Posters, websites themes, merchandise

Posters and Website Themes Promotional Products

Concert/ Gig PostersBright colours used to attract the audience. Different themes for every poster is used to promote each concert. One foreign style used for Australia and the other authentic British worn style for English Audience style.Information is presented in different ways. The Japanese lady poster has its information hard to read laid out to look like a background. The British poster has a simple three sectioned background which only enhances the words already on the poster.The poster on the left attracts audience by main use of colour and design, the poster on the left draws people in by the use of the Arctic Monkey’s Brand/ Ego.

These two posters from 2008 and 2011 are funky bright coloured designs. The first poster have gone with a theme of the arctic to relate to the band. The second has added the band in a cartoon style into a British flag design. So far from my analysis I see that there is always a reference in some way to arctic monkeys whether it contains a monkey or just images of the band or a selective theme. If the poster does not contain an image that relates to the arctic monkeys the title usually gives it away along with the design that’s used to draw audiences in.

This Arctic Monkeys style poster is different to majority of others. This is as it is dark black and white and has an image of either the special guests or the Arctic monkeys themselves. I believe that this poster is darker compared to majority of others as the special guests are a heavy metal dark rock band.

I like the style of this poster as all the information is embedded in the cartoon like the other styles… however this is a more forward style with a woman showing us a can with the date of the concert on it like she is promoting it too us and grabbing the audiences attention.

I like the differences the Arctic Monkeys create between posters. On the left is a bold image of a rose using bold and bright simple colours and design. On the right the use of electric pink, blue blacks are used along with a very detail design, almost like a laser cut design. I like both posters as they how their information again in different ways and are presented in style soo differently.

I also feel the location, Date and special guests all the posters feature determine what the theme may be on a poster. For example on the left the flower resembles a rose which is also associated with love/ Death. The dark red and black colours signify a death motif. These all link to the location of the concert ‘the WARFIELD‘ which associates with war. Therefore the red white and black themes and the rose fit with the location well. The poster was also made in 2004 fitting in with the youth of that time. The more recent poster in 2010 shows a laser cut technology design and a very retro futuristic theme. The over the top modern style attracts males and females due to the use of blue and pinks as well as a female on the design, swirly writing and the male attracting skulls at the bottom and blacks and blues used. The 2010 design definatly contrasts to the 2004 design which shows how the Arctic monkeys stay connected with their target audience’s new ways. I feel that in this case majority of the design is based around the location as War Fields associate with the deathly flower in the poster and the retro youth design in the other poster links to the location of Miami Beach where youth go to have a good party.. (and desire to watch Arctic Monkeys due to the poster.)

These two posters have used the themes depending on there special guests. The first poster says its just the band by themselves performing, this therefore gives the design a implication to be about the arctic and monkeys nothing else. The second poster has special guest called ‘Shepherds bush Empire’ the empire is picked out in this poster creating an empire church design. The poster is a sophisticated neat design with use of black and white for more sophistication relating to the Empire. This Makes me think that I need to think about my locations, costumes, song , characters when designing my digipak, posters and anything else that will represent my project.

From the Arctic Monkeys Concert posters I have chosen I can see a mix of style between them. Majority of their posters appear to be a street style. Most of them are cartoon like and don’t contain the image of the band. Depending where the Arctic ~Monkeys tour or do a concert the style of the poster changes.Comparing the first two image one is for a concert abroad from the image we see it could suggest Japanese or Chinese state. The other is in O2 Arena in London. The contrast between the two are significant as the posters need to capture the eyes of the people around them places. The O2 style is sophisticated and very British with its authentic style. It uses peachy colours to attract their audience and is split up into three sections. This gives the poster balance and makes us look at it in three different areas. With the Arctic Monkeys capturing our eyes from afar it draws us in to look more at the poster then we look up to the London o2 Arena as this is in a shape and at the top of the page. The bottom is seen last with the details for those interested not in big writing as it doesn’t need to capture anybody’s eyes from far away, the rest of the poster will do that. The poster also shows a supporting act, The Vaccines, this promotes the vaccines but at the same time makes fans of both bands want to come see the concert.The Japanese style poster links to a lot of their other styles. Always having a theme and the use of bright colours and cartoonlike features. This style attracts the rock/indie / street style fans the Arctic moneys have, they will also stand out in a street amongst other posters;.

These Poster are all similar but not exactly the same, they all have different styles but the same images that have been edited a little. These posters compliment each other by having different information and layouts. These act like teaser posters as some give more information that others and the style then becomes more recognisable with the public. As the Posters are different the target audience will look at one poster and even though they have analysed it they will analyse all three even though the information is the same. This is good for constantly reminding the target audience about the concerts.The middle poster I believe concentrates more on the idea that Arctic Monkeys are doing a tour, the information is in smaller writing which suggests the information id not the main priority for the audience to see. ‘With Special Guests’ is a teaser to the audience as they will want to know more. A teaser poster always leaves you wanting more.

This first poster I believe is designed to attract the audience to the Information about the band. Giving the main information And the date they go on sale so the audience can soon purchase their tickets. Compared to the second poster I believe this is designed to inform the 2nd was designed to tease the audience and the 3rd is deigned to give information on who the special guests are and all the information needed to get the audience involved and know about a specific concert.

Album Release poster

This poster also acts as a teaser poster. The only information is the albums name and release date. This suggest to the audience arctic monkeys are releasing a new single on July 9th. Simple and easy for the audience to take in and doesn’t take much time to read.

