Advert

Analyse:
One of the final tasks I had to complete for my coursework was to design an advert that would advertise our group video and chosen song. To accomplish this I will again be using the computer programme 'Photo-shop'. I really like using this particular programme as it has aided me with new skills and techniques that have enabled me to create more visually enhanced pieces of work, which I would not have achieved, if I had not used such a programme.
In order to gain ideas for my advert, I will first analyse two already existing adverts, which will provide me with ideas for my own. My goals are to create an advert that exhibits bold colour, clear but effective information and something that will overall stand out and captivate my target audience. The first advert I will analyse is Katy Perry's for her album "One of the boys".

When looking at this image the first thing that grabs my attention is the main photo behind the writing. The bright colours and creativeness of this photo has a real impact, as it displays creativity and is original. The image connotes happiness and energy through the colours used, as colours such as pink, blue and green suggest an upbeat tempo.
Along with the striking image the boldness and size of the font also stands out. The bubble type font used for her name again connotes happiness and really compliments the genre of music Katy Perry falls under - 'pop'. Although the colouring of the font varies throughout the advert, it doesn't clash with the main image. This is surprising as such a vast amount of colour has been used, but I feel one reason for this could be because of the connotations pop music consists of. Pop music can be described as colourful and playful and that is exactly what these colours achieve being used together.
This advert includes several key pieces of information the audience need to know. Information such as the date of the albums release, the title of the album and one of the more popular songs featured on it provide enough information for the audience to become aware of what this album is about. This has allowed me to gain an understanding as to what I may need to include on my own advert, in order for my audience to know what it is I am advertising and what is included, which of course is the most important piece.
Possibly the most impressive and clever idea used on this advert is the link between the top Katy Perry is wearing, the cherries in the trees and the title of the main song featured on the album (this too is included on the advert - "I Kissed A Girl"). As you can see the top displays lipstick kiss marks and a pair of cherries. I think this is a really clever idea, as it allows the whole advert to come together and be consistent. What's more, it allows the audience to make comparisons between the advert and songs featured on the album, which will signify to them the professionalism of the piece. The cherries displayed in the trees around the edges of the advert also have some relevance as a key part of the song "I kissed A Girl" sings: "The taste of her cherry chapstick". This again allows the audience to make comparisons between the advert and the contents of the album.
I am not 100% sure as to what relevance props such as the paddling pool has, but I think that because of the creativeness of the overall image, this doesn't really matter. I think the pool compliments the other features included and connotes the album as being original and slightly different to what we've heard before.
Props such as the heart shaped lolly also carry links between the advert and the songs featured on the album. Not only do we get the impression that they may evolve around love songs, but through the brightness of the lolly and its surrounding colours, these love songs may be slightly different and more upbeat than the usual slow melodies.
This advert oozes creativeness, from the background, to the bright colours, to the quirky props. It's original display represents a fun and exciting advert which helps in captivating the audiences attention. From analysing this particular advert I have learned many different techniques that I can incorporate into my own advert. Possibly the most important aspect I have learned is to keep my advert consistent with my other designs, i.e my digipack and theme behind our group video. This will allow my advert to look professional and will also allow the audience to draw comparisons between all of my pieces.



The second advert I will be analysing is for FrankMusik's album "Complete Me".


This advert appears a lot less frantic and minimalist in comparison to Katy Perry's above. Not only is less colour used, but it instead keeps its colour tones very simple, mainly using shades of black and white. I really like the idea of using black and white as they compliment each other really well and allow important information such as song title, artist name and release dates to stand out and become the main focal point for the advert, which of course needs to stand out. What is interesting is that again, the advert is consistent with the digipack for this album, as it includes the same picture, font and colouring (which I have already analysed) which ultimately provides the advert with professionalism and consistency. I have taken this on board and will definitely incorporate these ideas onto my own advert!
I really like that the advert consists of a picture of the artist, again this makes the advert more personal and provides the audience with a more detailed account of who the advert is representing.
I think although this advert is consistent, it lacks something in its overall design. Unlike the Katy Perry one, this advert is quite bland in regards to props used and colour. I think that it can become visually exciting to include a range of colour and maybe some props, as it gives the audience more to look at and a feel of what the album entails.
The information featured on this album again is of utmost importance. I really like where the text has been positioned, as it appears clear and easy for the audience to read. This again is something I will need to take into consideration when planning my advert, as I want all information included to be easily readable and to compliment the other features I may include.
Overall I like this advert as it appears minimalistic, but powerful through the positioning of its information. I really like the idea of using certain aspects featured on the digipack and interlink them onto the advert (such as the picture of FrankMusik in this case). This has provided me yet again with ideas I can use for my own advert and hopefully has aided me to create an eye catching end product for our groups target audience. One thing I may use that is different to this advert is use of colour. As you can see from my digipack, I have used bright colours throughout each page and I will hopefully be able to include this into my advert.

