1. Research and Planning
Ancillary 2- Album Poster
Text Positioning and Design
The artists name and album title appear at the top of the
page in a sans serif style font. This font is in large white text
making it stand out against the dark image underneath it.
The bold text also makes the poster instantly attention
grabbing as it causes the consumer to assume it is an
important advert and continue reading. ‘Marina’ has been
made larger than the rest of the artist name because she is
also known by the shortened version of her name ‘Marina
and the Diamonds’ and this will be instantly recognisable to
the audience. ‘The new album’ and the latest single that
feature on the album ‘Primadonna’ are placed at the
bottom of the poster which makes the text frame the image.
Adding this song title may trigger people who have heard
the song and enjoy it to buy the album because it suggests
that other songs on the album are similar. This text is in the
same font and colour but is in a smaller font as the
information is not as important. The text design has a slight
yellow/red glow behind which gives the poster a unique
quality and suggests that Mariana is an innovative artist.
This colour also picks out pigments that can be seen on her
skin in the image due to the way it has been edited. This
repetition of use of colour shows a consistent house style.
The design of this poster is extra simplistic and I think it
works well to be eye catching and successful in making a
consumer stop and read the advert.
Imagery and House Style
In terms of mise-en-scene the image is a close up of
the artist, the lighting used is low key which gives
mysterious connotations. This is also conveyed
through the use of direct address and the alluring
facial expression she gives. The title of the album is
‘electra heart’ which depicts her stage character
which she created to describe everything she doesn’t
want to be, vacuous and a corrupt person which is
her worst fear. She has portrayed this character well
through imagery and text, for example the titles of
her new song ‘Primadonna’ is written at the botton
of the advert, which is anchored by the style of the
artist. The term ‘Primadonna’ traditionally describes
a leading female singer, in more recent times it is
associated with someone who is only concerned with
themselves and who is vain. This is portrayed
through the image, Marina is wearing make- up that
is reminiscent of the 50’s which is often used by
female singers this suggests that her music is
timeless. The image shows iconography as Marina is
wearing her signature drawn heart on her face which
makes her appear unique. Her hair is pinned up in
rollers which create the idea she is preparing to go
on stage, the whole look together creates the idea
that she is a diva which anchors the song title and
her’electra heart’ character
Design Principle
The beginning of the artists name is in the primary
optical area meaning that it’s the first place the
audience’s eyes are drawn to and this will make the
artists name the most memorable, this also leads into
the area of orientation which Guttenberg says the
eyes move across the page from left to right meaning
that the audience will be forced to read the artists
name and album title. The terminal area is in the
bottom right hand corner and is the end of the text; it
also has the record label so that they are the last thing
you’ll see and remember.
Genre
From this poster it is clear that Marina creates a hybrid of
pop and electronic music. The main denotes Marina as
having a ‘perfect’ and attractive look, however this effect has
been created through heavy manipulation and editing. The
colour that is shown behind the text also creates the idea of
flashing lights which connoteselectronic music because they
give iconography of the lights used in clubs which
conventially play electro music. The title of the album
‘electra’ also preempts this electronic hybrid as well.