Final print productions- Magazine advert, Album cover (front, back, 2 sides)

Album- front

Album- side 2

Album- side 1

Album- back

Magazine advert

Images

Visual styles- wider research

Visual styles, at the Tate Modern

On a visit to the Tate modern in London I noticed a lot of artwork from certain time periods and artists, that follow a particular visual style. Seeing how visual styles construct artwork and connote different themes and meanings, can inspire my own album artwork and which style i choose to base it on. I took photos of paintings from artists famous for their visual styles, and other paintings that fall under these categories. 

Cubism:

Cubism is an abstract method of painting, using shapes and angular lines, to make up an image of their subject, while showing their own perspective of it. It originates from the early 20th century and was revolutionised by artists such as Pablo Picasso. I saw one of his paintings, and think this style would work well on an album cover, as an abstract portrait of a band member. However if i used this visual style i would have to make it look more contemporary, to appeal to the audience. 

Picasso

Impressionism:

impressionism is a 19th century art movement. Artists focused on colour rather than detail, to capture bright scenes of landscapes or portraits. Claude Monet is an impressionist artist who influenced the movement. His landscape paintings are colourful and delicate. However I can't imagine the impressionist visual style on an album cover, as it is too traditional and restricting. The album cover for my band should look abstract, with a sharp image, to catch the audience's eye. Impressionism shows the beauty in an image, however it doesn't connote many hidden meanings and depth, which an album cover would need. 

Monet 

Geometric:

The geometric visual style uses precise lines and shapes, to create a bold pattern. I like how everything is carefully selected, from the colour scheme to the scale. I think this style would work well on an album cover as it is eye-catching, simple and would be easy to layout the text. However the disadvantage of using this style would be that it lacks a subject, therefore it doesn't include a band or artist. Also people may find it boring because it looks so simple. Therefore if i was to use this visual style, I would use it for a design motif, or on the back or side covers on the album. 

 Some geometric designs can create illusions, that look confusing or misleading. They would work well on an album cover because it is an original idea and they can be satisfying to look at.

Minimalism:

Minimalism focuses on one subject, and surrounds it with negative space, to make it the key idea. Most of the minimalist artwork at the Tate were sculptures, to construct meanings through architectural designs. For example the sculpture by Rasheed Araeen, combines triangular structures. It can be shown in different perspectives; the alternative possibilities challenges the idea of artwork being fixed. This visual style would look good on an album cover because it is understated, but the meanings behind it create a lot of depth, and it wouldn't look overcrowded.

Rasheed Araeen

Pop Art

The Tate had famous pieces of art from the pop art movement (1950s). For example Warhol's print of Marilyn Monroe, showing the success of her life, and memorial to her death. There was also a quote from him, responding to this art movement, and how the style of painting had developed, and been revolutionised by pop art. Also there was a painting by Roy Lichtenstein, another famous pop artist, whoo used colour and comic themes to portray emotions and narrative. 

The  reasons this visual style would work in a print production, are that the bright, bold colours would easily attract the audience, and relate to uplifting dramatic music. This method could also create an abstract impression of a band member, through the striking portraits. 

Andy Warhol quote

Andy Warhol

Roy Lichtenstein

Logos

I chose to include a logo in my print productions because it's a good way in reinforcing the band's brand identity. This makes the band easier to identify, and by adding it to both the magazine advert and album cover it makes them more cohesive and relatable. 

To research logos I looked into other adverts and albums featuring logos, such as the rolling stones' magazine adverts.  

Most advertising and merchandise involving The Rolling Stones features their classic logo. It is famous for their brand and easily recognisable to a wide audience, as it is a recurring visual. To emphasise their logo the design of it is bright red and in some of their advertising it is large and the focal point of the layout. However on others it is marginalised, and placed in a corner, to make the text or image more significant.
From looking at how they have used their logo to spread their hype and reach a wide audience, I have learned that including a logo will help the brand identity and is a key feature of an advert's layout.

I intended to design a simple logo, of the band's initials. It is easy to make and the letters make it identifiable to the band, Firehorse. The logo will be placed next to the other text, such as the release dates, on the magazine advert. By making the logo small and composed on the edge of the advert, it won't draw the audience's eye from the main headings and visuals, but they will see it for further information. 

The design of the logo is made out of fonts and motifs. To begin with I explored various fonts, to find one that would be suitable for the band and the rest of the advert. 

These fonts worked well, as the use of a serif makes the letters look creative. I liked the ones with only the two letters because it makes a subtle reference to the band.










