Advert

Advert Analysis

I am going to analyse 2 different adverts from my chosen genre Hip Hop and R&B as I will be gaining inspiration from them to create my own advert that will extend from the Digipak that I have already created. They will work as a package, using similar colour schemes and images to create a connection between the Digipak and the advert, so that when the audience view the two together or separately theycan clearly see that they belong to the same artist and album.

Firstly I am going to analyse this advert for the R&B artist LL Cool J album 'Exit 13'.

From a quick look at this advert the viewer can tell the genre of the music it is advertising as well as who the artist is very clearly, these two elements being the most important. The image of LL Cool J is also very important in the costume and body language in translating to the audience who the person is and what they are about. The costume colours correlate with the colour of the text and background of this image, this is very important to carry out continuity and keep the advert attractive to the target audience. Using a simple colour schemes can be very effective as shown in this advert.

The image being large and prominent works well as the audience can easily recognise LL Cool J and the composition works very well in fitting the text in without spoiling the image.
The use of simple colours on this advert, I feel works very well in attracting the viewers attention and makes the message loud and clear to read without being overpowering.

The size of the release date typography is larger than the album name but smaller than the artist name, this is because the artist's name is the most prominent and important part of the advert. The release date is secondly important as well as the image to connect with the viewer and make sure they know when the album will be out to buy, to generate income and profit.

This is an advert for an urban night at a club including Hip Hop and R&B music.

As a viewer I can almost immediately tell what genre this advert belongs to through the use of colours, images and text, these are all conveying the genre to me at once. This then will draw in the right target audience- people who enjoy this type of music. The colours in the advert also connote a reggae theme as this genre of music often uses these colours in advertising, clothing and make up. The use of the dark black images of sky scrappers and large buildings connote an urban feeling. The use of palm tree's connote a holiday, summer feel to the advert,making the image seem interesting and exciting. The use of white text works very well against the coloured background and black images as it really stands out and is easy to read. The name of the night is the largest font size meaning this is the most important element of the advert in attracting the right target audience. The name of the club is then a little smaller but just underneath the name of the club night which advertises the location to the audience which is very important to be easily visible. The price for the night and the opening times are in the smallest font size as these are of secondary importance, allowing the audience to find the vital information easily but not before they know what type of night it is. The price could also put viewers off if that is the first thing they see.

Advert Flat Plans x 2

These are my 3 flat plans for my advert. I chose the 1/4 A4 page as I feel this size would work the best in a music magazine on a page as it would catch the viewers attention and make them want to look more closely at what the advert is. I feel that this size would also be good for promotion through letter boxes for example or in music shop counters and they would not take up much space and would be reasonably easy to exhibit.

I think the first flat plan works the best for Wu-tang Clan as it would have a good ratio of image to their name which would both work well in attracting the audiences attention. I feel the black tittle with red behind it will stand out and catch the viewers eye, almost distracting them. I feel the 5 stars from each of the music magazine reviews would give the advert relevance and make it seem worth paying attention to as well as the fact the CD/Digipak would be Wu-tang Clan's greatest hits which could be seen as a collectors item. The use of a white background with black text would stand out and look simple yet effective.

I think the second flat plan could work quite effectively as the composition is quite conventional and the public like to see familiarity but on the other hand they also like to see new things. I decided not to use the second flat plan idea as I felt it was too conventional and neat for a rap/Hip Hop group.

Finally the third flat plan is quite different featuring only one of the characters and being behind the text, when designing this I was trying to create a more abstract and less conventional composition to attract a new audience as well as Wu-tang Clan's fans. I feel that Wu-tang Clan's name is more famous than the groups faces which is why I made the text so large. Even though this design is quite original and abstract I feel it would probably not work the best as an advert as it does not advertise that the digipak is 'The Greatest Hits' which could attract more people also that the page may look a bit bare without many images.

Completed Advert

This is the advert that I created, I followed the guidelines of my flat plan quite well with a few changes in colour. I chose to make the background black as I created the Digipak first and black worked better as the background, for continuity sake I made the advert have the same colour scheme. I have made the image of the group colour as Hip Hop is a colourful genre of music and I feel that an advert needs to have colour to attract a viewers attention.

From feedback from the social networking site Facebook, I have gained an understanding of what other people in my target group (woman and men aged between 16-49) think about my advert. This is the link to the group I created which features my work and the comments from different people. http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_164000423656748&ap=1

I have received mostly positive feedback for my advert with the only criticism being that in one persons opinion the image of the group should be black & white, to be coherent with my digipak. Although this may be a valid point I still feel the advert works best with the image being in colour as it stands out more and makes it seem more exciting and eye catching. I feel that the rest of my advert is still very coherent with my digipak even the image being in colour.

I have gained many skills through creating this advert such as research skills: looking at similar genre of music adverts and gaining inspiration from them. I have also become more confident in using the programme Adobe Photoshop to create the advert and edit the image. I feel I have become more competent at using it. I have also learnt to take feedback positively and to try and improve on it if possible.