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How is print media used to promote an artist? 

9th September 2015

Beyoncé is an artist who appeals to a wide target audience due to her aspiring nature and outlook on life. In this flyer which is promoting her ‘Mrs Carter World Tour’, Beyoncé is captured in a mid-shot which shows the top of her thighs and above. This shows off some of her most known features and this would appeal to her mass target audience. Beyoncé is wearing a gold bodice which is covered in gold and red sequins and jewels. The red and gold colours typically connote royalty and sophistication as well as the red being quite sultry and sexualised. The bodice also looks perfectly positioned and detailed which reiterates the perfection which her fans feel she has. She is also wearing a number of pearl necklaces around her neck which again emphasise the sophistication of Beyoncé and connotes royalty, emphasised by the term, Queen B. She is renowned for being a diva and her sophistication amplifies this. Beyoncé takes up the centre of the flyer and the use of blocking her like this highlights her importance and shows that she is the star of the show and everyone will be going to watch her. Beyoncé is also not looking down the lens and is looking slightly to the left (right for the audience) and this creates a lack of personal connection between the audience and the artist. She is also holding a jewelled wand which looks like a prop which may be commonly associated with the Queen at specific occasions. This amplifies the Queen B demeanour and this supports Richard Dyer’s star theory because Beyoncé is being presented as an image and not a real person. As a star she

has successfully maintained her Diva image and this is different to Mariah Carey who commonly gets verbally attacked for being a diva. Beyoncé is still presented as down to earth, regardless of being a diva, whereas Mariah Carey is presented as stuck up and snooty as well as being a diva. Beyoncé has managed to maintain a good mix between the two mediums.  Her hair is also in an up-do and has a crown at the front of the design. It is tilting slightly to the right (left for the audience) and this suggests that even though she is acting like royalty, she isn’t stereotypically Queen like and isn’t perfect even though everybody thinks she is. Beyonce’s make-up is also flawless giving the impression that she has the perfect skin that all men and women desire. Her lower forehead and inner cheeks are highlighted to draw attention to these areas and emphasise the surrounding facial features, including her red lips which adds to the sexualised image she is being portrayed in. Her rosy red cheeks also adds to this image, and makes her look flustered which again reiterates the sexualised image. This therefore supports Richard Dyer’s star theory because he states that stars are just products which are produced to intrigue and attract an audience. The line of vision is well used on the flyer because ‘Beyonce’ appears right at the top, the mid shot im age of her is then central and consumes around half of the page. There is then additional information at the bottom of the flyer and use of the line of vision allows the audience to identify the information quickly. The high key lighting additionally creates a positive image for the audience and therefore suggests that Beyonce is an upbeat artist who plans on entertaining her audience. The gold and fur surroundings also promote wealth and supports’ her diva like demeanour. The serif font is continuous throughout the flyer and the top half of the flyer consists of black coloured font, whereas the bottom is white. The top half stand out as the most important and this is because it’s the first part the audience sees and is required to be eye catching. The black serif title at the top consumes around 1/5 of the page and the second element of the serif text tells the audience what the flyer is promoting. The colour black connotes power, elegance and mystery which are three connotations which apply to Beyonce. Contrastingly, the text at the bottom is written in a much small white serif font which doesn’t stand out as much as the black text. The colour white connotes goodness, innocence and purity which is a contrasting connotation to the black which suggests that Beyonce has two different personalities on stage; one being raunchy and the other being more wholesome and innocent. The high key lighting also highlights Beyonce’s features and presents her as glowing and radiant which is a positive image and encourages her audience to come and see her show. The positioning also fits in with the line of vision which is the automatic way a person looks at an advertising product.

 

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