Case Studies- Print Products

Trey Songz: Passion, Pain &Pleasure  His face is a close up so that we can see the sadness in his eyes and facial expressions which shows that he is not happy and the songs on the CD will be quite sad and slow and people will know that by looking at this front cover.  The colour of the text goes with the atmosphere of the front cover which is quite dark and simple. It is not a loud colour and it complements the actual album name. The black background is used so that there is no distraction with anything going on in the background. Also so we can see the water coming down the glass clearer. It also gives different interpretations of the way that he is feeling. It’s a simple album cover that gives a lot of messages like the rain representing his tears. Here the Ps for Passion Pain &Pleasures are merged together. It has a powerful impact because they are all strong words and when put together it means that is unbreakable/. The rain on the left hand side carries on the same idea of the darkness that the artist will be singing about; not a bad darkness but more of the sexual darkness which the Trey Songz is known for. The back of the album has the PPP with special effects, there is more colour which is the only colour that is seen looking at the CD pack. It stands out and you can see the fire around the letters more. At the bottom right corner it has the record label that the artist is signed to and that is a convention for music albums. At the top it has all the songs on the CD so that when a person is in the store and they are contemplating on whether or not they want to buy I, they can check if the album has the songs that they want. Underneath the songs it has the name of the exclusive producers who made the album which includes the artist. Ne-yo: Libra Scale He’s at the centre which shows that he is the artist and the people in the background tell the audience that the album is has powerful love songs. Love songs because Ne-yo is known for singing songs like that. The front of the album gives the theme that is carried on throughout the CD pack. The name of the artist is bigger than the name of the album so that it is easier for people to recognise it then they will see the name of the album underneath it. It’s a different album cover to how other RnB CD front covers are because the artist’s facial expression is fierce and not sad or depressed. The cartoon is added to bring some kind of superhero convention to the album. It has speech so that when the person buys the CD and look inside they will be entertained by the cartoon whilst listening to the music on the CD. It doesn’t necessarily match the songs on the album which is very different to how other artist do there album packs because they always have the theme of the songs on the CD match with the pictures in the CD pack. The long shot of the artist is put on the actual CD which is in black and white and you cannot see his face. But it looks like a typical Michael Jackson pose which implies that some of the songs on the album are inspirations from him. The picture on the back of the album carries on the idea of the artist being superior and like a superhero as he looks over at the city. The songs that are on the CD are on the back so that the audience knows what they are purchasing. The record label ‘DefJam’ and ‘Compund Entertainment’ is on the left under the list of songs. He is in cartoon form and he looks like he is dressed in a formal suit which shows that he is a gentleman as well as wealthy. And his songs show that. Usher: Raymond vs Raymond This album cover related to the name of the album because it shows the artist’s other half, one half that is quite sad and the other is quite strong and that is carried out in the songs on the CD. The lighting is dark on the left to show that he has a dark side and that some of the songs could be about the ‘dark side’ of him. The backwards text ‘Raymond could also imply that he doesn’t want to be that person which is why he changed to the person on the right and the name is turned the right way around and the audience will see that if they look at the front cover. The picture is a message to tell what the songs will be like on the album.   The actual CD doesn’t match the theme of the album because the dark and mysterious and the CD is blue with floral art going all around it. The name of the record label is at the bottom of the CD, at the top is has the logo of the name of the album and underneath is the name of the artist.  There are no special effects it is just in simple writing which most CD’s do. It is very simple.   The back of the album has the name of the songs on the album at the top. The picture takes up most of the back which means that the audience are supposed to focus on that. The picture shows the artist in the middle in what looks like a church which implies that he is a changed person in the end. And this album is supposed to symbolise the change that he has made in his life and that comes across in the pictures and the songs on the album.

MAGAZINE ADVERTS

 

 

Ice Cube

I found this album advert in the Hip Hop magazine XXL. It shows the artist looking over a city; his facial expression is sad which compliments the whole theme of the sunset and the darkness. The artist’s name is in the centre in with name of the album directly underneath. The artists name is a big font so that when people are flicking through the pages they will automatically see the name and will stop to look and read more about it. ‘In Stores Now’ is also a big font so that people know that they can go and get the album because it is now out.

The producers are on there because they are quite popular and they are known for producing good music so the people reading it will want to buy it for that reason. We will incorporate this on our magazine advert so that the audience will know who is behind the making of the products.

Rick Ross

This advert was also found in an XXL Magazine. There is a long shot of the artist smoking on the sidewalk; his body language is very laid back. The artist is represented as someone who doesn’t care because of his body language and his attire. It looks like he didn’t care about what he was wearing, maybe because he’s confident that he will sell his albums.
There is sort of a yellow/gold colour scheme and this connotes the artist as he values money and power. The necklace around his neck also emphasises this too.

The name of the record label is added at the bottom and at the top left, which could be a promotional method because the person looking at it will know about the other artist on this label which means that this artist could also be as good as the rest. It also says ‘Hip Hop’ under the recording label so that the audience will see that and recognise the genre of music that this artist represents.

Ray Cash

This advert has more promotional methods as it has the three singles off the album in big black writing so that it is easily noticed by the people who are reading the magazine. They will recognise the singles and contemplate on buying the album because if the songs that they know are good, the rest of the songs on the album could also be good.

In the bottom left it has the Parental Advisory sign so that the person who is thinking about buying the album will know not to gift it to anyone that is young or allow them to listen to it. The website is also a crucial part of the advert as the people would know that if they wanted more information then they would go on that website to get it.

 The camera is a  medium shot of the artist where he is leaning on speakers and the mise-en-scene of him dressed in a tracksuit which gives away the type of music he does which his hip hop/RnB.