solid object as opposed to a font.

Here, I have improved the above logo, using the same font and adding in an 'outer glow' to create a bubble like effect that ties all the text together to unite it in a logo form.

For this logo, I have used the same effects as the previous one but changed the font. The font i have used here is called 'Rocket Script', I really like the retro 1950's appearance of this font.

For this logo I have used a different font called 'LambrettistA'. I have kept the same colour scheme and font effects as I feel this colours well reflect the artist and the pop genre of music.

This logo uses the 'Channel' font. The different layout gives the logo a more simplistic look which may fit better with the overall look i wish to achieve. Having all the text all in the same colour also creates a more united look. This is my favourite look as I feel this best fits the appearance I would like my cover to have.