Individual magazine advert - Miss Miller

Original planned version

A magazine advert has a number of purposes towards it, mainly relating towards promoting a music artist. This is as magazine adverts show off the artist, letting people that see the poster know about recent albums, concert dates and so on. It helps towards promoting my artists album and music video as magazine adverts alert those that view it to artists new albums, and if they see it as being something they might enjoy or see as appealing they might search up the song online and watch the corresponding music video.

To create my magazine advert I used the program adobe Photoshop. Photoshop contains a number of different tools which make editing both images and text not an issue, while allowing me to be creative with creating whatever it is I might envision. So for this reason I chose to use this software due to the number of tools which are made available to myself, and there are very few restrictions on how creative the work I created could be.

I came up with the idea for my magazine advert by looking at real life examples by actual music artists, belonging to both the indie genre and also other genres. For the indie artists magazines adverts I have seen, I analysed two, one being by Jake Bugg and the other being by Ed Sheeran. From doing this it enabled me to look at the conventions and elements which are within them, how they are used and to what effect this achieved, which gave me a greater insight into what I should include within my magazine advert. I created a plan for my magazine advert also, which I took inspiration from a number of different artists magazine adverts, although my planned design differs a bit to the final product, but contains the same/ similar elements but used to a different impact.

The colours within my magazine advert are conventional towards the indie genre, and help towards promoting my artist effectively. The magazine advert itself is black and white, which is a form of editing which is commonly seen throughout the indie genre. I have incorporated this specific element as it appeals towards the target audience (fans of the indie genre). This is as it is visually what they would expect to find within a magazine advert, through including it making it look similar to that of real life counter parts. Alongside this, fans of the indie genre are often mature and older than most other music audiences, and through having the black and white gradient adds towards the advert having a nostalgic feel towards it, which I have included to directly appeal towards them. The use of this element is also appealing towards promoting the my music artist, as it makes it clearly evident that the artist belongs to the indie genre and establishes that to people that might be unfamiliar with them. This helps towards promoting the artist as having his image being very indie like and providing with a retro element towards the magazine advert, which makes the artist come across in a more appealing way towards the niche target audience. Because of this it helps towards promoting the artists image directly towards the audience to ensure the album/ music videos success, of being appealing towards the intended target audience.

A connotation of the use of colours within my magazine advert is evident. This is because people that see it might get the impression that my group and I's music artist enjoys retro music, and that he creates music of that nature. This is appealing as the content within the indie genre having a retro feel towards it is appealing towards the target audience as it is a common convention, and visually what they would expect to find. Because of this it helps towards promoting my music artist as if the viewer sees the artist in this light they might find his image to be more appealing for them, and for this reason might entice them to buy their new album, or if not to watch the artists latest music video to get an idea of what content they create.

Conventions of the genre are present throughout my magazine advert. One example of this being a guitar and guitar case which can be seen within the advert. The use of this convention is appealing towards the target audience as it lets them know straight away that the artist belongs to the indie genre. Therefore the niche target audience of fans of the indie genre may take an interest in the artist straight from the off, as she is shown as representing the genre and providing with visuals which they will be familiar with. This helps towards promoting the artist as it makes it clearer to those that are not familiar with the artist that he creates indie content, and therefore the use of the conventions such as the guitar, black and white filter and other conventions are included to cater directly towards the target audience. All of this may lead towards the audience taking a liking towards the artist, and make him come across in a more favorable light. This might entice them to either purchase the artists album, or to at least view the artists content online via his music video.

I have used a large variety of images. One example of images which have significance towards the magazine advert are the star ratings, by various media outlets (one being by the sun magazine). This can be seen besides the artists image, and has a number of artist and target audience benefits towards it being there. Firstly, the target audience might find this appealing as it is made clear to them that the artist is highly regarded. This might make them more likely to show an interest in the artist, due to the amount of positive feedback by large media outlets. This is as if the audience feels as if the music artist produces/ creates high quality content from the high reviews, they are going to be more likely to look further into the artist. Including these images into my magazine advert is also effective towards promoting my artist as it clearly shows him in a positive light. This as the reviews rate him and his content highly, and in turn will make the target audience more likely to purchase his new album, or at the very least watch his music videos as they might feel as if they are missing out otherwise. This helps towards the overall success of the artist, as if they are the topic of debate between individuals either online or word of mouth, the general perception of the artist is going to be good, which will help towards making the artists image appealing towards a larger number of people; allowing for additional exposure and sales not only just from the niche target audience. This is as fans of music as a whole might take these comments on board and watch the artists music video, and take a liking towards him from being recommended. The more exposure given enables for a greater chance of higher album sales, the foundations of this coming from the positive words of large media publishers.

The layout and design of my magazine advert helps towards both promoting my artist, and appealing towards my target audience. An example of where this is evident can be seen with my placement of image of my artist, as it is directly in the middle of the frame. This is appealing for my target audience for a number of reasons. Firstly, this is as the artist is made the main center of attention, where he is shown having a direct mode of address towards the audience. Through having the direct mode of address as being the main focus, this enables for the viewer to create a relationship between the visuals of the artist, as the artist is shown to be directing himself towards the viewer. From this relationship being formed, it enables for the artist to come across in a more down to earth and generally more likable way, as the artist is shown to be a relatable character to the viewer. The layout of this image is effective towards promoting the artist as the artists image is clearer to see for the viewer, which enables for him to get more exposure as those that might be unfamiliar with how the artist looks will be able to associate an image with the name. If the viewer does create a relationship with the visuals due to the placement of the artist, this might entice the viewer to purchase the artists album or to view their music video, due to the "personal" connection evident between the viewer.

