ANCILLARY TEXTS: MAGAZINE ADVERT & DIGIPAK

conforming to real existing media texts

DIGIPAKS REFERRED TO:

DIGIPAK• Like pop music videos, a convention that is seen in many of the

digipaks/album covers that I had analyzed and researched, is the focus on the artist. It is essential for the audience to be able to recognise the artist in order to promote them and their music. Therefore, the main images in my digipak (album cover and lyric booklet) include images of myself (supposefly the artist of the album ‘Ada Satka’). This is very common in real media texts, especially in the digipaks of female artists. This is because it causes the audience (particularly the male audience, which is called the ‘male gaze’ according to Laura Mulvey) to be attracted to the digipak through the use of female beauty and youth, that is also depicted in my own design. Again, this conforms to Goodwin’s theory as it is referred to as voyeurism, where women are presented as physically and sexually desirable to men.

• The front cover mainly focuses on the artist and it is vital to grab the attention of the audience to promote them. Therefore, it is essential to have the artist name be the biggest and boldest piece of text seen.

• All the images in the digipak have been edited using Photoshop and the app VSCO cam to create the youthful, filtered effects. I find that this finish really conforms to the young and hip vibe that runs throughout the entire digipak to make it as continuous and fluent as possible. It is important for all the print products to follow the same appearance and formats as this is also a convention seen in many of the digipaks that I had researched. For instance, here with Rihanna’s digipak, all of the images are from the same photo shoot with the artist wearing the same makeup, the same clothing in the same locations. This continuity and consistency within the products help create that synergistic element making it as professional and real as possible.

• Again to add that synergistic element that is seen in most digipaks of any genre, I wanted to connect my print products with my music video therefore, I used actual screen grabs from my music video within my digipak. The CD design includes an image of a sparkler that is seen in the first few clips of my music video and I found that this works nicely next to the album name ‘Light Up The Sky’ which also conforms to Goodwin’s theory of having a connection between the lyrics and the visuals. I also used a screen grab of a location shot also seen in the first few seconds of my music video for the back cover. I found that using a location shot as my image really enhanced the text making it clearer and more visible to read. My back cover can be compared to a real media text; David Guetta’s back cover of his digipak for the album ‘Pop Life’. The text is very clear as the background image is not as sharp, similar to my own. The focus of the back cover is on the songs (what the album contains) therefore, Instead of using another image of the artist, I wanted to focus on the song list also and keep the main artist image for the front cover as it focuses more on the artist there.

DIGIPAK

MAGAZINE ADVERTS REFERRED TO:

Because a convention of the pop genre is that it usually creates a vibrant, lively and exciting vibe, to make my magazine advert conform to this, I wanted mine to be big, bold and eye-catching to the viewer. Therefore, I decided to go for a landscape design that would initially be placed on two separate pages in a magazine.

Similar to mine, artists like Rihanna, Beyonce and Paramore, also have magazine adverts designed in the same layout and I find that this helped catch my attention also through the use of the vibrant colours, bold fonts and appealing images. So I also tried incorporating this in my own layout.

DESIGN

Features of the album

(other songs)A general convention of real existing print products. Seen in pop artist’s

magazine adverts such as Katy Perry and Ellie Goulding.

Production company logoAnother convention of real existing print products.

Artist nameThe biggest and most visible piece of text on the magazine advert.This self promotes the artist as it is placed in the centre of the advert and at a big sized font.

Album nameThe font is clear and easy to read similar to the features of the album. It is placed above the artist name and in the centre of the entire advert to make it clear that this is the album name.

Image of digipak/front cover of albumAdds synergistic element that links the magazine advert, the digipak as well as the music video itself as the images used for the advert and digipak are at scenes and locations seen in the clips of a music video.