Manic Street Preachers Advert Analysis

This is an example of a magazine advert by the Manic Street Preachers. The advert is quite simple and consists of a large image of the lead vocalist of the band named James Dean Bradfield. Within the image he is holding a very old fashioned camera. This is a good idea as the album name is Postcards From A Young Man and therefore when these kinds of cameras are used the image comes out and prints straight away which can then be used as a postcard and therefore relates to the album name. When actions are carried out within an image it is important to ensure that the actions within an image relate to the album or what the album is about as the audience will then be able to get an understanding of the album and then be drawn to it. Also within this image the member is topless and wearing only a pair of jeans. This creates the ideas of freedom and wonder. It gives the audience a sense of mystery and allows their minds to imagine and wonder why. The fact that the guy in the image seems quite middle aged goes against the words within the album title, the part where is says from a young man. This could make the audience think that actually the album title is a contradiction to the meaning behind the actual songs. The layout of the advert is very simple and would be described as old fashioned. The whole theme of the advert seems to be old fashioned as the props that are used are old aged as well as the colours. The colours that are used are grey, white and black. These images are connected with olden times where posters and movies could only be printed in black and white and therefore relates to the theme of old fashioned. The background is greyish and seems as if it is fading and only available within black and white. The image within the advert is on one side and is slightly dominating the page and the text is places on the opposite side. The image dominates as on this advert it is the main attraction of the advert and therefore people being drawn in depends on the image. Lastly the text on the advert is of the band name, album name, reviews and where the album is available. Again this advert has kept the text to a minimum as the purpose of an advert is not to read but to have a glance at. The size of the text is also appropriate as the more important parts are sized larger than the less important parts. For example; the album name is larger than the reviews. Overall I would say that this magazine advert is vey affective and really does draw the reader in and it gets them o have an interest and question what the adverts is about.