RB: Print Analysis - Advert

Florence and the Machine Advertisement Analysis

Genre

• Florence and the Machine is an indie rock band, similar to Bloc Party. For this reason I have chosen to look at an advert for their first album, ‘Lungs’ which appeared in magazines upon its release in 2009.
• The design of the advertisement is fairly standard, showing the album cover above the details of the album and its release on a black background. These details include the release date, the previously released songs from the album, the formats it is available in and the artist website. 

The album cover also shows the artist logo and album name in their recognisable fonts.

• After looking at various other indie rock band album covers and magazine advertisements, I have concluded that this design is fairly conventional of the genre, both the design of the advertisement and album cover shown on it.
• Whilst looking at album covers of similar artists, I noticed that a lot of them use dark colour schemes, often in black and white of just focusing on dark reds, greens and blues. The album cover for ‘Lungs’ conforms to this idea as both the colours used in the photo for the album cover and the lighting and post production effects used makes the picture look typical of the genre in this way. As well as the album cover, the black background and white writing of the details of the album also display elements of the typical genre conventions as it is a similar style to many other advertisements.

• I also noticed that indie rock album covers are often similar. I noticed that they often either show a person or people not in the band on the cover, or no people at all.

• When the band or artist is often shown on the cover, I noticed that it is often a picture of a similar style to typical shots used in indie rock music videos, such as a long shot of the entire band. The album cover of ‘Lungs’ does not have either an unrelated picture or person or a shot of the entire band as its cover, it only shows the lead singer and face of the band. However, I did notice that a medium close up shot of her is used which is a conventional shot in indie rock music videos, as well as something used often in Florence and the Machine’s videos.

• I looked at other album and single covers from Florence and the Machine and found that they are all similar to ‘Lungs.’ For example, every album cover features only the lead singer, Florence. This fits in with other aspects of the band’s promotion, such as the music videos which also feature on Florence from the band. They also largely follow the theme of using dark colour schemes and similar style pictures on the album covers.

• From comparing this advertisement to other advertisements and album covers of a similar style, I have found that this advertisement is conventional of the artist and genre. It is similar to many other of the band’s album covers, and the same format and style to the magazine advertisements for the singles. It also has similarities to other indie band’s album covers and advertisements in both style of picture and the colour scheme and style of advertisement.

Media Language

• The advertisement has a standard design of the cover work of the album with the details about its release below. Although the album cover shows the singer in the centre of the page, the rule of thirds has been used in the design of the page to emphasise parts of the design. Horizontally, the album title, written in a bold, white font against a black background and the singer’s eyes fall on the thirds of the page. This draws attention to the title of the album being advertised and the eye-level point of the album cover.
• Vertically, the rule of thirds falls on the singer’s shoulders, emphasising the position she is in for the picture. The thirds also outline and emphasis the album title below the artwork.
• The album artwork shows the singer wearing a pair of lungs around her neck. As the album is titled ‘Lungs’ this fits in with that as well as the relationship often shown between the band’s single titles and artwork.

• In the picture, she is shown looking away from the camera with her eyes closed. This makes her seem withdrawn from the image as she is not looking into the camera; a typical pose for album covers. However, it does fit in with the artist’s alternative persona, reinforced by her unusual costume and image presented through her album covers and music videos.
• The album cover shows the singer standing in front of flowers and plants. The advertisement also has a similar plant coming into the side of the page to continue the theme. I think that this theme of flowers is typically feminine, reinforced by the use of just a woman on the cover, instead of the backing band.
• Goffman et al discussed the way women are often presented in popular culture in comparison to men. When pictured with men, women are usually shown to be weaker, smaller or in a less important position. This album cover only shows a woman, but also contradicts other of Goffman’s ideas. He also stated that women are often commodified or dismembered, meaning they were mainly shown in close ups of their body parts or ‘presented as an object for male pleasure and consumption.’
• I think that Goffman’s theory cannot be applied to this album cover. Unlike many female artists, this album cover does not present the singer in a fetishistic way, and although this picture does conform to Goffman’s idea of licensed withdrawal (‘women appear to be withdrawn from active participation…turning the face away, looking dreamy and introverted’) she is presented in a different way.
• The picture used for the album cover is a medium close up shot which takes up most of the cover. This makes it difficult to compare Florence Welch in this image to the idea of a woman created by Goffman et al’s theory.
• The font used for the album title and information is all a simple white font on a black background. This looks very simple in comparison to the detail shown in the album cover above. The font used for ‘Florence + the Machine’ is not the same as it is the artist logo used on every album and single cover.

Representation

• Florence and the Machine is a band of seven people. However, due to the elaborate live performances of many of their singles featuring mainly the singer, Florence, they are often regarded as a solo singer with a backing band. This is reinforced in the album artwork shown on the advertisement as only she is shown.
• This adds to the meta-narrative at this point in their career as the single covers up to this point all featured only Florence. This continued with their second album cover and the singles released from that album.
•  Except for big fans of the band who would have seen the entire band live, Florence is the only member who most people would recognise. This means that showing a medium close up shot of her taking up most of the album cover is more likely to be noticed by potential buyers than a smaller picture of her along with the rest of the lesser known members of the band.

Institution and Audience

•       This advertisement would be found in a magazine, most likely a music magazine which often features indie bands and artists. Some examples of this would be Q and NME magazine, both of which Florence has appeared on the cover of.

• The advertisement is also likely to appear in magazines targeted at the band’s main audience – teenagers and young adults. This means that it is also likely to feature in magazines such as Bliss magazine, aimed at teenage girls, or Company magazine, aimed at an older audience.
•  This placement would ensure that the necessary details of the album (the release date and title) can be easily shown to the likely audience. These magazines are also likely to print articles or reviews of the album; another form of publicity delivered straight to the desired audience which is free for the artist.
• As there is minimal writing on the page which only displays the essential details, this advertisement would be considered ambient viewing rather than focused as the consumer is likely to be able to flick past the page on a magazine without paying it much attention, but still manage to understand the advertisement.
• The way the advertisement has been created also shows how it should be read by the audience. The artist logo and album title are directly above and below the album cover, drawing the viewers eye straight to them and ensuring that they are the main focus of the page. More information is shown below the album title in a smaller font size, showing the release date and information on the formats it will be released. The font size shows that the consumer is unlikely to read if they are flicking through the magazine, but if the album cover, title and band name were of interest to the consumer, they are likely to look for more information.
• Finally, the artist website is shown at the bottom of the advertisement in smaller font. The size of the writing for each piece of information emphasises how important they can be considered when looking at the page design. The most important information (artist and album name) are in bigger font to catch the attention of a potential consumer. The smaller font is read by those who are interested in the album and would have a proper look at the page. The white font against a plain, black background also makes it more visible and emphasises it which is important as the most prominent part of the advert would be the album cover.
• This shows that the information included in an advertisement must and how it is positioned and sized must be carefully thought out to attract the attention of a consumer. The aim of a magazine advertisement is to be noticed by someone who is just flicking through a magazine which means that it should be eye catching or memorable for another reason.