Analysis of posters and adverts for my A2 Media Coursework.

1. In this presentation, I am going to be looking at the conventions of both tour
posters and magazine adverts and analysing what makes a good product for each of
these. Although I wont be producing a tour poster myself in my media coursework, I
am going to look at these because the designs are quite similar to that of a
magazine advert. Also, it is unlikely that a tour would be advertised in a magazine in
the same way it would be advertised on a billboard, but looking at these will be
helpful in the process of making my product.
I am first off going to look at products that are from different genres so that I can
understand the conventions, but then also look at artist’s products that are in the
genre which I am going to be producing work for. This will help me gain a better
understanding into these particular products and have better knowledge of what
works in these and what doesn’t work so well.

2. In a tour poster, there are main conventions which appear
in most (if not all). The main part of the poster is to show
the dates that the artist is on tour, as this is what they are
trying to promote and sell their tickets for. The dates the
tour is on and the places the tour is at are put on the
poster as these are the most important aspect of it, as
this lets the artist’s fans know whether they can make it
or not. Artist appearance isn’t a convention as they do
not always appear on the poster, such as in this one for
The 1975. The artist’s name and the title of the tour is
also a convention which is used, as this lets whoever sees
the product know who it is for and also lets them know
what the tour is. This is helpful for an artist because it
means that their fans can see the poster, go home and
look it up online and possibly share it on any social media
they have (like Twitter, Facebook etc). Another way the
artist uses the internet is by placing their website on the
poster, as people may prefer to book tickets online rather
than on the phone. Special guests are placed on tour
posters to reach out to the largest audience possible, as
fans of these artists may want to come to the tour being
advertised if they are on it. The release date for the
tickets gets fans excited, and may cause a ‘hype’ (similarly
to when Beyoncé released ‘Beyoncé’).
Artist name
Tour title
Artist appearance
Dates
Website Release date
Special
guests
Place
When
CONVENTIONAL TOUR POSTER

3. This poster really reflects the genre of this
artist, as pop has connotations of fun and
bright colours. It also reflects Katy Perry’s
sweet attitude due to the bright colours
used and how these connote innocence
and her welcoming nature. The white text
used in the main text of the poster really
stands out against the colourful
background and looks really bright. This is
used to appeal to her target audience of
young teenagers, who are mainly girls.
The artist has also placed her album
‘Prism’ on the tour poster to promote this
as well as her tour. This illustrates how her
main focus is on the money and not solely
on the music because she is trying to
make money any way and anywhere she
can. This is because the institution she is
signed to is Universal, and their priority is
the money so this means that Katy Perry’s
ideology has to be similar.
Tour title Artist’s name
Artist appearance
Special
guests
When
and
where
Promoting album
Website Release date

4. Artist name Artist appearanceTour name
Special guest Website Social mediaWhen and where
The image used for this tour poster has
been edited in a real dark and dramatic
style to make it look appealing and also
to give it a mysterious quality. This could
also be due to this being their second
tour (but as it states, their first
headlining tour in America) and to
illustrate how they have
Matured because their first
tour (DNA Tour) had a
Poster which represented
them in a really child-like
way. This could be
misconstrude as them being
too young and not taking
their career seriously so this
darker side to the poster is showing
how they are taking it seriously. I think
that this could also show how they have
more of an attitude as they are now
older and have more of an idea of what
they are doing in the music industry.

5. Tour nameArtist nameArtist appearance Special guest
PromotionWhen and where Website and social media
This particular tour poster is very
conventional in the way that it has
been designed. This is because it has
all the necessary information a fan
needs to be able to purchase tickets
to the tour. It follows a very consistent
theme, as it only has 3 main colours
throughout the whole product. These
are gold, black and white, but the
colour pink has been used to highlight
the tour name and the album name as
these are the things the artist is trying
to sell. The colours are also used in
the photograph that has been taken
of Nicki Minaj, which I think illustrates
just how much of a professional and
perfectionist she is as she has been
thorough with her colour choice,
giving it a really nice finish and making
it look really appealing to her ‘Barbz’.

6. I really like the use of black and
white editing in this artist’s tour
poster, as this may be an indication
that the tour will be dark and gives
the viewer a sense of mystery. I
think that this is used due to the
fact this artist in in the genre of
indie, which is usually quite dark.
This isn’t a very conventional tour
poster because of the way the artist
fills the full picture, but still follows
some of the conventions that are
used in tour posters. I like how
there is a consistent use of colour;
black, white and grey, as this makes
the poster look appealing to the
audience as it has a really simple
theme, although this isn’t very eye-
catching.
Artist appearanceArtist nameTour name
When and where

7. Similarly to Lykke Li’s tour poster, this
is quite basic and neutral in the
design and the colours that they have
used. I think this is, again, because of
the genre that the band is in and they
are trying to reflect their simple yet
possible dark or mysterious aspect. I
think this is a really strong product
because it is set out really well and is
easy to see what they are trying to
sell. Although I love how simple it is
and think this reflects their style
really well, I cant help but notice that
there are a few things that could be
added to this to make it more
appealing. For example there is no
website included, which could help to
boost sales if people know where to
buy tickets from, and there is no
release date which would be helpful
as people may end up being too late
to buy tickets.
Artist name When and where Artist appearance

8. This is completely different to the Lykke
Li and London Grammar tour posters that
I have looked at, mainly because this
particular one is in colour whereas the
other two were in black and white. Lana
Del Rey has also included her support
act/special guest in her tour poster, as
well as an image of her which is
something that I haven’t seen through all
of the tour posters I have looked at
(although Lykke Li and London Grammar
didn’t have special guests). I think this
style of imagery is a slight reference to
the work of Andy
Warhol, maybe a
way of illustrating
the artistic side of
her personality.
Artist name Special guest Artist appearance
Tour title When and where

9. For an advert that appears in a
magazine, the conventions are similar
to that of a tour poster but they have a
few differences as the place of
publication and the product is
different. This is because an advert in a
magazine is usually to promote an
album or a song for the artist, rather
than a whole tour which is done in the
form of a poster. They don’t always
include release dates, which I think is
used as a marketing strategy as it
makes the reader of the magazine
research about the specific artist and
watch their videos, buy their
merchandise etc. The artist
appearance is a usual feature of an
advert, but isn’t a compulsory aspect.
Again, the artist’s name and the title of
the song/album is used on this, so that
the audience know who it is for and
what the product is called.
Artist appearance
Website
Achievement
Artist
name
Album
title

10. This magazine advertisement is used
by the artist Marina and the
Diamonds because it helps promote
her music, specifically her new
album and her new single. I think
she has used this style of publication
because this means that she can
decide to place it in magazines that
will reach her target audience, as
advertising on billboards would be a
popular choice for pop artists as
these are a lot more mainstream.
She has used the artwork from her
album too, as this will help boost
sales due to people being able to
associate the advert and the album
and therefore be more persuaded to
buy it. It is a very basic advert, which
I think has been a conscious decision
as this makes it more appealing and
will make people more likely to read
it, as it isn’t very much to read.
Artist name Album name
Singles namesSingle artwork Promotional technique
Artist appearance

11. Artist name
Artist
appearance
Singles already
out
Promotion
Reviews
There is a consistent use of colour on this advert by the artist La Roux, which makes it
look professional and therefore makes it appealing to the audience that she is aiming this
at. I love how she has placed an image of herself on one page of the double page spread,
and includes the information on the opposite page as this ensures the readers of the
magazine remember her face. I think she has used reviews on this rather than trying to
describe herself/her music as this illustrates a more authoritative opinion and is used as a
promotional technique.