Flat plans for advert

Flat Plans for digipak

Skills that i learnt and utilised througout the creation of the product

The step by step guide below shows how I constructed the completed advert on Photoshop. Firstly, I adjusted the canvas size to the chosen height and width which was 14.1cm x 9.98cm. I decided on this size after I had experimented with the others in my flat plans.

Secondly, I selected the photograph I had taken for the advert and placed it stretched it so that it fitted onto the canvas. As you can see from the image below the microphone is on a stand and prevents any text I want to place over the image from being easily read. However, I used the Cut-out effect, which I have used throughout my entire Digipak to ensure that there was continuity throughout my promotional pack. Not only will this will raise awareness of my target audience and enable to identify the Digipak in the shop, it also removes the microphone stand so that there is a clear black background for the text to be placed in front of.

The effect I have placed onto the image is shown below. This effect has been used on every image that I have used throughout my promotional pack, which will ensure that my target audience will be able to notify an Arctic Monkey product through the colour schemes and style of shots I have taken. I also adjusted the RGB colours and brightness of the image so that the advert was exactly the same colour as the Digipak.

In my research I found that one of the Katy Perry adverts included the actual front cover of her Digipak. I decided that this worked really well and I decided to incorporate my Arctic Monkeys front cover into the advert. After I had placed and resized the image I arranged the layer to bring to front so that it was visible on the advert. The front cover works really well with the advert because my colour schemes are exactly the same; once again this demonstrates the continuity and consistency within the media products I have produced.

Finally, I added text to promote the Digipak to the target audience. The font style is ‘Indie Komiks Sketch’ and the release date and the name of the band are in the largest and brightest font. The text tool below was used to enter the text onto the advert. Each line is a separate layer as it allowed me to keep the text at various distances from the above line. The small text is much closer together and the significant information is in a much larger font size with a clear background.

Evaluation of advert

The previous post shows an image of my completed advert, which advertises the release date of Arctic Monkeys – Bigger Boys Digipak.
The image I have used has been placed on the left so that there is a clear divide between the text and the image. The red and white colours within the model coincide with the colours of the text to ensure that the advert receives the attention from the audience. The intended purpose of the advert is for the consumers to look at the image first followed by the title of the band and the name of the Digipak. My media product uses conventions of real media products as the front cover of the Digipak and the guitar are in a diagonal eye line so that the viewer follows the image onto the front cover. I noticed this layout was used in Katy Perry’s advert and it was really effective in identifying the target audience and promoting the actual Digipak. I have chosen this particular layout so that the consumers know what to look for when they enter the shops and look for the product.
Yet again in my promotional pack I have decided to use the same model, with a relaxed body language holding an instrument. I feel that this coincides with the genre of the Indie music and that fans would appreciate the simplicity of the advert. By distorting the face using the Cut-out effect it allows aspirers to recreate this look for themselves. Finally, I have made the model focus on the guitar rather than looking at the audience. Although some posters make eye contact with the consumers to make a connection I felt that to maintain the impression that the focus is on promoting the music and not the band itself, this angle worked better.
The font style is Indie Komiks Sketch as research has shown that continuity in a promotional pack is critical. The largest front on the advert is the title of the band, as this will ensure that they read this part of the text first. The audience are then likely to read the information downwards, which is why I have made the release date in a bigger font and the website link in red. This ensures that the audience will not start to lose interest in the text and they will be aware of when they can purchase the Digipak and where they can find out more information about the band. The colours of the text red and white contrast the dark background, which makes the information, stand out to the audience. The eyedropper tool also enabled me to make the colours of the text the same colours as the models clothing.
Overall, I feel that my completed advert is very successful. This has been achieved because I extensively researched existing media products from the Indie/Rock genre to learn what my target audience would expect to see in a typical media product. I have used the knowledge I gained from the research task to create a product representative of their expectations. The creation of my advert was also successful because of the skills I have gained within the programme Photoshop. The effects that I have learnt how to use make the image much more appealing to the target audience.
However, to strengthen the validity of my opinion I posted the final product onto Facebook in order to receive feedback from classmates and friends who are of similar ages to my target audience. Below is the message I sent to my friends and the comments that I have received.

