This advertisement is for Muddy Waters' 1977 album "Hard Again". It features a large picture of Muddy Waters on the left side to attract blues fans through familiarity. Additional band members are also pictured to convey a sense of family in the blues genre. The costumes portray the blues as a sophisticated genre. While there are no background props or locations shown, the smiling expressions aim to give a positive first impression of the fun and exciting blues genre. Information about the album release and band is provided at the bottom to satisfy audience needs. The black and white color scheme and bold typography help the key information stand out.

1. Kristiana Constantinou Final
Blues Magazine Advertisement
The blues genre originated from African American communities around the 19th
century. This advertisement is based around Muddy Waters new album released
“Hard Again”. The reason I chose to analyse this advertisement is due to my chosen
genre being Jazz and Blues with themes of burlesque. I will take on board the
importance elements of this advertisement and apply them to my ancillary product.
This advert in particular has the main artist on the front. This is in order for it to
appeal to target audience members (uses and gratification theory), attracting them to
the product. This will be familiar to blues fans, enabling them to make connections
due to the familiarity of the artist (uses and gratification theory). We are also
presented with a guitarist and other band members. This could connote the idea that
the blues genre has a family connection. This also helps the target audience create a
picture in their minds.
The mode of address of the characters is direct. This causes you to feel directly
addressed through the camera and makes target audience members feel individually
addressed. This is also useful for dedicated fans due to them feeling approached
therefore making it more effective.
The costumes help us identify the themes and genre of the characters. In this case
we are presented with sophisticated costumes, reflecting on how the genre should
be represented. A suit, blazer, shirt and waistcoat come across to target audience as
“suave”, helping us picture the genre. A top hat was very fashionable in 1977 when
the album was released and therefore is conventional to the time period of release
and also the genre.
Props and locations often help make the advertisement more eye catching and
appealing to individuals. However in this specific advertisement, no location is
identified nor is any props used. The costumes and characters are almost enough to
appeal to the audience due to their presence they create.
The expressions on the characters faces are very smiley. We get a very welcoming
and friendly effect from the expression and therefore give us a positive first
impression on the genre. The blues genre was originally founded by African
American communities and it is therefore stereotypically conventional to the genre to
have African American’s on the advert enabling us to make connections. There is a
small box on the right of the advertisement with three band members. The use of the
separate box is helping us identify the main band member and the others in the
small box that contribute to the overall music. The two sets of pictures act as
opposites due to the differences they have in role (binary opposition). This
differentiates each individual. They all have happy joyful faces which represent the
genre as a funny, exciting genre.
An importance element of a magazine advertisement is the entire layout of it. It is
what attracts a target audience to it and what is most eye catching. The composition
of this magazine advert includes a big primary image of the artist on the left side of
the advert (rule of thirds). This image shows us himself and his band members are
the main subject of this album. Sided by it there is a big black and bold title “Pure

2. Kristiana Constantinou Final
Muddy” which is informing us on information that is crucial. The effectiveness of
having the title directing next to the artists head is due to the direct mode of address
the artist has causing our attention to shift to the title.
The square box on the right includes other band members enabling us to make
various connections. Beneath it there is a variety of information about the album
releasing and producer/artist to inform us with a logo of the producer at the bottom of
the page (uses and gratification). There is also a secondary image of a preview of
the album giving us an insight on the product. This acts as a cliff hanger reeling in
the target audience. These appeals to audience members because of the
information they are provided with to satisfy their needs before purchase.
The colours of this magazine advert are primarily black and white. Colour
photography came out in the 1800s but wasn’t popular due to the complicated
process of using the combination of three different cameras. Due to the blues genre
having a lot of history, a black and white magazine advert is very conventional and
iconic to the genre. It differentiates it from others as well as showing it has a history.
The typography is black and bold against a white background (binary opposition),
making the importance information stand out in order to appeal to the target
audience (uses and gratification theory). The title is in big black bold writing
compared to the rest which is standard Arial typography, making it differentiate to the
other bits of writing. There is also smaller Arial writing below the pictures to inform
target audience members about the album. Beneath that there is some bold black
font summarising crucial details and catch phrases to reel target audience members
in. This includes information like the album title, producers names and band
members names.
We are constantly surrounded by a variety of media forms in this century, that we
often know an advertisement when we see it. This is due to a variety of conventional
elements they all have in common. This advert includes general, informative
information such as catch phrases and crucial information about the releasing of the
album and artist. This enables the target audience to be provided with the necessary
information to attract them to the advert and persuade them towards the product
(uses and gratification theory).
The genre is represented through the images and writing in this magazine
advertisement. We are aware that it is a blues advertisement due to the African
American men who connect to the founding of the genre. Due to the facial
expressions of the characters and the outfits the genre is also presented as a
sophisticated genre.
I will take this on board when producing my magazine advert as part of my ancillary
task. I will apply different features from this advert that have inspired me such as font
and the use of happy joyful pictures to represent the genre.