Initial poster Ideas

We created a range of 6 posters so that we could gain audince feedback from our demography. We analysed the initial idea posters that we had created to gain a better and more indepth understanding of them. This also allowed us to relate them back to our existing media research to see how each of them either used, developed or challanged conventions.  

1)
This poster idea is landscape which immediately challenges conventions as the majority of female solo artist's posters are portrait. We used typography in this poster to grab the attention of the audience. This unconventional layout and repetition of text frames the images used. The font used in the poster is Areil, which is the same font that we used in the digipak. This creates synergy as the demographic can see a clear link between the 2. Another element that creates synergy is the use of 3 images of the artist, juxtaposed next to each. This synergises with our music video as it mimics the multiscreen split that we used throughout. We decided to have the title of the album as the main focused wording on the poster as the artists name is backed up by the artist's image.

This poster comprises of 3 different poses, which connotes playfulness but also vulnerability and secretcy. In the outer 2 poses, the artist has her back to us, this could connote secretcy, however with the poses that she is striking, it shows a more playful nature to our artist. The centre pose connotes vulnerability as she is using her head to shield her face; this is representative of the lyrics and meanings with in the album.

The background that we used in this poster is a scratched, rustic wall. This shows her vulnerability and fight through life, however the neutral and light colours allow the main attention to be be focused on the artist herself. The wall works really well here as it reflected the light source, brightening the shot. Each of the 3 poses have shadows which suggest secretcy, however they could also connote someone/thing lerking over and shielding her life. This, again, is a feature that represents the meaning and lyrics in her album.

Whilst we were carrying out our existing media research we discovered that conventions we split when it came to the costume on the posters. They either synergised with the digipak and music video and continued with a glamours look; or they used their poster to expand their demographic and to connect with them more by wearing more casual clothes. In this poster we decided to make our artist more of a reachable rolemodel for our audiece, and also thus, expanding our demography. The outfit used here is really simple, however the use of props and accessories like hats and socks, makes the look.

2)

This is the only design in which we used the greyscale effect. This has a resonance to the music video as the narrative scenes are all shown in greyscale to suggest a change in time but also more symbolically of the 'grey' lifestyle that the artist was living with her boyfriend. This image therefore suggests a more poignant feel as it is captured in her possible reflection of her colourless life with her boyfriend. This suggests why the artist is not looking directly at the camera, depicting a more vulnerable figure that female audiences will relate to within their own past relationships. This design shows a longer shot of the artist as we are able to see from above the knee which exposes her more as a real person. The setting for the shot is identified as a brick wall with terrace. This suggests connotations of an urban juxtaposition with the rural which increases our target audience as the artist depicts a classic yet natural look. This is evident from her costume that is present in many of the posters - shorts, t-shirt, hat. The overall costume suggests a casual, summer nature yet she is also wearing a fairly formal wrap over her shoulders which adds more formality and again this sense of vulnerability.

The composure of the frame is effective as the actress dominates around two thirds of the frame and this is the first aspect that grabs the audience. However, her pose is leaning to one side which creates a diagonal line across the poster. Also the artist is looking down which may suggest a nostalgia on her life but the audience is drawn with her to the bottom of the poster. Here is where we have placed the words of the album title 'YOU YOU YOU' which go vertically across the frame. This uses up the space that the artist does not dominate with the words in bold capitals that are also in pink writing. This starkly contrasts to the greyscale image and so the viewer's eye is drawn to this.

Finally as the eye is drawn further down to the bottom of the poster, the artist's name is placed which frames with the album name to form a coloured right angle frame. The text 'Jessica Drake' is in white with a pick layering as well which almost embosses the text. The significance of the white and colour joining together may be symbolic of the artist's personal journey bringing multiple interpretations to her life. The combination of both greyscale and colour may symbolise the formation of both stages in her life that make up herself, thus her name. This may even depict a positive image for other females that there is a coloured lining that appears out of a bad relationship.

Therefore, the poster connects with audiences on numerous levels: not only is the image appealing due to the posed image of the actress but also the deeper suggestion of the artist's vulnerability of her past relationships that will evidently relate to others - particularly our target audience.

