CASE STUDY: HOW DOES MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS ENGAGE WITH HER AUDIENCE THROUGH HER ALBUM ART

HOW DOES MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS ENGAGE WITH HER AUDIENCE THROUGH HER ALBUM ART?

Marina Lambrini Diamandis, known professionally as Marina and the Diamonds, is a Welsh singer-songwriter who has been releasing music since 2010. She has released 3 studio albums of which have led to the motif style in the images located below.

Her target audience tends to be female with ages ranging from 18 to 25. To me, I see her as a particularly stylised singer which allows her target audience to have something to aspire and relate to.

Her second album, seen below, ‘Electra Heart’ feature a made up character that went through all of the stages of typical teenage life. This was created by Marina to give her audience something to relate to and feel as though it was made for them.

The cover art of all 3 of Marina’s albums creates a visual motif for her, this combined with all of the single she has released create a catalogue of related images that make her, as a brand, identifiable. For example, all 3 albums, and singles that can be seen in the images below contain an image of her face. This image is usually central and contains a shallow depth of focus. This is so her face becomes the only thing that is important in the image.

As the album covers develop, the type on each cover changes. For singles and EP’s the type is the same depending on which album it came from, again creating a motif and making her work identifiable.

It could be said that all of the images feature in the cover art are highly sexualised. This can be seen, especially in the albums ‘Froot’ and ‘The Family Jewels’ Marina is either perceived to be naked or laying in a seductive position. This is where the element of her male target audience come in. the male gaze theory suggests that women are portrayed in a way that makes it pleasurable for me to look at and in the case of these two album covers I believe that to be true.

In Marina’s first 2 album covers, the colour tone is extremely desaturated. This gives both of these a very indie look. This could entice Marina’s target audience in the sense that she is creating something that is not stereotypical of her genre of pop which makes her more indie for her audience to look at. This would then be appealing for her teenage audience as seeing something that is slightly more individual is something that appeals to a teenage demographic.

The Electra Heart album is one that particularly stood out to me. This is the album that contains a story line of teen angst. In my opinion, Marin identifies with her target audience in these images as although she is in her 30’s she is made up to look as though she is much younger. This is a device that creates a relatableness for the audience members as they feel she is singing song about their lives.

The composition of these album covers are all very similar, again creating a form of motif. They all show Marina in character at the focal point of the image. I believe that these images are eye catching and interesting to look at as no one image is the same. As you look through the album cover, you can see the development of Marina and her music from 2010 to 2015. These images are all incredibly stylised as they show a highly made up attractive woman in a location that is more likely to be a studio location specifically for means such as shooting videos and taking pictures for cover art. Again, looking at the Electra Heart album, this is edited in a way that introduces and archaic but psychedelic element to the image without it just being a portrait which to me, would be something that would entice me into buying the album as it looks a lot more interesting than a portrait of the artist.

All three of these album covers contain different colour pallets but they all work effectively in creating a spectacle for the target audience. The first of the three, The Family Jewels contains a much more archaic colour pallet which again links to the idea of using an indie colour pallet to make the image more interesting. This is then juxtaposed with a black typeface. This of course makes the type stand out against her airbrushed picturesque face and the muted colours of the fabric in the background

Album 2, Electra Heart has a very similar colour pallet. This too contains a more archaic and desaturated colour pallet. I believe this was done to emphasise the artist’s face but also to create a vale of illusion to entice the audience as it juxtaposes her age and the way she looks in the image with the meaning of the music on the album.

Album 3 is a slightly more different image. This contains a black background with a more distorted utopian portrait. This to me is a much more modern image as it shows her as the focal point but it Is a much simpler image. Around her portrait there are flares of colour that match the type in the image. This again I believe adds a slightly more psychedelic element to the video as I makes the image much more interesting, rather than just being a portrait of her.

The use of type in all 3 albums varies and I believe this dismembers the previously created motif for the target audience to some extent. The Family Jewels has a much more hand written style type which creates a more personal message to the target audience and gives the impression that she has hand made the album for them. Electra Heart really plays on the more indie vibe as it has a serif bold font. This is more eye catching than handmade which again links to the idea of the album cover being individual as it stands out more in terms of the image, the colour and the type used. Froot links back to the first and second albums, creating a separate motif as it contains elements of both types. The handwritten font again gives the audience the impression that the album was handmade and the serif font creates a more indie yet regimented feel.

Negative space is something that is entirely common in these album covers as the focal point is the artists face. This lack of negative spaces means the audience has to focus on her making her like the main attraction in the process of buying the album. All 3 albums contain a fairly plain background which is then covered in some form of text thus creating a busy yet calm image that contains the appropriate text whilst also creating a shallow focus image to promote the artists appearance.