Ben Howard built up his career independently before signing to Island Records in 2011. His website and album/EP covers reflect his organic, minimalist style through natural imagery and consistent fonts/colors. Howard's appearance is noticeably absent from his branding materials, with a focus instead on music, nature, and live performances. This establishes that his music, not his image, is most important to connecting with fans.

1. Cross media case study

2. Background info
Before getting a record deal Ben Howard had created his own music and even
released an EP himself in 2008 called games in the dark. His first big release
was These waters EP, which featured six tracks. In 2010 he released Old Pine
EP. In 2011 he signed to Island Records, which had a history of UK folk
singers. His album Every Kingdom was released in 2011. Howard plays along
side two band members; India Bourne and Chris Bond. In 2012 he released his
EP Burgh Island and Esmeralda is his most current single.

3. Website
screenshots

4. The website is quite minimalistic, which could
reflect his music as it has a raw acoustic guitar
and voice sound and not many other sounds
that would appear on other artists songs e.g.
Computer generated sounds., it features the
most current new at the top of the home page
and then the music video from the most
current single nearer the bottom. This is a
typical feature of a band or artist’s website.
The same blue colour that’s on the album
cover is translated on the website too. The
beige background colour reflects Ben’s organic
roots as he built up his fan base and career
from scratch. The fact that you can sign up to
his website is also quite common on music
websites. It shows that he thinks his fans
important with keeping them up to date with
the latest news. Ben’s appearance does not
feature on his home page suggesting his
appearance isn’t important within his brand it
is more about the music.

5. The fact Ben has a store offering
merchandise for fans is quite a common
feature on a band or artist’s website as it
allows fans to connect with the singer and
physically have something with their
favourite singer’s name or face on. In Ben
Howard’s case his face doesn’t appear on
the merchandise again showing that his
appearance isn’t key unlike other bands
or artists who’s appearance is very
important to their brand.
Ben Howard’s images page again features
minimal images of the artist himself, they
are often images of live performances or
places that he has been to, which still
allows fans to get an insight on his life
without his face been plastered
everywhere. This is often common of
more independent singers and bands.

7. These three Ben Howard
album/EP covers all feature
nature, showing his love of
natural and organic
things, which reflects in his
music. Throughout all three his
‘logo’ or name is consistent as
they all have the same font. This
font not only features on these
covers but his other three EP
covers too, this is a must for any
artist/band who is trying to
create a brand as it creates a
sense of consistency so the
audience recognize it
automatically. Again Ben
appearance doesn’t feature in
the covers, with him only
appearing as a silhouette in
Every Kingdom and Old
Pine, this is so we still get a
sense that it’s his album that
we’re looking at, and his music.
But again his appearance isn’t
dominant at all in his branding.
These three
Ben Howard EP
covers are all
consistent.
These are his
earlier EP’s so
he developed a
style he
wanted to
push at the
time and
wanted all his
EP’s to be in
keeping with
the theme.
Again his logo
features
throughout all
three. Also his
appearance is
vacant again.

8. Album
promotion
Most of Ben Howards promotion was web
based as a lot of his fans discovered him
this way. Not only this but posters
promoting his album when it came out
were placed in the underground tube
stations as many people would see it on a
daily basis and also the people using the
tube would be the ages that he targets his
music at. Previously his promotion
consisted only of his album cover and
images that related to the music however
as he has now received two Brit Awards
his following tour promotion poster
featured his appearance, which could
suggest he is growing a larger fan base and
maybe his image is becoming slightly more
prominent. However saying this, he isn’t
using direct eye contact and isn’t centered
in the image, showing that even though
his image may have become more
prominent recently, his main selling point
is still his music, which is a point which
runs throughout his branding.

9. Music Video
THE WOLVES BEN HOWARD
In one of Ben
Howard’s first
music videos it
features him
and his band
walking
through a
country setting
with cuts to
them
performing the
song

10. These are some shots from the music video of Ben
walking through the country setting. As you can see
in all of the shots only the silhouette of Ben is visible
and not his face. This reiterates the point that
appearance isn’t an important factor in his brand. As
it was one of his first video it also shows that from
the get go he wanted this fact the be apparent.
Although this is evident the video doesn’t not feature
him at all as it was one of his first videos so the
repetition of the similar shot of his silhouette drills
into the minds of the viewer that this must be the
singer and the main person throughout the video.
Another point is that quite a few times Ben is out of
focus in the background showing that his appearance
isn’t the main focus again. The repetition of this point
will drill it into the minds of his fans

11. Along with the walking, there
are many shots of Ben and his
band performing with their
instruments. This is a common
feature in music videos and is
often more prominent in more
indie bands/artists who are
more about the music than their
appearance brand.

12. Artist shown
even if not
clearly
Performance
based
Goodwin analysis
Lyrics and visuals – lip
syncing
Music and visuals
clapping in music and
in clip.