An analysis of promotional posters

Tuesday 30th September 2014

A study of advertisement and its effectiveness

I will be identifying and analyzing two posters the first being a local advertisement poster called Dead Pixels a retro gaming event in Birmingham Mosley. The second poster I will study is a teaser poster for 2008 blockbuster The Dark Knight.

How are these two posters persuasive?

This poster persuades the audience because of basic text used for the retro pixelated font for the title “Dead Pixels”. Also the zombified mushroom from Mario also works well here because it visually tells us this is a retro game event and I assume the -1 up sign symbolises that this event is bringing arcade-style games back into the limelight again. Underneath the title arrows are used to point towards the text reading, “RETRO GAMING”, meaning the arrows could mean retro gaming here.

The poster overall is simple and the text and fonts are clear enough to read and the zombie mushroom is enough visual detail for it to be an effective street wall advertisement.

The Dark Knight Poster 4 (2008)

The Dark Knight poster is highly effective because the joker is writing blood and asking his favourite question and quite from the film “Why so serious?” By writing that on the glass you do not see all of his face thus keeping the actor and face of the character a mystery for those who have not seen a trailer for the film. The poster is at first glance is very menacing, chilling and creepy with the Joker writing blood in that blurred window you question is that his own blood since the blood forms a clownish scarlet smile or is it one of his latest victims.

How are these two posters effective to their audience?

Dead Pixels: Level 7 Poster (2014)

The dead pixels poster is highly effective for advertising the retro games night in the bull head pub because the text used is basic and simple which most arcade games such as Mario are and this is just a notification placed on street corners and walls so its supposed to be easy to read, simple and straight forward. Also as I mentioned earlier I found the zombie mushroom to be a very nice touch to show that a retro character has risen from his grave so to speak which implies that this event is re living those good arcade days from the 80s and 90s.

The Dark Knight Poster 4 (2008)

This teaser poster for the Dark Knight is indeed very effective because it reveals most of the characters psychotic nature with him writing on the window “Why so serious”. The purple coat and quote is enough to hint that this chilling character is the joker, however at the same time keeps the actor and characters face hidden until you see a trailer or the film once released.

References

BLT Communications, LLC (Monday 19^th, January 2009). The Dark Knight (2008). [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.impawards.com/2008/dark_knight_ver4.html. [Last Accessed Monday 29^th, September 2014].
  
IMDb (18^th, July 2008). The Dark Knight. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468569/. [Last Accessed Monday 29th, September 2014].

 Bulls Head (2014). DEAD PIXELS – Retro Gaming Night This Wednesday at BH. [ONLINE] Available at: http://bullsheadmoseley.co.uk/2014/06/23/dead-pixels-retro-gaming-night-this-wednesday-at-bh/. [Last Accessed Monday 29th, September 2014].
 
By Sebastian Jones