TF: Print Analysis - Advertisement

I have chosen to analyse this poster from Foster the People, as they are a band in the same genre to ours.

The genre of Indie Pop as a whole can be seen as simplistic, and this is the perfect example of it. Foster the People can be seen as very simplistic, just from their videos and songs, so the band are represented just through this advertisement. Instead of just having a picture of themselves, which is very common of the Pop Genre, they show an unclear image of the Band Name. This poster in fact represents our band ‘Architecture in Helsinki’ perfectly as in many of their videos, there is a strong presence of the dull colours blue, grey and white. It is very hard to draw what exactly is happening in the picture, which has a relationship with the genre, as many videos of this genre have a disjunctive narrative towards them.

Grey, blue, and white are the prevalent colours in the poster, which connote the simplistic notion from which the genre presents. The poster looks very grainy, and rough to once again have a disjunctive meaning to it. Roland Barthes framework referred to semiotics (icons which create meaning in texts), very common in Coldplay’s Mylo Xyloto Album. What I draw from the image is that it is almost being hung-up as if it was hanging from a washing line. And,  as it is Foster the People, I believe its referring to the word ‘foster’, as if kids are almost lined up to be fostered. The image is in the centre of the poster to grab the audiences attention straight away instead of using the rule of thirds technique.

Foster the People are known for their narrative, laid back music, and with the bland colours mentioned, it adds to their meta-narrative, as you can tell the type of the music they play from just the poster.  There is minimal text on the poster and the only details are the bare necessary. Therefore by having this, the audience can easily remember about this poster as it doesn't have any pointless information. The amount of text also emphasises the meta narrative of the genre due to the simplicity of Foster the People as a band.