This is my analysis of Katy Perry's digipak advert for "One of the Boys"- by Amelia Sommer

1. Thisdigipakadverthasa very1940-1950’s feel toit- the
use of colourand texture conveystothe audience an
advertisingposterfromthisera,despitethe musician
beingfromthisera.It providesaverydifferentlookto
Katy as mostotherartistshave a muchmore ‘modern’
style.
For thisadvert,the artistand hername are featuredonopposite
sides;the layoutcanbe dividedinhalf,withthe artist’sbodyonone
half and the textonthe other.Thismakesitobviouswhothe artistis
and alsowhattheylooklike- it’sincreasingKaty’s“starimage”for
the benefitof fanswhoknowandlike herworkbut alsofor the
passer-bywhohappentobe exposedtothisadvert.
The albumtitle couldhave a linkto
Katy’schoice of pose- “One of the
Boys” couldbe consideredabit
‘monotone’,asif Katy’sviewingall
boysthe same way. Thiscouldbe
conveyedbyherunamusedyet
“seductive”pose,despitethe
overall lookof the advertbeinga
1950’s style,the clothesshe’s
wearingdoesnotreflectthe
fashionof that time (although, in
some ways,itcould be considered
close). The choice of fontclosely
matchesthe vintage posterfeel to
the advertand generallystandsout
againstthe background,even
thoughthe blue colourof the
albumtitle isdifficulttoread
properlyfroma distance.The
advertalsofeaturesthe product
beingadvertised,the digipakitself,
whichissetin the same place (a
suburbanAmericanbackyard) but,
insteadof a paddlingpool andKaty
stoodup, she’sona sunbed.
The settingitself isinterestingasin
1950 (where Iam assumingthis
advertissupposedtobe set),this
image of Katy wasmost likelythe
“ideal”girl.She’sinaback garden
witha beautiful view, implyingthat
she wouldbe rich,and herposture
impliesasense of a“bad girl”style,
as if she’shidingsomethingbehind
herback that temptsthe male
audience tosee whatitis.This,
therefore,featuresvoyeuristic
featuresasthe advertusesKaty’s
bodyto lure ina male audience
and alsocomplieswithcertain
aspectsof Laura Mulvey’s“Male
Gaze” theory(it’snota video,but
still issetoutto make the
consumerviewthisadvertfroma
heterosexual male’spointof view).
The textitself standsoutfromthe background,drawingthe readerin.It’salsoshort andsnappy,
makingiteasyand quickto read if the passer-byisina rush.It enticesthe audience,tellingthem
that it“Includesthe #1 smashhit”,lettingthemknowthatthisalbumincludessome songsthat
theywill know,whetherornottheyare fansof Katy’swork.Ina way,thisadvertassumesthat
the readerdoeslike KatyPerry,asI personallydon’tknowhersong“Ikisseda girl”- the
audience nowknowwhenitwill be released,whatit’scalledandwhatitincludes.The image for
the front of the digipakisincludedasit’sdifferenttothatof the advert,allowingfans(and
anyone else) tolookoutforthe albumin shopsandpossiblypickitup(the pointof thisadvert!).
The website is included in case
audiences want to research into Katy
further or buy her product online.
Overall, I think that this digipak advert
design is very effective as it has a
different look to what normal modern
artistsare doing. It also sets Katy up with
an individual style for this album, which
audiences can find easily as it’s a
recurring theme and stands out as
different from what other artists are
trying to achieve.
By Amelia Sommer