Print brief research and planning

 Research tasks:
1)  Billboard poster research:

Look at the following billboard poster:

Now answer the following questions based on the poster above: 

1. What historical moment in pop music does this documentary focus on, and why might that moment be significant for audiences interested in music history? 
It was to raise funds for starving children in Africa. It could be interesting because it represents the impact music has a an industry and a community globally.

2. How might the poster imagery communicate the era of the music being explored (e.g., 1980s)?
The editing style is very humanistic cartoon/ art-ish like which was very prominent in the 80's so it accurately represents.

3. Who would be the target audience for this documentary and why?

Gen X, Millennial and whoever has a deep interest in the music  industry because that was their generation and they will probably have a nostalgic feeling.

4. What visual codes (e.g., typeface, colour, style of photograph) would you expect on the poster to reflect the documentary’s focus on classic pop music history?

Typography and/or imagery of 80's artists. Common colour schemes that was popular int he 80's. 80's poster conventions such as floating heads etc.

5. How could promotional text emphasise both nostalgia and relevance to a modern audience?

This Is Pop on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81050786
(This Is Pop is a documentary series exploring different influences and trends in pop music.) 

Watch the following trailer for the documentary series: 

Now answer the following questions based on the trailer: 

1. What themes and topics does This Is Pop explore based on its episode description (e.g., Auto-Tune, boy bands, festival culture)? 
 Back story, dreams/ aspirations

2. How might a billboard poster visually represent multiple facets of pop music history covered in this series?
Through different nostalgic conventions 

3. This Is Pop is a series rather than a single documentary film—how might its poster need to differ in design from a single-film poster to communicate that?
A range of images like a collag

4. What aspects of pop culture history might appeal to older audiences versus younger audiences?

Older: Older famous artists

Younger: Newer trends

5. What visual elements could ensure the poster suggests that this isn’t just entertainment, but a music documentary with depth and exploration?
These two IMDb image links point to stills or frames from the same documentary series (This Is Pop.)

Verbal codes of the interviewer's names and co-production companies

Compare the two different images from this series:

1. What different visual messages do they convey about pop music?

1) Is mainly popular bands/ mainstream artists which connotes that that era was the most popular era for music.

2) Unknown/ unpopular faces and it is in black and white which shows the decade it is focusing on and represent the popularity.

2. How do these images reflect the diversity within pop music culture (different genres, artists, eras)?

Shows the different race/ ethnicities and artists that specialise in different genres which represents how music isn't and exclusive art form but can be loved and shared in a variety of ways.

3. What emotions or associations do the images try to evoke in the viewer?

Nostalgia or global events such as the sexual revolution (60s)

4. If you were to extract design cues (pose, colour palette, style) from these stills for your billboard posters, what would you take and why?

I would take the floating heads/ half body aspect of it because it replicates a billboard more accurately in my opinion. 

5. How do the images relate to your understanding of representation and media language in music documentaries?

Music documentaries are about variety and wide understanding not just specific individual promotion.

2) Billboard Poster Research (Era Focus)

You must research THREE professional billboard or large-format posters, one from each era:

1. 1980s or 1990s pop artist promotion

 
 

2. 2000s or 2010s pop artist promotion

 
 

3. Contemporary (2018–present) pop artist promotion

 
 

These may include:

• Tour posters
• Album or single promotions
• Music documentaries
• Streaming platform music content (e.g. Netflix, Apple TV)

Choose artists that are clearly representative of each era.

3) Media Language Analysis 

For each billboard poster, analyse how visual design communicates meaning and appeals to its audience.

You should analyse:

• Layout & composition
  (scale, hierarchy, central image, simplicity for roadside viewing)

80's or 90's:

1.  The main singer is the biggest visual along with the band name 'Rolling stones'. This is what's meant to catch the eye. 'Film Concert' being the next biggest font and in the centre promotes the reason behind the billboard and advertisement.
2.  'Specials' being the boldest verbal code as well as having the biggest typography it is simple advertising the feel of the new album as well as the band it self. 
3.  Collage of various popular bands. No central image just shows wide range and representation, represents the popularity of music in the last 20th century.

2000's or 2010's:

1.  No central image, shows popularity scale of the early 21st century. Represents the rise in artists in this era
2.  Just the individual artist as the main image, the main advertisement/ product. In smaller writing below is the list of songs that are in the new album, promotes the album and the artist.
3.  Amy Winehouse as the largest/ main central image, title in bottom centre- shows the popularity of the artist and that song/ album, only needing a face to promote the film.

Contemporary:

1.  Recent artist popularity, shows the genre change from the earlier decades to now.
2.  The artists are the largest image and cover most of the frame (middle and left) and are behind a crow silhouette. The title is to the right. We read from left to right so the artists are meant to catch our eyes first then the typography is meant to inform us after. 
3. Bruno as the main and centre image along with nothing else, despite now being part of a group - he is the catch. His name and tour at the top also alone represents his popularity and how he needs minimal advertisement to promote his tour and album.

