The research analyzed various album covers, merchandise, and other hip hop related media. Common features identified included the use of white, red, and straight facial expressions to convey mood. Simplicity in design was also noted as effective. Aspects the researcher plans to include are the serious facial expression, colors like red and white, and simplicity. Alternatives considered are different facial expressions or an original color scheme.

1. Research
Harry Taylor

2. Existing Product The dark background could suggest
that the mood of the album is
aggressive and sad.
Another thing to point out about the
mood of this album is the lack of
colour. Colour can suggest life and
happiness and as there is no colour,
this implies the album isn’t happy.
The setting of this album looks to be
abandoned and empty. This could
indicate that the album was written
because of a state of loneliness.
On the front of this cover, Eminem
shows a different pose to the
camera compared to other hip hop
albums. Most hip hop albums show
the rapper looking at the camera
seriously but Eminem is turned
away from the camera. This could
be due to his hatred of not being
left alone in public or could be
related to the tone of the album.
Upon first glance at this album, it
looks like a horror movie. From this,
the listener could gather that the
music is about the horrors of his life
or that he intends to do stuff like the
villain in a horror movie. This idea
can be backed up by one of the
songs as it is titled “Kill You”.
Eminem is chained to the wall. This implies
that he is chained to his problems in life
which is what the music will be about.
Alcohol bottles can be
spotted at his feet,
showing how alcohol and
drugs affect his music.
The Parental Advisory sticker
automatically shows that the
lyrics are controversial and not
to be listened to by children.
Eminem appears to be wrapped
up in some type of blanket. This
could be his effort to hide away
from the world but no matter
what he does, he cant escape
reality.
The way the title of the album is
displayed looks handwritten. I
think that this shows that the
music comes from his personal
problems rather than rapping
about his lifestyle
This album appears to the audience because we want
to know about the life of the artist. We want to know
why he has resorted to drugs and alcohol and why he
is turned away from the public. I have learned from
this album cover that something personal to the
artists is a good thing to feature as it gains peoples
interests.
The black and white filter
used in post production
lets us know that the songs
may cover issues from the
past.

3. Existing Product
The first thing to point out about this
album cover is the colour of the groups
name. The colour is a blood red shade
which immediately gets the reader
thinking that the album is violent.
The rappers on the cover are all looking
down at the camera. This could suggest
that they are looking down on the world
and that they have made it to the top.
A gun is being held by one of the
members. This clearly shows the violent
tone of the album. This also represents
the genre of the album which is gangsta
rap.
The clothes being worn by the group are
fashionable. This shows that the group
members have money and this could be
a topic of the album. The listener is also
only shown the top half of the rappers so
we are only being shown half the
potential of what these people can do.
The font used for the album title looks like a
graffiti style font. This reinforces that the
albums music will focus heavily on the streets
of Compton which is infamous for gang crime.
The colour of this title is white on a black
background. This contrast makes the title
obvious which makes the name “Compton”
obvious. This could be an attempt to get the
city “Compton” famous and show the world
where the group came from.
The scenery of the album appears to
be at a normal building in the middle
of the street. This shows that the
rappers are still normal people telling
their story to the public.
The Parental Advisory sticker is used for
this album. I think that this shows the
harsh reality of the streets because the
lyrics will include controversial lyrics
that tell their side of the story.
The blue sky is made fairly obvious in
this photo. This sets a happy mood
which obviously contrasts the genre
and mood of the album. A point to
make about the blue sky is that what
may seem like a normal and happy
day to a normal person could be
turned into a bad day by this group
which brings back the violent theme
of this album.
The groups faces are all very serious
which could represent the audience
appeal. The group deliver a message
through their music to the listener
that they are tough and that no one
should cross them and when the
listener hears these lyrics, they feel
like they are part of the group.
The group is stood in a circle almost as if you
are being surrounded. However, there is one
space between two of the rappers so we get
the idea that you can either join the group by
filling that space, or you can get shot by the
member holding the gun.
I chose to look at this album because I am
making an album of the same genre so I
needed to see what is popular within hip hop
album covers. I have learned that most of the
artist(s) on the cover have a serious face
whilst wearing hip hop style clothing. The
audience would want to buy this album
because they want to be like and feel like
members of this group.