Flatplans:
The next stage for me developing my advert is for me to draw and evaluate three adverts of my own creation. Each advert will vary in size, as this will allow me to see what looks best and will provide me with a greater choice when choosing what to include on my actual advert. Below is my first flatplan.

1.
Here I have chosen to place my design vertically on half a page with the measurements of 204mm height x 70mm width. As you can see, I have chosen to stick to the same colour theme as those featured on my digipack; as stated above, from analysing two already existing adverts, you can see I like the idea of keeping everything consistent and flowing nicely.
For this particular flatplan I borrowed the idea of numerous black and white squares creating a boarder, like the ones included on FrankMusik's advert. I like the idea of using a boarder as it makes the advert look professional and visually enhanced, however, I feel it may limit me to how much space I will have left to display important information I need to include.
What I really like about this design is the boldness of the writing! Whatever flatplan I decide to use for my advert will consist of the same font used on my digipack and I feel here on this flatplan, the sizing of the writing allows the advert to succeed in its job of advertising but at the same time grabbing the audiences attention. I have acknowledged that in order to make my advert stand out, I will have to use colour and bold lettering, as this will hopefully catch the audiences attention.
The information included on this flatplan is very basic, but I feel sums up all the details the audience will know. Not only does it mention the artists name and title of the song, but it also includes the most important piece of information and that being that it includes an exclusive video (the one me and my group will be making). To top this off, I again, really like the "OUT NOW" part. It is presented big and bold and compliments the black background really well. Another feature I like are the music notes surrounding the "OUT NOW". This has relevance to the advert as it is promoting music and in a way counteracts as a prop for the ad, as it allows the overall layout to become for visually enthralling.
Overall I like how this flatplan looks. I love the boldness of the colour and sizing of the font. However, I feel it lacks a certain something, whether this be some kind of prop or imagery, I am not sure. What's more, I feel the size of the overall advert is enough for me to create a decent and relevant ad, however, I may not include the boarders, as this will provide me with extra room.

2.
My second flatplan consists of a fairly similar layout to that of my first flatplan, i.e. black background and same colouring and text size. The sizing of the advert is slightly different, I opted to still use half a page, but this time I chose to place my information horizontal with the measurements 100mm height x 141mm width.
I really really like this flatplan! The first thing that captivates your eye are the pair of glasses placed in the middle of the ad. I chose to use the glasses as they featured often on my digipack and I thought it would look consistent if I were to incorporate them into my advert. Although they look basic on the flatplan, if I choose to use them on my actual advert I hope to add effects to them by using Photoshop, which will undoubtedly make the advert look more attractive and appeal more to my target audience. The positioning of the glasses was key when drawing, as I wanted them to be the pinnacle feature of the advert. Referring back to my digipack analysis and in particular the Lady GaGa pack, I realised that by placing the main image in the centre of the page, the publics attention will be drawn straight to this point, as it appears bold and strong. This is why I chose to place and use the glasses as the main focal point for the flatplan.
In regards to text used for this plan, I marginally changed it from that presented on the first flatplan. I feel that by changing the writing on each plan, I will be giving myself more options to decipher from when it comes down to actually creating my advert! Also, you can see that the colours of the text are the exact same, however, instead of colouring the same word, the same colour, I have opted to change each individual letter. I think that this again adds more creativeness to the advert and allows it to appear more energetic and vibrant, which of course the advert should be, as it relates to the genre of music (electro-pop) and gives it consistency.
When positioning the text, I wanted to make sure that it wouldn't take away the boldness of the glasses, so I had to think carefully as to where I could place it. I feel that I have achieved this in my positioning, as it accomplish both goals that were originally set out: Keep the glasses as the main focal point and make sure the text is clear and readable. I really like how the "OUT ON 29th MARCH" features at the bottom of the advert, this attracts the audiences attention to different areas of the advert and not just one fixed position, which is kind of what my first flatplan did. I think its a good idea to vary where my information is put!
Overall I really like this flatplan. It exhibits colour, boldness and includes key pieces of information, so really accomplishes all goals I had initially set out to achieve. I think when creating my actual advert I will use a fair few of the features from this plan, just enhance them to make it stand out and appeal more.

