Magazine Advert Analysis

By Jordan Scott

The first feature to note would be the where the title of the band is placed on the advert. The Band name "Kings Of Leon" is inserted right at the top of the advert this is because it is of high importance on the advert, as immediately when people look at the advert they need to know who the album is produced by. The words "Kings Of Leon" are written in bold white writing as this contrasts well against the black background and therefore jumps off the page to the reader of the advert. The blue underscores are also effective here when trying to get the name of the band to stand out on the page.

The Image dominates the page and covers about 3/4 of it which is a lot for a magazine advert. The picture is very intriguing as it shows what looks like the parts of the members of the bands face split up into four sections. Also in the four sections is an different parts of an owl's face split up and put over the top of the mens faces. This creates a very odd image which looks like a cross between an owl and humans face which is very unusaul. But because it is unsual this is effective as it draws a lot of attention to the advert therefore meaning more people will see it and therefore increase sales and an increase of people talking about the album which is what the band want. The image has been edited to give a nostalgic feel to the advert. The cross hairs seen at the corners of some of the pictures reiterate this nostalgic feel as it looks like the images have been taken using a camera not from the modern day.

Just below the image the name of the album is clearly stated. It is written in the same bold letters as the name of the band at the top and is of the same font size. This suggests that the two lines of text are of simliar importance on the advert. The name of the album also uses the underscores again to allow a common theme to be conveyed on the page. The bold letters are used again in order to catch the attention of people reading the magazine.

There are several other pieces of text on the page, first of which is written in the same white writing as the words "Kings Of Leon" but in a smaller font. The text goes into detail about the songs that you can expect to see on the album, which gives the reader important information about the CD they are interested in. The songs listed here are most likely popular songs that a lot of people have heard of as this will be something they can relate to easily, and if some of their favourite songs are on the album they may be more tempted to purhcase it. Second of which is the "Out Now" placed in the centre at the bottom in bright red in order to let the reader know that they do not have to wait and that the album can be purchased now, it gives a across a sense of urgency and the idea that if they do not go and get it now they are missing out.

The first thing you notice with this magazine advert is the images used. The images used here are every powerful and striking, the four band members are split into four squares which portrays a clear difference between the four men to the reader. The are shot in dim light which in turn creates a mysterious look to the images, but there is a subtle blue lighting in the background which lights up the mens faces and makes them very clear meaning the reader can see the facial expression of each of the men, allowing the reader to feel connected to the band they are seeing on the page. The men are seen to be wearing all black clothing accept one man who is dressed in lighter coloured clothing, this is due to him needing to stand out as he is the lead singer and will be recognised more easily compared to the rest of the band. So with more people recognising the advert the more people will be talking about the band and possibly even buying the album.

The second thing you notice about the magazine advert is the bold white writing just below the middle of the page. There is a bold white bullet point placed in the centre of the page. Either side of this bullet short pieces of text, firstly on the left reads, "Razorlight", which is the name of the band, it is written in bold white writing in order to stand out against the black background. Secondly the writing on the right reads, "Slipway Fires", which is the name of the new album The font used here for the album name and band name is larger than any other font used on the page to signify their importance.

Below this centred in middle of the page is the rest of the text on the advert. The words at the top of this group of text reads, "New Album" is reitirating to the reader that this album is new and not relased yet, it conveys a sense of urgnecy and the idea that they need to get their first before anyone else. Then in slightly smaller font the text reads, "CD/LP/Download" meanng that the reader can get hold of the album in a number of different ways, in partiuclar the fact that they do not have to leave their house to get hold of this album is very enticing for the reader. Just below this states that the single, "Includes The Single Wire To Wire" which is most likely a single they have released in the past meaning a lot of people will know about the song in turn creating a desire for the album. These bits of text here are all wirtten in the same white font, in order to stick out against the black background, but the font is smaller this time, to represent importance on the page.

The first thing to note about this magazine advert is the text at the top of the page. Right at the top using the biggest sized font on the page is the band name, "Mumford & Sons", this is written in a large font in order to give it prevalance on the page and catch peoples attention, especially those who are already interested in the band. The band name is written in italics, to represent the folk/indie rock genre in which they originate from. The text is also white here, as once again the background is black, so white is used in order for it to stand out on the page. Just below this in slightly smaller font reads, 'Sigh No More" which is clearly the name of the album as it is of second importance, due to it being the second biggest bit of text on the page.

The second thing to note on the page is the images used. They have taken four individual images of each member of the band and put them into four frames, simliar to Razorlight's album. But this time the men are shot holding the instruments they use when performing and instead of being pictured in a studio, the setting is in some sort of crop field, which once again represents the genre of country/folk/indie in which they are from. The men are all dressed in simliar clothing, baggy white and patterned shirts are very popular here, this is the common type of clothing worn by people who listen to the indie rock genre. The weather looks like the photos are taken during summer, which immediately when looking at the photos makes the reader feel warm inside, meaning they may be more likely to carry on reading the advert. In each of the corners of the photos there are grey triangles, this gives the effect of the photos being taken on a polaroid camera, which gives a nostalgic feel to the images.

The last thing to note is the rest of the text used at the bottom of the page. Firstly just below the photos is a quote from NME, one of the biggests magazines in the music industry. It reads, "A band who know they're onto something not just good, but spectacular." which suggests that the magazine believes they have a lot of potential and coming from a magazine such as NME means it has some evidence behind it and is from a realible source as they know a large amount about the industry. Just below this reads "Little Lion Man", "Winter Winds" and "The Cave" which are songs included on the album, this gives the reader an insight into the album and they are probably songs that are popular already so drawing more people to the album.

Kings of Leon - Only By The Night

Razorlight - Slipway Fires

Mumford and Sons - Sigh No More