This is the final logo. I used the two letters and a motif, the spiral motif design makes the logo more interesting and eye-catching.
I placed the logo on both my magazine advert and album cover. It's on the back of the album, in order to add more detail to this cover and to connect both productions, reinforcing the brand identity of the band. It creates continuity between the two productions, however to give it some variety and suit the colour scheme of the back cover, I changed the colours slightly, to red and white. The logo is red because it relates to the title 'bloodstream' and symbolises danger and passion, connoting the lyrics of the music, about romance and substance abuse. The colour also matches the colour of all the other text, to reinforce the continuity.

album back cover

magazine advert

Case study- Arctic Monkeys

Arctic Monkeys

Arctic monkeys are an indie- rock band, formed in Sheffield in 2002. They have released 5 successful albums and performed massive, worldwide gigs including Glastonbury. They have also won 7 Brit awards.

The album cover and magazine advert for their latest album 'AM' conforms, as well as challenges conventions of the indie genre. It is a successful cover for an album because of its minimalist visual style, making it simple yet signify metaphors. To attract their audience to their new album, they posted the album artwork on Twitter, with the release date. They have a loyal online audience, therefore with this intriguing, striking cover it draws people to the album.

'AM' album cover

magazine adverts

The image on the album cover is of a pulse-line, which relates to the sound of their music because many of the songs on this album feature a strong, beating baseline. Also the heartbeat theme relates to the lyrics as they are all about love. This cohesion of themes makes reference to Goodwin's theory. Goodwin said that music videos demonstrate genre characteristics, which is also demonstrated in album covers as the AM cover conforms the rock genre by illustrating the strong baseline, key to rock music, and the dark colours are a convention of rock. Also the record label tend to include close ups of the artist and a unique visual style. To meet the demands of production, the arctic monkeys magazine advert includes a photo of the frontman of the band, Alex Turner performing live. This makes the advert a success because it showcases the bands talent, and makes it recognisable to the audience that it's for this band. Finally the use of the heartbeat and baseline responds to goodwill's idea that there is a relationship between lyrics, music and visuals, as there is a coherent visual, creating metaphors relating to the lyrics and the tone of music.

The Arctic Monkeys have also successfully created a brand identity for their band, through their productions. The music video for their single 'Do i wanna know' from their AM album has the same visual as the album cover. The video is an animation of a sound wave, beating in synchronisation with the music and baseline. It starts simple, with a white line on a black background, then as the dynamic of the song moves forward and the chapters change, there are new elements brought in. Colour is added, to connote the development of the song and up beat tones. Then it changes from just the sound waves, as they are interrupted by animations, creating a narrative and representations, relating to the lyrics of the song. For example the recurring visuals of women, relate to the romance theme of the song. It also references Mulvey's male gaze theory, that women are represented from a male perspective, to appeal to them. There is also a reference to the surrealist visual style, as the music video and album cover are abstract and unusual.

I like this album cover and magazine advert because the album cover is simple, yet not a typical cover, therefore it stands out and is identifiable to their unique visual style throughout their productions. The magazine advert also works well because the image of them performing live promotes their album tour, and encourages people to buy their music because it proves that they are a success, performing to massive crowds at popular festivals. Also the font on the magazine advert reinforces their brand identity, as this is the font they always use for their band name, making it identifiable to their audience. The bold, creative font is composed on the top centre of the advert, and has a large scale so that it stands out immediately. Also the colours are successful as they relate to the black and white album cover, and the white font stands out against the dark background and is easy to read.
Looking at these print production examples is very useful as I plan to use similar styles, formats and colours in my own work. From this I have learned how you can make metaphorical and visual links between all the productions, to build up the brand identity.

Question 3- What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Question 2- How effective is the combination of your main product with ancillary texts?

How effective is the combination of your main product with ancillary texts?

To ensure there is a coherent brand identity for the band, between all productions, they must be generically, visually, thematically or in terms of representations linked. I have identified links between my productions, through conventions and symbolism. 

Generic Links

Album cover- front

side 1

back cover

side 2

magazine advert

The band falls under the indie genre, therefore I have considered using genre conventions across all my productions. Typical conventions used in indie album covers or magazine adverts are soft, light colours and they usually feature a close up of the artist, composed in the centre. For example Florence and the Machine's album cover has a mid shot of the artist, to make it identifiable to the audience and make her the focus of the music. This also applies to Goodwin's theory that the record label have demands of the artists and often include the need for close ups of the artist and identify a unique visual style. This is demonstrated in Florence and the machine's album, as the artist is drawing all the attention, by being composed in the centre, with little negative space around her. Also it constructs her unique visual style because the floral background signifies her innocence and femininity, But her composition suggests she is dominant and powerful. It is also inspired by pre-raphaelites because of her pose, and the colours (red hair and pale skin) therefore connotes her music as emotive and meaningful.