3.
My final flatplan is fairly different to my two previous. As you can see, I have decided to use white as the background colour, instead of black. I chose to do this as I think, like black, any colour will compliment white and therefore I will end up with the same result as my previous two, however this time certain aspects will have changed. One problem however with using white is that you wont be able to read the white letters in my information. To overcome this you can see that I have defined all of the letters with a thick black boarder. For this flat plan I used a whole page, with the measurements 210mm height x 148mm width. By using a whole page, I have entitled myself to have more room, which will ultimately allow me to expand on my ideas and use more information for my audience to read.
The feature I like the most on this flatplan is the heart and lightening bolt symbol. I initially used this design on one of my digipack flatplans, however did not use it. I feel this symbol is relevent for my advert as it signifies the love between a boyfriend and girlfriend (which accompanies the title of the song) and also recognises the genre of music via the lightening bolt (electro). I decided to place this symbol at the top of the advert as I think it stands out and due to it being a fairly big size, the audience's attention will be drawn directly to it.
In regards to the information included on the advert, again, it is slightly different to that featured on my other two flatplans. I really like the "LIMITED EDITION" part, as it allows the audience to know that what they are buying is a really good piece of music and video. And being a limited edition, you know not everyone will have it!
As you can see I have stuck to the same colour theme, as I want my advert to be consistent to my the other elements of my overall designs. I like the idea of repeating the colour pattern for my lettering, i.e. white, red, yellow, rather than keep each word the same colour as, I feel, it provides the advert with more detail and appears more energetic.
As for my positioning of the information, I wanted to make sure I had a lot of room to play with, hence also why I placed the heart and lightening bolt image at the top. I had several ideas as to where I could position it, however felt that if I were to start jumbling the information around, it may lose its initial reason of being there, i.e. to inform the audience. This is why I chose to place it fairly central to the page.
I do like this flatplan, however in comparison to the ones above, I feel it lacks character. I really like the idea of using the heart and lightening bolt symbol, however feel that if I incorporate ideas from my other flatplans, it may look too cluttered. I will have to take this into consideration when actually designing my advert. One thing I am not to keen on is the white background. Although the other colours compliment the white, I don't think it allows the reds, whites and yellows to stand out, (especially the white), where as the black did. I think that I will use a black background for my advert, as I will be able to avoid this problem.


My Advert:

Here is my finished advert. I am really pleased with how this looks and feel that it achieves all my intended goals. As you can see it very much follows my second flatplan. I thought this flatplan offered the most in terms of effects and captivating the audience and this is why I chose to use many of its elements.
As you can see I opted to place the glasses in the centre of the advert. Like stated above, by placing this here, it becomes the main focal point and draws in peoples attention. I also stated that I would add effects to it if I were to use them and as you can see, the glasses appear bright and slightly blurred. To get these effects, I used several tools on 'Photo-shop'. The first effect I used was to slightly rotate the glasses so that they were at an angle instead of face on. The next effect I added is called 'plastic wrap'. To get this effect I clicked on the 'filter' button, followed by the 'artistic' button and then clicked 'plastic wrap', this gives the effect of the glasses being plastic. My next step was to make the glasses appear slightly smudged. To do this I used the chalk and charcoal effect. And finally the last effect I used on the glasses was the camera flash effect on the top right of the glasses. This was done by going onto the render options and changing the amount of lens flare I wanted. Overall I am really pleased with how the glasses are presented, they appear eye catching and visually exciting.
As you can see I used the measurements of my second flatplan too, 100mm height x 141mm width. Although this was only half a page, it allowed me enough room to include all the main features and not look cluttered.
Next was to decide where I would place my information and what information I would include. After contemplating different ideas, I eventually decided that I would place my infomation exactly where it is on my second flatplan. By putting it here, I dont think it interferes with the glasses and still leaves the advert with room.
In regards to what information I included, I feel that although brief, it sums up exactly what the adverts purpose is and provides the audience with enough detail for them to understand and acknowledge what the advert is advertising. I think that had I included more information, the advert would look over croweded and the audience would become bored and less motivated to go out and buy the product, as they would lose interest.
In conclusion, I am extreamly happy with how my advert looks. If I were to change anything, I would prehaps alter the font size and vary this, like that featured on my inner left panel, as this would make my advert more consistent with previous tasks and give variety to the overall layout.

