Print reseach

In my coursework I am going to create a magazine album advert for my artist. I want to carry out some research into similar artists in order to understand how images, font and other features are used to create a genre appropriate advert that will appeal to our artists target audience.

The first advert I am going to analyze is this single magazine page promoting the release of Lana Del Rey's debut album: 'Born to die'. Lana Del Rey in an indie pop artist like our artist Nina Nesbitt. Her image is quirky and retro with large references to old hollywood in the clothes she wears and the way her hair and make up is styled. 

Use of images- The image is very simple with the focus purely on Lana's face. They symmetry of the pose and simplistic framing really draws attention to Lana's beauty presenting her in a slightly voyeuristic manner which is typical in the pop genre. This symmetrical and direct framing is quite entropic making the advert striking. As I have mentioned Lana's look is very vintage hollywood; the styling is very in keeping with this mise-en-scene with the wavy hair and vintage make-up. The look of the advert also has stylistic references to America with the western style  shirt Lana is wearing and the idyllic blue sky in the background. The representation of Lana del Rey in the advert is very redundant as it is typical for her indie/pop genre. The portrayal creates a strong recognizable, beautiful image (often demanded by the record label) that creates a visual style. Establishing this look is essential as this is Lana Del Rey's debut album.

The font used in the advert is very simplistic but striking. All of the text is in capitals and the contrast in colour between the text and the background  really make it really stand out. The central placement of all the text makes the advert noticeable and striking. The colour palette of the text works well with the images. The calm blue and white colour palette creates a calm feel that relates and references the sound of Lana's music.

The text in the advert contains critic quotes which present the album as an acclaimed 'Sensation'. Quotes like: 'The years most eagerly awaited debut album' and 'A sensation' create a clear focus on the music rather that Lana as a personality. This is typical of the genre: Indie/pop. The image of Lana draws attention to her appearance, a very pop genre typical image, whilst the critic comments bring focus to the music a technique used frequently in indie and less mainstream album adverts. This combination of genre conventions creates a artist image that would appeal to a wide audience of different music tastes. Lana's primary audience is young people interested in indie pop music. I feel that the advert would target both men and women because of the focus on appearance. The vintage retro mise-en-scene would also appeal to young people as this look is a very current trend.

The full page magazine advert is an example of Lana being promoted across various media platforms giving the artist a wide spread exposure.  

The next advert I want to analyze is the magazine for Florence and the Machine's album: 'Lungs'.

Like our artist Nina Nesbitt, Florence and the Machine is an Indie/pop artist. Her target audience is young indie/pop/rock interested people. Like Nina and also Lana Del Rey, Florence's vintage image appeals greatly to young women whilst the alternative rock aspects of her music make her brand appealing to a wider, less gender specific audience aswell.

The image is very entropic; the pose (which presents Florence with her eyes closed and face turned to this side) is very unexpected for a pop artist. The unusual styling with the strange lungs in particular also create an entropic image. This entropic, quirky representation is very typical of the indie/ pop genre; it would appeal to Florence's target audience as it is not to polished or mainstream. Andrew Goodwin suggests that close up shots are often demanded by record labels in order to create a strong, recognizable artist image. I feel that this definitely the case for this advert. The lack of eye contact with Florence could have made her seen distant but the close up shot and framing create a more personal, relatable tone. The mise-en-scene and lighting of the advert is quite dark juxtaposed with the feminine and delicate pink flowers. This creates an interesting hybrid of visual style typical of the indie/ pop genre. This look will definitely appeal to Florence's target audience.

The font used for the artist name: 'Florence and the machine' is the font used constantly on Florence and the machine albums, posters, adverts etc. This is an example of a visual brand motif. Goodwin says that record companies often use visual motifs in order to create a consistent and recognizable brand image. The style of the other font is very traditional and varies making the advert look quirky and eccentric. This is in keeping with Florence's image therefore appealing to her target audience and fans.

The text used in the piece is brief with the artist name, the album title, the release date and the ways in which it will be released. The mentioning of various release forms would appeal to an indie/ pop audience especially the inclusion of 'vinyl'. This traditional release is in-keeping with the audience's quirky, vintage and often eccentric interests.

The final magazine advert I am going to analyse is 'The Family Jewels' By Marina and the Diamonds'. Like Nina Nesbitt, Marina and the Diamonds is a pop/indie artist. She also has a very similar target audience of young teenage women because of her quirky, exaggerated vintage and doll like image and combination of pop sound with darkly humorous lyrics. These features of her brand identity really make her an effective and appealing combination of  mainstream pop with a more quirky style and sound make her really appealing to this audience demographic.

The close up image creates a personal closeness with the viewer whilst the unexpected horizontal pose by Marina makes the advert entropic therefore working with the quirky brand image. Close ups according to Goodwin are often demanded by the record company in order to create a recognisable and relatable image. This is something we definitely want to achieve for our audience in order to appeal to our young female target audience.

The image of Marina has been photoshopped quiet thoroughly giving her face an artificial and doll like appearance. This representation is a reference to hollywood and glamour images with the photoshop editing and voyeuristic pose. This kind of mise-en-scene which draws great inspiration from hollywood and americana is a visual brand motif for Marina and the diamonds, with many of her lyrics based on the trials and nature of fame and fortune. This is an example of Goodwin's music video theory that visuals reflect the lyrics being portrayed and used on a variety of promotional media platforms not just music videos. The representation which is so dramatised and exaggerated is also an example of how the advert heightens this pop genre typical representation so much that it becomes quirky and entropic and very Indie.

The floral background is very vintage and antique looking and in keeping with the overall quirky mise-en-scene that appeals greatly to the young artistic female target audience.

The text used in the advert is very entropic with its dominance over the whole composition of the single page. The white, what looks like handwritten, writing is very striking and attention grabbing. A technique typically and frequently used in promotional magazine adverts.

Like the Lana Del Rey advert, this advert also has critic qoutes that present an esteemed and acclaimed identity of the artists music. The quotes used read: 'Sparkling pop with beautiful darkness for a debut album' and 'The queen of maverick pop'. The quotes really highlight the genre conventions of her music with the combination of 'sparkling pop' and 'darkness'. The second qoute really reinforces the idea of a important and respected star image with the use of the word: 'Queen'. This use of idolising vocabularly is used frequently in the pop genre and often requested by the record label to create a superstar celebrity image.