4. Existing Product
One of the first things I noticed is the
spelling of the album title. The rapper is
saying that he was poor and that he was
dangerous which could hint he didn’t go to
school or got kicked out of school which
could be a reason for the spelling.
Once again, the artist is looking right at the
camera in a serious mood. This relays to the
listener that the mood of the album is about
the artists life on the streets and also
represents the mood of the album.
The setting of the album cover is the streets
of Harlem (139th & Lenox Avenue) where the
artist grew up. From this, we can understand
that the theme of the music is based around
what happens on the streets (murder, drugs
etc.).
The lighting of the scene is dark. I think that
this reflects the mood of the album to an
extent because the topics are fairly dark but
the artist boasts about what he has
done/will do.
The clothing that the artist is wearing is
popular clothing that a lot of hip hop artists
wear. We can tell from this that the album
will be hip-hop.
The artist has his friends from Harlem in the
background. We feel intimidated that there
are so many of them but only one listener.
This suggests a violent theme to the songs
The font is standard block writing. It
makes his name stand out. The word
“Big” is smaller than the “L” (L is the
first letter of his name) so this means
that the artist must be very
intimidating.
The font used for the album title is the sane
style as the artist name but this writing is set
out differently. The text its self looks
intimidating so we as listeners to this album
are prepared for explicit content even
without the Parental Advisory sticker. The
wording is also very informal which lets us
know that this album is from the heart of the
streets.
There are common street
items in the background
such as a bin or a
lamppost to remind the
listener that despite all
the street stuff going on,
there is a sense of
normality about the
whole situation.
The Parental Advisory
sticker is in a different
place to most albums.
This could show a
rebellion as he doesn’t
follow the normal
standards.
The angle of the whole album
looks as if we are only going
to get a small glimpse of this
artist’s life. It looks as if he is
about to turn away and go
back to his friends. This could
suggest that the album only
includes songs to do with his
street life rather than his
personal life.
The colours of the album are
generally quite dark. I think that
this represents the lyrics of the
songs. I think that it could also
represent what its like on the
streets of Harlem.

5. Existing Product
The colour of the t-shirt is black. I
think the merchandise is this
colour because it is a masculine
colour. For example, the rapper
wouldn’t want his merch to be a
bright pink as this wouldn’t
represent him or his music.
The red logo on the front contrasts
well with the black background. The
shade of red is a bright red. This
could suggest danger. This fits well
with 2Pac’s lyrics as they tend to be
violent and intimidating. Red can
also represent passion and some of
2Pac’s lyrics are very passionate for
the things that he stood for.
This is merchandise from the
rapper 2Pac.
This particular piece of
merchandise only comes in one
colour. I think that this could
suggest that he is the one and
only so no one can or should try
to be him him.
The font of the logo is sharp and
pointy. This gives the impression
of violence and power. This font is
often used to portray gangs and
gang life so the customer feels
part of the rappers gang whilst
wearing this.
The colour black also represents
death, evil and meaning. These
topics are all themes of Tupac’s
music. The artist is delivering his
message through his merchandise
as well as his lyrics.

6. Existing Product
The colour of the t-shirt is white.
White can represent purity,
innocence and is said to be the
colour of perfection. This suggests
that he album that the t-shirt
represents perfection.
The t-shirt is not sold in any other
colours. I think that this could
mean that the album that the t-
shirt advertises is nothing but
perfection.
This t-shirt is from the
rapper Eminem. The logo
and slogan were leaked
before his “Revival”
album release.
The colour could also represent the
lyrics of the album. The songs
focus on apologising and
reminiscing about what he’s done
so perhaps he is trying to show
innocence about this.
The slogan reads “canticum
remedium” which translates to
“song cure”. The aim of the album
is to ‘revive’ hip-hop and ‘cure’ it.
The colours of the logo are a pale
green and a bright orange. The
backwards “E” is Eminem’s logo.
They made this letter stand out in
orange because this colour
represents determination. This
could depict Eminem’s
determination to revive the current
state of hip hop. The colour green
represents life and renewal so
Eminem’s determination is
surrounded and backed up by life
and renewal showing that he never
gives up.
The font is italic and bold. The bold
font could mean that everything
isn’t broken for Eminem and will
hold together but the italic font
illustrates that this attitude may be
falling and wont hold for long.
I chose to look at this because I am
planning to design merchandise so I
needed to see a simple design that is
effective.

7. Existing Product
This DVD is a
biopic for the
rapper 50 Cent.
The colour grey can represent
depression and loss. We can tell
that there will be a loss of
something in this film whether it’s
a person or an item.
The rapper is posing the same as
he would for an album cover.
Straight faced and serious. This lets
us know that the DVD will be
serious.
There is no given location on the
cover so we can understand that
this was taken in a studio.
The clothes that 50 Cent is wearing
are typical American “hood”
clothes. This suggests that we
follow a life of crime and gangs
within the film.
The font is fairly regular and there is informal
language used in the title. I think this indicates
that the character lives a normal up to a certain
point and then goes into the gang/crime life.
The colour of the title is a blood red. This
automatically makes me associate this to violence
and danger. However, it also could show passion
as the character is holding the child on the cover.
The character is holding a baby. I can infer
that the main character is holding the
future of the street life in his hands. It also
reminds the viewer that the character is
still human despite his violent lifestyle.
The age rating certificate suggests
that the film includes nature of
violence, drugs etc.
The design of the title is clever. The
message is delivered very clearly but is
made more obvious by the line that
splits the two options up. This could
tell the viewer that this is the mind set
of the main character.
I think that this DVD has a lot of audience
appeal because it is a biopic about a very
famous rap artist so people want to know
about his life. I also think that the cover is
mysterious as we don’t know who the
child is. The cover is also very dramatic.
I chose to look at this because it is hip hop
related which is the genre that my album
will be.
The white lighting is surrounded
by grey. This could show that his
innocence has been consumed
by the losses he suffers.

