The inspiration behind Dakota Harper's persona

Given that my primary audience are teenage girls I want my artist to be both a role model and inspiration. I want the audience to be able to identity with her, and to be able to connect on an emotional level. In order to gain an insight into the minds of artists that were my main inspirations: Marina and the Diamonds and Lana Del Rey, I have read and watched an array of interviews. Researching into this enabled me to discover how they wanted their listeners to respond to the albums.

Marina and the Diamonds, The character 'Electra Heart':
For her album, Marina Diamondis created this character to helped her write songs that "have elements of life experiences, but also elements of imagination." She used the characters persona as a front, an idealistic, strong woman that I believe her fans could look up to as inspiration. "I changed my look so radically. Partly to become someone else and separate myself from being that love-lorn person. Partly because I wanted to see how differently I would be perceived because of it." It is apparent after reading these interviews that appearence is incredibly important in the music industry in order to convey a story and character which the album features. 

Electra heart appearance 

The artist admitted in an interview that she felt like a "walking broken heart for four months" at the beginning of this album. In order to escape this feeling she created the persona Electa Heart, and "channeled the idea of being a person who didn't need anybody. A primadonna who was adored." I believe that this character is definitely both relatable and inspirational to teenage girls as the album ultimately displays how girls don't need to be the centre of someone's affection in order to be important.

I will definitely use the quote, "the power of image - it's what pop stars are built on." when finalising on my artists persona. 

Lizzy Grant & Lana Del Rey: 

If I were to ask anyone who these two people were, it is likely that nobody will have heard of Lizzy Grant. However, Lizzy Grant Lana Del Rey are infact the same person. Lizzy Grant was a shy, timid woman who looked rather awkward when addressing a crowd in a simple green teeshirt and jeans whilst trying to chase her dream as a singer. 

This is a performance before Lana Del Rey was created, click here. 

Lana Del Rey was then created the stage name chosen by Lizzy's record company, "She married her music to a mysterious image, self-styled as a "gangster Nancy Sinatra", that paid homage to 1960s fashions and seedy showbiz glamour."

Before and after: 

Sky Ferreira: 

The inspiration for my artists appearance was the singer, 'Sky Ferreira'. Who has a rather hipster, alternative like appearance. I would say that her oufit choices are incredibly bold, and definitely have a punk vibe. I decided to use her as an inspiration as I want Dakota Harper to have a diverse look, in order to make her seem unique compared to all of the other artists who produce similar music given that they sometimes lack individuality when it comes to costume choices. 

My artists persona: 

My artist persona and storyline is of a teenage girl who refuses to be the pristine young woman that her suburban town are filled with. In order to express her individuality she decided to sway away from this ideology and begun to dress how she wished and followed her dream aspiration to become a singer. 

Mood Board to portray my artist: