Group magazine advert - Miss Miller

My magazine advert:

Cara's magazine advert:

Beau's magazine advert:

Group magazine advert:

As a group we all looked at each of our individual magazine adverts. We then discussed what we thought was good about each one and what we thought could be improved on each one. After this we came to a group decision about what magazine advert we thought was overall strongest and we decided that this was Beau's advert which is the third advert down. Next we had to take the weak points of this magazine advert and try to make them as strong as possible by using mine and Cara's magazine adverts. This meant that we changed the main image on Beaus advert and replaced it with the mirror image used on my advert and also adding an edit to it that Cara created on one of her draft magazine adverts.

Colours:
We kept the black background that was featured in Beau's magazine advert and also used in my one. We thought this was the best colour to use for the background as it allows the rest of the information on the advert to stand out much more. This means that it is more likely to attract the eye of the target audience. We also used this as oppose to Cara's multi-coloured background as we thought that using a variety of different colours in the background caused the advert to become overcrowded. For the pattern at the bottom of our magazine advert we decided to use the colours bright pink and bright blue. As a group we thought that these colours went well against the dark background and also enabled the magazine advert to stand out and catch the eye of the consumer. Furthermore the use of the colours blue and pink keep a consistency between the groups digipak and the magazine advert. This allows the consumer to relate these colours with our artist making him more recognisable.

Conventions of genre:
I believe that the magazine advert that we have created as a group conforms to the conventions of the dance genre in a variety of ways. The colours that we have chosen represent the dance genre very well in my opinion. They are bright and edgy, both of these a things that come to mind when you think of the dance genre. Furthermore the colours are often used in strobe lighting in clubs, which again are heavily related to the dance genre. Therefore the use of these colours will make the audience think of the dance genre and they will be able to identify the magazine advert as being from the dance genre. I also believe the name of the album makes the advert conventional to the genre. The name "Euphoria" connotes a feeling of happiness and joy and I also believe that it matches the conventions of the genre very well. I also believe the name will attract fans of the dance genre as it is clear that the album is from the dance genre.

Images:
I believe that the images that we have chosen in our magazine advert are very effective. I think the picture of our artist attracts the target audience very well as the artist appears to be powerful making him appeal to the target audience. Furthermore the artist is looking directly down the camera, this allows the target audience to create a relationship with the character. I think the black and white edit that we have used on the image works very well as it portrays our artist as being original and the edit also makes the image stand out and catch the eye. The other image that we have used in our magazine advert is the blue and pink cloud of smoke at the bottom of the page. This image works well with the dance genre as it is bright and edgy which are both related to the dance genre. Furthermore the cloud of smoke helps represent the artist as being more powerful as he seems almost majestic.

Layout and design:
The layout and design was important for our magazine advert. We decided to put the artist name at the bottom of the page where the cloud of smoke is as we thought the two worked well together. I also believe placing the two together helps draw the target audiences eye to the artist name. We also decided to use the mirror layout out by placing both images opposite eachother, much like they are in my original magazine advert. We thought this worked well as it makes the advert symmetrical and gives the impression of "seeing double" much like you would if you was in a dance environment and drinking alcohol.

Typography:
In terms of the typography for our magazine advert we made it standing out as a priority. Having this in mind, we decided to make all of our font in capital letters. This make the writing more bold and therefore attracts the consumers eye. The first I used was for the name of the album. As you can see it is much larger than the other font as we wanted to make the name of the album stand out the most as the whole idea of the advert is to promote the album. I feel that the font used for the album name is appropriate as it looks powerful and superior.  For the name of our artist we used an edgy font as we thought that it goes well with the name of my artist "DJ Sonic". The font also is conventional of the dance genre as it looks very futuristic and electronic which are both elements of dance.

Language:
We kept the amount of language on our magazine advert as minimal as possible because we did not want to overcrowd it with information as we thought it could deter the consumer. So we decided to include only the artist name, album name and information about when the album is released and what song is included on it. We thought this was the only important information that the consumer needed to know.

Caras strengths: 
We thought that overall Cara's magazine advert was probably the best as it really catches the target audiences eye as it is brightest and stands out most. We also thought that the use of clocks worked really well with the name of the song on the album "Turn Back Time". However it was hard to incorporate any of her ideas as we thought the advert was least conventional to the dance genre and it was important that we had a magazine advert that conformed to the conventions of the genre.

