Magazine Advert Analysis: The Defamation of Strickland Banks

 

Like many of the other magazine advertisements which I have analysed, the largest text, and thus the focal point of the advertisement, is the name of the artist. This appears at the top of the advert, connoting that he is more important than the music himself, and that people are more likely to respond to his name than they are the name of the album. This is an interesting move, especially as the album isn't self titled, as it would be assumed that the poster would be more promotion for the album, and the music video would be more promotional for the artist.

The other text on the advertisement is the name of the album it is promoting, and interestingly a piece of text declaring it "the multi-platinum album of the year". This is hugely effective in building promotion for the album, as it shows that not only is it commercially acclaimed ("multi-platinum"), but by declaring it the "album of the year" then it must also be critically acclaimed. This, when coupled with a number of positive ratings from magazines such as Q and Mojo, proves to the reader that the album is popular and is worth researching further.
 

In terms of colours, a monochrome colour scheme is used, with a splash of red in order to break it up and make it stand out more to the potential fan of the album. The black and white colour scheme shows that there is likely to be a dark subject matter on the album, which will help it to appeal to those who enjoy listening to music of this nature. These match the colours on the album cover, which is included on the poster in the bottom left hand corner.

 

The use of images is completely different to the other posters which I have analysed, as the main image is the artist himself rather than the album cover, against suggesting that the artist is more important than the album he has released. This is because by placing the album cover as the foreground image, the reader will subliminally pick up on it and is more likely to recognise it upon seeing it on iTunes or in a record store. However, it is still effective, as the reader of the magazine is probably more likely to recognise Plan B from his music videos than they are too recognise his album cover. Additionally, this poster was released months after the album, by which time Plan B was held in a much higher regard within the public eye, so it shows that he is aware of his self evolution.

Finally, the bottom right hand corner of the poster contains a link to his website, which gives the reader a first port of call in order to find out more about the artist and album, rather than leaving them in the blue and having to research it themselves. This means that overall, the poster is hugely effective in terms of creating a new fan base, as it plays excellently on the theme of the album cover and describes the albums success in order to take its audience even further.