Reviewing Graphics

TheatreBy Jamie Hunter

The Lion King poster 

http://lyceum.official-theatre.co.uk/london/the-lion-king

Purpose and AudienceThe purpose of this graphic is to promote the Lion King musical at the Lyceum Theatre. The poster is creating an image for the musical and aims to give people a taster of what is in the musical – for example the costumes. In this way it can make people want to see the Lion King musical, hence promoting it, so people buy tickets. The main target audience is children, of both genders between the ages of 5 and 12, as can be seen through the use of bright colours and lack of text. However, it would also appeal to families as the two characters hugging makes the musical appear family-friendly and suitable for young children – parents are who they are targeting as they buy the tickets.

Fit for Purpose

The poster fits its advertising purpose as the bright colours make it eye-catching and bold whilst two characters in costume gives people a taster of what is to come in the musical. Furthermore, the large area of empty space around the characters gives the impression that the musical speaks for itself – no more needs to be said. The small amount of text in the bottom right-hand corner highlights that it is an ‘Award-Winning Musical’ displaying the high quality of the musical and giving a reason for people to see it. However, the text appears rather small so some people might not be able to read it – including the website address where you would have to go to buy tickets. The effect on the audience is that it is heart-warming and nostalgic with the two characters hugging and might remind older children/ adults of the Disney film in their youth.

FeaturesThe Lion King poster is in the Bitmap format. This means that the image quality decreases when it is magnified so that individual pixels become visible – lossy compression. However, images appear realistic with smooth colour variations, whereas in the vector format it would appear more cartoon-like. It is a JPEG file type, which is best suited to digital graphics, such as the Lion King poster. The resolution is 448x336 pixels or 0.15 megapixels. This makes the graphic look clear and realistic. Its file size is 33.0KB, which is quite small so doesn’t take up to much space.

Compression

Because the poster is a bitmap, it suffers from lossy compression. This means that the image quality decreases when the size is changed. If magnified, individual pixels would become visible leaving a blurry and jagged effect. See example to the right:

Text, Composition and Colour The main text is yellow on an orange background. This, along with the fact that it is

quite small, makes it difficult to read. However, the musical’s title The Lion King is in a bolder font which draws your eye to it and makes it easier to read – the focus should be on the title but the other text should be readable otherwise there is no point it being there.

The poster is composed with the main characters of the musical on the left-hand side and this is where the main focus of the poster is. On the bottom right-hand corner is the text, leaving an empty space on the upper right-hand side. The empty space gives the impression of letting the musical ‘speak for itself.’ The layering successfully draws focus to the main features of the graphic. For example, the characters have been layered over the yellow area of the background, highlighting them. Also, the text on the orange background is yellow and bold so it stands out.

The background colour is predominantly dark orange, but with a yellow circular glow around the characters. Yellow is also the colour of the text on the orange background. The overall effect is of a striking, eye-catching poster. The text on the orange background is yellow and bold so it stands out.

Texture and CharactersThe graphic has an overall 2D effect, but with the

characters over the background having more of a realistic effect – showing the gap between the cartoon film and the reality musical.

The visual element of the people is effective in showing what you would experience if you watched the musical – for example the costumes. The title creates a bolder effect especially with the contrast with the background.

The characters of the title has sharp shapes which is bold and effective.

Strengths and WeaknessesStrengths Weaknesses

Striking colours which draws the attention of the audience and would appeal to the target audience

Some of the text is too small and the colour makes it difficult to depict over the background

The image is a good quality JPEG with a reasonable resolution so that there is a smooth colour variation. It is not pixelated.

The disadvantage of it being a JPEG is that it suffers from lossy compression – when the size is changed the quality decreases.

The focus is drawn to the characters and the title, which has been achieved through there being little text and the use of colour

Not enough text – making the purpose difficult to understand

Small file size takes up little memory space

ImprovementsHere are a few ways in which I would improve the Lion King poster: I would increase the size of the musical title as, after all, its purpose is

to advertise and it would then stand out more. I would add a small amount of text to make the graphic easier to

understand, such as a few reviews by newspapers, magazines etc.