Beaus strengths:
The strengths in Beaus advert was the cloud of smoke at the bottom of the image. We felt that this image worked really well with the dance genre and helped attract the target audience as it is bright and therefore stands out. We also thought that his layout was most effective as it looked least cluttered. The weaknesses in Beaus advert were in his main image. We felt that the image of the artist was too dull and did not project him in the light we wanted to. 

Conclusion:
To conclude, I believe that as a group we have created a very effective magazine advert. I feel that each member of the group contributed good ideas to make the advert stand out. I also believe that the advert conforms to the conventions of the dance genre in a variety of ways. This helps our magazine advert appeal to the target audience as they will be able to see that it clearly comes from the dance genre. I found that we worked as a group really well as we all listened to eachothers ideas and took the criticism to our own adverts really well. This meant we was able to create a good group advert.

Individual digipak - Miss Miller

We was given the task to create an individual digipak for our artist. A digipak is a style of CD which provides the audience with a better understanding of the artist as it gives them more images and a letter from the artist to their fans. Creating the digipak allowed us to connect with our target audience well and make sure that a relationship was created between the two. We also created the digipak so that we could demonstrate our skills in portraying our artist and our genre to the target audience.

Colours:
The colours used in a digipak are very important in making it successful as they are one of the main elements that will make it conventional to the genre or not. I have chosen to use the colour black as my background for each section of my digipak, I chose this as I believe that it allows the rest of the content on my digipak to stand out well. Furthermore the colour black makes it conventional to the dance genre as it represents night and this is something that is related to the dance genre as music videos in the dance genre are often filmed in nightclubs. I have also used the colour red quite frequently in my digipak, I chose this colour for my artists clothing such as his baseball cap and tshirt. I believe the colour red is a symbol for passion and love which will both make my artist seem more appealing to the target audinece and they will be more enticed to purchase the product. I have also used the colours blue and pink in my second section of my digipak, I included these colours as I have also used them in my magazine advert and I felt that including them would make it consistent. On top of this, the electric blue and pink colours represent my artist as being edgy and I feel this will appeal to my target audience.

Conventions of genre and images used:
The digipak I have created is in my opinion conventional to the dance genre in a variety of ways. Firstly the name of the album "Euphoria" is conventional to the genre as it connotes a feeling of happiness, which is something that is related to dance music as it makes people feel upbeat. I also believe that the images I have included in my digipak make it conventional to the dance genre. In the image used on the first section my artist is shown wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap. Both of these pieces of iconography are related to the dance genre and DJ's are often shown wearing them whilst they are performing. Another piece of iconography that I have used on my artist is headphones; again this is very conventional of the dance genre as DJ's use headphones to perform. In using an image of our artist wearing headphones the target audience are clearly able to see that it is from the dance genre. The image of the sound monitor with a heart in the middle also makes my digipak conventional to the dance genre as sound monitors are often used and related to DJ's. The use of the heart in the middle also links to the album name "Euphoria" which also connotes love. This means that there is a relationship between the images I have used and the name of the album, this will appeal to the target audience.

Layout and design:
I believe that the layout and design of a digipak is important in order for it to appeal to its intended audience. I did not want to overcrowd my digipak with images and text as I thought that this would deter people from the product. Instead I attempted to keep it as plain as possible as I felt this would appeal to the eye much more. I used minimal text on my main cover of the digipak including just the artist name and the album name and I positioned both of these at the top of the page and in the centre of two as I believe it stood out most here. In terms of the design I wanted to keep it symmetrical on the main cover of the digipak, so I used two identical images either side of the page. I believe this kept the front cover looking professional and also gives the effect of "seeing double" just like you would if you had been drinking in a club. On the tracklist of my digipak, again I wanted to keep it as simple as possible so I just put the names of the songs in a simple order making it clear for the target audience to see what is featured in the album. I used the pink and blue electricity image at the top of my tracklist to make it more appealing to the eye and make it look like it is from the dance genre. Furthermore this image kept my digipak and magazine advert in relation as the same image was used in my magazine advert.