My own album cover conforms these genre characteristics, and brands the artist in similar ways that the Florence and the Machine album does. I have used myself as the subject in the album cover, to represent the artist. I have used an indirect mode of address, which could challenge genre conventions because so covers use a direct mode of address to signify the confidence and power of the artist. However a lot of indie covers also use an indirect mode of address, such as the Florence and machine cover, to connote deeper emotions and a sense of enigma. Therefore I think the cover conforms the genre, however the magazine advert is less coherent because magazine adverts are used to sell the brand and the artist, so indie adverts usually feature the band members. I have challenged this because my advert is a photograph of a location, not a person, however it still works to relate to their music, by creating metaphors and meanings that link to both the album cover and music video, such as isolation and escapism. Also there are no band shots in the music video, which limits its relation to the band, however we intended to make a narrative video to conform the genre, because many indie videos are heavily based on narrative. 

The print productions challenge indie conventions because they are both in low saturation whereas album covers are usually highly saturated, to look vibrant, attracting their audience. However some indie albums, such as Arctic Monkeys' 'AM' album or their magazine advert are in black and white, to look more emotive and realistic, creating a visual for what their music sounds like and the messages it connotes. 

The saturated, warm colours in my music video do conform conventions of indie videos, because they aim to look eye catching, yet realistic to construct certain representations. My music video is more closely associated with the genre, whereas the print productions don't use generic links in a similar way, however the genre of the music is clear in each production.

Visual links

There are visual links between my productions. These include fonts, colours and characters. To ensure there is synergy between my print productions, I reinforced the brand's identity by using the same font on the album cover and magazine advert. This unique font creates a recognisable identity for the band, and connects the two productions, so that it is clear to the audience that they are both related to this album. To enhance this further I made all the text, in both productions, the same colour. The red headings and text relate to the title 'Bloodstream', therefore makes it obvious that this is the band's unique visual style, because there are links within their music. Also the colour red stands out, and symbolises danger, to create a sense of enigma, intriguing the audience further. 

I created a simple logo, to go on the magazine advert. I used a font to create this logo, and specific placement of the letters. It is small and simple, to consolidate minimalism, in order to not overcrowd the page. The logo represents the band (Firehorse) and looks suitable within the layout and style of the advert, and also works well for the purpose of promoting the band and building their brand identity. It also links with the album because the logo is featured on the back cover, reinforcing their brand. 

logo

the visual link between my album cover and my music video, is in the motif. I am the subject on my album cover, portraying the artist, and relating to the main character in the music video. I also acted as the main character in scenes of the music video. Both the main character and the subject in the album cover don't show their faces. This creates a sense of enigma, intending to engage the audience. However there are no other links with the motif between my productions, because I haven't used the same decorative images or designs and the visuals look relitavely different. However there are similar details used in the mist-en-scene, such as the composition. All of my productions use the rule of thirds, to draw the audience's eye to a subject or heading.

Thematic links

There are thematic motifs that create links between my productions. The clear theme in my album cover and music video is enigma. The mystery is constructed in both of these productions by concealing the main character, as yo never see her face. By not giving much away about the focal point in the productions, it creates suspense and mystery, making the audience want to explore it further.
There is also a narrative link between my music video and album cover because in the video the narrative is all seen from the main character's point of view and on the album cover, the eye-level, over the shoulder shot creates the impression that we are looking from her perspective again. This also crates the theme of escapism and that she is looking to fit in.
There is a thematic motif that recurs in my album cover and magazine advert, which is the surrealist photographs. Both images construct the theme of deconstructed reality, and escaping into a dream world. However there are certain themes in the music video that don't relate to the print productions. The narrative of the video is about binge drinking and drama surrounding this issue. This theme is constructed through the actors and the mise-en-scene, by using props such as bottles of alcohol and plastic red cups. This theme doesn't feature in my print productions because it doesn't relate to the images and visuals, therefore I wanted to focus on the surrealist idea, and the theme of alcohol abuse wouldn't work with the conventions of the indie genre.

Representation

In all my productions there is a constructed image of the band being abstract, through the surrealist visual style and distorted camerawork. The band are also represented as up-beat and contemporary, constructed through the young characters and their behaviour. However this may not be evident in my magazine advert because there are no band members and the image is in black and white. My advert does create the representation that youth are isolated. The image is a long shot, with leading lines, to create a feeling of isolation. This is reinforced in the album side covers, because I am looking into the mirror at fantasy places, they are in the distance, connoting her isolation. Also all the negative space around her emphasises this idea. This is also evident in my music video because the main character is isolated, an outcast at the party, not interacting with any of the other characters.
My productions show that the band value interpretations of youth and their culture. The song lyrics talk about dealing with addiction and heartbreak, therefore we raised similar issues in our music video. It expresses the band's dislikes; old habits, facing reality and isolation.
There is a consistent representation of age. This is constructed through the use of actors in our music video, as they are all 17-18 year olds, and the subject on my album cover is the same age. It constructs representations about this age group being rebellious, irresponsible, joyful and sometimes isolated or lost.
There is a representation of gender. Women are represented as reckless and sexualised. Our music video references Mulvey's male gaze theory, as women are represented in the media through a male perspective, in order to appeal to them. The men in our music video are represented as outgoing, dramatic and emotional. This is shown through scenes of them dancing, then darker scenes such as when the gay couple are arguing.

