IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR ALBUM PACKAGING AND MAGAZINE ADVERT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

Grime is a UK genre of music, meaning that other countries don’t particularly generate grime as a popular genre. Because of this many known (and unknown) grime artists find it important to identify and represent their audience which is mostly UK teenagers. Because of this a general convention used in Album covers of grime artists is including urban buildings or tower blocks in the background to reinforce the importance that they are born and bred UK artists. Recently it has become popular for album art to be digitally enhanced to make it more aesthetically pleasing and to create a more urban theme, but primarily so they stand out on the shelves against other albums.

I have chosen to use some new some old conventions when creating my album cover, and inspiration came from the Kano – ‘This is the girl’ single cover. The conventions I have chosen to follow are a main photo of the artist taking up majority of the album cover, the Artists name and the album/single’s name. The photo of K-OS is the main focus and I chose to use a picture of him staring at the camera to emulate eye contact, unlike the Kano cover image. I done this as I felt it would create a personal rapport between the audience and the artist as it feels as though he is staring directly at them. The name of the artist and the singles name are separated by the font colour and size similar to the Kano single. The main inspiration taken from Kano’s single cover was the blurry background and big main image. Keeping the original background of the picture but editing it so it is out of focus creates an urban feel and doesn't steal focus from the artists face.

Its quite obvious that I haven't digitally enhanced the cover image or background much like many other Grime albums that have previously been mentioned (slide 1). I chose no to do this as K-OS doesn't convey usual aspects of commercial grime artists. His lyrics are referred to as ‘real’ meaning that he makes music for the love of music and nothing else. I felt it was important not to create an album cover effectively full of art work, as I felt this would take away from the message he is essentially trying to give. However i did include an ‘urban background’ of buildings and cars as although he wants to be separated from other Grime artists, it is important for him to configure to certain grime conventions, and that seemed to be the most effective way of making sure he would be recognised as a grime artist.

The back of Kano’s single - ‘This is the girl’, is a very plain and simple cover, but it includes all the relevant conventions used on album covers which are, the track list, small print regarding copyright, a bar code and a website address. These conventions have been incorporated into my design however i felt it was necessary to include a design only to reinforce the artists identity and to reinforce the theme of the single. I used a similar font to Kano’s album as it stands out and is easy to read on the dark background.

I thought it was necessary to continue the theme of the album; incorporating an urban background of building as well as a photo of the artist. I done this as it further continues Grime conventions as it shows that he is a UK urban artist. The effects and digital enhancement used are more apparent on the back cover as the image has been mirrored and the background has a cartoon/painting effect. The photo of K-OS has been altered to it looks different to the background, which makes him stand out signifying that he is important. The dark colours have been used to emphasise a mysterious atmosphere and to upkeep with the ‘gritty urban’ theme.

The inside booklet includes more pictures of K-OS and includes lyrics from him song. I chose these specific lyrics as it sums up what he is about, and what message he is trying to convey. I think this is important as it means the audience can identify with him better and understand what type of artist he truly is. The same effects have been used to maintain the consistency of the theme, which is simple yet effective. The back page of the booklet simply consists of the lyrics for the track ‘Kick dat down’. I chose to include them as this seems to be a usual convention used for all album booklets whether it is grime or RNB, as it allows the audience to fully understand the song. A simple grey background and white text has been used to make it easy to read and it doesn't complicate the layout. It also in keeps with the colour theme of the album.

As you can see I have used the same font on my magazine advert, that is on the Front cover of the CD. ‘ Dizzee rascals’ advert has also used the same font that is one the CD. This is done to reinforce the artist and album recognition. This means that the target audience should recognise the album when its in stores.

Similarly like Dizzee rascals advert, i have included a picture of the artist. As you can see The picture of K-OS is much larger than the picture of Dizzee rascal. This is because he is an unknown artist, so he needs to be made more obvious. Established artists like Dizzee rascal only really need the name of the album to promote it.

It was important to make sure that the audience can recognise that the album is available for download, as this would be their preferred way to purchase the album. As you can see popular grime artist such as Wretch 32, make poster purely advertising there single is available for download.