Advert

This is the advert for Biffy Clyro's latest album. It uses intertextuality by having the album front cover covering all of it. There is very little in the way of writing on it and only contains information like release dates, views and songs. Uses the album cover as the advert cover is good because its easier for people to find the album in shops if they just walk past and see it in a rack of CD's. For adverts like this it's far more accessible for people to read if any of the information it is short and snappy as people don't want to stand there and read long paragraphs. I would say this is quite an effective advert. However I would say that it doesn't suggest too much about their genre apart from maybe the type of magazines that have reviewed it but most people know who Biffy Clyro are anyway.

This advert is for the Foo Fighter's greatest hits. It's a lot more clear and striking than the more artistic advert for Biffy Clyro. The metal and bolts does denote rock music with the red in the bands logo signifying how passionate Foo Fighters are. The fact there is the logo there will make it a lot more easily recognisable to people that this is an advert for Foo Fighters. The large print writing with track listings, release date and formatting is a lot more easily than the other advert at just a glance like most adverts are looked at. It also does the same technique of putting the album cover as the majority of the advert. I would have to say that this is a more effective advert than the Biffy Clyros advert.

Here are some of the feedback I have recieved for my digi-pack.

For this advert I have tried to go for simplicity like the Foo Fighters advert and an artistic picture like the Biffy Clyro advert. The title would be bold, black and in Broadway for the same reasons as with my digi-pack. The advert title would be in italics to create an intertextuality between advert and digi-pack. The photo of the ghost in the mirror will reflect a shot that's in the music video creating a link between those two. The ghost also keeps with the paranormal theme. It's unlikely I will use this flat plan as it doesn't really show what type of music the band play at all.

For this flat plan it goes into more detail about gig times and contains more colours and shapes than the previous flat plan. It also creates intertextuality with the band name and digi-pack title like the last flat-plan but it also contains the digi-packs image similarly to how the adverts I analysed did. The shapes are supposed to represent a fluency about the band. The digi-pack cover is a lot easier to see what genre the band is. The digi-pack would be black to keep with the theme as well as having the digi-pack cover in black and white so it looks more in tone with the rest of the advert.

This flat-plan contains the picture of the inside cover of the digi-pack about the discarded bass guitar which keeps with the paranormal theme. It would make more sense to have the front cover picture as the advert though because it would be easier to recognise in a shop.

During this task I got used to using InDesign and Photoshop more which was good especially using the colour filters which can change the whole effect of a photo when you look at it as the drum kit after being put in black and white makes it look a lot more creepy and spectral. I wanted to make sure the name of the band was as big as possible as that way even if people just remember one thing from the advert the band name should be that given the striking white on the ominous black. I included the digi-pack cover on it because as I've previously written the band adverts that I analysed that were of a similar genre did it to. It also means if someone sees it in somewhere like HMV on the racks after seeing the advert they will be more likely to pick it up. Even on things like iTunes you could just see the digi-pak cover on the list of recommended albums and check it out because you've seen the advert or just seeing The Montagues written on iTunes will make you want to click on it. The list of tour dates will make you more likely want to check them out in case there playing somewhere near you and might want to go see them in the end. The shapes represent something understandable that you yourself could be a part of.

Digi-pak

Here is some feedback for my digi-pak.

This is the middle section for one of my flat plans for my did-pak. I want to keep it fairly basic but still quite eerie. A mix of the two digi-paks I have analysed. The font I will use is Broadway for the title to give a bold but sensible and mature look reflecting the song's sensibility. By doing this it keeps with the theme for the rest of the digi-pak and music video as if I used a more wacky or zany font it would be juxtaposed with the seriousness of the hauntings and become less horror related and it would undermined the supposed love song. I will also write about the band using Arial this will give fans information how the digi-pak was recorded and a little bit of history about the band. I decided to use Arial as it is the clearest to read and fits in with the rest of the digi-pak and advert. The dusty guitar amp is there to look mysterious and left for years without being used to create an eeriness that will work well with the faint outline of a ghost on a black background which will create a link in the audiences mind between the digi-pak and the music video.

