Looking at existing magazine advertisements for albums to get inspiration for my own

1. MAGAZINE ADVERT
ANALYSIS
By Theresa Kuhn

2. Before designing my own magazine advert that would promote the
album and the track I used for my music video, I wanted to study styles
and conventions already used in existing products. By looking at artists
similar to the genre of my own music video, I could gain an
understanding of the technical elements and imagery used to appeal to
their own target audience, and use this to create a final product that
looks professional.

3. MAGAZINE ADVERT 1: BIFFY CLYRO ‘ONLY
REVOLUTIONS’

4. The image shows two people standing in a field facing each
other with what appears like flags attached to their mouths
that cascade up the image in the wind. The colours reflect the
gender of the two figures and convey the idea that these flags
are an illustrated version of their speech, too big to contain and
elegant in appearance. The image fits with the title of the
album, ‘Only Revolutions’, as the colours present against the
white sky is a familiar motive of the flags during the French
revolution, perhaps insinuating the uprising of this bands
music and the importance it has in society. The table on fire to
the left of the image also backs this up, showing the
destruction words can have when not contained. The choice of
this scene happening in the field almost provides a neutral
base to the rest of the image, providing a main colour scheme of
red, blue, white and green.
This advert displays Biffy Clyro’s fifth studio album ‘Only Revolutions’ released 9th
November 2009 through 14th Floor records. The advertisement displays the image also
present on the album cover, with extra information on release dates, forms and reviews that
promote the album.

5. The typography of the advertisement is the same throughout, showing a
consistency in image that reflects the brand identity of the band. The title of
the album is coloured with the same blue as the flag, showing the band is
made up of male figures rather than females, which overall creates an
organised colour scheme. The whole advert is also written in capitals, as if to
reflect the loudness of the band through their alternate rock genre, and to
work with the exclamation of words illustrated through the coloured flags. The
writing to the bottom of the advert including the date of release, ratings and
track list information also matches colours within the image, mainly from the
table on fire, which ties the whole colour scheme together and not appears out
of place.

6. Including quotes from reviews at the bottom of the advert not only promote the band but encourage
and attract the audience to buy the album, reassured that critiques have enjoyed it so they will too.
This poster also widens its audience through its list of platforms that the music is available on,
giving more choice and accessibility to the fans to play it on their preferred device. With particular
copies that are limited and further special edition box sets also mentioned, fans are more intrigued to
buy the music with a product that is viewed as more valuable than the plain copy, which attracts
more the hard core fans to purchase. Moreover mentioning hit tracks present on the disk not only
attracts fans but possible other listeners who may have heard it on the radio and liked it, which gain
a wider audience for them to promote the rest of their tracks to.

7. By creating an advert that is just their album artwork with writing on the bottom,
instant connotation can be made from this image to the band as the constant use of it
on its numerous products reflects iconography of the band without even having to see
the members themselves. This is a successful advert as its simple format engages the
audience through its peculiar album cover imagery and is informative to the band it’s
promoting, that therefore becomes recognisable as Biffy Clyro’s new album.

8. MAGAZINE ADVERT 2: FALL OUT BOY
‘BELIEVERS NEVER DIE’

9. The image shows two skeletons hugging up to each other on a
wooden floor, surrounded by items of clothing and guitar iconic to
the bands appearance, as well as a reflective representation of
their target audience. A simple colour scheme of blues and blacks
dominate the etched image, as if to represent the loss of life and
colour not only within the image but the band as a whole. The
image relates with the title of the album ‘Believers Never Die’ as
the skeletons still appear to have lifelike facial expressions and
positions, as if to say death can’t disrupt their happiness. This
image can therefore be depicted as the fans themselves, still
living in a world where what they own reflects their music choice
even long after their bodies have deceased.
This album displays Fall Out Boys Greatest Hits album ‘Believers Never Die’, released 16th November
2009 by Island Records, in which all songs they released as singles throughout their career were
compiled with two new songs on an album commemorating them as a group before they split in 2009.
The advert includes the album cover as a background to the advertisement, as well as track listings of
the hit singles and album title.

10. A sans serif font is used throughout the whole poster, showing a band identity and
formality to their poster. The band name ‘Fall Out Boy’ and ‘The Greatest Hits’ are
positioned at the top, providing the most necessary information that makes it clear who
they are and what their promoting. The album name is smaller between these, as if to
show the title of greatest hits is more recognizable as an album rather than ‘Believers
Never Die’. Below the skeletons a list of tracks present on the album appear over the
bottom of the image, which provides recognizable track names audiences can identify with
as favourites previously released, with a release date in bold below. With all writing in
white it stands out against the dark background and is balanced equally on the page. The
formal font choice also gives a great contrast to the artistic brushstrokes of the skeleton
images, providing formality in its information but an artistic image that works with the
nature of the band.

11. This advert is very successful in promoting the album to its fans. Even though it’s an
album with songs people already own on previous albums, fans will still buy it to mark
the end of the bands career as in rock music, therefore more released on its
sentimental values rather than its music. It also addresses its audience correctly
through including imagery that is reflective towards them as a target audience. With
the advert displaying a zoomed in image of the artwork and including the same
typography, a clear brand identity is made which makes it easier for audiences to
recognize this advert to be promoting a new album, as well as Fall Out Boy as a whole.

12. These two different posters with opposing genres have given
me ideas on the formality and structure of an advertisement
for my album, and inspired me with designs that I will use to
promote my own track. Looking at these have also made me
consider brand identity and the relationship I should create
between both products I create, so both album and advert is
iconic in promoting the song and band.