However these representations aren't evident across all of my productions, as my magazine advert doesn't have any people in and the album cover doesn't create the same representations, surrounding binge drinking. The album cover marginalises men because there is only a female on the cover. The representations it creates about women is that they are strong, due to the central composition, yet emotional because of the black and white colours. The white colour could symbolise her as innocent, yet the black contrast as evil and mysterious.


My productions are effectively linked through every aspect, constructing a brand identity. There are links that carry my ideas and representations across all of my productions, such as by using the same characters and visual styles. However the consistency is subtle, and could be hard for the audience to recognise. To improve it i could make the links stronger and more obvious, so that the audience pick up on the brand identity. I could've done this by featuring the same person in my magazine advert, or using the same miss en scene that featured in my music video. However overall I think that they work well together because each production has its own individual style, to avoid looking repetitive and boring the audience. This package promotes the artist by conforming to their genre, making it look abstract and ensuring that the band's title stand out on the packaging, to attract their audience. The music video promotes the band by appearing entertaining, and up beat along with the music. The print productions create a sense of enigma, that intrigus the audience, and the headings and composition draws in their attention.
It would be easy to see, from looking at all three productions, that they are all from the same artist. I have linked all three by using a similar visual style; they all look like they are shot from the main character's perspective; they construct the same representations about isolation and reality; and they are all altered in a way that disorientates reality, even in the music video there are shots overlapping to create disorientation. Although there is a stronger connection between the album cover and magazine advert. To construct links i used the same fonts, colours, visual style and layout. Therefore it is clear to the audience that they are promoting the same album.
I have succeeded in crating a brand identity for the band. I considered this when making up a logo, which features on the back album cover and the advert, making it identifiable to the audience. The bold headings for the band's name and album title, reinforce the band's visibility and personality. The music video establishes the genre of their music and appeals to their target market. 

music video- Final cut

Question 1- In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms of real media products?

Visual Styles

Fonts

I have found potential fonts to use in the print productions. However i will only use two or three of the fonts, for the headings and main text. Limiting the amount of different fonts makes the layout less cluttered, easy to understand and doesn't draw attention from the image. 

                                     

I would like the album title to be a simple and classic font. This one is bold, to get the viewers attention and make the heading clear. It is also sans serif, which makes the typeface easy to read and I like this because it won't over complicate the page. The point size of the letters is large, which also makes it stand out, but could also be a weakness because it could be distracting from the rest of the page and not fit with a minimalist layout. This is emphasised by it being all in uppercase letters. I don't think this font would suit an album cover because it's too large and dramatic. The font needs to be softer to reflect the band and complement the album cover.

 This is the best font to use for the headings. It is simple, yet still has an original look. The sans serif and lowercase letters suit the band as it reinforces the indie genre. Indie album covers are more low-key and creative. This font suits the tone of the music as it has a sense of mystery and softness. The kerning between letters is larger than normal, which makes it more alternative and would look good along the bottom of the page. However the kerning could make it less easy to read, therefore I wouldn't use it for the smaller text. This font wound work the best with the imagery i'll use on the album cover, because it suits the surrealist visual style, yet is also minimalistic. To make the typeface stand out further I could make it red, to stand out against a black and white image, and respond the the title 'Bloodstream'. 

 I have chosen different fonts to specifically represent the band name. The band is a group, they are alternative and fun therefore this font suits them because it's creative and different from the other standard typefaces I have looked at. This font is good because of it's quirky nature however I might not choose this font because it contrasts too much to the album title font and the style of the album cover. It is too far from minimalist and could bee seen as a childish font, which would attract a younger audience. Also the point size of each letter varies, making it complicated and more difficult to read. It could possibly work well on the magazine advert, being in white, against a dark background to create a reverse type, however it would depend on what other fonts are used on the advert. It would suit an advert because the typography is bold and fun, to attract the target audience, and it wouldn't look too disruptive on an advert. It could also possibly work on the album cover if it was on a smaller scale.


The second font is the best font for the headings. I have chosen to use this font for both the album title and band name, because i want it to be coherent. Also to make the cover and magazine advert successful and not overcrowded, they should have a limited number of different fonts. The second font will be used for the text: Magazine review, release date, website etc. The text should be in a classic, simple font, to stay understated so that it doesn't draw attention from the more important headings. It is also information, therefore doesn't need to have a creative font, identifying with the band, as the headings are the focus for the band. A simple font would also conform to a minimalist style, in order to avoid the layout looking too busy, highlighting the most significant features.

Text font