EVALUATION - Question 1 - Magazine Advertisement

Our Magazine Advertisement

As well as creating a music video and a digipak along side we also had to create a magazine advertisement/poster to promote these products. Similarly to the creation of our video and digipak we had to consider the conventions of magazine advertisements to ensure we created a successful product and met the brief to the best standard possible. The conventions of magazine advertisements/posters we considered can be seen below:

• Name of the Artist
• Name of the Promoted Song
• Record Label
• Image - Usually of the Artist and is usually the same image as used on the digipak to give a sense of "Brand Identity" (the visible elements of a brand (such as colours, design, logotype, name, symbol) that together identify and distinguish the brand in the consumers' mind.)
• Text - Again, usually the same font/colour scheme is used as on the digipak to give a sense of "Brand Identity"
• Release Date

We have used all the conventions listed above to ensure our magazine advertisement/poster meets the conventions of real media products. A convention I would say we have challenged is "featuring" text. The reason we decided not to include this text on our poster is due  to the fact that our digipak only includes the one song that we have created the video for "My Happy Ending". Therefore, we decided that there wasn't really any need to include "featuring" as it is made pretty clear to the purchaser that the digipak only features one song, "My Happy Ending".


Below is an example of our artist`s (Avril Lavigne) magazine advertisement/poster for one of her singles. Typically the poster is very simple, but effective in its design and uses dark colours and a stern image to give association to the rock-pop/pop punk genre. Due to this we wanted to create a similar feel with our magazine advertisement/poster. Therefore, we decided to use the same image as we used on our digipak as we felt it conveyed a sad, bleak message often associated with the rock-pop/pop punk genre and  as identified within the conventions of magazine advertisements/posters would give a sense of "Brand Identity" (the visible elements of a brand (such as colours, design, logotype, name, symbol) that together identify and distinguish the brand in the consumers' mind). This would hopefully create not only a successful magazine advertisement but a successful music video and digipak also as purchasers would hopefully be able to connect the three products (music video, digipak and magazine advertisement) together and  hopefully purchase the digipak being advertised and watch the music video.

 

 A convention usually seen on magazine advertisements/posters promoting pop music to give a sense of popularity and an upbeat feeling are quotes from record labels, newspapers, magazines etc. We decided to develop and use this convention as we used quotes/star rating from Q Magazine and Kerrang as we felt by doing this our magazine advertisement would receive more attention and be more eye catching because the people who would probably look at our magazine advertisement/poster would probably be classified in the rock-pop/pop punk genre and therefore would probably be consumers of Q Magazine and Kerrang. Therefore, by including quotes/star rating from these rock-pop/pop punk companies purchasers would notice the credit our product is receiving from these companies and would more likely buy it than if it didn't have these recommendations/credits.


By including the record label and website at the the bottom of our magazine advertisement/poster I believe we have developed another convention as yes, these conventions are sometimes featured on magazine advertisements/posters but not always as sometimes they can proof a distraction for the viewer. However, we decided to include the record label and website at the bottom of our magazine advertisement as we felt it would create awareness for the viewer. Awareness of  the creators of the music (the record label) and awareness of the artist`s website in case the viewer would like to gain access to this to gain information/extra information about the artist etc.

Continuing the idea of "Brand Identity" we used the same font on our magazine advertisement/poster as seen on our digipak, resulting in the same positioning (across the puppet cross) being used. I believe by doing this with have challenged the  conventions of real media products as the text usually features straight on. However, by placing the text in this way and using a simple font/colour I believe we are conforming to unique, alternative conventions/aspects of the rock-pop/pop punk genre and this results in our magazine advertisement being more eye-catching than the usual magazine advertisement due to the  unusual positioning of the release date and the dramatic, rock-pop style image used.

EVALUATION - Question 1 - Digipak

Our Digipak

In order to ensure we were meeting the brief we also had to create a digipak to go along side our music video. Whilst making our digipak we had to consider the conventions of digipaks and the conventions of our rock-pop/pop-punk genre to ensure that we were creating a digipak suitable to our genre and therefore ensuring we were creating a product that conformed to real media products.

As you can see from the screen shots below we have tried to meet and use the conventions of existing digipaks by featuring things usually seen on them such as:

• Track list 
• Bar code
• Record Label
• Website
• Image - Usually of the artist as the aim of the  product is to promote the artist.
• Text on the Front Cover/Down the Spine - Artist name, Name of song
• Copyright logo

As you can see from the list above we have used a bar code on the back of our digipak as this is commonly seen on products which are sold to the public. However, as well as conforming to conventions we have also developed conventions as we have decided to also place a "QR Code" on the back of our digipak. We decided to do this as we believe it will show that we are trying to keep up to date with technologies  and that we are aware of technologically developments and how they are being used.