Like my digipack, I also added my advert to my Facebook page, hoping to gain feedback. Here are some of the comments:

(click to enlarge)

Comment 1: "I really like the glasses on this advert. I think the star effect. The only thing I can think of to improve on would be the colouring of the font. I think it would look better if each word was one colour like on the front cover".

Comment 2: "I personally disagree with the above ;) I like the way the font is coloured and think the advert is simple yet eye-catching...as an advert should be".

Advert Evaluation:

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

For my advert, I used three specific pieces of media technologies, in order to give me more knowledge and a better understanding as to what I needed to do in order to create a decent advert. Firstly, in order to gain ideas for my flatplans, I used the computer to research two already existing adverts. This is when I came across both Katy Perry's and Frank Musik's. This was really helpful, as it allowed me to gain ideas for my own advert and provided me the understanding as to what works well together and what does not.

The second piece of media technology I used was a scanner. This allowed me to analyse my flatplans whilst visually looking at them. I found this really helpful as it enabled me to be more specific in my analysis, which ultimately allowed me to have a better idea as to what looks good and what does not.

Lastly, I used the computer programme 'Photo-shop'! 'Photo-shop' has allowed me to gain so much knowledge as to different effects you can use in order to enhance what orignially was a plain, dull piece of work and turn it into a visually exciting piece. Through using this programme, I feel I have learnt many skills that ultimately will aid me in not just this project, but future prospects and I hope that now, I will be able to produce high-quality pieces of work. My favourite skill I have learned from the programme is being able to change what at first appears to be an ordinary image and with a few clicks, completely transform it into something 10 times better. For example the effects I used for the glasses.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Again, like my digipack, I am really pleased with my feedback. It is mainly positive and although there is a slight critisism, I fully take into account what they are saying. I have learned that sometimes I dont have to mix and match the colours, I can instead keep things more simplistic and stick to one colour per word, making things less chaotic. I think this is a really good point and will definately take this into consideration for future products. In regards to comment 2, I am really pleased with the feedback. I like that they point out that my advert is simple, but eye-catching.

Overall I am happy with my feedback. I think that had I put my advert onto my Facebook sooner, I would have recieved more feedback, which would have enabled me to gain a better understanding as to what people like and what they dont. Also, by me uploading this to my Facebook page, I was able to gather feedback from people of similar ages to myself. This is really helpful as they are my groups target audience for this product, so the feedback recieved gives me a great insight into whether or not I am achieving the goal of appealing to a specific target audience!

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

I personally feel my advert exhibts captivating and bold features, that allow it to be effective. I think that through me using bright, vibrant colours, I have given the advert life and made it stand out. The font of the lettering compliments the colours and connotes originaltiy through the style it possesses. The combination of both my adverts main layout and the texts included, I feel, perfectly fit the 'electro-pop' genre and can be easily recognised for advertising a (electro) pop digipack. I dont feel the advert can become misleading in its advertisment, as it quite clearly doesnt support an opera or rock digipack. So with this, I believe the combinations used are very effective. Also the positioning of my text, I beleive, is effective. I didnt want to place it too central as I wanted the glasses to be the main focal point; so feel that by placing my main texts slightly to the left, I have allowed them to stand out without clashing with the glasses!

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

By me using numerous effects to enhance my advert (on the glasses), I feel this can only be seen as a development when considering real media products, as I am collobarating different styles and blending them together. Technology is continually evolving and current adverts continue to improve on their layouts and overall style and a lot of this is done through adding effects. This is why I beleive that through me using these effects, development is taking place, as it demonstrates the high-quality options we now have to visually enhance products.

I think my advert uses a lot of similarites to real media products. I think that by it being fairly simplistic in its layout, it can be compared to a lot of current adverts. Although you can get some adverts that appear far more chaotic than mine, I have noticed that the most effective adverts are the ones that are simple, but effective through style and size of text and images included. I feel mine achieves this.