Wicked banner

www.ticketworld.com.ph/Online/default.asp?doWork::WScontent::loadArticle=Load&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::article_id=B9A88820-0153-47B3-BB1F-2D952E4B944B

Purpose and AudienceThe purpose of this graphic is to advertise the musical Wicked so that people buy tickets. It includes the musical’s famous emblem and its title in bold so that it people a drawn to it. However, it has the other purpose of raising awareness for the suffering of Typhoon Yolanda survivors. This can be seen in the box on the right which shows how they are helping to “Rebuild Lives”. This could also be used to advertise Wicked as it might encourage more people – who otherwise would not go – to see the musical as it is raising money for a good cause. The target audience is young adults, of both genders, as they are more likely to spend money and visit the theatre than older adults. The colours of the banner make it seem slightly sinister which could appear to scary for a younger audience. Also, it is more aimed at adults than teenagers because they are more likely to be informed about events, such as Typhoon Yolanda, and will want to help support the clear up effort.

Fit for purpose

The banner is fit for its purpose to advertise and inform people about the musical Wicked as the emblem is clearly shown and the title is bold and large. However, the text raising awareness for Typhoon Yolanda is too small and should be enlarged for it to truly fulfil its purpose. It is fairly difficult to read due to the colours too, which again detracts from the purpose. The effect of the graphic on the audience is that it makes you intrigued and want to find out more.

FeaturesThe Wicked poster is in the bitmap format. This means that the image quality decreases when it is magnified so that individual pixels become visible – lossy compression. However, images appear realistic with smooth colour variations, whereas in the vector format it would appear more cartoon-like. It is a JPEG file type, which is best suited to digital graphics, such as the Wicked poster. The resolution is 754x366 pixels or 0.28 megapixels. Its file size is 279.0KB, which is quite big so would take up a lot of memory space.

Compression

The Wicked banner is in the bitmap format and therefore has lossy compression. This means that the image quality decreases when the image size is changed. If magnified, individual pixels would become visible leaving a blurry and jagged effect.

Text, Composition and Colour The Wicked musical title is large and bold, making it a feature of the banner

which really stands out. This is successful as people will instantly recognise it and want to read further. However, there is too much text and it is unreadable due to its small size, which might put people off or stop them being able to enquire further.

The composition is effective as the Wicked emblem is located on the left-hand side, whereas the main text is separate on the other side of the banner. This creates a well organised layout and makes it more aesthetically pleasing and attractive for the audience. The layering of the emblem on the black background impressively highlights it to make it look eye-catching.

The colours black, white and green have been chosen as they represent the colours by which the musical is well known by. This creates mystifying, intriguing effect, which is appealing for the audience. The white on black text helps the large title to stand out and draw attention but does, however, make some of the smaller text difficult to read.

Texture and CharactersThe graphic has a smooth 3D effect on the emblem making it look

cartoonish. The characters fit the sinister mood created by the colour choice as they

a swirly and mystifying. However, the letters are quite thin making them occasionally difficult to read over the background. The correct punctuation has been used for effect as it appears more professional. There is also sufficient spacing between words.

There are different visual elements to show variety. This can be seen with the smooth colours transitions of the emblem and the harsh, bold line of the Wicked title. The snowflakes make it suitable for the season of the poster, making it relevant, and the swirling shapes add to the mysterious effect.

Strengths and WeaknessesStrengths Weaknesses

Bold title and emblem which stands out on the black background

Small text informing people about the typhoon – almost unreadable

Bitmap format so there are smooth colour variations

Too many advertisements/ sponsors on the right-hand side, cluttering the poster and reducing its appeal (irrelevant text)

JPEG file type which is suited for digital graphics, such as the Wicked banner

File size takes up lots of memory – more than other graphic

Good use of colours to exaggerate key areas of the banner and attract interest – appears intriguing

ImprovementsHere are a few ways in which I would improve the Wicked banner: I would make the text informing people about Typhoon Yolanda larger

so that more awareness can be raise for it and it would appear more significant.

I would take away some of the irrelevant sponsors and adverts from the corner as it clutters the banner, making it less attractive.