Textual analysis

The Wombats- Glitterbug

http://www.hitthefloor.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/wmbts_glitterbug_CD_Vinyl-cover.jpg

This is the album cover for The Wombats newest album, Glitterbug. The font of both the artist name and album name is simple- such as the font Ariel, not taking the focus off the main image that is in the centre. The font colour is a light coral peach colour (R=246, G=111, B=113) - this stands out from the black border surrounding the main image of the album cover. A cream box has been used in the centre of the album cover in order to allow the main image to stand out. Double exposure has been used in the main image, as there are two photographs being used together in order to create a new image. The first image that creates the silhouette is of a woman looking away from the camera, the woman’s hair is blowing away from the camera, suggesting that the photo was taken outside or in a studio with something that could replicate wind. The second image has been overlaid on top of the first image/silhouette to create the double exposure. This image is of a cityscape at night when the lights are on over the city. A bokeh effect can be seen over this image as you can see bits of out of focus light, creating a shimmering effect. This album cover juxtaposes itself, as the overall look is very simplistic and plain, whereas the second image that has been used of the landscape has connotations of being busy and lively.

http://www.coverdude.com/covers/the-wombats-glitterbug-2015-back-cover-205784.jpg

The back of this album is also simplistic. The main aspect of the back cover is the soundtrack of the album- the font is the same that has been used on the front cover and is large, taking up a lot of the left side on the cover, with a line at the end of each song name that ends at the other side of the cover. The colour of the lines is the same as the font colour on the front cover, this linking the front and back cover. There is a small area of text at the bottom left hand side of the back cover for copyright information, as well as a barcode at the bottom right hand side for selling purposes. 

Sleater Kinney- No Cities To Love

http://cdn2.pitchfork.com/albums/21417/homepage_large.c8f55f3f.jpg

There is text positioned in the top centre of the album cover, showing the artist’s name- Sleater Kinney and the album name- No Cities To Love. This text is simplistic so that no attention would be taken off the main image. The album uses an image of dead flowers as the key aspect of the album cover. These flowers have been arranged in a bouquet with some of the flowers facing away from the camera. The flowers link to the name of the album “No Cities To Love” as a bouquet of flowers have connotations of the love linking to the theme of the album.

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In comparison to the simplistic front cover, the back cover is very busy. The background of this cover is black with white stars on it- this contrasts with the plain background seen on the front cover, catching your attention. The amount of font on this cover is minimalistic, with only some text placed on the bottom of the cover which includes copyright information and the soundtrack list in the top left hand corner of the cover in order for it to be the first thing that is seen. The font colour of this text is white, causing it to stand out more against the background.

Trey Songz- Trigga

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fa/Trey_songz_trigga.png

The album “Trigga” by Trey Songz also uses double exposure for the album cover. The first image of this double exposure is of the artist facing away from the camera to look over his shoulder, wearing a suit, showing connotations of class and wealth. Unlike The Wombats, the second image is of the artist standing in a “T” pose position that Trey is stood in in is used to show the first letter of the albums name, “Trigga”. Over the album cover, the artists name is not shown once, giving the idea that he is so well known that people would know whose album it is. Contrarily, this may have been excluded from the album cover in order to gain more sales from those who are curious as to whose album it is. Once again, this simplistic look gives the album cover a sophisticated and smart look.

http://cybertechz.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Trey-Songz-%E2%80%93-Trigga-Back-Cover.jpg

The back cover of this album relates to the second image used in the front cover of the album. The background of the back cover shows the artist, Trey as he is stood in the image of the front cover, however here the camera has been positioned closer so that it only shows the top left of his body as well as the outline of the mountains behind him. The artist and the mountains are positioned in the bottom third of the cover, with the artist himself in the bottom right third. Unlike the other album covers, only the song list has been included on the back, showing the songs in a black simplistic font positioned in the centre of the cover with the bonus songs below them in a white font. The font has been spaced in order to be seen easier, with the contributing artists below each song title in a small font. These elements combined creates a very simple but effective back cover that links in with the front cover.

