Poster Analysis - Other Artists

Bombay Bicycle Club

This is Bombay Bicycle clubs poster for their tour that coincides the release of their album 'A different kind of fix.' I studied the digipak for the album and the poster follows the same aesthetic design. The use of the muted blue and the head design emulates the design on the front of the album digipak, uniforming the promotional design. At the top, also the same as the album, is the band's name in its logo form, the largest text on the page, so it stand out to the reader. 

Again with this poster we have details of the album release, however just like the second Two Door Cinema Club poster it is very small and right at the bottom 

Poster Analysis - Two Door Cinema Club

This is the promotional poster for Two Door Cinema Club's first album, Tourist History, and the tour they did accompanying its release. The image on The poster is taken from the cover of the first album, so anyone flicking through a magazine that might come across this will see instantly that it belongs to TDCC because they will recognise the image from the album. 

The writing is all in a similar font, thin and minimalistic, making it easy for the reader to read over the image. At the top of the page there is the bands name, in the biggest font, so the first thing the viewer sees is the name of the band. This means that the reader will instantly recognise the band, it also implies that this is the most important information. It will also capture the reader's attention. if they see the band name and like the band then they are more likely to read the rest of the poster, hence why it is the largest text on the page and at the top. Below it in slightly smaller font is the name of the band's album. This continues to attract the reader to continue reading, first the band name and then the album name, if they are a fan looking forward to the album they will be excited to read on for any more information. Then finally below that we have 'The debut album. Out now' which informs the reader, incase they didn't know, that the album has been released and is available to them. However if the reader isn't already a fan of the band this might encourage them to give the album a listen. If its the band's debut album then they're relatively new and this encourages people to give them a listen. 

It then moves on to a section of smaller text, still in the same font, listing features of the album. The first line 'Includes the new single I can talk' with the words 'I can talk' in bold means that any fans of the band reading this will be excited as the album is the follow up from the bands latest single, letting them know that they don't exclude it from the album just because its a single, but that they include it along with everything else, making the fans feel like they're getting more. Then below that we have, in bold, the text 'Deluxe double disc edition' another bonus for the fans. The fact that there is a double disc edition caters to the variety of fans. Some people may only like Two Door Cinema Club for their music, but other people might like the band themselves more and want the extra content, thus giving them the choice of either album editions. 

This is the promotional poster for another of Two Door Cinema Club's tours. This time coinciding with the release of their second album, Beacon. Again we have the band's name at the top of the page, being the biggest text on the page to attract the reader. However this time there's an image of the band themselves on the poster. None of the band's promotional packaging previously has had an images of them on it. This could be a representation of the fact that the band have grown in popularity and their self image has become a slightly larger part of their image. Though the image is not taken in anything that looks like a studio. In fact there's a distinct flash glare in the background and it is plainly taken against a red wall. So even though there is an image of the band, it isn't a perfectly airbrushed studio shot like you'd find on a pop album poster. 

Another thing to note is the fact that the promotion of the album itself has been severely downscaled in comparison to the last poster. This might be largely due to the fact that the other poster was for the release of the band's first album, so they wouldn't have been as widely known or recognised by people, where as with their second album they have the success of their first album behind them and a growing fanbase set already so they don't need to promote its release as heavily bc people will have been waiting for it. The colour scheme of the poster matches the image, using reds and whites on a black background and keeping with the minimal style that accompanies so many of their promotional designs.

Digipak Analysis - Other Artists

Bombay Bicycle Club

The digipak for Bombay Bicycle Club’s album A Different Kind Of Fix links a lot with 60’s counterculture. 60’s counterculture was an anti-establishment cultural movement that started in the US and UK in the 1960’s, it saw rise to many alternative lifestyles, celebrating creativity, experimentation and modern incarnations of the bohemian lifestyle. One of the biggest parts of 60’s counterculture was the popularisation of recreational drug use. Psychoactive drugs became a huge part of the subculture and this is what I can link back to the digipak. 

The repetitive paisley patterns on the disk and digipak cover are similar to those linked to the 60’s counterculture era, the psychedelic and kaleidoscopic style is representative of the ‘trippy’ patterns seen and associated with psychedelic drugs. Even the colour scheme links back to the earthiness of the hippy/bohemian lifestyle.

The name of the album itself ‘A Different Kind Of Fix’ links to the counterculture theme too. ‘Getting a fix’ is a phrase that originates in drug culture, meaning that you need your daily dose of whatever narcotic you’re addicted too, however in modern culture it has also evolved to mean something less serious. For example ‘I need my coffee fix.’ So Bombay Bicycle Club are linking the album name to the 60’s counterculture, but the album name is actually ‘A different kind of fix’ and the different kind could relate to the fact that the music is the fix in this case. Saying that you’ll be addicted to their music just like you would be drugs. The band is also missing from the digipak. There are no images of them at all, promoting that they are about their music and not their personal image like so many bands within the indie/rock genre do. 

Finally, the imagery on the front of the digipak. The human heads filled with the same patten as is on the disc. The pattern fills the area where the brain would be and this could be because when you take drugs they affect the brain, or eve when you listen to music, its the brain that processes it all. It also outlines the nasal passage and the throat, this could be because most commonly you either inhale or take drugs orally, again linking back to the concept of the 60’s counterculture. 

Alt-J - An Awesome Wave

The first thing about the digipak for Alt-J's an awesome wave is the cover. It simply shows an image on the front, no visual representation of the band, or even their name or the name of the album, it is simply the image. The image is a multi-layered radar image of the Ganges river delta in Bangladesh. The image was taken by the European Space Agency's Envisat Earth-observing satellite and all three images were taken on different dates and then layered, exposing the difference in background radiation between them. This lack of self image on behalf of the band fits with the common genre conventions of not having images of the band themselves on the album cover, promoting that the band's priority is their music and not themselves and that they want their fans to be interested in their music.

Inside the digipak is plain white. The only writing on the inside the name of the album, which is lacking from the front, it is written in a simple and plain font in the bottom left hand corner, this gives the entire digipak a minimalistic feel, again there are no 'frilly bits' cluttering it and distracting the eye. Even the disk is plain white, the only writing the tracklist around the edge in the same simple font. This contrasts with the colourful image used on the front, making it the main focus of the album. The fact that the bands name isn't on the front also contributes to this, making the image something that becomes associated with the band and the album. Fans only need see the image and they know exactly what the album is.