Generic Conventions of Pop Digipaks and Magazine Adverts

1. Generic Conventions of
Pop Digipaks and
Magazine Adverts
BY JADE DOWSE

2. Introduction
 In this powerpoint, I will look at existing products for
digipaks and magazine adverts to see if there are any
common themes. Pop digipaks/adverts have different styles
depending on the artist or the album name. Some artists
have brand identity where there is a visual connection in the
music artist's album cover and other media products that
promote the artist. The target audience of pop tends to be a
young audience so the artwork and style has to appeal to
them.

3. Genre - CMINTS
 Iconography – The iconography depends on the image that the artist has
chosen through Mise en Scene and the representation of the artist. Most pop
artists chose bright colours so that it connotes a happy/fun product. The pop
artist is usually young and attractive and usually present themselves in an
appealing way to their audience. Therefore, they are an icon to their fans as
they aspire to be like them, or to know someone like them.
 Themes – The generic artwork may differ depending on the songs and the
title of the album that they produce. However, many pop artists choose a
direct facial portrait – sometimes without much more design or styling.

4. Colours
 The colours used in pop digipaks and
magazine adverts are bright colours in
order to stand out to their target
audience. The artists’ use brand identity
within their artwork so that the audience
can easily identify an artist’s product.
The colours that the artist uses may
depend on the artist’s personality or the
title of the album, for example Taylor
Swift’s album and advert for ‘Red’ uses
that colour for the font colour and the
colour along the bottom of the advert.
Also, due to the background being black
and white, it stands out to the target
audience. Sometimes black and white
imagery is used for artistic appeal.

5. Camera Shot
 Stereotypically, a mid shot/close up shot of the artist in
an attractive pose that is positioned centrally is used.
This is so that the artist can promote themselves and
their product to the best advantage.
 Sometimes the subject might not be the artist if it is a
concept piece. Alternatively, it might be a long shot of
the artist. Sometimes, a cutaway of a different body part
is used, for example, Michael Jackson’s ‘Dirty Diana’
shows Jackson’s booted feet.

6. Pose and Expression
 The artist’s pose and facial expression
is important for portraying the artist’s
personality, or portraying a mood or
concept.
 Facial expressions and posture vary
with different artists as some artists
tend to be quite provocative – Katy
Perry, some artists tend to have a
casual ‘girl next door’ approach -
Taylor Swift. However, most artists look
directly into the camera, like Beyoncé
who is heavily made up to look
attractive and thus appeal to her
audience.
 As a whole the pop artist is usually
promoting themselves as much as they
are promoting their music.

7. Font and Font Placement
 The font of the digipak and magazine advert tends to be large
and bold and thus eye catching for the audience to see. The
colour of some fonts harmonises with the rest of the colours
seen such as Ellie Goulding’s advert and digipak
 The back cover has an ordered structure and usually has the
same font as the front cover. For example Olly Mur’s ‘Right Place
Right Time’ has the track list as the main focus to the left side of
the back cover with the legal requirements across the bottom of
the cover. It is the same font style/colour as on the front cover
on the track list
 The placement of the text for an advert is either at the side of
the subject or at the bottom as the viewer’s eye is drawn from
top to bottom. The font style is usually the same for both the
digipack and the advert.
 The artist’s name is usually the largest font on the digipak and/or
advert because the pop artist tends to market themselves to
their fans as an individual as much as they market their music.
 There are many pop artists trying to attract an audience, so any
font used on a product has to be bold and eye catching to
attract attention and thus sell the product.
AdvertsFrontCoversBackCovers

8. Composition
 The artist’s image will be the
major focus before the text as the
viewer's eye will automatically be
drawn first to an image. It
therefore needs to be eye-
catching. Composition can be
dictated by the image that the
artist wants to put across to their
audience or by the title of the
album.
 The second point of interest is
bold text - especially for the
artist’s name - for easy
recognition of the product to the
buying public.

9. Mise en Scène
 Costume – The clothing worn by artists varies, as different artists have different styles
such as Lady Gaga is known for wearing unique outfits whereas other artists wear casual
outfits, formal suits, dresses or go near naked! Some artists have a particular signature
item of clothing - that they wear such as hats or glasses. Boy George always wears a
hat.
 Lighting – The lighting is usually controlled as most digipaks and adverts are set in a
studio, so they use three point lighting where the subject is lit fully. Sometimes they
would not use all the lighting in three point lighting - so they would create a light
balance. If the lighting was based on natural lighting, the editors might Photoshop the
image to make the image stand out and look artificial like Ellie Goulding’s albums uses a
bokeh effect to make her the main focus but still lighting the subject.
 Actors – The artist will facially express themselves in a way which suits their image or a
given theme – such as an album title.

10. Mise en Scene Continued
 Make Up - On female artists, the make up is clearly seen, such as red lips or eyeliner
around the eye. The Rihanna advert is a good example as, even though it is in black and
white, you can see the dark shadows of the make up worn.
 Props – Props are rarely used but when they are used, they are used effectively to show
the style of the artist, for example Lady Gaga’s ‘The Fame’ album uses sunglasses that is
a close up shot with the title of thea lbum within the glasses to make the shot quirky.
Some use musical instruments for their props to represent their musical style.
 Setting – The setting of most digipaks and adverts tend to be in a studio with a simple
background so that the audience’s main attention is on the artist as the main purpose of
a digipak and advert is to promote the artist. Adele’s ‘21’ shows a studio setting in black
and white. There are two different shots for the digipak and the advert which is effective
as the lighting is controlled to make light and dark shadows that balance each other out.
However some shots can have a setting from their music video, if it is for their single or
a setting that would relate to the title.

11. Connotations
 The connotations of pop digipaks and adverts vary depending on the
artist and album title, as there is no specific connotations such as rap
having jewellery to connote power. The artist is always present within the
digipak and advert to connote their importance as a sole artist. The
Michael Jackson example is an album that has images of his most popular
song ‘Thriller’ - which would connote the theme of spoof horror.
 Rixton advertises their album with an image of the band on a road which
links to the album title ‘Let The Road’ and is also the first track on this
album. The back cover also links to this theme.

12. Conclusion
 In conclusion, the generic conventions of pop help show
some features I should use for my digipak and advert,
such as the use of bright colours. I will pay attention to
the layout of my digipak and advert and I realise the
importance of a strong facial image to promote the artist.
I will try to use the features I have researched to make a
stand out digipak and advert.
 These features vary between different artists so I will
carefully examine my artist to see what features should be
included - which relate to them specifically.