8. Existing Product
The image used is that of a rapper
named Eazy-E from the rap group
N.W.A. The image has been edited
using some type of software.
The colours used are red and blue.
These colours contradict each other.
One colour is a pale and fairly dark blue
and the red is bright and vibrant. This
could reflect the attitude of the rapper.
It also makes the cover stand out.
The pose the rapper is doing is
mischievous and cunning. I think this is
effective for merchandise because it
makes the customer feel like the person
on the merchandise.
The font used on the cover is bold and
structured in an orderly way. It is in the
same colour as one side of the case. I
think this suggests that the rapper feels
more one way than the other as it could
have been a different colour.
This specific case is only available in this
specific colour scheme. I think this is
because these colours represent who
the rapper is (red means he is
dangerous and blue means he is loyal) .
Any other colour wouldn’t work.
I think that the audience would
buy this product because the red
makes it stands out and the colours
all work well together.
I chose this product because I need
ideas for merchandise that I can
get inspiration from.
From this product I have learned
that contrasting colours are very
effective.

9. Research Analysis
• What common features do the researched products have?
• The products all have white on them. This is an important assessment because this colour stands out so I will need to use
this within my products. This has been beneficial to note as a learner because I had thought previously that white was an
underused colour and didn’t really realise the colours true potential. After learning this, I will definitely be using this colour
in my project. I think that it will look good as a title or look good for the artists name. A lot of the products also include the
colour red. I think this is because it stands out too and it is a good colour to represent the danger of the artists featured on
the merch. This has also been useful to note down because I have always been the consumer/audience and never really
noticed how red effects me, but now, as a producer, I feel it is necessary to use this colour. The researched products that
feature a picture of the artist also all have the same facial expression. As I have said in previous slides, this expression lets
the customer know the tone of the album. If the expression was a smiling face instead of a straight face, the customer would
not take it seriously and then this couldn’t relate to the lyrics within the album. This technique/image style will be used
within my product because of the intimidating effect it has on the audience. I think I will use this image style on my front
cover and maybe on the tracklist as these are two of the main products that feature the artist. The products also don’t have
a lot of detail to them. For example, the Eminem album is a picture with a black and white filter with a few props and then
the title. In no way is this a bad thing because we can understand everything we need to know from this simple detail. I think
simplicity is sometimes the key to making a good product because there is nothing to overwhelm the alum with. If I could
somehow make a product simple, then I feel that it would be very effective to my younger audience.
• What aspects of the research will you include within your own
production work?
• I will try to include a lot of the aspects from the research such as the straight face expression. I think this feature
works very well and clearly delivers the mood and genre of the album to the customer. An alternative to this cold
be a straight face that isn’t looking directly at the camera. I will also try and accommodate some of the main
colours that were used in most of the researched products. These colours will include red, white and grey. A
substitute idea to using these colours is perhaps coming up with an original colour scheme. A problem with this
though, is that an original colour scheme may not appeal to everyone so sticking with something that works would
be the safer option but it could also be generic. A final thing that I will look at is the choice of fonts. I think a font
that looks neatly handwritten or a bold font is a good choice because the handwritten element makes the album
look personal and the bold font looks professional. As there are many fonts to choose from, I will have to choose a
font that is similar to these eisitng products as I know that it will work well. Alternatively, I could choose a different
font to make my product original but then people may not understand that it is a hip hop album.

10. Questionnaire Analysis

11. Audience research
• Observation:
• There are more males that took the survey than females.
• What this says about my audience:
• This says there are more males than females.
• How will your product appeal to this audience:
• I will use more masculine colours and themes.

12. Audience research
• Observation:
• Everyone who took the survey was under 20
apart from 1 person.
• What this says about my audience:
• This says that I have a young audience so I will
need to make my products appeal to a
younger audience. I can do this by using
brighter colours and by making the genre of
music rap instead of an older genre of music.
• How will your product appeal to this
audience:
• I plan to use brighter colours or a cartoon
theme as this is popular in most modern hip
hop albums. This will appeal to this audience
because it will look like other popular albums
so people will be interested. However, I need
to make sure that the product is original so
that it stands out.