AM album poster.This poster is placed in the street next to other posters and has been blown up. The place it is in with the graffiti suggests the area is a street/ urban style and will therefore attract the right target audience for the band. The poster is large and acts more like a banner being horizontal. This makes the information look more important and eye catching. The horizontal style also enhances the style of the lines. With not much writing this poster gives only brief and the most important of information making it fast and easy to take in.

Band Posters

I have noticed the band posters are different to the concert posters as they are actual photographs, compared to cartoon style posters. The poster on the left shows the band member having fun in an activity which to some people will look like a chaotic situation. However this style where the band look like they are not taking themselves seriously shows the audience the personality of the band. This creates an image that the audience from 16-25 can relate or aspire to..

The poster on the right Shows a long shot image of the band in a line. This allows the audience to assess the brands and clothes they wear and take their own opinions to what they think of the individual attitudes by their body language. This also gives a superior band image as they walk together almost like a street gang but more like a strong group .

One thing I have seen through out the Arctic Monkeys posters is that the picture is usually of the band with a very simple photograph shot. These are perfect examples of what fans would like on their walls. The shots either being close up, Profile or long shot present the characters of the band close up or as a whole showing the way they dress. This gives the audience a better knowledge of what the band look like.These contrast the other posters promoting their concerts as the other posters are more art and cartoon like and concentrate less on the band’s image.

This bottom image of a poster I found on E-Bay.com The poster is for sale and has been signed by the band themselves. This gives the poster more significance and importance to the fans of Arctic Monkeys making it precious to them.

Website themes

The Arctic Monkey’s website theme is black and white which matches their new album theme. The first thing we see is Arctic Monkey’s Logo on the top left corner which is the first place we will look as we analyse the page. Then the album cover image catches our eyes. This is promoting their latest album for the audience to engage in.As we look to the right we see the name of the album and more information. White contrasting box catches our eyes and after reading we want to click on the box to purchase the album. This idea on the home page of the website gives us a quick and easy way to buy their album with out having to look for it on their website. This is a good way of advertising the album.

The top of the page gives us navigation buttons to see different sections of the website. This makes it easy for fans and audiences to view the site.The most recent and eye catching information for the audience is linked to the home page. For example the Videos news is on the first page for people to enjoy the music videos and keep updated with the website at all times.

This website: NME is a music based website and tells us news on the bands and artists we are interested in. The website like the Arctic Monkeys has the main logo that acts as the branding on the top left corner. It also has links to other sections of the site like videos and the magazine it also produces which you can look at online. Again the main news that is most recent is on the home page along with a don’t miss section. This will keep fans/ audience updated all the time making sure they are to return to the site habitually. Down both sides of the site we see the promoting of tour dates and tickets on sale this will catch the audience’s eyes and make them want to purchase a ticket or at least think about the tour dates and if thy want to go. Finally the website , Like Arctic Monkeys follows a theme of black white and red which is part of the NME overall branding theme.

Merchandise

Artic Monkeys have a range of their own merchandise in their own store on their own website. This is similar to NME having the magazine online too and ready to purchase. I like this idea and think it is great for all the fans to find simple things they want to buy such as albums and singles. The easy navigation is essential or stress free browsing around the website. This is made easier by the use of section links/ buttons that take you to different types of things that are for sale o the site. This page shows us links to each individual album they have made aside from one live album that isn’t featured.

Albums

The page for this section is longer and needs to be scrolled down to get a good look at all the singles. Arctic Monkeys have added their most popular singles with the public for sale. There is at least one song that is a representative popular song from each album. For Example, the latest ‘Do I Wanna Know’ represents the main song for the new album called Am however they may not even be the audience’s favourite but more likely to be known.

Singles

DVDs

These DVDs are short video clips from the producer of the Scummy Man Music Video from one of the Arctic Monkey’s Albums. There isn’t really any range of videos for this section however the there is already a music video for that is related to the short films and there is more merchandise.

Clothing

The Arctic Monkeys Clothing range consists of just 14 t-shirts. I think this is due to their style as the band have a casual laid back style and attract that style of audience. This also helps with branding as the band’s name is usually put on the t-shirt like a brand that is being promoted. This will capture other people’s attention from the fans wearing the t-shirts making them discover and listen to Arctic Monkeys.

Miscellaneous This last page named MISC for short is for the rest of the varied miscellaneous merchandise. The items consist of: Plastic comb, green and red badges, black and white badges, Tour programmes Songbooks, posters, and a lighter.All the merchandise again have the Arctic Monkeys Logos and image references on them. The plastic comb is a good merchandise as it relates to the swept and styled hair that is recurrent in the band and their influenced bands. This will be used on some hairstyles that are similar to the band’s hairs styles as they influence their fans.

The badges act like a medal style branding where the audience will where them with pride. The green and red colours are opposites most people wouldn’t wear them together. To wear the bright/ bold badges it acts like a statement but to wear them together it shows off a rebellious edgy side to a person like the arctic Monkeys band.The black and white badges match the theme of the band’s album, ‘suck it and see’ along with theme colour scheme of the comb. Having already analysed the Album cover we see how they are related and the target audience will also notice the font style and overall style straight away making them think if the Arctic Monkeys.

From analysing posters, website themes and merchandise I have taken in how they use recurrent themes, fonts, colours and images.

This makes me think about how I will include the theme of my music video into the digipak, album cover, posters and if I was to create a website on there too.

To promote the video further I would also take into consideration selling merchandise to enhance the video's promotion.