RESEARCH: CONVENTIONS OF AN ALBUM COVER

Functions and Conventions of an album cover:

Front Covers
1. A simplistic colour scheme
2. A simplistic design
4. Few or no characters
5. Use of a different colour for the band name compared to the rest of the cover
6. Hidden meanings
7. A title that explains to the audience what the album will be about
8. Bold, simple fonts for the band name
9. Similar or entirely opposite font fo the album title.

Back Covers
1. Name of band at very top
2. Name of album beneath this
3. List of song titles, usually centred
4. Barcode in bottom right hand corner
5. Name of record company
6. Copyright and year
7. Who owns the copyrighted material
8. Who the album has been distributed by.

Insides
1. Colour scheme that is the same as the rest of album
2. Blank, plain background
3. No characters
4. Few or no text

Spines
1. Name of the record company in recognised font, or logo
2. Name of band
3. Name of album
4. Both in the same simplistic fonts
5. Code linking to the record company

The Album cover has many functions which include advertising and information to listeners.  The main function of the front cover is to attract the audiences attention. Artists will usually keep the design of their different albums similar to make it easier for audience to pair a specific design with an Artist. The main image will usually give some indication of genre, for example the cover for Louder by DJ Fresh shows a upbeat atmosphere which fits the Dance/Club genre.

RESEARCH: MAGAZINE COVER

As part of our auxiliary products we have to design a magazine advert for our album to compliment our album cover and music video. We have started to look at advertisements as seen in my slideshare seen below.

Conclusion:

• Magazine adverts tend to more simplistic with usually only one plain image or a single coloured background.
• No more than one or two fonts are used in the advert.
• Different colours are kept to a minimum.
• Band logos are usually included for clear recognition.
• Font is usually Bold and easy to read.

We shall take form this that a more simple design in a magazine is incredibly effective and so we should keep in mind that an advert shouldn't be too complicated or hard to read.

PLANNING: TIMELINE

Before we begin filming, we created a timeline. Firstly, this means we can organise precisely what we want and when we want. Secondly, it also acts as a record of the details that we need to remember for when filming commences. The left column signifies the time duration in seconds, the middle column is the shot-list (what will be seen), and the right column is for any extra comments or possible aspects of the scene that we may include in the scene.

PLANNING: TARGET AUDIENCE RESEARCH MIND MAP

We also composed a mind map to create a bigger character profile of the typical audiences for our music video.

The character tended to listen to electronic/dance music more than any other genre. In terms of engaging with the music industry, characters will attend music events such as major festivals including Glastonbury and Reading. Furthermore, purchases of music magazines will be high and issues such as Upbeat and MMR will be more common than any other genre due to the taste in music.

PLANNING: TARGET AUDIENCE RESEARCH POSTER

For our target audience research we have deiced to do a mind map. Here they are presented below:

We feel that the audience, whilst having taste in mainstream media, will have a slight desire of independent and niche products (such as shopping for music CD's in banquet records). We also think that audiences will have a strong taste in more up-market gadgets and technology. For example, many will have an iPhone and DSLR cameras for their own personal use. We included shows such as homeland and the inbetweeners as their choice in TV programmes.

PLANNING: HOW MY BAND DEVELOPED ITS STAR BRAND

 I an investigating how Foster the People publicise themselves and how the attract and addressed their audience. For Steve Archer, 'the meta-narrative is a term that describes the development of the star image over time, the stories that surround a particular artist.' (Media Magazine February 2012)

Foster the People take full advantage of web 2.0 by embedding important information right on the google search page after searching for them, this makes it even easier for the target audience to get information about the band like upcoming events and new songs. 

They have many different ways to reach their audience online through social media websites such as Myspace, Facebook, twitter, Tmblr and YouTube

Their Facebook page especially is very interactive with the band taking full advantage of the new timeline feature frequently uploading tour photos updating tour dates and events and also showing other peoples comments about them. 

They also update their twitter page very frequently which give snappy tweets about what they're currently doing or news about the band they also use their twitter to retweet or reply to listeners and give a sense of a more personal relationship with the fans.

Foster the People's facebook page reinforces their brand image with the cover photo being the well recognised album cover 'Pumped Up Kicks' and the profile picture shows the band members (Mark Foster, Cubbie Frank and Mark Pontius.

Facebook is a platform where they invite audiences to catch up on the most recent images, thank them for support, announce their next European tour and inform audiences about their mailing list. Direct address engages audiences on a personal level such as, 'Thanks you bali'.

PLANNING: STORYBOARD

To create our storyboard we took photos of the 'post-it' notes showing our planned storyline. When are photos were organised, we transferred them to Adobe Premiere Pro and created a visual timeline.