Another print piece

Last night, I decided to create a second print piece for my coursework.

The material I've created is an advertising poster for Aramantus' official UK debut tour. I produced this piece using the same online editing programme that I created my previous print piece with: postermywall.com. This website allowed me to upload my own background photo (a photo that was taken at a concert that I attended at the O2 Academy in Birmingham) and from there, the website gave me a variety of editing tools that I could select and apply.

After uploading my own background photo, I chose to add the title at the top of the page, as this is where I've noticed that the title is typically placed in this type of material; I selected the 'Boston Traffic' font and applied it in two colours (a text colour and an effect colour) and both were in shades of red; the text colour was a lighter shade of red and the effects colour was a darker crimson colour, allowing the perfect blend of varied tones. The colour choices I made for the title are significant; keeping the title of the band in these particular shades of red enabled me to be consistent in my designs and to also be able to connect with the audience who would be easily able to recognise the band being advertised straight away by the title. I've noticed through research that all bands and artists maintain the same colour and font for their title in advertisements and other promotional material because it is a key way for the audience to identify who they are. I also chose to apply a light drop shadow to the title as well, which made the edges of the letters slightly darker, and I thought this made it stand out from the colours of the background image. 

After this, I moved on to adding the sub-headings text (directly below the main title) which displayed the name of the tour and when it would be taking place; I chose a basic font called 'Coming Soon' for these headings and I duplicated the text twice for the top subheading in order to make the text bold and eye-catching. The font I chose has a modern and youthful appearance; I thought it gave an original look to the band but if I had chosen to use a much bolder font with clunky lettering, it would have been too much for the effect I was trying to convey which was to show that they aren't a typical rock band. The font had to be different from the title font; the band title has to stand out amongst the other text as being the main subject, yet the subheadings giving information about the tour also has to stand out so that the audience are aware of exactly what the poster is advertising. I named the tour 'Ready When You Are' as I felt it had a rebellious/edgy kind of ring to it, and this is similar to other tour names for bands with the same music genre that I have seen being advertised before.

I focused on adding the tour dates in the central part of the poster. As part of my research, I'd previously looked at a handful of tour posters of this kind on the internet so that I could have an idea in mind of what a typical one looks like; I looked at factors such as the content, structure and layout. In the end, I decided to go for a design that looked appealing yet sophisticated, and this included having the text centrally aligned and in a bold font - 'Accidental Presidency' - which was in a pure black font that could be seen clearly against the lighter background image. I followed the layout that I'd seen (and liked) from other tour poster designs, which was having the month of the tour as the title above and the key dates and venues beneath as individual titles; I also used actual music venues to add realism to the poster, and I found these from other tour posters that I'd looked at. I spent a fair bit of time ensuring that all of the text was aligned in a specific way - the spaces between the text had to be equal and the overall alignment was central throughout.

I included key details at the bottom of the poster such as 'The Ticket Factory' website which is where the audience can purchase tickets for individual concerts, and also a phone number if they wanted to find out more information about the tour; these contact details are also real as I wanted to poster to look convincing and professional. I also added my original design of the NuTunes Records official logo at the bottom left, as this is what is always included in this type of material for advertising and marketing purposes; the audience should be able to see who the management is that is involved with the advertisement and events - it makes the information seem more legitimate and reliable.

I've used a colour house style of red, white and black; the main title 'Aramantus' is in a bold red colour, the subheadings below are in black, as well as the tour dates, and the contact details underneath plus the NuTunes Records logo are in white. These colours work well together and fit well against the colours of the background; the top thirds of the background image are bright colours and the bottom third is darker; the red and black colours contrast nicely against the bright background and the white font colour contrasts well with the darker background colours.

And here is the first edit:

(I am prepared to go back and make changes if this isn't good enough or needs slight improvements made.)

Advertisement poster for the bands UK 2015 debut tour.