Individual Magazine Advert Analysis - Miss Georgiou

Individual Magazine Advert Analysis

I have created an individual magazine advert to promote my artist and also the album with our chosen song for our music video. By creating a magazine advert it is making our target audience and the viewers of magazines the chance to look deeper into our artist and further promote her and her material.

Colours

I have decided to use a variety of colours in my magazine advert from the natural surroundings to the colour of the artists lipstick. I decided to use a very green and natural setting in the field for my magazine advert. I decided to use this location as I wanted the colour green to have a strong representation within my magazine advert. I wanted this to portray through as the colour green has many representations that are conventional of artists from the indie genre. Some of the representations that are portrayed through the colour green is balance, growth, generosity and nature. These are characteristics that I want to represent for my artist as most indie artists portray these characteristics in their music videos. I want the audience to recognise my artist as being generous and having a balance in her life as it will represent a sense of realism which will make it easier for the audience to build a relationship with the artist and understand her lifestyle and emotions more clearly to ultimately help them understand the narrative.
The next colour that I have chosen to use within my individual music video is the colour blue. I have used this colour as part of the sky and also the colour of the jean jacket that she is wearing. I decided to use the colour blue as it represents calmness, kindness, honesty and peace. I want my artist to be portrayed as someone who is kind and honest as this will make her more relatable and also more open which will encourage the audience to build a relationship with her and understand how she must be feeling. This will also help them to understand how she must feel as they may have experienced similar situations before in their own personal life. By representing the artist as being honest it will give a sense of realism as the audience will recognise her as an ordinary person just like them which will make them feel closer to her as an artist.
The next colour I decided to use within my individual magazine advert is the colour orange. I have used this colour as a feature of my sunset which I planned to have as the background of my magazine advert. I decided to use the colour orange as it represents characteristics such as optimism, warmth, freedom and motivation. I wanted to include this colour as I wanted my artist to be represented as someone who is free and has motivation. I wanted my audience to recognise these characteristics in my artist as I believe that it makes her more approachable and open. It shows the audience that she is someone they could relate to and understand which helps them to bond and build a relationship with her. It also means they can understand exactly how she is feeling within realistic situations which they could have also experienced themselves. By portraying her as someone who is free and motivated this may also have an impact on the audience to may feel a similar way and this could encourage them to change something in their life to make it better which will also make them idolise the artist as this is what she has done.

Conventions of Genre

I believe that I have followed the conventions of the indie music video within elements of my individual magazine advert. Firstly I believe that the theme of isolation is common within indie music artists and their videos as it portrays them as vulnerable and mysterious. I have included this theme within my chosen image as I decided to use a long shot of my artist sitting in a field on her own.  I decided to use this as it portrays my artist as vulnerable and also sets an enigma from the moment the audience views the magazine advert. This way it will ensure the audience want to find out more about my artist and also buy the album when it comes out. This is also conventional to the indie genre as indie artists are usually people who write and sing songs about their own personal experiences and by not giving anything away in the magazine advert it will make the audience more intrigued to find out what the artist may be feeling and also what she is singing about. 
Another convention of the genre that I have used in my magazine advert is my artists choice of clothing. She is seen to be wearing a grey dress with black tights, black boots, a jean jacket and a choker. This is conventional to the indie genre as indie artists usually have their own style with includes grunge like clothing. They also usually wear layered items of clothing to recreate a grunge effect. This type of clothing represents an indie artist as they are usually quite unique people who don't care about what others think of them so therefore could wear surprising clothing. The hair and makeup I have chosen for my artist is also conventional to the indie genre. Her hair is down and wavy and her makeup is quite heavy with winged eyeliner, dark eyeshadow and also red lipstick. This is conventional to the indie genre as indie artist usually express themselves through their creation and by having bold and heavy makeup it is portraying them to the audience as having a message or story to tell which helps the audience to build a relationship with them as they feel as though the artist is relatable.

Images Used

The image I have chosen to use is a long shot of my artist sitting in a field. I have decided to use this image as it sets the idea of isolation which is conventional to the indie genre. It portrays my artist as vulnerable but also mysterious as the image doesn't give much away about the narrative of the music video or the artists intentions. I wanted this theme to be portrayed in order to attract the audiences attention and encourage them to become intrigued about my music video and artist just by looking at the magazine advert. 

I also wanted the field setting to be included in the background as I feel as though it represents my artist in ways that is conventional to the indie genre. For example, the colour green which is shown a lot throughout the setting poetry's growth, balance and generosity which are characteristics that I want my artist to be portrayed with. The characteristic of growth shows the journey that she has come through which is also motivational for the target audience. They will see the artist as someone to look up to and a role model which may encourage hem to follow her as an artist and become a fan of her material.

