POSTERSOn this presentation, I decided to

analyse posters of certain pop artists, and compare them to earlier or later

posters that they had created to work in with when their albums were being

released. This is similar to the digipacks I analysed, though these are now just

purely posters.

Natasha BedingfieldIn the single covers and posters involved in the album ‘Unwritten’ by Natasha Bedingfield, it has been decided that the images are quite simple, on most of them the images are generally of Natasha Bedingfield’s face so there is no need to worry about the background images or what she is wearing so much. Her actual album cover and poster are a bit more complex as they have the background of curtains and what looks like a fluffy chair or sofa.

The colours used for the different posters for the same album are basically the same so easy to identify, but the others are quite colourful and are simple. This means there are no distractions from her, she is also the first thing an individual would notice over the title of the album or singles. This could be done to say ‘you should know who I am’, which is slightly cocky, but then if you see more of the same face around you are more likely to take notice of the images around you. This idea is quite effective, however, it could bombard enough for people to take notice and think ‘ooh yes I’m going to have to buy that album!’ or it could have a backwards effect where people are fed up of seeing Natasha Bedingfield’s face around, which could then psychologically effect them, thinking that they are also sick and tired of hearing her music. Additionally all the images are portrayed with a similar look and the artist is always looking at the camera, which makes it more direct and real to the audiences. Some artists find more distractions work better for them depending on the type of music.

Moreover, there is continuity – not only through the images – but with the type face used as the same writing for the artists name is used throughout and as most of the song titles.

Britney Spears - Circus

On Britney’s latest album ‘Circus’, it is quite clear that she has tried to interlink circus ideas in with the title. The posters on both the left and right show a range of ideas that are commonly found in circus’ such as the ring of fire on the ‘Womaniser’ poster which is one of the singles on the album.

On most of the other posters, Britney, is made to look as though she is a ‘ringmaster’ of a circus with her stance and the background. Additionally, the background on all of the posters except the bottom two, are bright colours and you can imagine seeing them behind the ringmaster at a circus. For instance, in the top right is a poster with the spotlight on her in a ‘showgirl’ outfit, if we look closer it looks like she is near the kind of curtains that you would see at a show, as can be said for the image underneath. Moreover, on all of the posters, the type font is the same and the bottom right image is a typical style of a circus poster. Even without her image being present on it, it is clear we should know who Britney Spears is and is a clever idea for a range of audiences to notice. The circus style poster may appeal to younger kids as they enjoy circus’, whereas the posters with Britney on may appeal to older people, adolescents and adults.

These posters are a good way to promote not just the album, but her new perfume ‘Circus Fantasy’ too (as can be seen on the top and bottom left poster) which links in well with the images and the title of the album, therefore promoting both ideas at the same time and most probably gaining more interest.

‘Greatest Day’ Single

Cover

‘Said It All’ Single Cover

‘Up All Night’ Single

Cover

Take That – ‘The Circus’ Album Cover

Take That – ‘The Circus Live’ Tour

Poster

Take That - CircusTake That’s ideas on how to promote their album ‘Circus’ differs slightly to Britney Spears’ on the previous slide, strangely enough both albums had the same title and were released in the UK on the same days. Though this may not have been intentional it definitely created some controversy and attracted a lot more interest through word of mouth.

Despite the similarity between the stereotypical circus posters that both artists used, there are of course differences too. Whereas Britney used a range of colours, fitting in well with the rest of her colour scheme on other posters, Take That went for the typically black, red and white scheme, which is completely different to the rest of their singles covers and posters as they are all blue. Take That’s circus poster is very traditional with it’s arrangement and sketched drawings of the artists, this would gain interest like Britney’s would but it would show a complete difference between both artists and make it easier for the audiences to identify who created both posters.

Furthermore, differently to Britney, Take That were more imaginative in the sense of they used more circus ideas when producing the posters as they made use of clown outfits and props, a trapeze, feathers and then on the main poster, walking the tight rope. Both Britney’s and Take That’s ideas are eye catching and would attract a lot of attention from the audience where Take That made good use of the circus environment whereas Britney made more use of her outfit. On most of the posters though, Take That’s are generally a bright blue which are easy to see from a distance and catch the eyes of passer bys, it is also easy to identify as their poster, as the colours are used throughout.

Madonna - Confessions on a Dance FloorMadonna’s album ‘Confessions on a Dance Floor’ has been thought out well with the

promoting of it. First of all, the singles covers and posters both link in with the album cover, sharing the same background that is commonly found when there are hardly any lights on and a disco ball in the room. The light hits the disco ball and reflects it off again in the circles that can be seen in Madonna’s images. Furthermore, the type font used for all the promotional ideas is the same and similar colours to the background spots. The ‘O’ in Madonna is also a disco ball and so is a good way of interlinking her idea without the audience feeling overloaded by it as it is quite subtle.

Additionally, the poses Madonna uses in her posters, singles and album covers are supposedly dance moves, but a little extreme, when the attention would definitely be on you. It can also be seen that she is the in the centre of the dance floor with the spotlight on, having more of an effect. Furthermore, her outfits are the same throughout all the posters involved with the album wearing a pink leotard (linking in with the colours of the spots surrounding her from the disco ball and the colours used for her name on the posters). Leotards can be common for solo performances as they create more attention for the person, as all eyes stay on them. This could be an additional reason for the way Madonna’s posters and images have been produced.

Miley CyrusOne of the first things an audience can recognise with Miley Cyrus’ posters to do with her new album ‘Breakout’, is the type face used as it is used throughout her singles covers, and the majority of her posters to do with the album. Additionally all the images link as in there are similar colours used and only two outfits. On four of the posters her pose and outfit are exactly the same so is easily identified, but they are presented in different ways. The poster in the top right has the album cover placed inside it with a background of red which links in with the colours used in her platinum edition album and her single ‘Fly on the Wall’ cover. Furthermore, the only other colours on the poster is white and blank. These, along with her album cover colours are used throughout the rest of the posters.

There is also a star situated on many of the posters which could be easily recognised as Miley Cyrus’ symbol making it easier to figure out who’s album it links to. Additionally, the only singles cover below that does not have the star is ‘Fly on the Wall’, but it is still easily identified as Miley’s not only because her name is on the cover, but due to the same out fit used and font style.

Although her outfit is different on her platinum album (bottom left) Miley is wearing the same trousers and boots worn in the other posters and there is the red background of the drum kits and instrument boxes, linking to the ‘Fly on the Wall’ single.