The typography use within my magazine advert is conventional to the indie genre. For the name of the artist, the font I chose to include looks very similar to a style of handwriting. This has been purposely put in to assist with both appealing towards the target audience and to promote my artist. This is appealing for my target audience as they might feel as if they have a more "personal" connection with the artist. Because of this it enables for a relationship to be built between the two. This is effective towards promoting the artist as it shows him as having a close bond with his fans and appreciating them. From this positive representation as well as the potential for a relationship to be built between the visuals, it increases the chance of higher album sales, and the overall reputation of the artist within the media to be better.

The use of language I have included within my magazine advert is both appealing towards my target audience and towards promoting my music artist. This is as evident through the text of "debut album to remember". This is appealing towards the target audience and promoting my artist in a number of ways. Firstly, its appealing for the target audience as it might entice them to take an interest in the artist, which might result in them either purchasing their album, or watching the artists music video. This is as the person who sees it might feel as if they are missing out otherwise due to the emphasis drawn on how its a good album. This is effective towards promoting the artist as it makes the artists portrayal come across in a better way. This is as the artist is shown in a good light to those that see it, so it might connote to the target audience that the music within the album is very good, due to it being unmissable. From this, including this use of language would generally help towards increasing the number of potential album sales, as well as making the artists image better for the media.

There are a few weaknesses I found when using Photoshop throughout this process. One issue I had was trying to crop the backgrounds out of certain images. This is as the software struggled to identify what within the image was what I wanted to keep, as when using the magic wand tool (even on a small and more precise setting) removing backgrounds was a bit of an issue as the final product would have imperfections. I overcame this issue by retaking certain pictures in different locations, so that this time round the image which I wanted to keep (which was my artist) stayed and the background was removed, which I found easier to do when finalizing the final product.

Although saying that, there were still a large number of strengths towards using the program. One aspect in particular which I liked was the large array of fonts (text tool) to choose from, ranging from a number of different styles and textures which could be used in a number of different ways. This feature I believe in particular helped towards making my magazine advert successful. This is as the fonts throughout my magazine advert had to differ from each other for certain effects, one example being the use of a handwriting like font with the name of the artist. This helped towards making the artist come across in a more down to earth and likable light, due to the "personal" feel created. Because of this it assisted towards the overall success of the magazine advert and the portrayal of my artists image, due to him coming across as being more likable and relatable.

I have taken a number of inspirations from my work which I applied towards my final product. One example of this can be seen with the image of my artist being placed directly in the middle of the frame, and being the main focus. I gathered inspiration from this with a magazine advert by the artist Calvin Harris. Although not related towards the indie genre, I took the idea of having the face of the artist to be the main focus of my magazine advert as it enables for the artists face to be "out there", and to become more recognizable within the media. From doing this, it enables for my artist to get more exposure, and in turn helps towards increasing album sales from the artist being a familiar face in the media.

I followed a number of elements which were within my originally intended design of my magazine advert, while in the process making a number of changes towards the layout. The use of images within my magazine advert doesn't differ too far away from what can be seen within my plan, although the way in which this shown towards the viewer has been altered. An example of this can be seen with the use of star ratings seen besides the artists face in my planned version. This was changed within my final version to not be placed besides all angles of the artist, but rather to have two reviews placed towards one side of the artist.

Conclusion 

I do feel that my advert does conform to genre conventions. This is as I have included a large variety throughout, which would be commonly seen within real life examples. Through doing this it will make my own magazine appeal more towards my target audience of fans of the indie genre, as my final product is what they would expect to see throughout real life examples.

For this reason I do believe that my magazine advert appeals towards my target audience. This is as mentioned previously it will look similar to that of real life examples through the use of conventions, overall making it look professional and appealing. Also, through the use of having an image of the artist to be the main focus, it allows the audience to gauge a better perspective of the artist, which through doing this may enable them to form a relationship with the visuals. This is as the audience is exposed to the artists facial expression and body language; therefore receiving a more "personal" insight into them, which might enable them to relate towards the artist and make come across in a more down to earth way.

I think that creating the magazine advert will help towards promoting my artist, both with their album and music video. This is as if someone who views the advert see's the artist as being someone they might enjoy listening to, they may preview a music video of theirs to see whether or not they like it. Leading on from this, through promoting the artist and music video, if the view does in fact enjoy the music video and artist, it might entice them to purchase their album. Both of which is achieved through giving the artists face and album name exposure, so if the viewer finds the artists representation to be appealing and relatable, it might lead them to look at the other media outlets of theirs shown within the magazine advert; being both the album and music video.

Final magazine advert

Upon receiving feedback from my target audience, I have made a number of amendments to my magazine advert to make it more appealing towards my audience.

One comment I received from my target audience was that they felt as if they didn't know what to look at as there were too many different colours and fonts on the magazine, so I have improved upon this by making the only font colour to be black, and to only use two different font types. I believe this has helped the visuals to look more crisp and clearer. The target audience would find it more appealing for that reason due to the higher quality visuals, and also due to the only colour font being black, it further re-enforces that the artist belongs to the indie genre, and that he represents the genre.