Analysis of Digipaks and Magazine Adverts from Chosen Genre

The 1975The 1975 are a very good example of a band that has kept a consistent promotional

campaign whilst advertising their self-titled album. All of their advertising has been done in black and white, as these are the only two colours used on the album. Everything is kept very minimalistic and simple, making the main focus the music, which is how it

should be. Their advertising campaigns and CD even fit in with their band image, as they are known for only dressing in black and white clothing. It is an interesting choice as their music fits in with the pop genre, however they are contrasting that with their

image, making an interesting juxtaposition. This helps make them stand out and appeal to their target audience as they are not producing typical pop music, so by having a

darker image it is attracting the right audience, not people expecting an upbeat, happy album.

As you can see from the advert for the album, everything promoting The 1975 is kept consistent. All the same colours are used, the imagery on the front of the album is present on the advert, and the text is kept extremely minimal. This is one of my favourite aspects of the advert, as sometimes if there is a lot of writing the audience can get bored and may not want to look at the advert. The only things said on this advert is when it is out and where you can purchase it.

The xx The xx are also a really good example of a band that keeps a consistent promotional

campaign. A lot of pop artists seem to do this as it is a wide genre so you have to distinguish yourself from others. They are known for corresponding their name with their image, and have an “X” featured on everything they are promoting. They rarely

have a picture of themselves, which contrasts with a lot of pop digipaks, however they are a sub genre of pop, so do not follow all of the typical conventions. Like the 1975, they only use black and white for their digipak, which is a common trend for indie pop artists.

If you saw this digipak you could immediately recognise who it was for, as The xx have kept a strong, bold advertising campaign throughout their music career.

The advert for The XX’s album is very similar to The 1975 advert in that it is kept extremely minimal, with the same colour scheme, and a small amount of text. The name of the band is not even mentioned on this advert, showing just how powerful a band logo can be, as by having the logo on the advert there is no need for the band name. Everything is kept consistent and true to the genre.

Rihanna

This digipak is effective as it is instantly recognisable as a product of the artist. Rihanna is known for her bold hair and make up, and this digipak delivers exactly

that. She is pictured with matching, bright red hair and lipstick, this is exactly what her audience would expect of her so they know that the music on the digipak will

again fit what they expect to hear from Rihanna. Because her image is always so bold and distinctive by making sure this is carried out through the digipak it enables the promotional campaign to be consistent, allowing the target audience to recognise

the promotions and relate them to Rihanna instantly.

Because Rihanna is a pop artist you would expect the digipak to have many pictures of her featured, as pop artists are usually performers as well as musicians. The bright colours and modern styling also fit the expected genre iconography, making it clear to the audience what sort of music Rihanna is making.

This magazine advert is instantly recognisable, and it is very clear that it is an advert for a pop album. This is because it again has many conventional features, such as a close up picture of the artist, bright colours and modern styling. The colours are very warm, which work well with Rihanna’s distinctive, bright red hair. This advert has a little bit more information, it has the artists name, the album name, when it is out and some of the singles that are included on the album. It even has an extra picture of the album cover itself.

From this analysis I have learnt a lot of things about what to include and what not to include on my digipak. Although I am analysing pop digipaks there are many different sub genres of

pop, and the one my group is focused on is indie pop. Therefore I have learnt a lot of the conventional features to include on

general pop digipaks such as close up shots of the artists, bright colours and modern hair and make up, but I have also learnt a lot

of things that could be included on digipaks for more indie pop music. Bright colours are not as important, in fact it seems that dark colours, or just black and white are used for this sub genre. Also although images of the artists are important they are not key, and do not always ensure that the audience will recognise

the digipak, as some artists are known for specific imagery rather than what they look like themselves. However the one thing that is present in all the digipaks I have looked at is that they are kept consistent to the artists whole promotional campaign, enabling

the digipak to be recognisable and distinctive.