2. The 1975
The 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