3)

This poster has a very girly and warm feeling to it unlike some of the others. The image sticks to conventions of posters as you can see almost a full body shot of the artist. However, she is not looking as the camera as artists do such as Adele and Katy Perry. Also, the pose is very casual unlike other posters. The brickwall background seems rustic and casual which does not really fit with our music video and digipak but, by using this we may be able to expand to a wider audience and may attract women of an older age that our previous demography. The outfit in this poster is very casual and girly and is very summery. The artist looks happy and this is very different from our music video as that has a very serious tone to it. However, once again, using this poster could expand our audience. The font fits with the poster and the laid back feeling of it but it lacks synergy with the rest of our media texts and therefore if we use this poster we may have to change the font to arial and keep it similar to the digipak. Whilst editing this image, we changed the contrast which made the colours of the outfit stanf out more, especially the white of the t-shirt and this has a link with our music video and the strong and powerful lighting during the studio scenes.

4)

This design intended to emphasise the more informal appearance of our artist. The main focus of the poster is on the image of the artist in a Bohemian style outfit. The costume connotes a summer feel with the straw hat and vest top. The artist has a casual pose as she is leaning against a wall with her arm up to her head which suggests a laid back personality. Our intention of presenting our artist in this way is to increase the target audience by having little synergy to the digipak. We found in our research that this was an effective technique in showing a different side to the artist so that other audiences will be attracted to her music rather than soley those who liked the digipak. Therefore although the different image of the artist loses the iconography, we wanted to experiment with a poster that purposely deviated from the digipak and music video, like we have in the other poster designs. Thus we wanted the lighting and colour scheme to reflect a more casual representation and so we used a filter effect during the photo editing which gave the image a more rustic tone. The filter makes the image not too colourful and bold yet makes the image attractive and calm. However the artist is still looking directly at the audience which still conveys the artist's confidence which is a personality trait that we have maintained throughout all our products. Ultimately, we wanted to reflect another aspect of the song that we used for our music video that was the sense of woman empowerment that will particuarlarly appeal to female audiences in relating to a genuine artist who has had bad past relationships. Therefore the artist's appearance and the rustic effect suggest the idea of reflection on the past.

We also wanted to make the poster more interesting by experimenting with the text. The eye of the consumer is firstly drawn to the image of the artist that dominates the left side of the frame but we tried breaking the verisimilitude by placing the artists name across the wall behind the artist. We wanted to use a colour that did not stand out too much but one that was visible on the background so we used a beige that was a few shades darker than the background. The text of the artist's name is then visible in a larger font to the right of the artist in a darker pink. This shows that we have tried to create some synergy between the poster and digipak as the pink colour scheme is still present even if it is presented more subtly. There are also two tones of pinks which may suggests more than one side of the artist with the purple connoting confidence whilst the lighter pink connotes femininity. The eye is finally drawn to the name of the album 'You you you' that is written vertically across the right side of the frame. This pronounces the line of the artist and uses more of the space not taken up by the image of the artist.

We liked the colour scheme and image of the artist however we were concerned with the complexity of the design and that it was too busy with all the text.

5)

This poster uses typography to enhance the mise en scene of the shot. We decided to use the font Ariel as it is what we used on our digpak- thus creating synergy between them. The top band of repeated 'You you you' imediately draws the eye's attention to the album title. The central blue title creates yet more of an attraction, thus alerting our audience of its name and presence. The name of our artist, Jessica Drake, is written in the font as the album name and the digipak cover. It is situated in the bottom right corner which connotes her shy nature which could be due to how her boyfriend treated her.

The pose that we used for this poster is suggestive of the emotions behind her album. Having the hood up could connote the fact that she is trying to conceal or hide her face, suggesting shyness or fear, however hoodies are stereotyped as being mischievous and cheeky. Another aspect of the pose that connotes a shy nature is how she is using her legs to shield her, this could also connote her being defensive, as the song suggests that she has been let down by her boyfriend, therefore her legs up and crossed might be representative of a shield. Furthermore the cross created by her legs connotes danger.

This photo was set on rustic style backdrop with a creased painters sheet on the floor. This helped us keep with the casual look that we were aiming for. The unpainted wall could also be a metaphor of the artist's heart as it is not yet complete, just as her heart isn't without her boyfriend. The lighting in this shot is simply used to enhance the features of the artist and to make the shoot look more professional. Half of the artist's face is in shadow which could connote a darker side to her thoughts.

The outfit that we chose for this poster is summer, casual bohemian. We decided to create a more casual look to appeal to a wider demographic. When we carried out our existing product research we found that posters either looked glamorous and dressed up, to synergise with the music video, or they were more casual, which made the artist more reachable as a role model to their demography.