Making an Instagram for our artist.

In modern day society, Instagram is probably one of the most important ways of branding an artist.

Everyone uses Instagram and it is the way most people whose to stay updated on their favourite musicians and celebrities.

Today I made an Instagram page for Jem, I will update this regularly as this is a way as staying relevant and getting his name out there.

I will post updates about upcoming singles, concerts and music videos.

Kaytranada Website.

 This is the website of the music producer 'Kaytranada', it has the animated illustration from the album cover in the middle, and each option on the website has a different illustration when you hover over it, each one links in with the theme of the illustrations and is moving which looks really cool and gives an interactive sense to the website.

One really good thing about this website is the game, which allows fans of the band to win a bonus track from their debut album. This really is really good idea for publicity, as people will play the game and tell their friends about it as it is a unique idea, making more people visit the website which spreads the name of the artist and is a fun and interactive way of spreading the word.

Creating something that is collectable is a very good way to market an artist, this is definitely something that I may consider. However I would have to look into the technical aspect of making something such as a game.

I really like the hand drawn illustrations and it is definitely something I will consider for my album cover. Unfortunately I am not very skilled at drawing, so if I did go down this route I would have to commission someone to make an illustration for me, I would want as much input as possible though so I would design I rough version.

Working on my website.

 

Today I started working on my website using the Wix website builder. As I haven't done a photoshoot with Jem yet, I started by including a short clip from my video, which I thought looked really nice. Also I think its good to link the video and the website together to create something recognisable for the fans of our musician. My next step will be to organise a photoshoot with Jem so I can complete the website.



Inspiration: Disclosure.

For disclosure's 'Settle' album cover they used a mixed media image - a sourced photo of the band as children with the familiar scribble face drawing over the top.

This has become a recognisable feature of disclosure's album covers, they use this same design even for their collaborations with other artists, such as for the song 'Omen' with Sam smith, who is very recognisable as a celebrity, and therefore this adds to the novelty of his face being turned into a disclosure drawing.

Using a mixed media image is something that I am considering for my album cover, as it is more interesting than just using an image of the artist, but it also means that the artist is still there and therefore can become recognisable as an artist, especially for the teenage 'fangirl' market, who want to see images of the artist that they can pin up on their wall etc.

Inspiration: The Neighbourhood.

I Love You is the debut album by the American indie rock band The Neighbourhood.

The Neighbourhood are known for a black and white or grey scale image. All of their album covers, music videos, any photos of the band and their website feature very little, if any, colour.

 

The three symbols on the front also link to their image and are now known as the band’s ‘logos’ or ‘symbols’. This helps to give the band a recognisable brand that audiences can relate to whenever they see these symbols, this also opens up the possibility for merchandising, as these symbols can be printed onto posters and hoodies etc.

 

The fact that there is no album title or band name on the front cover coveys a sense of mystery. The back of the cover also features the smoke background along with the grey scale theme. The fact that the name of the album is printed on the back in unconventional and alternative which would appeal to young 'cool' individuals. 

 

Their website it very fitting to their album cover, sticking to the black and white theme, it features a gallery of images linked directly to their Tumblr,  giving fans the opportunity to 'reblog' things which has positive connotations for the advertising of the band's brand.

 

It also has a store where fans can shop online for the bands merchandise, which features the recognisable logo printed onto hats, hoodies and t-shirts.

 

The font that is used is and old style newsprint font, which fits with the same of the band as local neighbourhood newspapers often use this font.

 

There is also a section with their music videos, all shot in black and white, fitting with the theme.

 

Overall I think the neighbourhood have been very cleaver with their branding, sticking to recognisable themes and logos and creating something collectable (the hoodies) in a way which will spread word of the brand.

 

When designing my website and digipak, I want to use brighter colours but I also want to stick to a recognisable colour scheme. I also want to have a section for cool fashionable merchandise to create something desirable.

 

 

Inspiration: Two Door Cinema Club.

Whilst designing my digipak and website, I have been researching and getting inspiration from other bands which are similar to our artist.

Two Door Cinema Club are an Irish indie rock/pop band. They're style of music is similar to our artist and therefore would have a similar target audience. 

This is their album cover, like other bands that I have looked into they have not actually used a image of the artist on the album cover.

They have used a recognizable and identifiable font on the cover and a picture of a cat. This reminds me of the album cover for 'Contra' by vampire weekend as the picture has that slightly 'old style' film, grainy look and taken with a harsh flash. This particular style fits in with the indie trend and it looks cool and effortless. 

I prefer the album covers that are slightly more grungy and 'effortless' as they look cooler and would appeal more to the laid back audience, as it goes against the mainstream 'glossy' high production look that alot of pop music has, this is often seen as 'uncool'.


Their website front page has moving images on it, varying from videos of performances to relaxing clips of the sea. I really like this as it it more immersive than other websites and it hold the interest of the audience. It is also very aesthetically pleasing. (Click HERE to view the website)

I would consider something similar to this for my website, as the sea theme fits with my branding and I could use some clips from the music video, as well as including a separate photo shoot of the artist and some artistic images such as an abstract painting.

'The Male Gaze'

The male gaze is the way in which the visual arts and literature depict the world and women from a masculine point of view, presenting women as objects of male pleasure. The phrase male gaze was coined by feminist film critic Laura Mulvey in 1975.

Laura Mulvey developed the 'male gaze' theory in her 1975 essay 'Visual pleasure and narrative cinema'. The 'Gaze' was an already established concept however Mulvey coined the term 'male gaze' to further examine the gaze in media texts and contexts.  

In order to deliver the male perspective to the audience camera angles, camera movement, cut aways and slow motion are used to make the audience feel as though they are looking at the characters from a heterosexual male view. 

To achieve that, the camera tends to linger on the curves of the female body and/or the reaction of the male within that shot. This places the female as an object for the audience to view.  

The presence of the female in some music videos can solely be for the purpose of display rather than a narrative or active function. 

Mulvey argued that women are given two character types in film:

- Sexually active and promiscuous  

-Powerless and innocent female that is often the spectators watching the video.

During the research into 'Male gaze' in the media form of music videos I have found that the theory is most dominant in pop and hip hop genre videos where there is a strong link between what the artist is presenting in terms of the lyrics and what is shown on screen. I found that in most music videos in this genre, they often have male artist presented as powerful and surrounded with lots of women. On the other hand, the female artists are in tight, revealing clothing and their movement is often seductive. This perhaps represents societies ideology on male and female roles and positions today.