Whyte Avenue

Whyte Ave is the center of night life and activity for young people in search of a good time with friends, drinks and music. In an area of large crowds looking for entertainment, bands are advertised through posters that appeal to the 18-30 year old social groups in attempt to attract people to their venues. This busy street is the perfect outlet for hosting entertainment, advertising bands and having concerts take place.

Band advertisements are directed at people out and about looking for a place to go or event to attend. The majority of posters are displayed in high traffic areas where people are going in and out of trendy clothing shops, music stores, bar and restaurants will notice them and be interested in the band. Street posts on the avenue corners also display layers of posters and function as sites where people find out about the hottest shows or newest talent coming to Edmonton. Most posters are advertising local bands in smaller venues where people can hear and learn to recognize bands.

Bright colors, scantily clothed females, outrageous images and bold print characterise the posters advertising bands. Semiotics as a principal practice of looking describes how images call out and capture the gaze of a viewer. Advertisements for bands are a prime example of such practices of looking. These posters demonstrate how loud, detailed, interesting designs and colourful images attract the gaze, and furthermore the attention, of passerbyers. The symbols and signs on these posters convey meaning about what type of music the band plays and the genre they represent. Outrageous images may portray rock concerts where people expect a certain loud music, heavy drinking, and wild behaviour environment. The denotative images and colors used on band posters contribute to the connotative meaning of the message the band is delivering to the fans and viewers.

University of Alberta & Wrap Up

Each environment we looked at held variety. There wasn't a specific corner where certain messages would get conveyed and others wouldn't. Bands generally seemed to advertise in the same way when postering: often and in plain sight.

At the University of Alberta, there are a few places where bands tend to place their posters: The gigantic wall outside of SUB and the general posting boards in CEB, CAB and Tory.

What we've noticed is that there are ads for all sorts of shows. Blues guitar, hardcore shows, DJ sets at clubs, classical music showcases and recitals all share the same wall. Larger shows are awarded quite a bit of space, and we guess it must be due to the Ticketmaster kiosk in SUB. That way, when the tired and hungry masses stumble groggily into SUB in the mornings, they can see an ad, walk to the Infolink booth and buy a ticket.

The trends remain the same, largely due to the fact that all of the posters can be found on Whyte or Jasper. The University does have an advantage, frequency-wise, when it comes to smaller pub show advertisements and performances within the realm of high culture.

In short, Edmonton's local bands show patterns when advertising their events. Posters with specific imagery begin to trigger genre recognition. Style of poster creation is significant in speaking to the codes that could potentially be encoded by passersby. For smaller collectives, like Clean Up Your Act Productions, style also becomes a signature. Stark black and white images may mean the band is conveying a minimalist, Get-In-The-Van-type message, or that a local Twee collective didn't have enough money to print.

Spending as little as a few moments glancing at some of the posters in a kiosk or on a pole gives us insight as to what images are best associated with a type of band or band in general; images are meant to be odd, revolting, arousing, hilarious, ethereal...

When bands advertise, they go for memorable imagery that makes their paper investment worth their while.