The Thee Alex Guide to Poster Design for Dundee Gigs

[kj]

I completely disagree with you there Kenny. I don't know about you but one of the things that catches my eye first is the design of the packaging. It's THE best way to attract people to buying your music if they've never heard it before. So many times I've gone into a shop looking to buy a random CD in an effort to find new music that I might like and the CD packaging is one of the things that attracts me to the CD. I personally wouldn't buy a CD that looked amateurish. If you love your music you'd make sure it was wrapped and presented equally well. That's just my opinion though.

As for typography, it's very important.

[Kenny]

Like I say, good art is a good thing. You won't catch me saying anything different. I'm just saying in a musical context it's clearly not the thing that matters most. There's no way it possibly can be. I love a well packaged record, but if it's a shitty cd-r with felt tip on that contains excellent music I'll probably love it just as much. Besides, in a 'scene' (for want of a better word) where most records are sold online by distros or actually at gigs by the bands, appealing to the casual browser is far less important (so I suppose we're coming at it from different angles).

And in terms of posters, I agree that an eye catching poster can definitely be a useful tool for snaring the otherwise disinterested or unknowing onlooker, but as I say, the moment you put up a really great poster, it gets nicked, and then it's absolutely no use by way of attracting anyone. I'm not trying to say that the posters I churn out are cunningly designed not to be stolen, because they're not, but at least they present the information clearly (and I think describing the bands is pretty crucial if you're doing small gigs) and they're likely to be up for more than a couple of days.

[Dashingmajor]

One of the few pleasures left to a music fan is the purchasing of a beautifully created and thought out package.
I have a great love for musicians that, in this disposable age, are willing to actually 'make' something for the listener.

Like KJ, I've found myself buying an album purely because the art/design of it was the thing that caught my eye. In the same way that I'll often buy a record, just because the sleeve is that much bigger to look at.

Obviously there are folk that would rather just put the music out to as many people as possible, and allowing downloads achieves that admirably.

But for me, a band that spends time designing, and producing album art, has an obvious love for their music, and have thought about who the listeners are, and how they will be listening.

[Curate]

I completely agree. I love a good inlay and good packaging, it really does make the whole thing more...exciting.

The re-issue of the Blue Album has wonderful liner notes and (delving into my past here) the inlay and packaging of The Holy Bible are amazing.

[Thee Alex]

Absolutely agree with KJ - a great sleeve/poster/whatever should be seen as PART of the music, not just a 'pretty picture' to slap on the outside of it.

[Thee Alex]

Originally Posted by Kenny

I'm not trying to say that the posters I churn out are cunningly designed not to be stolen, because they're not, but at least they present the information clearly (and I think describing the bands is pretty crucial if you're doing small gigs) and they're likely to be up for more than a couple of days.

In Dundee the posters are pasted to Council owned boards - they don't get nicked cos they tear if you try to peel them off. Personally I think describing the band on the poster is ugly - people should be intrigued by the poster design and the selection of bands by the event organiser.

[Thebigyin04]

Originally Posted by Thee Alex

I think describing the band on the poster is ugly - people should be intrigued by the poster design and the selection of bands by the event organiser.

I would agree with that , a description of the band takes away any good part of the design of the poster and clutters it up something awful .

I feel the same when it comes to adding myspace links onto posters , its ok if they are small at the bottom , but littered on the poster is not great ... if u want to check how they sound do a search for them .. because barely anyones going to remember and url anywya

[kj]

I think in many ways the poster design can be representative of the music it is promoting. A well thought out poster doesn't need musical descriptions.

[Thee Alex]

Originally Posted by kj

I think in many ways the poster design can be representative of the music it is promoting. A well thought out poster doesn't need musical descriptions.

Completely agree, very few posters on Gigposters.com have descriptions of the bands.

[Rebelius]

I saw a poster in Chamonix last week for a band called "The Noise of the Shit of Noses" - it was just arial font on a white background with all the necessary details - the name was so catchy that I had to google for them when I got home.

They're pretty shit, but they have some nice looking posters on their myspace.

here's a poster for the same gig I saw the totally basic poster for:

[Kenny]

Originally Posted by Thee Alex

In Dundee the posters are pasted to Council owned boards - they don't get nicked cos they tear if you try to peel them off. Personally I think describing the band on the poster is ugly - people should be intrigued by the poster design and the selection of bands by the event organiser.

Lucky Dundee! You're in cloud cuckoo land if you think people will be intrigued by poster design and do the work themselves in Glasgow, though - there's easily half a dozen different 'rock' gigs every single night of the week, people don't need to make that sort of effort, and if you don't give them a reason to think they might like you gig better than their other options (ie, these bands sound like this) then unless they know you as a promoter or the bands involved you're just another random gig.

And KJ, it's a nice idea that the poster design tells you what the gig's like, but absolutely no way in practice, not beyond the very top level - that is, you might be able to tell the difference between an electro or rave night and a rock night, or even a hip hop night, but beyond that, no way. And like I say, when you've got so many gigs going on there's no way that's sufficiently nuanced.

[Thee Alex]

Originally Posted by Kenny

You're in cloud cuckoo land if you think people will be intrigued by poster design and do the work themselves in Glasgow, though

Sorry, but that's absolute bollocks. Whenever I'm in Glasgow the 13th Note is plastered in well drawn/designed posters that don't have descriptions of the bands on them.

Here are a small selection of mine that have resulted in packed gigs in Glasgow









....and I'm far from unusual when it comes to poster making in Glasgow, I've seen tonnes of great posters by other artists.

Sounds to me like you're just making excuses for your shit posters.

[Kenny]

It's definitely not bollocks. People do not see a nice poster and then, not knowing promoter or bands, go and research them, especially when there's not even a web address to follow up.

And I'm certainly not making excuses for my crap posters, which I described as unashamedly crap in my first post in this thread. I'm explaining my experience of putting on gigs in Glasgow. Sounds to me like this is just an exercise in oneupmanship for you. You can draw and I can't, but given that I acknowledge this and amn't overly gutted by the fact, it seems like a bit of a waste of time to carry on going "Me me me, look at me and my posters!"