Andy Lade – appreciates the effectiveness of the advert and feels that the audience would become attracted to this in a magazine. There is also a mention of my product that suggests it links well with my Digipak, which suggest that I have successfully created an interesting and successful promotional pack. Finally, Charlotte has said that the language is appealing to consumers, which is pleasing because I wanted to instil a ‘buy it now’ or ‘must have’ impression on my target audience.

completed advert

Analysis of 2 adverts from chosen genre or artist

Kings of Leon Advert

Only by The Night is the fourth studio album produced by Kings of Leon and was released in September 2008. The album experienced remarkable commercial success, featuring inside the top 10 in over 10 different countries. The success of the album was recognized both by the Brit and Grammy Awards and the singles ‘Sex on Fire’ and ‘Use Somebody’ reached number one and number two respectively in the UK charts. The success of the advert therefore suggests that the consumers were aware of the album’s release date.
The images on the advert are a montage of five edited images to coincide with the title of the album ‘only by the night’. The most noticeable effect that features on the advert is the inclusion of the four band members and the night owl as one character. The creation of the montage still allows a quarter of each corner to each individual band member, which will appeal to the target audience. The appeal of the advert to the target audience is strengthened by the inclusion of the owl, which denotes a less obvious meaning and requires the viewers to look beyond the obvious meaning of the advert. The advert is successful in appealing to the target audience and the style of the montage requires a deeper thought about the album, which is likely to lead to sales as the target audience is likely to want to know why the owl has been included.
The title ‘Only by the Night’ is in the same green font as the image to ensure there is a consistent theme throughout the advertisement. The green color has been used to create a night vision effect, which is implied by the title of the album. The image below illustrates that there is a common theme running through the production work associated with the band. Although the color scheme is different, the use of feathers allows the target audience to relate the track to relate it to the Kings of Leon, which ensures that the promotional pack is easily identifiable.

The black background used for the advert allows the reader to easily understand the text, which has been enlarged to ensure all information is carried across to the reader. The advert follows certain conventions, which expects the reader to read from top to bottom, by making the title both white, and the biggest font size. The contrasting colors ensure that the title of the band is read first, which ultimately is the most significant information for the target audience. The other white text is the name of the tracks that feature in the album, which perhaps suggest that the main focus is on the band and their productions itself, as opposed to the image which is in a less noticeable night vision green color. The image is probably the second feature that the viewer would look at in detail and the effect of the montage ensures that the reader doesn’t just overlook the image, whereas they might if it was just ordinary pictures of the band.
The subheading which is written in the slightly smaller white text below the title of the album is informing the reader about the content of the album it is advertising. This is crucial as it has chosen the three most successful tracks from the album and publicized them on the advert. This widens the potential target audience for the product as a reader may not necessarily be familiar with the Kings of Leon other music but admire one of the titles mention on the advert.
The same font is used throughout the publication, which adds to the professionalism of the product. The two largest fonts included within the publication are the name of the band and the title of the album. As the image is not clearly recognizable as the Kings of Leon at first glance the title and name of the album will appeal to anyone interested in the band and then they will explore the image in much more depth to possibly depict the deeper meaning. The presentation of the font size and color is crucial as adverts like these are likely to feature in magazines so they have to stand out from the others. The most significant text is published in the biggest font so that it attracts the target audience to the most important issues; the band’s name, the title of their album and the release date. The release date is significant as the main aim of the advert is to raise awareness of the product so that consumers are aware of when they can actually purchase the album. The red font used to illustrate the release date is only used once throughout the publication and is slightly darker than the name of the band. The reader will therefore read this information in that particular order and after these three titles are likely to know whether or not it is a product they would be interested in. Finally, the advert includes a website link to the Kings of Leon website, which allows readers to strengthen their understanding of the band. The copyright requirements are also include within the design to ensure that the advert cannot be copied.

We are scientists advert analysis

The rock bands breakthrough success came with their second album, which sold 100,000 copies in the first six months and they have also reached number 11 in the UK chart.

The advert is 1/4 Page horizontal and the dimensions are 50mm height x 141mm width, which is commonly found in a magazine. I feel that this size is more effective than the full A4 page as the information is much more concise, which ensures the reader is aware of the most important issues.

