Advert Research

Before starting the process of my Advert for The Saturdays, I have looked into some other famous artists,
and how they promoted their albums on their adverts. Some of the ones I have looked at are:

This is the magazine advert for the Kings of Leon. They have displayed their band name in block letters at the top of this poster, making it clear for the viewer straight away who's advert this is. Their background image reflects the name of their album title, 'Come Around Sundown' which I think is really effective, as the background shows a sort of vintage sunset across the centre of the poster, highlighting the palm trees. It shows us very clearly at the bottom of the poster that this is an advert for their new album, and the release date. It isn't very clear on my blog, but I noticed when seeing this image that the smaller print at the bottom reveals the website name for the band, and to the left of it it shows where you can purchase it first (amazon.com).

 This is the magazine advert for Gwen Stefani's new album - 'Love. Angel. Music. Baby'.  The advert cover for this represents the theme of a lot of her songs, for example - 'Rich Girl'. We can see her sitting on what looks like a throne, holding a crown and what could possibly be a sceptre, what a queen would have. This again represents her album name, showing that she is very glamorous. The advert also features some of the songs that are on the track listings, and who features in a number of the songs e.g. Eve. There is also some smaller print below it, yet it is hard to read. Then right at the bottom of the advert, it says that the album is 'Out in stores now'. In the bottom left hand corner, we actually see what the album cover looks like, making it easier for the viewer to know what they are looking for in stores. I personally really love Gwen Stefani's imagination when it comes to the designs of her albums and adverts, and I think it's really effective how she has kept the same image for the advert and the poster, enlarging the image for the poster.

This is a magazine advert for the band Audioslave - 'Turn To Gold' album name. They have kept their advert very simple, inkeeping with the theme of the album cover, too. They have displayed their band name at an eyelevel view, with the album name underneath in a smaller print. They have their faces either side of the advert, with the words 'Coming Soon' inbetween them. What I like most about this advert is that they have shown the reviews of what some critics have said - 4 stars from The Independant, Rolling Stones, and 3 from the News Of The World. Then in smaller print at the bottom, like most, they have shown the website name for the band.

Final Digipack as a whole...

This is an idea of what my Digipack would look like as if it were printed. Although the pixels and text are not as clear, this is just a way of showing what it looks like now each panel is completed. I have just 'Paint' to merge these images together.

Below is the version of the final Digipack as if it had just been printed. The images are upside down to give you an idea of how the Digipack would be presented to us ready to be folded. Overall, I am so pleased with tge final version of my Digipack.

Digipack - Inside cover

This is the inside cover of my digipack. As I have explained in previous posts, this image is across 3 panels, with insde pockets either side for the CD and DVD. This is the final edit of the image, which I have made into black and white. I have done this to highlight the background of the forest setting, which appears in the music video. As the girls are in the distance, I felt that it wasnt that important that I focus on them, instead making it more about the scenery. I have also made better use of the smudge tool when pasting more of the background to the left and right of this image, blending the cut together. Overall I think this image is a success and will look great when you open the digipack.

Digipack - Inside Front cover

This is the 4 panels of the 4 other girls in the band, with Grainne on the front cover. As i've explained before, all 5 of the girls will be roatating round so that they all get to be on the front cover for their Limited Edition Digipack. I have print screened all of these images from the music video, at the very beginning where we see all of their faces. I have cropped each one so that they are all close up, and are level in image size with each other. I have photoshopped each one, making their skin clearer, and increased the vibrancy. I then used a pink glitter image from Google, and covered the background in the glitter, over and over until it filled the canvas size. I think this is really effective as it highlights the name of the album, 'Glitter in the Air'.



Front cover - Limited Edition

This is a limited edition front cover for my digipack. On this particular cover, we have Grainne appearing on it. This front cover will also be repeated with the other 4 girls in the band, again individually. This is to appeal to the fans - a particular fan may have a favourite band member, and this digipack is to increase the sales of the CD and to advertise the band. On this cover: 

I have created a sticker in the top left hand corner, advertising what is included in this digipack, making it clearer for the viewer to see. It tells you that this is a limited edition of their album called 'Glitter in the Air', and tells you what features in the digipack, including more bonus features on the DVD that also comes with it. I have also inserted black and gold stars in order to make the writing stand out, particularly when it shows that the DVD is included, I have put 3 stars either side. As this is Grainne's edition, I have designed her a signiture, which I signed on paper, scanned onto the computer and 'Photoshopped' onto this image. I think this makes the front cover look more personal and appealing to the fans. This is again repeated for the 4 other girls. I have adjusted the lighting of both Grainne and the background, experimenting with various tools on Photoshop. For instance, I have desaturated the background, making the trees less green and more black and white, effectively making Grainne stand out. I have turned up the Brightness and Contrast of Grainne, also adding a Lens Flare in the top right hand corner, creating a sunlight shining down on her, portraying her to be very glamorous. I have made her eyes more blue and her skin slightly darker to make her stand out against the darkness of the trees. 

I have then inserted Text, clearly showing the name of the band, and the name of the album underneath. Overall I have really enjoyed designing the front cover, and after a class discussion and questionnaire, I have had an overall opinion that they would all consider buying this album. It is very eye-catching and colourful, and tells you everything about the digipack on the sticker, so we know exactly what to expect.

Digipack - Final Tracklistings

This is my final digipack tracklistings cover. I am really happy with the outcome of this because this is how I imagined the back cover to look like. I wanted something quite simple, in-keeping with the personalities in the band; nothing too wacky or colourful. I have inserted little black hearts in between the song listings on the Bonus Features, and the DVD. I have also inserted a scroll design wither side of CD and DVD to make it look elegent and make the headings stand out. Overall, I'm very happy with this, and will continue to design the other panels to the Digipack.

Digipack - Tracklistings

This is a rough idea of what I want the back cover of the Digipack to look like. I have selected a range of The Sturdays songs, conbined with various other artists, and some I have made up myself. I think its very important that I keep the tracks and the fonts simple to fit their image. I have looked at a range of album covers such as Enter Shikari, Pink, Ministry of Sound, to get ideas of the layout. I have included performances that are 'live' at the O2 to appeal to the audiences that the digipacks include extra feautures. I will also advertise this by creating a sticker on the front cover of the Digipack to show that it is a limited edition digipack with many features on 2 discs. I have included the DVD showing The Staurdays documentary which will appeal to their fans, to see the band behind the scenes and what their life is like off camera. I have also included other music video's and live performances of various songs. I think so far this is a success and look forward to continuing the final Digipack.

1st Draft

Here I have created a pink tint over the image to appeal to the audience as it looks more attractive. I have also reduced the capacity so that the tracklistings are clearer for the buyer to read.