
~ Jade Doy ~
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A2 Media
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Tuesday 3rd November
Ed Sheeran
A close up of the artists face takes up the majority of the page, making him seem important and promoting him as an artist. He appears to be laughing and has his head tilted towards the ground suggesting he's fun and enjoys what he does whilst creating a modesty about him because he's facing away instead of using eye contact. The picture has a sepia filter creating a vintage style effect, the use of the filter makes the image quite dark and it looks washed out because of this. Along with the vintage style the sepia filter also represents him as simple and creates the idea that the album and the music on it has a nostalgic element to it, also connoting simplicity thought the use of a relatively well-known and old style of filter.

All the text on the advert is placed beneath the image of him. The text is in a serif font, this type of font normally creates a smart, business-like style however Ed Sheeran uses a blurred effect on the font and creates a more fun, unique font style. This is representing him as different from other artists and unique in how he creates his look/style, displaying his creativity and talent for this industry. The fontlooks like it was written on an old typewriter reinforcing ideas of the vintage style and themes of nostalgia.
The majority of the writing is in white making it stand out as it contrasts the dark image and background. The white also connotes purity suggesting the music is natural as opposed to pop artist who often use technology to alter their voices. The name of the album is in orange, this follows the style of the actual CD seen in an inset image at the bottom of the page, the orange colour sticks out from the rest of the page as it's the only bright colour used. The colour orange is iconic for Ed Sheeran as he has ginger hair, something not incredibly common in pop stars. This is how he's identified by the majority of people; the use of orange creates a very distinct look separating him from other artists and reinforcing his iconography.
The main image takes up 2/3 of the page, this will be the first thing people see when looking at the page. Moving down according to the 'Z' line of vision they would then see the artists name promoting his name as well as his image one after another, this allows the audience to link his name with his face mentally. After this they would then see the name of his album. This sequence of information promotes all elements of his current fame status (Name, Look, Product). The order in which they're presented could suggest the order in which they're most important to him.
After this information we see an inset image of the album and a quote from a well-known source who has heard it (in this case Q magazine) showing the reader that it's been liked by a popular (and professional/reliable) source. The positive review is the last thing that the reader will see and is likely to be the thing that sticks in their head creating the lasting idea that Ed Sheeran's album is of good quality. Lastly at the bottom of the page we see digital ways to promote/communicate/find information on him, in this case his website and twitter account. This represents him as being technologically caught up and also more available and present in his fans lives (Dyers Paradoxes: Present and Absent).
Ed Sheerans is a indie/folk singer-songwriter, I analysed his video for 'The A-Team' in my music video analysis. This is an advert for his album '+'.