Evaluation

Advert

Here is my final advert for my artists Album:

As you can see I have used the same fonts throughout the construction of my media products which I believe helps to identify Ellie as a musician and by doing so creates an association between this font and Ellie. I have tried to keep it really simple as I didn't want to clutter it with information that would detract from the ultimate intention which is to sell/advertise the album.

Final Album Artwork

Here is my final choice of front cover and my back cover:

I chose this front cover for various reasons. Firstly the eye contact between the artist and the customer is really engaging and will draw customers in. I also really like the mis-en-scene. The combination of the sophisticated fur shrug and the slightly tussled hair is a nice contrast that will appeal to her target audience. The misty forest setting gives the image a very organic and natural feel which will appeal to her audience. I position the subject to use the natural light to create this halo behind her head, which along with the setting gives a really etherial quality. I have obeyed the usual conventions of a debut album, by making it self-titled (artists name is album name), by having her name as the largest text on the page and by including a picture of the artist like both Kate Nash and Adele did with their debuts.

The back cover adds to the rustic, home-made style, using ripped wallpaper and the hanging frame. The font I used for the track names is the same as I have used throughout her website and advert. I have used the conventions of having her record labels logo, copyright information, a track list, a barcode and the artist website address. 

Final Album Artwork

Here are my final album artwork and I am really pleased with the out come. They really fit with Ellie's Image and they are fitting with the other elements. 

Album Artwork Summary

After doing research into album arts and the different conventions they must adhere to, I have decided that in order create the right style and image for my artist there are some certain things I need to do. I have been particularly inspired by the album art of Kate Nash,  as I believe that Ellie falls into a very similar genre. 

Kate Nash has a very bubbly and youthful personality that is shown in her music and I believe that Ellie is the same, although her music would appeal to an older market as well. This is something I had to consider when choosing the font for her brand logo/name. I had to get the right mix between youthfulness and fun, and class and maturity so that it enables her to appeal to a wide audience or age range. I also wanted the font to be lasting so when you see that style or font in years to come it would be associated with my artist. 

One thing I noticed whilst looking at album art, websites and adverts was that there is often an ancillary font. Whilst I wanted to convey a more grown up and classic feel with the “logo,” I wanted my ancillary font to be a juxtaposition that evokes an innocent and youthful feeling. The two fonts I have chosen are a completely different. I wanted them both to have a handwritten style, to give real and raw connotations, avoiding an overproduced look. I decided that I wanted the second font to be more like a child’s writing. I decided this when I listened to some more of Ellie’s music and talking to her about what her inspiration was. I found that the common theme was her youth (teen years) and I wanted to exaggerate this idea in my font choice. 

When thinking about her image I really wanted to play on the idea of her British/English nationality, as being British is a very fashionable at the moment, with many people liking the idea of tea drinking classic Brits. They enjoy the romanticism of it all. I like the idea of the back cover being a wall from an old English house, with worn floral wall paper and a gold photo frame, that may hang slightly wonky. This will hopefully convey a very rustic image, that is commonly seen within her genre. An example could be Angus & Julia Stone’s “Down the Way.”  It uses a really old photo that looks like it has faded in the light, which gives it real authenticity. I might achieve this look on album art by decreasing the saturation level and maybe adding a tan coloured filter. 

During my research process I noticed that an artist’s debut album is often self titled. This is done as the debut album is an introduction to this new artist, so their name being the only text gives it real significance. This is something I will employ on Ellie’s Album. I have also decided that because it is her debut album I am going to use an image of her as the front cover, this is to introduce her visually, so that we establish her “look.” I want the image to be really natural and for it to have this an aged and authentic feel to it. 

Along with the above the I noticed particular conventions I will have to include: 

• Barcode on back cover
• Record Label Logo
• Copyright Information
• Artist Name
• Album name 
• Track List (numbered, or in order of play)

Artist Logo

Here is my chosen font for my artist. By looking at already established artists websites and album covers, I have learnt that the logo used for the album art is conventionally used in the header for the website. This helps create a consistent and continuous artist image. 

I have also created a small abbreviated version of the logo, that would be used on the drum skin and merchandise.

Final Album Images

I have edited all of my images and using photoshop and I have cropped them so that the proportions are correct for the Jewel CD case, and for the digipak. I have two different varieties of image, ones shot at the cafe and ones that I shot in the forest. I have decided to use the forest Images for the Album cover, and the ones shot in the cafe for the Single. Here are my images: 

I am now going to add my text in the chosen fonts to create my final product.