This is the front and back for my digi-pak. Again The Montagues is going to be written in Broadway for the same reasons plus in bold it will looking striking on the white background. Different to most digi-paks, I'm going to put the song listings on the front to be a bit different and breakaway from the norm giving it a different feel like how something paranormal is different to the norm. The bass guitar and amp will be dusty to look like they've been just left there for years making you wonder what has happened to the owner keeping with the paranormal philosophy of the music video, digi-pak and advert triplet. On the back will have a mid-shot photo of 3 of the band members holding there instruments which is similar to some of the photos on the Nirvana digi-pak as if you seem someone you can recognise you are more implied to get something.

Here is the second flat-plan I have created again for the title have used Broadway and Arial for the rest of the writing for similar reasons. The digi-pak here shows the couple standing in a mirror filming each themselves. A similar shot is used in the music video which for the audience will create a link between the two making them either more inclined to buy the digi-pak if they see it around after watching the music video or if they buy it watching the video after. The clothes they would be wearing would be skinny jeans and a checked shirt for the boy and a flowery dress for the girl so that the indie/rock audience can relate to it more and it fits in with the style of music that The Montagues play. The back shows all the song listings and The Montagues title which is still in Broadway which if used enough will make it seem like a brand logo. The digi-pak title is also on the back as well. The ghostly figure also links in with the music video and continues the eeriness about it.

For the finished digi-pak I decided to make a number of changes to my initial flat plans in order to make the digi-pak more genre specific so potential buyers will only need to take a brief look to know that this is a rock band by the drum kit that is there. They will also be able to tell that the band is most likely a soft/ indie rock band due to the standard size of the drum kit as, if the band were more of a metal outfit the kit would be a lot larger. The dark blue tinge was something I learned to use on photoshop during the task. The tinge gives it a more eerie look and a slightly old fashioned feel as well the use of dull colours like in the Moonstone digi-pack. The drum kit is also the same one that is used in the music video giving it intertexuality. I decided to use a colour scheme that reflects a mini storyline within the digi-pak with the photo of Ben on the back page being in black & white suggests that picture was taken a long time ago. The discarded drum kit and bass guitar look slightly grainy denoting that still were taken a long time ago but not as much as the first one and finally the third page shows the band standing with instruments with a white light coming behind them giving the impression that their now ghosts which fits into the whole paranormal music video plot. The title is in Broadway giving it a serious yet vintage look showing a maturity to the way Montagues play. The digi-pak title in italics along with the quote from the song which provides intertexuality is coupled with the love song that the title song and the song to the music video is. The second and third pages I decided to use one of my flat plans for this as it worked with the whole inner sub plot idea and it allows the musicians to be personalised and relate-able with the audience wearing similar clothes to how they would dress. The task also allowed me to practice my camera work something I have never really done before and it was quite enjoyable setting everything up in to specific positions and taking the shots until I have a selection I'm happy with. The effects I used were things like changing the shadow settings and modifying the black and white filter where I pretty much had a mess around with things and getting adequate results. I'm happy with the way my digi-pak has come out and I've got positive comments on facebook. I'm especially pleased with the way the white writing looks so bold compared to the black bass and amp on the second page. The font on the last page makes it look both mysterious but also romantic giving it a really nice look to it.

This digi-pak cover is for a band called moonstone. They are a similar genre and have also gone for a similar horror theme for their digi-pak. The imagery is artistic but but not exactly striking. However it is clearly connotes what genre the band is, as the dark and dull colouring coupled with the eerie blacks show the artist is a rock band clearly allowing music fans interested in the genre that they might like this. The bright lights inside the home are really eye catching compared to the rest of the digi-pak really drawing your eyes towards it. The writing on the back about the band is also clear which is important as people are going to be less interested in something if they can't read what it says. The font used for the band name and album title works well the rest of the cover as the jagged edges are synchronised in with the sharp edges of the house giving the whole digi-pak a sort of flow across the image with nothing being juxtaposed.

The digi-pak for Nirvana unplugged in New York is extremely basic on the front but that works really well with the music as it was a stripped down acoustic gig. The writing in bright red on the front is really striking on the red background maybe denoting how striking Kurt Cobain's voice is over the relaxed acoustic melodies at the gig. The font is obscure as it is not completely level, it's slightly disjointed but this only further represents how Nirvana's music is on here. In terms of a digi-pak reflecting the artists music they have got it pretty much spot on here.