Real Media Artefact Advert- Mstrkrft

I thought it would be a good idea to research more into the band Mstrkrft (pronounced master craft) as I am considering using their song Heartbreaker for this piece of coursework. I therefore thought it would be interesting to look at their style of advertisements, to see if they are effective and if so, whether or not I can use those positives to my advantage and develop them in my own work. At first I tried to research posters by Mstrkrft for singles or album releases but I found it very difficult to find posters such as this, so I eventually settled for a poster advertising a live show. I chose this poster to analyse because it is the most eye catching poster by them, the other ones which I found were very simplistic and used minimal colours so there was not as much to analyse. However, I really like this poster as I think it links in well with the bands genre of music, as they are quite upbeat and alternative.


The name of the band is in clear bold letters which really stand out on the page, I think it’s really effective the way that they have split up the band’s name by putting it on two lines, as this makes the readers eye travel down the page. If I do choose to use this band for my own work, this would be something I’d also consider doing. I like the fact that there are lines covering the entire page which join the name Mstrkrft to the image, this is something I have never seen before but I find it works well in this poster as the lines give off an electric feel which ties in with the bands style of music. As well as this, the lines on the page make a pattern, which gives the poster more depth and detail making it look more interesting. This is quite a unique way of making a normal poster that little bit more special. The lines draw your eye down to the middle of the page, as they are connected to what looks like a kind of bulls’ eye in the centre. This circle has purposely been put around the silhouettes which are standing on stage, indicating that the silhouettes are in fact Mstrkrft, this is an effective way of making the band look good and making people want to go and see them. As the poster features an image showing them on stage with an audience that look like they are having a really good time.

I really like the choice of colours used in this poster, this is a clever way to get across to the audience as the hot tones of red and orange connote that the band are exciting to go and see live. The way that the colours subtly change from dark red to yellow looks really effective as it makes your eye travel around the page, making you read the text too! I like the fact that they have not put too much focus on the image; by making it in colour it only shows the silhouettes of the audience and the band. I think this is quite unusual as many advertisements for artists only focus on the artists looks, so it is quite nice to see something that goes against that. I think the band Mstrkrft can get away with not including what they look like because of their genre, because they are an Alternative band their target audience is generally much more concerned with the condition of the music rather than if they’ve had a haircut. This is completely different to other genres such as pop, for example you would always expect a pop artist to be the main/only focus on their poster, as their audience relies more on their looks.