Focus Group Research Five: 'Klaxons - Surfing The Void' Album Advert

1. Works well in this album advertisement?

• Very unconventional image of a cat in an astronaut costume; this could be related to the album title 'Surfing The Void' as the 'Void' may be meant as anything the target audience wishes it to be and the cat is just one possibility. This choice of "random" use of mid shot image would appeal to fan's of the band as the 'Klaxons' music is quite unconventional and is almost psychedelic and so the image fits the band's musical and visual style.  
• The typography of the band name 'KLAXONS' is written in an archaic font style (possibly anglo saxon). Also, this choice font is a continuation of the band's name on the previous album which helps to form a sort of brand identity; this further allows the band's albums to be easily identified by the teenage target audience. 
• There is use of an effective colour scheme as the bright yellow in the terminal optical area of the page is eye-catching and stands out from the album advertisement.
• The use of the cat dressed in an orange astronaut costume is effective as it is not something the teenage target audience will see every day on an album cover. This is possibly the appeal of the band as they use random, thought provoking visuals to compliment their unconventional musical style. 
• There is a one line critical review at the bottom of the page from an established music magazine industry; NME. This is conventional of most album advertisements that feature in music magazines as they allow the teenage target audience reader to make a judgement about the appeal of the album through a review from an established industrial music magazine as the reader is aware of the style of music the magazine advertises and whether it will be appealing to them. The choice of informal, colloquial language further relates the album advertisement to it's teenage target audience; "comeback, anticipated & pop" are all used to ultimately sell the album to the teenage target audience who are knowledgeable of the music industry. 
• The phrase, "Out Now" is also employed to allow the teenage target audience reader to be aware that they can now purchase the album and is a conventional feature of all album advertisements in visual and print media to establish a release date. 

2. What does not work well?

• If the teenage target audience reader were unaware of the band's style then the use of image on the album advert would not make any sense to the reader which would cause a loss of appeal. However, as the album advertisement is printed in a well established music magazine (Q), the teenage reader are most probably familiar with the band and their musical and visual style. 
• A lack of information to promote the physical release of the album as it does not detail any of the tracks featured on the album. 
• The composition of the album advertisement is quite unconventional of most layouts as the mid shot image of the album is taking up three quarters of the advert. This compromises the significance of the band itself and the album title as usually the name of the band is placed in the primary optical area of the page in the centre and is the first feature seen on the advert which is more typical and enables the reader to identify with which band's album they are reading about. 

3. Does it make you want to buy the album?

• No as it doesn't really advertise the album concept or the tracks featured, however the use of a cool, funky poster may attract some musically intelligible teenage readers who are keen to find out bout genre breaking new music.