Magazine Advert- Lana Del Rey 'Blue Velvet'

Lana Del Rey 'Blue Velvet' Magazine Advert



Elizabeth Woolridge Grant  better known by her stage name Lana Del Rey, is an American singer, songwriter, and model. Her major-label debut Born to Die peaked at number two on the U.S. charts and was the fifth best-selling album of 2012. The single 'Blue Velvet' features on her 'Paradise' album.

Lana Dey Rey released Blue Velvet as a single in 2012. This magazine advert shows Lana Del Rey in the centre of the advert, as the main focal point and selling point. The artist is the main attraction here. Lana Del Rey is wearing a pale pink outfit, which merges with her skin tone, but does cover all of her skin. This shows how she isn't trying to convey a sexual image, and wants the audience to focus on her music. She is also looking at the camera, which is direct address. Her head is tilted to one side, and the positioning of her hands suggests a innocent look. The expression on her face also portrays this innocence, but she could be subject to the male gaze here, as suggested by Laura Mulvey. Lana Del Rey may have been objectified as a result of a male being behind the camera.

Lana Del Rey is wearing fairly heavy makeup for a flawless look. Her hair is also very big and glamorous, which again represents her as a classy artist and isn't trying to sell her music through a sexual appeal. The contrast between her hair and outfit is particularly effective, because her outfit is very pale and her bold hair draws attention to her face, again showing how she wants the attention to be on her and not anything else. The large earrings again, portray how she is a classy and glamorous artist. Furthermore, the tattoo on her hand represents her individual identity, showing how she isn't a 'mainstream' artist and doesn't follow a crowed.

The background colours are shown in 3 different block. The top and bottom blocks, where the text appears are a deeper blue, whereas in the middle block, a lighter blue is used. The use of colour is effective as it clearly distinguishes the artist from the background, again making Lana Del Rey stand out in the choice of a pastel outfit. As well as this, she is positioned in front of the text which reveals the name of the single and also her name. Again, this represents how she is the main selling and focal point in the advertisement; nothing else.

The typography used on the first half of the magazine advert is very bold and in a sans serif font. This could represent the stripped down vibe of the album but is also simple like the advert itself, serving one purpose of promoting the single and the and the artist. 'Lana Del Rey' is in white, which really draws the attention to the name of the artist. Below, 'Blue Velvet' the name of the single is in a pale pink italic font, but still in the same front as the artists name above. I think this is very effective because it matches the artists outfit, and a colour scheme is clear here which I really like. At the bottom, in a regular sans serif font, the name of the single and all the people who worked on it are named. This is less noticeable on the advert as it is much smaller than the rest of the text, because it doesn't really initially interest the audience. As well as this, brands who supported the release are shown in the bottom left hand corner.

What I learnt...

Through the analysis of this magazine advert, I have learnt that having a colour scheme and keeping things simple is the most effective, because this puts the focus onto the artist as they are essentially the main focus point. However, I feel like I could be slightly more creative when I come to create my own magazine cover.