Poster Conventions

Taylor Swift – ‘1989’This tour poster features many conventional aspects that are expected on any tour poster including the Taylor’s name, the name of the tour an image of the artist and the name of the supporting acts. The positioning of the image of the artist is conventional as it has been placed directly in the middle of the page as a way to draw fans of hers to look at the poster. She is an immediately recognisable star so many people will know who she is at first glance. This is the reason she is able to place her name in the background of the image behind her picture because people will know who she is without having to know her name. This slightly breaks conventions as many acts would position their name to the front so that people know who’s tour it is. The positioning of the tours name is also conventional with it being placed at the top of the poster so that it’s the first thing you will look at when looking at the poster. Something which breaks conventions is the lack of information on the tour dates informing people where and when she will be touring. Another thing that follows conventions is the promotion for her album which she has included a small picture to promote and states it’s available now which will encourage anyone who hasn’t bought her album to do so.

Nicki Minaj – ‘The Pink Print’Much like Taylor’s poster, this tour poster features many conventional aspects that are expected on any tour poster including the Taylor’s name, the name of the tour an image of the artist and the name of the supporting acts. The positioning of the image of the artist is conventional of tour posters as she is clearly depicted as the main feature of the poster. The positioning of the her name and the name of the tour differentiates from Taylor’s poster but is still conventional of posters as her name and the tour name are clear in the middle of the page making it easy for you to identify the artist and the name of the tour. The font used for the name of the tour is consistent with the way the name of her album appears on her album as well as the use of the colour pink which also reflects the name of the album/tour. She has also included her tour dates which is a conventional feature of tour posters. Like Taylor, she has also included an image of the album the tour is promoting which I believe helping her to promote her album along with the tour which will help her to sell more copies in promotion with the tour. Finally she has included social media information to help people find her on various social medias which will allow her to reveal more information about the tour to her fans.

Gavin DeGraw – ‘2014 Fall Tour’This tour poster does not promote a specific album, more the artist who is going on tour and as such does not feature a name of an album which is conventional of tour posters. However, the name of the artist still appears on the tour poster at the top of the page. An image appears as the largest thing on the page as a way to pull in fans of his as they will immediately recognise him based on his picture. He has not included the names of any artists that will feature on the tour which either suggest his tour will not feature any guests or he has not promoted them on this poster. The poster also features his tour dates and locations which is the main feature of the tour poster and is positioned at the bottom of the page which is conventional of tour posters. Since he is not promoting an album with this tour he has not included an image of one of his albums on the poster. Compared to the previous posters I have looked at this poster seems to lack much in terms of information only including Gavin’s name, the name of the tour and the tour dates which is a step down in terms of information from the previous posters.

Ariana Grande – ‘The Honeymoon Tour’This tour poster follows the conventions seen on all the previous tour poster in that it features the name of the artist and the name of the tour. However, this poster breaks conventions as it promotes an album but is not named after the album it is promoting, in this case Ariana’s second album ‘My Everything’. This could have been done because a Honeymoon is something you do after something significant so she is doing the tour after releasing an album. The poster includes an image of the album she is promoting, prompting people to go out and buy it. The tour dates are also featured on the poster to make it easier for her fans to find out when she is near them. However, this poster only includes a few of her tour dates in England which suggests she has created multiple posters for each region. She also features a image of herself which is conventional of tour posters. She has also included her social media information at the bottom of the page, something which is also featured on Nicki’s poster.

Ed Sheeran – ‘X Tour’This poster features many conventions seen on the previous tour posters such as an image of the artist, the name of the artist and a list of the tour dates. The way it is laid out on this poster is unique in the fact that the information is placed over the image of Sheeran and is also placed in a list down. The poster breaks conventions as it does not feature the name of the tour which is something tour posters are expected to feature. The poster features promotion for his album but does not feature an image of the album, instead placing it within the list. It also features his social media information, however only the his Instagram account which may suggest he is not on other social media such as Twitter and Facebook. At the bottom of the page is information on where you can purchase tickets for his tour which will help his fans find the place to order the tickets.