Ed Sheeran- Plus

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3f/Ed_Sheeran_%2B_cover.png

 This album is unlike the others as the primary and only focus of the album is a close up of the artist, Ed Sheeran. This close up shows the artist in more detail than a different image, with personal address being used as he has looked directly at the camera as the photograph was being taken, appearing as he is looking directly at whoever is looking at the album- making it seem more personal rather than for entertainment purposes when you buy it. Like Trey Songz album, the artist name has not been used at all on the cover, giving the idea that the artist is so well known that the audience would know who it is without reading his name. The main colour of the album is orange which is very eye-catching for audiences as well as linking to Ed Sheeran’s famous ginger hair that is admired from many of his fans. Orange also has connotations of encouragement, enthusiasm and joy- some of which gives an idea of what his songs may be like. The only thing apart from the image that is included in this cover is a small plus sign- relating to the name of the album as well as giving it an easy association with the artist.

http://www.freecovers.net/preview/1/444d01e151698c3ae42958febe5b3a3b/big.jpg

The back cover is also orange, linking to the front cover. Apart from legal information such as copyright which is found at the bottom of the cover in small black text, the only other thing on the cover is the song list, the white font shown contrasts well with the orange background, making it stand out more so it is easier to read. The text is positioned in the centre of the cover so that it is the first and primary thing that is seen, as well as using a typewriter styled font to make it easier and better to read. 

CD cover questionnaire

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YKTCSVK

Print based analysis

Vogue

This magazine is targeting women aged between 16 and 34 years old. The magazine targets women of this age group as they are often interested in the latest fashion styles and trends. People fitting the A, B and C category in the socio economic model as they would all have the money to buy this magazine as well as the time and interest to buy it.

You can tell which audience this magazine is aimed at because of several aspects of the front cover. The colour scheme of this magazine issue is gold, a colour of success and achievement but also luxury and quality.  This would attract the audience of the A, B and C category as they will be better off with their money than those of the lower categories. The text on the front cover is simple, giving an elegant look to the front cover with the black and white font colour on the cover lines and red font colour for the man cover line all standing out on the golden background, the contrasting colours show the age of the audience, being mature and older. The main image is of Amanda Seyfried, an American actress known for her role in Mama Mia and Les Misérables, both which will appeal to the target audience. One of the cover lines reads, “how to cut your cancer risk” which would relate to women of this age as they would be worried about getting cancer at this age.

GQ

The GQ magazine targets males aged between 18 and 34 years of age, this is due to the types of articles that are published- this being about style, news, music and other subjects that would interest males of this age group. The magazine would fit the A, B and C categories of the socio economic model as like Vogue, the audience would have the money to buy this magazine monthly as well as the time and interest to read it.

​The audience of this magazine can be found from a variety of features of the front cover. The colour scheme of this colour is a mix of blue, black, white and grey, which is commonly associated with males due to the colour blue. This colour scheme is used in both the masthead and cover lines. Many of the cover lines gives clues to who the audience of this magazine is, from “have you ever been man-pregnant?” to “Bruce Willis gives us a master class in badass”. These all indicate which gender this magazine is aimed towards. Bruce Willis is famous for his role in the Die Hard movies; representing a strong action hero- this would attract males more than females so him being on the cover attracts more males who like the Die Hard movies.

Harry Potter

Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix is the fifth film in the Harry Potter series. The film is aimed towards both males and females aged between 11 and 18 years old who can relate to Harry’s and his friends ages in the movie, either of past or new experiences. As this is primarily aimed towards young adults, the film would fit into the C, D and E categories of the socio economic model.

​This film poster shows who the target audience through a variety of aspects. The poster shows six of the characters on either side of the poster, with Harry standing in the centre- this shows the ages of the main characters in the film, relating to the target audience. The tagline reads “the rebellion begins” which relates to the audience as they would be going through the rebellious time in their lives as they grow from children to adults.

This film is part of the family, fantasy and adventure genres. This is due to the fact that Harry and his friends often take part in different adventures in order to save somebody or something, as well as being surrounded by various fantasy creatures such as hippogriffs. 

Hotel Transylvania 

The target audience for this film is both girls and boys aged between 4 and 15 years due to the animated and comedic aspects of the film. As the film is aimed towards young audiences, it would not fit into the socio economic model. 

The film poster is very minimalistic, however it does give you an idea as to who the audience is. The name of the film is the first thing you see as you look at the poster- the name is shown as a sort of hotel sign, relating to the story of the film. The main image on the poster is of some of the main characters- as these are animated, they look to be aimed at children.