Rihanna Magazine Advert Analysis
8th October 2015
Because of the way we read left to right, the line of vision directs our eyes across the top to focus on the 'R', which creates familiarity as it can be seen on her album cover as well. This helps to promote the new album, as people will recognise the symbol from this advert on the album.
Following the 'Z' shape formed by our line of vision, our eyes then focus on Rihanna's face, in particular her lips. This creates sexual magnetism, which reflects Richard Dyer's star theory of characteristics that make a star. We also focus on her make up, which makes her look flawless and perfect. This makes fans idolise her, as people will want to look and be like her.
Next, our eyes look across the bottom of the advertisement to the text. The largest writing is used for her name, presenting Rihanna as the most important part of the advert. This is also emphasised by the image of Rihanna being in the centre. By having the title of the album smaller than her name, it is presented that no matter what song or album, it will always be good and worth buying if it's by Rihanna
By using black and white across the advertisement, Rihanna is presented as dark and 'grungey', which sets the tone for her album, as it was seen as one of her more dark and twisted series of songs. This made the change from her good girl image that she originally had. This shows how she has progressed as a star.
By using red to highlight two songs from the album, it shows popular songs that will appear. Clearly the audience has already shown a liking for these songs, and so by putting them in the advert, people will be encouraged to buy the whole album as they will assume that all the songs are as good as 'Russian Roulette' and 'Hard'.
The font of the symbol in the top right corner ('R'), looks hand written, making it more personal as it seems like Rihanna has written it especially. The use of sharp, jaggered edges makes it seems more dangerous, which reflects the image she's going for, of a more rebellious persona. The font used for the album title, Rihanna's name and 'the new album' is all very basic, san serif and thin lettering. This makes it seem more youthful and straight forward, therefore not over complicating the new album release.
The typography for 'Russian Roulette' is more serif style, however more rigid looking. This makes it seem more basic and less modern as it isn't curved at all. This shows a more agressive side to the album. The use of uppercase lettering draws the attention of the audience, making the titling and name of the artist bigger and bolder. The kurning on Rihanna's name is quite spaced out, placing emphasis on every letter - making just her name seem special.
The use of a "parental guidance" warning on the advert suggests to us that she has become ruder and less 'good girl' like she used to be. This reflects the album title "Rated R, which stands for restricted, implying the content of the album may not be suitable for younger listeners.
By making the warning for parental guidance so small, it is shown that Rihanna doesn't care that her album may be inappropriate. This shows her rebellion against her previous image (Richad Dyer's Star Theory).
Album Cover
The album cover for Rated R uses the same image as the advertisement, just with slightly different colour effects. The advert has a more blue toned effect, making it more suitable for a magazine, as it won't look so out of place. The album cover however, is sharper black and white, which makes it seem more professional and the real thing. It also makes everything stand out more, such as the 'R' symbol in the top right, which looks more important, as it stands for Rihanna's name, but also the album title.
By using the same picture as the album cover, the advertisement creates some familiarity, as people will recognise the album from the advert. This makes people more likely to buy it, as people often buy things after seeing the advert.