Musical Profile - Festivals and Similar Bands

Analysis of Reading Festival's Poster and Website

I have chosen to analyse the Reading Festival poster and website as I think that it is the most likely festival for my band, The Hype Theory, to perform at. I came to this conclusion after looking at all aspects of the poster and website, such as the bands playing at the festival, the colours used, the imagery, etc.

            The first thing that stands out is the contrast between the dark colour of the background and the bright colours also used. The bright colours are primary colours – red and yellow – and are very shouty and loud which makes it stand out against the rest of the page, it could also be described as ‘punky’ and alternative. The colour is also mainly in blocks, and shapes such as triangles and ellipses. The ellipses could have a connotation of the festival wristband as it is around the name of the festival and is also similar to how Kerrang!’s logo has been designed. The triangles around the edge of the ellipses are poppy and punky which connects back to the genre of pop/punk.

            The background is made up of a photo of the crowds from a previous Reading Festival, the way the image has been used is to get people to look because to start with you don’t realise the background is made up of a photo. The fonts used are, again, very shouty and bold which stand out from the dark background but they are modern so appeal to an audience the same age as my target market.

            The photos shown on the homepage are fairly simple. There is one of the merchandise available from the festival, these reflect the type of clothes that my target market wears, for example printed, coloured t-shirts. Also, the image of the crowd at the top connotes the energy you feel when you are at the festival but also shows a snapshot of the experience you will have.

            Finally on the homepage, there are various companies’ logos. Just above the links at the bottom of the page there are some sponsors which have sponsored the festival, these are companies like NME, Relentless Energy Drink, Tuborg and HMVtickets, etc,  which are all companies my target market would be interested in. Also, at the top of the page there are the Facebook and Twitter logos, along with an artist search symbol and a forums symbol. These are there so the festival is accessible on social media for fans, it also connotes that the audience is fairly youthful as they are more likely to use Facebook and Twitter.

            The festival’s poster is quite different from that of the website. It is much more in your face because of the background colour of bright yellow but it still uses certain imagery such as the festival’s logo which could connote a festival wristband and the logos of well-known companies along the bottom of the poster. The font is still modern, shouty and bold which makes the names of the bands stand out from the vibrant background. The use of red as a highlight along with yellow background and black accents makes the overall poster very contrasted, colourful and it stands out from other posters.

Reading Festival Website Homepage

Reading Festival Line-Up Poster

Analysis of Similar Artists to The Hype Theory

View more presentations from Vickii Randell.

What Can You Learn From This?         

            After looking at this information about similar bands and the festival The Hype Theory would I attend I have learnt a few things that will influence me when I make my music video and plan my digipak. Firstly, I learnt that colours, font and imagery are very important on products, such as festival posters and CD covers. This means when I create my digipak I will have to use bright colours, like orange, purple and green, fonts that stand out and are bold, and the imagery must connote music, like the circle on the Reading festival posted connoted a wristband. Secondly, the way in which technologies is combined with real-life products, like the Twitter, Facebook, etc logos on the festival website. So again when I am designing the digipak I will have to include website addresses on the cover for the band’s Twitter, Facebook, etc. Also, in the music video I could include technologies such as a phone or a laptop as this will mean that the audience will be able to identify with the content of the music video. Thirdly, the use of images of the band is very important throughout the products related to the band. Whether it is on the digipak or in the music video the connection back to the band is vital, this is because the band and their music are at the forefront to the fans. Finally, the theme from the digipak/album cover must continue throughout the whole range of products as it makes it easy for fans to identify with their whole range of products. This even extends to merchandise ranges on tour, to stage designs and website design.