2. I C O N O G R A P H Y
The clothing of the characters in this
image is iconic of the indie/folk genre
and therefore makes the band more
obviously related to this genre,
meaning people who favour this
specific music type may find this
album easy to approach once they’ve
come into contact with the
advertisement due to it holding so
much information about the band
just from the clothing they’re
wearing.
The song ‘Ho Hey’ is an iconic single
for The Lumineers and is where the
majority of their success came from.
It is an iconic trait for artists to show
their most popular single on their
album advertisement so they can
attract an audience which aren’t
necessarily fans of all of their music
but have only heard one or two of
their songs.
The use of serif font is fairly iconic of
indie bands as it helps to keep the
image simple looking, yet somewhat
formal. Another iconic technical trait
used by indie/folk bands is the use of
simple, yet dark colours such as
black’s and dark red’s/brown’s.
This helps to keep the image clean
looking as well as ‘alternative’. The
colours and fonts help to reflect the
genre, whereas bright colours and
sans serif fonts are more typical of
pop and house genres/artists.
3. C H A R A C T E R S
The characters in this image are all
seen wearing clothing which can be
linked to the folk genre; braces,
checked shirts, baggy jeans. In
addition to their clothing, the
characters are also shown posing in a
stereotypical indie/folk way; this
being one artist at the front and the
rest of the band surrounding the
focal artist.
The characters all look relaxed in
their environment and seem to be
comfortable with where they are, all
except the focal character which of
whom seems very serious and as
though he is ‘the alpha’. The focal
character is presented as the
character with authority due to his
position and the fact that he seems
bigger than his surrounding
characters.
The overall tone given off by the
characters is positive and they
therefore portray a positive vibe for
the album being advertised;
suggesting it is upbeat and enjoyable.
The fact that the characters aren’t
directly addressing the audience is
stereotypical of a indie/folk band and
holds connotations to humbleness
and shyness. This is usually a binary
opposition to what the album holds
and the artists actual voices, as they
are usually strong and powerful when
the characters on the front aren’t
holding eye contact with the
audience.
4. S E T T I N G
The image shows the band all sat
together in what seems like a living
room and therefore gives the
impression that the characters are
relaxing in an environment in which
they are comfortable in (ergo making
the image seem less forced and more
natural).
Due to the high exposure from the
background lighting, the band seems
to be sat somewhere sunny, such as a
beach/seaside. This holds
connotations to the band’s music
type as they are folk and are typically
related to seaside/quiet areas.
The setting of this specific image is
staged and in a studio environment,
meaning all areas of the image have
been manipulated in order to create
this specific advertisement.
Despite saying this, I feel the
characters in the image have been
left to their own devices when it
comes to creating their image for the
photo (for example, the left middle
character can be seen looking
upwards as if they have been told
where to look/how to pose. In doing
this, the character seems as if they
are going to laugh and this suggests
they have had an allotted amount of
freedom in their positionings).
5. T E C H N I C A L C O D E S
The use of serif font helps to create a
formal approach to the
advertisement. Due to the same font
type being used throughout the
advert, the finished product looks
organised and tidy.
In addition to the font type, the use
of capitals helps to align all the
letters, therefore making the
organisation and tidiness of the
magazine even more emphasised.
The use of sepia tones makes the
image seem aged and old, especially
when used alongside the characters
clothes. This highlights the music
type which is to be found on the
album as folk music due to the
stereotypical nature of both colour
and clothing elements.
The lighting used in this image is high
key lighting from the back of the
characters. This would typically
create a shadowing effect but due to
the image being edited in terms of
brightness, contrast and white
balance, it simply creates a lighter
image which also makes the photo
seem aged.
The font colours of black and dark red
help to keep the formality flowing
throughout the image and also helps
to keep the image looking
professional.
