1. HOW DO PRINTED TEXTS ENGAGE
THEIR AUDIENCE?
CASE STUDY ONE – THE STONE ROSES ‘THE STONE ROSES’
2. THE STONE ROSES – ‘THE STONE ROSES’
• The Stone Roses were a band from Manchester formed in 1983
• They created music of the alternative rock genre and contributed to the ‘Madchester’ movement in the music industry. Then developed
by Oasis in the 1990’s
• The band consists of Ian Brown, John Squire, Alan Wren and Aziz Ibrahim
• One of their most famous gigs was a festival named ‘Spike Island’. The concert was never fully recorded yet it is considered one of the
greatest concerts in the UK to date. They didn’t want to follow in anyone's footsteps and aspired to do something out of rock ‘n’ roll
norm. They further titled the concert the ‘gathering of the tribes’.
• The self titled album ‘Stone Roses’ is considered still one of the greatest albums of all time, alongside how the album cover is
considered one of the greatest too
• Other albums include ‘Second coming’ and ‘The very best of the Stone Roses’ with tracks such as ‘I wanna be adored’ and ‘Bye Bye
Badman’ being most popular
3. COVER
• This album cover was influenced by the Paris riots of 1968. The painting is titles ‘Bye Bye Badman’
and is also influence for the song with the same title. This infers how the music of the Stone Roses
is rather patriotic, Enhanced by the red, white and blue streaks across the left side of the painting.
Although the Stone Roses were British, the use of the French Flag widens their audience and
appeals to other countries. It could also show how their motive in music is to give their audiences
hope and focus more on the meaning of the songs – generating an identity through this.
• The lemons on the cover are significant in that Ian Brown and John Squire discovered in a
documentary that in the Paris riots, lemons were used as an antidote to tear gas. This is an
intertextual reference in the sense that it links to something else, yet it also acts as inspiration for
the bands enigma. The use of these lemons further infers a sense of protection by the less
obvious things. Which, could link to how their music although may not seem influential or useful, is
clearly something that is valuable to the audience.
• In terms of how the lemons are presented, there are three. This conforms to the composition point
of using odds – therefore, appealing t the eye of the audience and making the cover more
effective. Additionally, the way that one of the slices replaces the O in ‘Roses’ could infer that the
story of the Paris Riots is rather significant to them and made them who they are as a band. This
overall develops their identity. Furthermore, the way that they have been influenced by an event in
history could place them no higher or lower than the audience, which is more effective in the
aspect that their music can be identified with more.
• The font used is very bold and blocky, this could suggest that the band had a strong message to
put across. As well as this, it is centralised which could infer that there is a significance about them
• The design style is similar to the abstract style. Mainly the initial phases of the style before
geometry became popular. Abstract art was influenced by expression and influence which is
extremely suited to the story behind this album cover and the inferences that can be made.
4. ADVERT
• The white circles are designed to symbolise badges or pins, which are commonly collected to
recollect memories of places or express your interests. This links to how the Stone Roses are
identified with their influences, examples being the Paris riots, which shows how they represent a
lot in the music industry. Additionally, the way that the ratings are in these ‘badge-like’ circles
connotes that the positive feedback from their audiences have been incredibly beneficial in making
them who they are.
• The use of the ‘Bye Bye Badman’ art in this poster demonstrates the significance and fame of their
self titled album. The lack of artist/band shots aren’t necessary as their most recognisable attribute
is their music and style. This challenges how artist shots are a usual requirement to create a
strong identity and recognisability.
• The use of the catch line at the bottom of the advert is very effective. The term ‘Re-Discovered’
could infer that the album was valuable and significant at the time and he's been missing in the
music industry up until now. Furthermore, it could connote that the music of the Stone Roses is
necessary in some aspects. Overall, promoting the music in a powerful way.
• The colours used are consistent and recognisable in comparison to the album itself. This benefits
the audience as, considering this ad was released 20 years after the albums release, the audience
at the time would easily recognise it. As well as this, the colours are closely related to the Stone
Roses which will make the band widely recognisable even to those who are unfamiliar with them
• A similar advert is this one for the AM album of the Arctic Monkeys. Challenging the
same convention as the Stone Roses. The Arctic Monkeys are another well known
band and at the time of the advert publishing, had a very long anticipated album
waiting to be released. This means that their audience was aware of the band
members and already had an identity to their faces. Yet, the lack of band shots in
this advert, as well as the lack in the actual album could connote a sense of
mystery, developing an identity which involves calmness and a slick appeal. Lining
to that of the Stone Roses, the idea of mystery could be applied here to yet
regarding a slick appeal and calmness, it could be said that the art and colours
used, unlike the AM ad, creates a more manic ad wreck less identity.
5. CONCLUSION
• To summarise, the Stone Roses album cover and advert celebrating the 20 year anniversary of its release prove very effective. The consistency of design
adds to the recognisability of the band. As well as this, the meaning and influence behind not only the band, but the album cover alone gives a strong
platform for inference and interpretation which the audience can look into. The design style is very eye catching and beneficial of he bands identity, in terms
of providing a bricolage identity to the audience and therefore aiming to inspire them to perform in the same way.
• In my own work, I would find inspiration from using factual events to inspire my design yet I would not directly quote it. As well as this, I will use a more lean
sans serif font to create a more insecure/elegant identity yet maintain the bold impact of the font style. Furthermore, the overall abstract design style is, in my
eyes, very suitable for the identity which I am trying to create. Mainly in the sense that I can use it as a way to express ideas and emotions without
prioritising artist shots of faces. Lastly, the lemon motif used by the Stone Roses, and how something so simple has become an iconic and recognisable
aspect of the band can apply to my use of the newtons cradle in my music video.
