Ancillary Task: Codes and Conventions of Album Posters

To help me understand what the codes and conventions of an indie magazine poster are, I decided to look at existing indie artist’s examples. I tried to mainly find female examples but also thought it would be useful to look at male examples to gain a better understanding.

Artists name:
On every poster, the artists name is of the largest font of all text on the poster and placed at the top. However, in some cases is placed at the bottom or in the centre. the most prominent aspect and placed either at the top. The font is typically white and always in a bold font which is unique to their brand image. The font is typically bold and ‘block’ like as seen in the Lana Del Rey, Lady Gaga and Coldplay posters.

Album Title:
Typically, the title of the album is either positioned under the artist’s name or when the artists name is at the very top of the poster, the album title can be placed at the bottom with a key image in-between. The font of the album name is consistent with the artist’s name however; it is typically smaller.

Key image:
In each poster in which there is a key image, it is an image of the artist/band. There has been a close up (Ed sheeran), a head and shoulder shot (Lorde) and a mid-shot (Birdy) used. This can conform to Dyers star theory that an audience appeals to maximum use of images/shots of the artist. The background of the image is also typically a block colour or, in some cases, a landscape themed background.



CGI:
In five of the album posters, CGI has been utilised during post production. This can be linked to the fact that indie artists are often ‘unique’ in the way they brand/market themselves in order to keep up with an audience’s expectations; they constantly guess what the artist will do next.

In Lordes poster, CGI has been used to add tear like streaks down her face. This creates an almost supernatural effect which is contrasted by the crown she is wearing. The binary opposition created through the crown connoting wealth and power is juxtaposed by the supernatural tones which has connotations of evil and uncertainty. This can appeal to her target audience as it suggests that she is representing two sides in the image which could be a reflection of the music within her album. The audience are also aware she often sings about controversial/ sensitive topics so the unknown symbolism of the CGI on the album poster creates audience intrigue surrounding her music; propelling them to buy the album.

In Ed Sheerans poster, a filter has been used over the top of the album cover to create a grained effect. This creates shadows and more depth to the key image and hence makes him appear more eerie and sinister. This can appeal to his target audience as his music is typically more pop, however this album was classified as indie/pop/rock and therefore an audience would have been intrigued as it connotes a different style of music than he typically produces.

Extra information:
The extra information found on the album covers is not consistent throughout the examples I found. However, some of the information that is included throughout includes; the names of songs featured on the album (Lady Gaga), extra information around what is included with the album (Lana Del Rey), where the album can be found/downloaded (Ed Sheeran) and what format the album can be purchased on (vinyl-Birdy).

Other extra information that is featured throughout the posters is the date of release. However, this also varies throughout the examples. On some posters, they state the album is ‘coming soon’ and gives no specific date. This could be because it was released at the beginning of the campaign for the album to create initial hype. On other posters it gives an exact date of release which can also create audience hype.

How has this helped me?
Overall this has helped me as I now understand what is typically included when creating a magazine album poster and therefore I can apply what I have learnt when creating my own poster. The key ideas I learnt were:

• The key image should be of the artist on either a block background or a background that conforms to the artist’s brand image (typically branding) or the album name/songs.
• The font should be bold and white and the artists name should be the largest font with the album name of a similar size.
• Any other information I want to include is a personal preference, there is no consistencies throughout each poster which is specific to indie album magazine posters.