Typography:
The typography for my digipak was important as I wanted it to stand out and attract the eye of the audience. For the name of my artist I used an edgy font as I believe that it goes well with the name of my artist "DJ Sonic". The font also is conventional of the dance genre as it looks very futuristic and electronic which are both elements of dance. Furthermore I have also used this font on my album cover and this therefore means that there is some consistency between the products allowing them to be more recognisable to the consumer. The typography used for my album name is much more plain and simple which I believe creates a good contrast. The plain and simpleness of this font also means that it stands out more as it is easier for the consumer to read. I have also used capital letters for my album and artist name to further emphasise them. The typography for my tracklist is the same for each song. I did this in order to create a consistency and make it clear to the audience what is featured within the album. The colour of the font is white against a black background, again this makes the songs clear to the consumer and they can therefore see what is included in the album and this is more likely to persuade them to purchase it. In the letter to the artists fans I used the same font as the artist name to make sure that the letter had a personal touch to it and then the target audience would be able to build more of a relationship with the artist. Finally I used a signature on the letter to my fans and this was handwritten by myself. Again his makes it more personal to the artist and the consumers will feel like the digipak is giving them an exclusive look into his life.

Language: 
The language used in a digipak as it is what is going to persuade the consumer to purchase it or not. Firstly we have the artist name "DJ Sonic", which is likely to persuade dance fans to purchase the digipak as it is clear that it is from the dance genre and the connotations of the word "Sonic" is fast paced and upbeat music which is likely to appeal to a dance genre audience. The album name "Euphoria" also gives the audience a hint that it is from the dance genre as it connotes happiness and love. In the letter to the artists fans I used collective lexis such as "all" to make it clear to the audience that he is thanking them for helping him become what he is. I have also used the term "like a rollercoaster" to describe his career so far. I believe that the word rollercoaster goes well with the dance genre as it connotes speed and excitement. Finally I added an "x" at the end of the letter to the fans to show to the audience that the artist loves his fans and ares about them, which will urge them to create a relationship with the artist. 

Using photoshop:
I found using photoshop quite difficult when it came to putting an image onto my CD disc. I struggled with this as there was so many different layers and the CD disc was an awkward shape to project an image onto. To overcome this I fiddled about with the different layers and managed to put the image on in the end. I also struggled with cutting out the image of the heartbeat monitor. I struggled with this as it is an awkward image to cut out as the part of the image I needed was so small. To overcome this I used the rubber tool on the smallest setting and managed to erase all the unwanted parts of the image. I feel that the strength I had in photoshop was editing the images that I had taken. I found it easy as I just altered the brightness and other aspects of the image. This allowed me to create an image that was conventional to the genre and one that also stood out on the magazine advert. This strength helped me create a successful magazine advert as the image is the focal point of any advertisement as it is what catches the eye of the target audience. Also this allowed me to portray my artist effectively as diverse and surreal. 

Conclusion:
In conclusion, I feel that the individual digipak that I have created conforms well to the conventions of the dance genre. I believe it does this in a variety of ways such as the use of bright colours against a dark background making it stand out to the eye. Furtehrmore I believe that the images and language that I have included make it clear that the digipak is from the dance genre. I also believe that my digipak appeals well to the target audience as it is clear to them that it is from the dance genre. This means that they will be more likely to buy the digipak as my target audience are people who like the dance genre. In addition I believe that the letter to the fans that I have included make the digipak more personal to the fans and this is likely to appeal to them. Overall I believe that creating individual digipaks will benefit our group as a whole as we will be able to combine all of our ideas into one and create a digipak that appeals to our audience in every aspect.

Individual magazine advert - Miss Miller

We was given the task to create an individual magazine advert for our album. This task was so that we could effectively promote our album and ensure that it was appealing to our target audience. This task also enabled us to use the conventions of our genre to specifically target our audience. The individual magazine advert each member of our group has created will be combined into one overall magazine advert.

Colours:
I have chosen to use a black background in my magazine advert. I chose the colour black for my background as it keeps it plain and simple and also allows the other things in the foreground of my advert to stand out even more. I have also used the colour red in my magazine advert, this colour is most prominent surrounding my artist, for example his red baseball cap. I chose the colour red as I believe it is very eyecatching against the black background and it also connotes passion very well, which is something that may appeal to the target audience. Another colour that I have used in my magazine advert is blue. I used this colour for the volt of electricity that flows through the magazine advert. I feel this was a good colour to use as it is a primary colour and the illuminous blur surrounding the colour makes it very conventional to the genre as it looks similar to a strobe light.

Conventions of the genre:
I feel that my magazine advert is very conventional to the dance genre. I feel it is conventional to the genre in a variety of ways, one of these is the use of bright colours. The use of bright colours replicate the strobe lights that you would expect to see in a club environment. Through using these strobe light type colours the audience will be able to see that the album is from the dance genre, meaning it is more likely to attract its target audience. Furthermore I believe that the images included in my magazine advert make it conventional to the genre; the image I have used is of our artist looking directly down the camera wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap. Both of these pieces of iconography are conventional to the dance genre as you often see DJ's wearing them whilst performing.

Images used:
I only used one image in my magazine advert and that was of our artist. I feel that using one image of our artist will mean that all the attention is focused on him, this is therefore more likely to attract the eye of the target audience. I feel that the image that I used is very effective as it is powerful. The artist is looking directly towards the camera, this means that the audience will feel some sort of relationship. Furthermore I believe that the edit I have used on the image makes it more effective. I used a cartoon type edit, making the artist seem surreal and diverse. The use of this edit also makes it fit into the dance genre. Finally the image I used showed the artist wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap, this portrays him as being mysterious as his identity is hidden urging the target audience to find out more about who he is. Also the use of these pieces of iconography in this image makes it more conventional to the dance genre as DJ's are often seen wearing glasses and baseball caps as they are seen as 'cool'.

Layout and design:
The layout of my magazine advert was important as I didn't want to clutter it as I felt that could deter the target audience, so I decided to try to make it as bare as possible. I decided to therefore only include information about the name of the album, the release date and what songs will feature. I placed the information about the album in the centre of the magazine advert as I felt it would stand out most here and attract the target audience. Either side of the text was identical images of my artist. I placed two identical images either side as I wanted to keep the magazine advert symmetrical.

Typography:
I used two different fonts in my magazine advert. The first I used was for the name of the album. As you can see it is much larger than the other font as I wanted to make the name of the album stand out the most as the whole idea of the advert is to promote the album. I feel that the font used for the album name is appropriate as it is conventional to the dance genre as it looks edgy and stands out. The other font that I used was for the additional information about the album and as you can see it is very original and bold. I feel that this contrasts well with the diverse font used for the album name. Furthermore the bold font used for the additional information means that it will also stand out although it is in a smaller font.

Language:
The language used in a magazine advert is very important as it is one of the main devices in order to persuade the audience to purchase the product. It was even more important for me as I wanted to keep the amount of words on the advert as low as possible. Firstly I believe that the album name "Euphoria" is very effective and conventional as it connotes happiness and energy, which are both heavily related to the dance genre. I also used the term "number 1 album", this promotes the album well as it informs the audience how well the album did in the charts and is therefore more likely to persuade them to purchase the album.

Using photoshop:
I found using photoshop quite difficult at first especially cutting out the images to use in the magazine advert. I found this hard as the images I first planned on using were against a multi-coloured background, meaning it was harder to cut out. To overcome this I re-took the photos of my artist against a plain background, this made it much easier to cut out and made the image look more professional on the magazine advert. I also found it quite difficult to organise all of the layers in photoshop. I was unsure what layer was what and therefore could not move them round as easily. To overcome this I named all of the layers so I knew which one was which. I feel that the strength I had in photoshop was editing the images that I had taken. I found it easy as I just altered the brightness and other aspects of the image. This allowed me to create an image that was conventional to the genre and one that also stood out on the magazine advert. This strength helped me create a successful magazine advert as the image is the focal point of any advertisement as it is what catches the eye of the target audience. Also this allowed me to portray my artist effectively as diverse and surreal.

Conclusion:
Overall I feel that the magazine advert that I have created conforms very well to the conventions of the dance genre. The magazine advert achieves this through the bright and strobe light type colours that I have used. I also feel that the image I used makes my artist as well as the magazine advert appear to be related to the dance genre. This allows me to effectively target my target audience as they are aware that it is from the dance genre. I feel that this therefore means that it is very appealing to my target audience.
Creating individual magazine adverts will allow our group to collect all of our ideas together and we can then create a magazine advert that effectively achieves all of its goals in appealing to the target audience.