Sometimes a promotional sticker can feature on digipaks. They usually feature to promote an aspect of the  digipak which will create extra appeal for the purchaser e.g. bonus tracks, remastered, competitions etc. Due to this we decided not to feature a sticker on our digipak as our  product only features the song "My Happy Ending" which should be made obvious to the purchaser already.

Many digipaks feature the artist on thhe front cover as the purpose of a digipak is to promote the artist. Therefore, our digipak features our artist on the front cover. However, from the digipakks I have analysed and researched such as Paramore, Maroon 5 and YouMeatSix etc not many artists feature on their digipaks because within the rock-pop/pop-punk genre it is more about the music produced than it is the artists appearance. Nevertheless some artists do feature on their  digipaks such as Avril Lavigne and Pink as their appearance and the development in their appearance is part of their "Brand Identity". Due to this we decided to feature our Avril Lavigne/Artist figure, Kate on our front cover, as we felt this would be developing Avril Lavigne`s/the rock-pop/pop-punk style.

As you  can see from the images below, Avril Lavigne`s style started off very typically punk. Featuring her on the front cover of her albums/digipaks looking very morbid and gothic but as time progressed she fitted more in to the pop category of the  rock-pop genre and today we see a more mature, sophisticated side to her.

When creating our digipak we wanted to focus more on and  develop the conventions of the early days of Avril`s career, the punk/gothic side of Avril as the song "My Happy Ending" which we have chosen for our brief would be categorised more as Avril`s early, emotional pieces. Therefore, due to the emotion portrayed in the song, typical of the rock-pop/pop-punk genre we wanted to capture an image on our  digipak that would emphasise the emotion of the song but also relate the content of the music video we have created. We believe the image we have used does this. The low positioning of Kate (our Avril Lavigne figure) suggests a sense of domination and implys she is inferior which can be seen in our music video where Tom (our boyfriend figure) dominates her through the use of puppet strings. Taking this content in to consideration we wanted to use an image which would emphasise the sad, dominating main aspect of our  video and  this is  why we decided to use an eye catching image because the puppet cross instantly catches the eye drawing attention to the sad facial expression of our artist giving  connotations of the type of image usually featured on Avril`s albums in her early career while the image that features on the back of our digipak emphasises that our boyfriend figure is a "bad/evil" character due to the dark lighting we used and the broken rose he is holding in his hands, which relates to the content of our video also because roses feature in our production.

As mentioned briefly above, Roses feature in our music video. We decided to feature roses in our media product as we wanted to conform to the rock-pop/pop punk genre by suggesting connotations of romance, love, emotion and heartbreak, which often feature heavily in this genre as products are often created to express emotions. Therefore, similar to the outside of our digipak relating to the puppet content in our music video and a sense of heartbreak we also wanted this relation process to continue on the inside of our digipak. With this in mind we decided to use an image of a rose with rose petals surrrounding it towards where the CD/DVD would be placed. By using this image and enhancing the bright red against a dark, black background the inside of our digipak is simple but effective which is a convention often seen in thhe rock-pop/pop punk genre as it offers a stern focus on the product/song and the meaning behind it.

As you can see from the images below, the inside of S Club 7s CD digipak, like ours the inside of their digipak features the lyrics. This is conventional for S Club 7 to do this as they are classed as "Pop" and therefore need a fun, capturing element to their product. Nevertheless, although it is not conventional for the rock-pop/pop punk genre to have the lyrics on the inside of digipaks, more likely credits, we have decided to challenge this and feature the lyrics on the inside of our digipak as we feel the heartbreak, romance and emotion of our product needed to be empahsised as much as possible and the lyrics of "My Happy Ending" offer this. Also, by doing this we believe we hhave brought to the purchasers attention the "pop" element of the rock-pop/pop punk genre.

The font we have used would probably be classed more as Gothic rather than rock-pop/pop-punk as it is not as edgey as some of the texts seen on rock-pop/pop punk products such as Paramore`s "RIOT!". I believe we have developed this convention as we have used a more simple text than conventionally used. We decided to do this as the font style and colour we used fitted the overall appearance of our digipak better than a more "creative" font would have and therefore, the text we have used is simple but effective suiting the simple design of our digipak overall and does not take attention away from the main focus of our digipak - the images. The positioning of the text on the puppet cross on the front cover image offers a unique, alternative way of presenting thhe text and puts greater emphasis and focus on the image capturing the purchasers eye in such a way that they will remember and hopefully buy the product.