The General Layout of Jasper

The internet may make spreading the news about an event easier but with so many bands sprouting up it isn’t hard to get lost in the murky MySpace ether. Postering is a great method of reaching an audience (and if bands / promo teams know where to go, the audience) as we are accustomed to being bombarded with advertisements and logos everyday in our cityscape.

There is definitely a hierarchy to postering. Not all posters are made equal: some are large, some small; some in color, some in simple black ink; some include artwork, some have pictures of the band.

Around Jasper Avenue, the rule of thumb seems to be that bands with big label backing have bigger posters in full (and mesmerizing!) colour whereas smaller bands are more likely to have smaller posters. Simple economics! Some notable sights include techno/dj based bands/artists/collectives with small posters in full colour and bands that effortlessly fit in the Alternative Rock, Pop Punk or Metal genres tended to have greyscale band promotional shots incorporated into their average/small posters, whereas bigger acts had a mixture of album art and promotional shots in full colour. Examples:

Bands with the money can get enough copies of posters out to repeat their message with the hopes of making a mark on passersby. The most prevalent poster was most definitely DJ Colleen Shannon, often appearing in sequences of two or three all over Jasper Avenue and the University. In the photograph, she is staring towards the viewer, using what Sturken and Cartwright call conventions of “the personal” (p.51). Multiply this by three and add the fact that the ads are in colour and she happens to be a Playboy representative in a bodysuit and we find that the image has interpellated us somehow.

Posters didn’t seem to fight for any type of line of sight, and appeared in any crack or crevice afforded to them by the City.

The City of Edmonton’s website offers up a nice search tool that gave me the bylaw results from Pigeon Maintenance and Care to Postering.

According to Bylaw C2202, Section 16:

"Your poster may be placed in an area designated by the City for that purpose, for example, kiosks. ... Unless you have permission from the City ... a $100 fine may be issued.”

o According to Bylaw C5590, Section 64:

(1)A person shall not place, cause or permit to be placed any poster, handbill or other similar item on any:

• (a) decorative street light pole;
• (b) traffic control device; or
• (c) item of street furniture.

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.