13. Audience research
• Observation:
• Most people who took the survey like rap
rather than any other genre of music.
• What this says about my audience:
• This says that a young audience will often
prefer rap to most genres.
• How will your product appeal to this
audience:
• My product will appeal to this audience
because it will be a hip hop album.

14. Audience research
• Observation: Most of the people who answered the question wanted to
see the artist on the cover or see a lot of colour.
• What this says about my audience: This says that my audience is more
concerned about the artist regardless of the music. This also says that the
audience is interested in a lot of colour.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: I will definitely have
the artist on the cover. I planned to have the cover fairly desaturated and
grey scale but there is always a way to include some type of colour.

15. Audience research
• Observation: The audience would like to see the artist on the cover.
• What this says about my audience: This says that the audience likes know
what the album will be about by looking at the artist.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: This product will appeal
to the audience because I will include the artist on the cover.

16. Audience research
• Observation: The majority of answers concluded that the album cover
should be detailed.
• What this says about my audience: this says that my audience
prefers something aesthetically pleasing rather than having an album that
tells you what the artist and genre the album is.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: I will include a lot
of techniques and have a detailed background so that it doesn’t look plain.

17. Audience research
• Observation: The audience would buy a CD because of the artist.
• What this says about my audience: This says that my audience may
buy a CD regardless of what the cover looks like.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: I will make sure
that the artist is obvious on the cover.

18. Audience research
• Observation: The majority of the people who answered this question
like to see merchandise released with the album.
• What this says about my audience: this says that my audience likes
merchandise.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: My product will
appeal to this audience because I will have a unique merchandise deisgn.

19. Audience research
• Observation: there are more people that have never bought a special
edition album than people that have bought a special edition album.
• What this says about my audience: this says that my audience
would not be fussed if I made a special edition cover as well as a normal
cover.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: My product will
appeal to this audience because I will make a special edition cover that
will have great aesthetics.

20. Audience research
• Observation: The majority of this select group would buy a special
edition for extra songs.
• What this says about my audience: This says that my audience
wants extra content rather than extra value showing that their preference
of the artist rather than the artists brand.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: My product will
appal to my audience because I will advertise extra songs on the front of
the special addition cover.

21. Interviews

22. Interview 1
• Would you like to see a lot of colour on an album
cover?
• Depends on the artist because most album covers are
reflected on the artist. If the artist was happy I’d like to
see lots of colour.
• Do you prefer a detailed or simplistic album cover? I
prefer a detailed album because it looks more
attractive to the eye.
• What makes you buy a CD?
• Mainly for the music but sometimes if it’s a special
edition of the album.

23. Interview 1
• Observation:
• The interviewee prefers an aesthetically pleasing album. The album should
include lots of detail and colour.
• What this says about my audience:
• This says that the audience will probably buy an album due to the cover
rather than the artist.
• How will your product appeal to this
audience:
• I will now include more colour on my album as it is important that the
cover looks good. However, too much colour may make the cover look
childish rather than professional.

24. Interview 2
• Would you like to see a lot of colour on an album cover?
• I think that the amount of colour should depend on what
style of music it is. This is because the cover can show the
mood and theme of the music. However, at least some
colour should be involved regardless.
• Do you prefer a detailed or simplistic album cover?
• I think a detailed album cover is usually better because
shows that the band pay attention to detail and take care
with what they make.
• What makes you buy a CD?
• I would buy a CD if I know that I like the artist or songs. If I
don’t know either, the style of music that it seems to show
or the songs sound interesting.

25. Interview 2
• Observation:
• The interviewee likes the album cover to match the theme of the band
and music. This seems fairly obvious but most covers are made bright and
colourful to attract attention.
• What this says about my audience:
• Matching themes are important to this audience. They like to see
everything match so that they don’t get confused.
• How will your product appeal to this
audience:
• My product will appeal to this audience because I will try to

26. Bibliography

27. Bibliography
1. Cooper H. (2018) Target Audience Research Survey (conducted on 13/04/18)
2. Nuttall, M. (2018) Target Audience Interviews (conducted on 13th April 2018)
3. Anon. (2018). MAKAVELI BLOCK T-SHIRT. Available:
https://shop.2pac.com/collections/apparel/products/makaveli-block-t-shirt.
Last accessed 27th Apr 2018.
4. Eminem (2000). Marshall Mathers LP. America: Aftermath Entertainment
and Interscope Records.
5. N.W.A (1988). Straight Outta Compton. Torrance, California: Ruthless
Records.
6. Big L (1995). Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous. Queens, New York: Columbia
Records. Anon. (2017). OFFICIAL REVIVAL RX T-SHIRT. Available:
https://shop.eminem.com/collections/t-shirts-1/products/official-revival-rx-
t-shirt. Last accessed 27th Apr 2018.
7. 50 Cent (2003). Get Rich or Die Tryin'. America: Shady; Aftermath;
Interscope; Universal.