These images are exerts from the hip hop publication known as XXL official Hip Hop magazine. There are a few important features in this ad and promotional photo that show our artist as a strong individual who is admired in his respective genre.
The list is as follows:
- Album Name: The main objective of this advert is to try and sell you the new album that the artist is releasing. Although in this particular example the name of the artist takes precedence, I believe that in terms of our artist (relatively new, debut album) we should focus more on his album and his music as oppose to his whole persona.
- Artists name: repeated on both pages thus helping the audience to remember his name, Because it is important and new comers to the genre know who's music they are buying, important information such as the name has to be enlarged to make it clear to the customer.
- Date of his albums release: It is important for consumers to know exactly when our artists next album is coming out. For that reason they have enlarged and made the text much bolder. Additionally, I would say that the date is bolder than the name of the album simply because fans of the magazine are more likely to be fans of the Hip Hop genre and therefore will have a good idea of Jay-Z and the name of his next album so the dates therefore takes precedence.
- Imagery related to artist: If you look at the promotional image to the left for the front cover of the magazine you will see that Jay-Z is surrounded by tall towers, however they seem to only reach his shoulders. For this reason I believe the photographer has tried to give the impression that our artist is on top of the world and a very imposing force in the industry.
- Imagery related to album: On the second page we are given a preview of the possible artwork for the albums front cover. If you look closely you can see it is a mash up of different recording and music making instruments. These instruments are covered in white paint offering the image of simplicity and purity, therefore denoting our artists affinity with creating a clear message.
- Producer of the Album: Underneath the artwork, album name and date of release in very small writing we are given the name of the albums producers. They are named 'Rocnation'. This is interesting as it suggests our artist is involved with a completely different Genre of music. this could mean our artist may not follow every typical convention of a Hip Hop artist.
- Colour scheme: A typical theme you tend to see in most albums is the use of a colour schemes to allow audiences to associate particular colours with the album and make it more memorable. Colours can also be great ways to represent the artist in a certain way.
