Magazine Advert Inspirations

Here also are some album advertisements that appealed to me and that I may take some ideas from.

I have noticed that in advertisements it will state when the album is out or whether it is out, I have also noticed the use of a rating system much like films use - both of these I have decided I will use for my advert.
From the Linkin Park advert I have noticed it states some of the album's songs, I will also use this idea to try and entice my audience by using the more popular songs on my advert.

Location Shots

This is the neutral setting where the couple will break up, I wanted a typical scene of where people would have an arguement.
This picture shows a sunny scene, however when I came to film it was luckily overcast which helped add to the overall mood of the scene.


Here is the stage whereupon my band will perform, most of my shots will be close up to the members so most of the stage won't be displayed, I just needed a space big enough to set up the instruments. The blank background of the stage also worked well with my filming as it added neutral colours to the shots which made it easier to edit the colour/filter on the shots.

Discography Inspirations

In this instance I noticed the CD art is a continued design from the front cover of the album, this is a clever idea as it links all the album together with one theme.





The use of a digital piece of art on this CD is really effective and makes the disc stand out, I may consider using this style for my own - an image that will reflect the band



I like the simple approach Linkin Park has gone for on their CD design by using the initials of the band. I am considering using this sort of style for my own instead of using a reoccurring theme because the back and front covers already have that effect in my digipak.

Digipak - CD Art

This is my finished CD design, I decided to go for the simple approach like quite a few CD's I have looked at do. I have only written the name of the band and the name of the album upon the disc so as the audience know where the CD belongs!
I added in some star effects from my editing software to give a more playful tone to the album. I also tried to reflect the theme of the entire album, hence why the disc is also black.

Digipak - Promotional Advert

Here is my chosen photo for the magazine album advert as well as the original.
I have chosen this photo because of its dark background which is more effective to write the writing over as well as throwing the image of the band forward so as the audience knows who they are.

These photos are rejected ideas:

Digipak - Album Back

This is the back cover:



From studying other back covers I have noticed they are often pretty minimal in design as the main focus should be the track titles - this is what I have tried to achieve with my cover.
I have also decided to use this image of a bass guitar to represent the genre of music to a potential buyer.

Digipak - Album Cover

This piece is my final choice for the album cover and back.
I rejected my other ideas as, after receiving some criticism from other members in the class, we all felt the photos to be more suitable for a magazine cover rather than album.

This is the cover:



This photo is the original image:





Here were some primary ideas for my album front cover and/or insert.
In each I attempted the main focus to be placed upon the lead singer (Sam) whereas the rest of the band faded into the background of the picture, this idea has come about from the similar bands that have used the idea of front lining the lead singer, e.g. Billy Talent, The Rocket Summer etc

However whilst doing these photos the battery to my camera ran out so instead of getting the band members to wear the same clothing I will just do all the pictures again. I may choose to continue some of these photo ideas further but I will not be using these photos in the final album cover.

Instead of using these for the cover I have considered using them as inserts in the album to show the true nature of the band to those who buy the album.

Album Cover Inspirations

Here are some typical band covers. I tried to find bands that are similar in style to the band I have chosen, there is also a variety of some I chose that I could easily achieve & it'd still reflect the band.


I like this cover as it promotes the whole band, this has influenced my style of photography for my album cover as I have chosen to place my band as the central focus of the cover. I also like the fun and happy nature the band portrays, hence I have made my band reflect this by depicting a funny scene of their own.



Here I have decided to use the black background to place the image upon as it throws it forward more. The dark background also allows any writing on the cover to be more noticeable than if it were a white background.
The simple background of the back cover I would also like to use for my own idea as this would be easier to write the song list upon.


Here I like the simplicity of the cover, it reflects to me a typical boy band because of the paint ball splatters dotted around the cover. However I have also chosen not to use this idea as I feel placing my band on the cover would be more eye catching than this.


In the instance of Hollywood Undead I like the mix of the surreal with a photo line-up of the band, however this makes the band seem detached and dark which is not the idea I am going for. The anonymity of the band members I also do not like as I would like my target market to be able to see the band and be given a partial insight into what they are like as people - demonstrating them as the average person rather than something superior because of their talent.


I have noticed from some album covers, such as the above, that often bands create a surreal scene to reflect what the band are like or how they perceive the music on the album to be.
I have decided to not follow this idea as it would be very hard to construct and photograph a scene like this - photographing the band is a much easier and less time consuming approach.