Another reasons why I have chosen this as my chosen image is due to the artists facial expressions in this image. Her facial expressions are very plain and unreadable which portrayed her mysterious and vulnerable personality. However, this will also intrigue the audience to want to find out how the artist is feeling and whether they can relate to it or not. As indie artists usually write and produce songs about their own personal experiences this will ensure that the audience will want to find out the narrative of the song as they are usually relatable subjects such as love, heartbreak and broken relationships.
Layout/Design

The layout I have decided to use for my individual magazine advert is quite simplistic as I wanted to give it a clean cut effect. The main elements of my magazine include a long shot image of my artist, the artists name, the name of the album, a star rating, the release date and a tag line introducing the number one single on the album. The layout of my typography is mainly positioned central excluding the release date, the name of the album and also the magazine star rating. 

I have decided to use a simple layout for my magazine to make it clear for the audience to immediately notice the key parts of the magazine and easily digest the most important pieces of information. I didn't want my magazine to have a jumbled layout which would make my target audience become lost when they look at it and find it difficult as to where to start reading. I wanted the artists name and the name of the album to be the most bold and eye catching pieces of information as these are the most important pieces as to guiding the target audience into finding the correct information to researching and finding out more about the artist. This is another element that would further help to promote the artist and make her material more known by the target audience.

I also chose to have the name of the album sit above the slight orange sunset line in my background. I felt as though this would work really well as the name of the album is "Illuminate", and to have this sit on top of a natural light also contrasts to the meaning of the album which is to light up and illuminate against others.

Typography

I have only decided to use key information to include in my individual magazine advert. The pieces of typography that I have decided to use in my magazine advert conclude of the artists name, the name of the album, the release date, a star rating and also a tag line stating the number one featuring single.

I decided to only have these pieces of typography on my magazine as to keep it looking as professional and clean cut as I could make it. I wanted it to look conventional to the indie genre and also realistic towards a real magazine advert. I felt as though less was more when producing my magazine article as it would ensure that my target audience wouldn't become lost when reading it and therefore loose interest and give up. I felt as though these pieces of typography gave just the right amount of information and still gave the audience a variety of knowledge that they could use to guide themselves to more information about the artist and her material.

I decided to use things such as a star rating as I felt as though it would encourage the audience to want to read more into it as they can recognise that the talent has been noticed by other corporations first which gives the album a good first impression. I also felt as though the times was a good company to use as a star rating as they are most likely to listen to indie artist and their music and have a positive opinion on the diversity of their music.
Language

The language I have decided to use for my magazine advert is very simple and to the point which is conventional for the indie genre and also the purposes of a magazine advert. I wanted my advert to include the most important and key information as then the audience have all the key information to look further into finding out information about my artist and her new album. I also wanted the name of the album to be stated on its own instead of an introduction statement such as "New Debut Album". I thought that by having the album name presented boldly on my magazine advert this would maintain the focus alongside the artists name which are the two key points on the advert which would give the audience the most information. 

I also felt as though by using a tag line which is stating the name of the hit single of the album was also giving my album a professional feel, as for promotional purposes this would be included to create as much acknowledgement from the target audience as possible.
Weakness with photoshop

When using photoshop I experienced many weaknesses as it wasn't a programme that I was familiar with. I found difficulties in figuring out what tools would have effects on my image and how the different levels of opacities on my work would have a greater effect than others. My main struggle with the programme was finding out how to blur certain parts of the photo but not others. For example, blurring the background of the photo but not the artist themselves. However, this was a technique that made the images look extremely conventional to the indie genre and also have the image a professional look so I therefore had to perfect this technique. I learnt that the layer including the photo would have to be duplicated and then a mask would have to be inserted into that layer. I would then have to insert a blur filter across the whole image and then use an eraser tool which comes in different sizes and opacities to erase the amount of blur I wanted to take off my artist.

Strengths with photoshop

Alongside the weaknesses, there was also some strengths when working with photoshop. One strength that I had was working out how to download and insert fonts into my work. I used an Internet font website to research and download fonts that looked conventional to the indie genre and then inserted them into my image. I also found certain tools that could increase the spaces between the letters and also create effects on them such as blurs and outer glows which made the fonts stand out more and look more professional. I found that this strength really enhanced the improvement of my photos as it helped to bring them to life and make them look as though they were realistic and conventional to the indie genre.

I feel as though my magazine advert strongly conforms to the conventions of the indie genre. I feel as though the image chosen and the setting gives an immediate reaction to my target audience on what genre the magazine comes from and also the types of narratives they may be experiencing. For example, the vulnerability which is portrayed with the empty field setting gives the target audience an immediate instinct that the narrative may be a love or heartbreak story. I feel as though he magazine would appeal to the target audience as it is something that they would expect from the genre. For example, the artists choice of costume shows that she has a sense of unique style and also has a passion to be herself and express herself in the ways that she wants to which makes her seem idolistic. I also feel as though the natural late afternoon sky and grey clouds gives off a sense of freedom and innocence which is also conventional to the indie genre as it portrays the artist as someone who is honest and open to share their personal experiences with the audience. This also makes them more relatable and someone who is easy to build a relationship with.