Existing Graphic Products

Album Covers

The structure of this album cover is very simple. The image is cantered and the text is at the top. This gives the cover a really simple yet effective feel to it. Another reason the cover has this feel to it is its content, or lack of. There really isn’t much on the cover other than the photograph and the album name. The illustration style is one simple portrait photograph in the centre of the cover which is effective because it makes sure there isn’t too much going on but there is still a clue about the album. The use of colour is interesting because there is very little colour. The background is white and the text is very light grey so the only real colour is in the photograph but even that is De-saturated drastically so it is almost black and white. There is also a lot of white space on the cover since the background is completely white. This draws all the focus and attention to the subject of the cover. This is effective because people can look at the album cover and see instantly who it’s buy since the artist is very popular. The font is also interesting as it is very small and simple. I don’t feel like you would be able to see it too clearly from a distance because the light grey colour of the text isn’t really that dark against the white background. The spacing of the text is very different as rather than having all the letters together like you would with a word, all the letters are spread out evenly to fill the entire top of the cover. I think the audience for this album would not be really young children because of the lack of bright colours. The simplicity and therefore contemporary style of the cover would attract teenagers and young adults who are looking for something modern to listen too.

The structure of this image is slightly similar to the last one. There is one main image on the cover which is centred. The main difference is that the text is placed half way down the cover on the right hand side. The content of this cover is quite busy. There is only one image but it is an image with a lot of different colours in it giving it the feeling of being busy. The illustration style is the same as before with just a simple photograph overlaid with text. The use of colour in this image is very interesting I think. The main colour you can see in the image is brown. I think this colour represents country music because people usually associate country music with guitars and bars which are predominantly brown. Also the country is also associated with fields and farms which could be represented in the earthy colours in this cover. There isn’t any white space in this image or any negative space. This is because behind the subject in the image the colour changes quite a lot giving it a busy and full look to it. As I mentioned before the font on this image is not in the usual place you would expect. However I feel like it makes up for that by being a bright colour against the background. This means that even though it’s in an odd place, you attention is still drawn to it. I feel like the audience of this album would be a little older then the last one. I think this cover has a more old fashioned feel to it and therefore is more likely to attract older people. I think middle aged is the most likely age group. Also because in the image of the artist, he looks older than most modern pop singers (which are what the majority of teenagers and young adults look for) so I think this is aimed at the middle aged. The logo on this image is simply the artist’s name. I think this most likely isn’t a permanent logo and it often changes with each new album.

The structure of this album cover is very interesting and busy. There is the main text (the album name) and then there is also subtle smaller text (the illustrators name). There are also many pictures and colours and patterns everywhere. It gives the impression that it was all just thrown together randomly. The illustration style is very hand drawn and cartoon style. The entire cover looks like it could just be a drawing that someone has done with no computer generated graphics on it. There is absolutely no white or negative space in this image. It is all very full and busy. The font size on this album cover is bigger than on the others that I have looked at. I think the fact that it appears to be popping out of the page helps make it look even bigger. This also helps it to stand out from the background which is important since there is so much going on. The font is very big and bold too. This is most likely to aid in making the title stand out so people can quickly see what the album is called. Also the title is placed near enough in the left hand corner which is an effective area to place something that you want the audience to see first. This is because when people look at an image the subconsciously look to the top left hand corner first. The way the lines then explode out from the title caused you to first look at the title and the look out at the rest of the image so you are drawn into it. I would say that because of the colours, big font and the cartoony illustration style that the target audience must be young children. However when you look at the individual images within the album cover, they don’t seem like they are very appealing to young children. For example a man is lying on the sofa and a woman standing in the bottom corner. So I think that it may be aimed at a slightly older audience of teenagers.

Game Covers

The structure of the cover of this game is very symmetrical. There are two characters both in the same positions next to each other but the positions are mirrored. Then there is the title of the game where the text “Mario and Sonic” is also kind of mirrored. Another way the artwork is symmetrical is that the left side is predominantly red and the right side is predominantly blue. There is also very very similar, but mirrored with each other, images in the background and a line down the middle at the bottom of the image. This kind of splits the artwork in half and therefore suggests that this is a competitive game. The illustration style appears to be computer generated cartoon. This fits in with the theme of the game since it’s a cartoon style video game. The use of colour is effective in this image because as I have mentioned the red side and the blue side almost split the image in half. There colours are all very bright and mainly primary or secondary colours. There is no negative space as it is all taken up with textures and logos. The font on the title is very simple and easy to read. The main part of the title “Olympic Games” is gold/ yellow which really stands out but since “Mario and Sonic” are well known characters, it’s important that the “Olympic games” text is bolder so people know which “Mario and Sonic” game they are looking at. I think the audience for this game is mainly families. I think, even without the 3+ logo in the corner, you can tell that it is suitable for young children since the colours are bright and primary and the images is cartoon. However the fact that you can tell it’s a competitive game is what makes me think it’s for families rather than just young children.

 

The structure of this games cover is very simple. There is the main image that covers the entire cover and then the title is in the middle reaching from one side of the cover all the way to the other. This almost splits off the top of the cover and the bottom. This is useful because the bottom of the cover isnt very interesting and it doesn’t really so much. All the action is above the title on the cover. This means that people will mainly look at the top of the cover, the action packed section rather then the bottom half. Also the “XBOX” logo is in the top left hand corner which, as I mentioned before, is the first place a person would look. So therefore they know the product is for XBOX straight away.  The illustration style is computer generated graphics. It is very “video game” style. This is good because gamers and none gamers can recognise this kind of illustration style and therefore know that the product is a video game and not a DVD or other similar products. The use of colour is very intersting. The actual cover art is very dark and dramatic but this is made up for by the fact that there is a bright green around the side and at the top. The green represents that the game is for XBOX yet it also is bright and eye catching and would draw a potential customer into looking at the product. Once the potential customer has looked at the product because of the green, they will then go on to look at the image and the use of dark colours will hint to them that it is an action, fantasy game and it’s not a happy childrens game. The green is a tool to get people to look at the cover. The font on the title is effective because the game is merchindice for a movie called “Transformers” that is very well known. Therefore the title on this game cover is the same as the title on all the other merchindice. This attracts people to the game as they recognise the logo/ title. I think the audience for this game is late teenagers and maybe early 20’s. I say this because the colours are dark and the fact that there is a wepon on the front cover suggest that the game is violent and there is fighting and danger. If the colours were brighter I and it looked less doom and gloom I would say for pre teens and young teenagers but the fact that all the colours are dark and it looks very dramatic make me think that it may not be suitable for younger people. Gender wise, I intinctivly assume that this game is aimed at males. This is because, again of the dark colours, and stereo typically, males seem to enjoy action and violent games more then females.

The structure of this cover is almost as if the Playstation2 logo isn’t part of the cover. There is the logo taking up a strip over the top and then there is the title and then Lego logo and the games title under that in the actual cover. The Lego logo is in the top left so it is seen first. This is good and effective because the colours are dark so people may assume that the target audience is not particularly young but then when they see the Lego logo first they will reconsider because Lego is a very well know brand of children’s toys. The illustration style is very effective because it is a picture of the game in action and the main focus of the image is the main character, who is a Lego man. This is effective because it is another way of showing the potential customers that the game is Lego and therefore not aimed at older people and it is suitable for a younger audience. The colours are also effective because although the colours are dark and dramatic, there are bits of colour that are almost bright primary colours. For example, the title is bright yellow so it contrasts against the dark background but it also softens the tone of the overall image/ cover so it looks less harsh and scary. There is subtle negative space in this image. This is in the moon and the sky. It’s one big block of the same colour and compared to the rest of the image it’s really empty. It works because it makes the two characters in front of it stand out which is important because, as I mentioned before, people will see the main characters and know they are looking at a Lego game. The font for the main title is really bold and easy to read. This suggests even more that the game is really for younger children and is not as scary and the dark colours that you originally see suggest. The easy to read font and bright colours suggest this because young children can’t read complicated texts. So overall I think that this is a game designed for young children before they start playing more grown up video games. It’s a toned down version of games like “Transformers” that I looked at.

 Literary Festivals

The Agatha Christie festival is an annual event where people gather to celebrate the works of Agatha Christie. This is the official logo for The International Agatha Christie Festival. The structure of the logo is very simple. There is the text in the centre which appears to be (or what’s supposed to be) Agatha Christies signature and an image of an open book. Then there is the more simple text around the side of the logo telling people what the logo is for. The image of the book is very important in working out what target audience this festival is aimed at. Firstly you think about what target audience likes to read and then you look at the fancy writing and you assume that the books that the logo is referencing is classic books. The illustration style is very simple as it is duo toned so you can see what the image is but it blends in very well and it’s very simple. The colour in this logo hints towards the target audience because it’s not bold or bright which suggests that it is not aimed at a young audience. Also the fact that there are only two colours suggests this. The background of this image is negative space. There is a gap between each object or piece of content in the image and I feel like just the right amount of space has been left to make the logo not look busy but not look empty. It also makes the logo look more modern and professional and therefore slightly boring looking to a younger audience. I have briefly mentioned the font already but to go into a bit more detail, the font in the centre is not very easy to read so the font around the outside makes up for this by being really easy. However I don’t think the easy font indicates that the festival is aimed at the young because of all the simple colours and images. I think maybe this suggests the other end of the scale and suggests that the festival is aimed at elderly people who also may not be able to read to well.

 

The May Festival is a yearly festival that showcases all the best research being undertaken at the University of Aberdeen. This is the official logo for the Festival. The structure of the logo is very interesting because you have the main text telling you what the festival is called but it also has all the images inside of the text which if you look closely at the individual images, you can get a clue about what will be at the festival. For example, there is a music note which suggests there will be musical performances. This is a very simple and effective way of showing the audience what is going to be at the festival without having too much text. The illustration style of the individual images inside of the text is very simple. The images are cartoon style and only use a few colours. This is important because of the amount of images; it would be too busy if there were many colours. On the topic of colours, I think that the use of colour is effective in implying the target audience. The festival is about research going on at a university so it’s most likely not going to be aimed at young children. This is why there is the lack of bright colours. However the colours aren’t all dark. The red is quite bright and I feel like there is a bright colour in there because they don’t want to appear too professional for fear of scaring off the younger university students that they will most likely be trying to attract. I believe that the background of this image that appears white is actually transparent so there is therefore no negative space in this logo. It is very busy looking. This could be to suggest that the festival will be very busy with lots to do.