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.

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

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 nameArtist appearance

Special guests

When and where

Promoting album

Website Release date

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 firsttour (DNA Tour) had a Poster which represented them in a really child-like way. This could be misconstrude as them beingtoo young and not taking their career seriously so thisdarker 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.

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’.

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

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

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 away of illustratingthe artistic side ofher personality.

Artist name Special guest Artist appearance

Tour title When and where

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

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

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.