2. There is a clear design balance on the poster using the album cover as the main
image because the album cover has an equal design balance in the image. The
image is made up of 4 quarters, each quarter contains a part of the band
members face due to the structured sections it suggests all band members
worked co operatively on the album making them all an important asset to the
album making process. The image also has a background of a faded eagle this
represents that the band are American and very proud of this. Furthermore the
eagle could suggest masculinity and power all connotations of the Indie rock
genre which is what Kings of Leon are.
The album cover also has a green sepia overlay this relates to the title of the
album ‘Only by the Night’ because it creates the impression that the image is
being seen through night vision goggles. The image on the front cover also has
target indicators on suggesting that the music could be dark and contains
hidden themes.
The title of the album is written in a similar green contrasting the black
background making it stand out to the audience. The black background could
also reflect their music style – Indie rock. The image also has a black outer
shadow drawing the audiences attention to the centre of the album, this will
help to engage the audience to the album and then the poster which gives
them details on where to buy the album. Using the Album as the main image is
clever because it clearly addresses to the audience what the poster is
advertising and tells them what the album looks like enables the audience to
buy the album.
The text throughout the poster is in a consistent sans serif font with
underscores in the spaces of the Header and the name of the album makes
them stand out and give a computer or technological vibe. The text is all
different colours to make the poster stand out and could reflect the variety of
different songs they have how some are conventional rock songs and others are
unconventional because they are upbeat and unique. ‘Out Now’ is written in
read to create a sense of urgency along with the word ‘now’. Apart from the
colours from the text and the album cover the poster background is black this
draws the attention to the album cover but also reflects the tone of the album
being dark.
The characters on the poster are the band members, because they only
show a fraction of their face on the album this addresses to the audience
that the band believe their music is more important than their image so
unlike pop bands they do not need to include loads of photos of
themselves on their albums to gain attention also, due to this being their
forth album, they do not need to have their image on an album for people
to buy it revealing they already have a big enough fan audience to buy their
album. The characters on the album are also not joined together entirely
symmetrically this shows how the band are often unconventional and have
a unique sound.
The poster uses a strapline to tell the audience of specific songs included
on the album. These songs are ‘sex on fire’ and ‘use somebody’ by
including song titles on the poster it will attract a wider audience because
fans of those songs will buy the album out of curiosity to find out more
about the music.
Information such as the record company and other producing logos
represent what the band are and who has helped create the album.
By including the website Play,com it shows where audiences can purchase
the album helping them to buy the album. However having the album only
available in one place is quite unconventional especially with it being only
online.
Through the use of the dark colours on the poster; green, black, blue and
red it suggests Kings of Leon’s target audience are mainly males and
through the use of night vision relating to danger and shooting as well as
the target indications and the computer theme it seems the age
demographic is more teenagers and young adults than old middle aged
men.
