Print Production Case Study 1

The purpose of a CD cover, is to commercialize the artist and the label; often having a link to the general narrative of the album. Often including the artist themselves in order to formulate a brand identity that is recognisable, thus allowing easy marketing. Within the indie genre, as my artist is, this element of the musician on the front cover is paramount as the genre centers itself around personality and intimacy between artist and audience. 

Ben Drew, known as Plan B, is an English Hip Hop recording artist that has endeavoured in multiple genres, for example singer/songwriter at times, soul and even pop music. Furthermore, Plan B ventured into other media areas successfully, for instance producing, directing and acting; this is important for an artist as it means he is recognised across multiple media platforms increasing his marketability. First emerging with his critically acclaimed album in 2006, 'Who Needs Actions When You Got

Words', this was met by huge outrage, especially from parents, from his explicit and dark lyrics centered around British Youth. Alexis Petridis, writing for The Guardian, reviewed the album as "a bleak, visceral, obscenity-strewn British urban album". Refusing to adhere to the boundaries of subjects in which songs generically discuss, the young artist talks about crack addiction, rape, gun and knife crime, gang life and underage sex. With an early start to Plan B's carrier fuelled by his experiences as a teenager and young man, he chose a new path in 2010, pop/soul music. With his second album, The Defamation of Strickland Banks, Plan B ventured into soul music, with immediate success the album when straight to number one on the UK Albums Chart. 

However, the CD cover that I shall be analyzing in this blog post is 'Ill Manors', releasing in 2012, storming to the number one in the charts for the second time in his career. Accompanying the album was his film 'Ill Manors' that he directed and produced, about British Youth and crime. 'Ill Manors' the album was nominated for the Mercury Prize and received huge recognition from critics for its storytelling ability and other factors. Speaking about the album in an interview, Drew stated ' You could call it bassline, soul, with a bit of hip hop'; this versatility is a key element of Plan B's persona and musical ability. On review website Metacritic, the album attains an average score of 83 out of 100, based on reviews from 14 professional critics, which indicates "universal acclaim". 

The album cover holds several elements that accumulate to produce a striking, powerful and symbolic piece. The overall piece resonates an urban decayed and industrial style; connoting hardship and struggle. Interestingly, the album's music follows this theme as they narrate life on an estate and the struggle this poses. The dark colour scheme made up of grey's and blacks further reinforces this theme of struggle and loneliness; through the desaturated background the audience can relate, possibly applying their own issues and problems through this album. The typeface of the album further supports this theme, through block sans serif writing it holds metaphoric meaning of huge tower blocks, like the background behind it. The effect of the 'Ill' being fully lowercase, enforces this raw nature and informality of the piece. The text for the word 'Manors', follows a slightly different style, whilst maintaining block capitals to show urbanization, a spray paint feature can be interpreted, this enforces and replicates the meaning of the title, 'Ill Manors' suggesting destructive behaviour. When combined, the words and the typography style formulate a powerful and symbolic meaning. 

In addition, this CD cover follows an urban jungle look that Plan B depicts through his lyrics. In center shot we can see the artist, this establishes a brand identity and recognizability, thus proliferating his marketability and support base. Similarly, the clothing of the artist is typical of the genre and conforming to conventions, wearing a hoodie and jeans, this further supports the brand identity and relatability. If the artist was too be wearing, a suit or expensive brand clothing, it would reduce this relatability between artist and audience, which is key when creating a musical brand. The blocking of Plan B is interesting, situating him in the middle of the shot, challenging composition techniques such as rule of thirds; this unorthodoxy connotes uneasiness and opposition. Although in the center of the shot, the artist uses indirect address to possibly connote isolation and reluctance. The red razor blade at the top of the cover connotes danger, blood and ruthlessness. Within this razorblade, we see Plan B's logo, immersed within the blade, it could suggest his brute honesty and realism within his songs, no matter the explicit nature of them.  

This CD cover holds various features that I could incorporate into my print production; for example the clear use of symbolism behind his imagery. This would prove to be very useful as it forces the audience to engage and relate to the text; which especially in the Indie genre, is key. Also, the desaturated colour scheme and monochrome filter, accumulates to create a lonely and depressing atmosphere; this could link in with my music video as it's narrative follows a break up scenario. 

With such a successful album, advertising is paramount, I shall proceed to analyse an Ill Manors advert that was distributed widely across different platforms of social media and newspapers. The advert focuses upon the views of critics and reviewers; displaying three extremely praising quotes from large corporations. This is very effective in catching the audience's attention as it shows recognizable reviewers and their positive feedback to Plan B's album. With Metro commenting, "A UK Hip Hop album that resets the bar", this is seen in large block character writing, similar to that on the album, reinforcing this urban style. This quote targets all listeners of the rap/hip hop genre, increasing recognizability and accessibility which is key when marketing new albums. This is a feature that I shall ensure is used in my poster as reviews prove hugely effective when establishing a new fan base and targeting a demogrpahic. As my target demographic is 16-25, I shall primarily focus on social media marketing, as this is more suitable for the age group as oppose to newspapers or television. 

By Thor Forster