The two most dominant pieces of text are on the left and it shows the title of the single and that they are making the single available for download. These two points are the most significant pieces of text and they have been enlarged accordingly so that the reader reads the text from top to bottom. The information shown is advertising the online availability of the single and the website link allows the readers to pursue the purchase of the single. The link may also strengthen download figures as it will raise awareness to potential listeners and provide them with an insight to their music. The inclusion of a quote from the ‘NME’ shows that they are successfully recognized and acknowledged by a professional audience in the music industry.

The band title is in a very relaxed font style, which looks as though it may have been hand written and the title of the single is in block capitals. The capitals have been used to make the title stand out to the audience, whereas the title of the band has been used to give the viewers an insight into the bands attitudes towards music. Any link with the band is in a white font, whereas reviews and information about their music is in black font. The white and black are very traditional colors and the text is easily accessible as it has been placed on a bright background.

The advert is very simplistic as the props are basic and the band members are clearly visible so that the target audience will be able to recognize them. The staging of the picture allows the text to be shown on the left hand side and I feel this layout works very well in presenting the information to the audience.

The image has been constructed to make the model on the right look like a werewolf. This has been done to reinforce the slightly strange and mysterious personalities and style of music they play. The target audience will be able to relate this image to the song lyrics, which solely focuses on the nightlife of young people. The staging is very simplistic, which is common within the Indie/Rock genre and the background looks painted, as if to suggest the audience can recreate the shot due to the ease at which it could be reproduced. The painting emphasizes the sun rising on a night out and the bright colors replicate the artists feel good mood. The simple staging of the shot reinforces the band members approach to their chosen style of music and identifies their target audience.
The information within the advert suggests that because the production is advertising a single, it suggests that the band is new to the UK music industry and it is attempting to make the sales through the online media, which suggests that the record label feels that there is a much larger requirement for downloads in this post-modern media as opposed to the consumer buying the actual single.

How i created the product using photshop

The font I have decided to use was found on http://www.dafont.com/. I have chosen this style as it strengthens the simplicity I want to achieve. The basic and relaxed nature of the font coincides with the images and reinforces the nature of the Indie genre.

The dimensions of a Digipak are illustrated by the image below. Firstly, I created a template in Adobe InDesign so that I could envisage the product as a whole, as opposed to four individual frames. I designed the template using the circle and line drawing tool.

Secondly, I had to adjust the canvas size so that the front cover was the same size as a standard CD front cover. I carried out this procedure for each of my four designs throughout the Digipak.

Then, I placed my front cover image. I placed this layer first as it enabled to add the text around the image. My Digipak flat plans made the design process much easier as I had a general idea of what I wanted.

Then I decided to use the Cut-out effect to enhance the interest of the image. AS you can see below I adjusted the number of levels and edge simplicity to get the image to look exactly as I wanted. The effect gave me more space in the top left hand corner for the title Arctic monkeys to appear.

To add the text ‘Arctic Monkeys’ I selected the horizontal type tool and drew a box where I wanted the text to form. To make the colour of the text the same colour as the red on the models shirt, the eyedropper tool was used. To select the font style/size the toolbar at the top of the programme was used. I used ‘Indie Komiks Sketch’ as my only text in my promotional pack to maintain consistency and the style of the font is not only representative of the Arctic Monkeys genre of music, but also coincides with the Cut-out effect used on the images.

I had to arrange the text layer to ‘bring to front’ so that the text appeared in front of the image. I had to select the layer and then use the options at the top of the programme. I made the background of the text box transparent so that the text incorporates itself into the image. The arrangement of layers was particularly important in this project as it was vital that all of the information was easily accessible by the readers.

Below is an image before the quick selection tool was applied. My flat plans design shows that I wanted to establish a black background for the inside of the Digipak and when I looked at my photo shoot I noticed that there was a dark shadow around the model and the floor had also entered the bottom of the picture, which I didn’t want. Seeing the image on Photoshop made me change my initial ideas and revert to a white background. I overcome this problem by using the quick selection tool to select the areas I wanted to fill with white.

The screenshot below shows the image after the quick selection tool has been applied. I also rotated the image so that the text was more accessible to the readers and so that the Digipak created a mirrored effect of two images on the outside and the text the dominant feature in the centre.