• Typography
  (font style, size, era connotations, readability)

80's or 90's:

1.  Typical fancy font for the 80's also is identified specifically with that band.
2.  Bold and in a simple colour typically represents the 80's 
3.  Fancy/ cursive bold typography even in the smaller writings, represents the 80's

2000's or 2010's:

1.  Bold simple serif writing shows the modern era
2.  Font is identified with the artist and the genre the artist performs in
3.  Simple modern font - very common

Contemporary:

1.  Simple serif font to just rely artist names. 'Top artists' being the largest font to catch readers eye and inform purpose of the billboard
2.  Font is bold but varies slightly across the billboard, keeps the attention of the reader
3. The font change for 'The Romantic Tour' represents the vib eof the album rather than the artist or the era.

• Colour palette
  (neon, muted, monochrome, saturation and era signifiers)

80's or 90's:

1.  Monochrome colour scheme
2.  Black and white
3.  Contrasting colours all over - represents the 80's era

2000's or 2010's:

1.  Same colour pallet as the billboard brand uses
2.  Pink and black represents the artist themselves and their individual brand
3.  Gold and black colour scheme represents the value the artist held when she was alive

Contemporary:

1.  Identifiable colour scheme for the brand
2.  Blue and black for a dark and subtle back ground as well as symbolising the area and lighting that will occur. Gold being the brightest and behind the artists shows their value and and they are the main event.
3. Grey and white for subtleness whilst the bold red contrasts it and catches viewers eyes immediately.

• Imagery
  (pose, gaze, styling, realism vs performance)

80's or 90's:

1.  Aggressive preformative pose- rock n roll
2.  Simple drawing/ shadow outline of a man
3. Overwhelming amount of images

2000's or 2010's:

1.  Straight forward representation of artists
2.  Bland background and saluting pose from the artist- no performance.
3. Very preformative with the mic prop

Contemporary:

1.  Straightforward representation of artists
2.  Chaotic and filled with artists and people- represents how large the event will be
3. Basic imagery, just the artist and his tour.

Branding

• (logos, streaming platforms, consistency)

80's or 90's:

1.  Date and location of concert
2.  Record company of album
3.  No individual branding

2000's or 2010's:

1.  'Billboard' in the top left corner, showing the brand and producer of the list
2.  Album name and artist name
3. No logo, just movie name to promote the film

Contemporary:

1.  'Billboard in the top left corner, showing the brand/ producer of the list
2.  Hulu in Bold and it's main identifiable colour (green) which represent popularity of the brand
3. Artist name is the branding

Then, explain how these choices reflect the era of pop music being represented.

4) Representation and Era identity

Explain how each poster represents:

• The artist

80's or 90's:

1.  Font, costume and facial expression/ reaction is identifiable to the artist and genre
2.  The specials is calm and relaxing so their poster/ album cover matched their 'feel' and genre as well
3.  Reflects the genre

2000's or 2010's:

1.  Shows most popular artists at the time
2.  Represents their genre and audience attraction
3. Represents the impact The artist had on their generation/ fan base

Contemporary:

1.  Shows most popular artists of the time
2.  Promotes the artist's and creates a wider audience
3. Shows the popularity of the artist among audiences

• The music culture of the era

80's or 90's:

1.  Music with prominent instruments were loved
2.  Music with a distinct style (against postmodernism)
3.  Heavy instruments were loved

2000's or 2010's:

1.  popularity contest - music is apart of the culture now
2.  Promotion is very artist specific, to identify the subculture of the audience
3. Music artists are always remembered for their great work

Contemporary:

1.  Music is a popularity contest
2.  Music brings people together
3. Music is global/ world wide - shows the postmodern era

• Attitudes to fame, performance, and identity

80's or 90's:

1.  Identity is very distinct for artists in this era
2.  Promotion is very simplistic and straight forward - specific ot artists and no references
3.  Fame, identity and performance is very bold

2000's or 2010's:

1.  Fame is where artists get their identity
2.  Artist identity is strongly presented in the format and decisions of posters/ adverts.
3. Fame is very high because of artist's performance and individualism/ uniqueness

Contemporary:

1.  Fame and popularity is measured
2.  Performance is what captures the audience
3. Artists going on tours have become an expectation in this era as well as 'fighting' for tickets to see artists perform

Consider:

• Fashion and styling

• Gender representation

• Star image

• Youth culture vs nostalgia

• Authenticity vs commercialisation

Apply at least one theory, such as:

• Stuart Hall – Representation

• Postmodernism (nostalgia, pastiche, remixing eras)

5) Audience appeal

For each era-based poster, explain:

• Who the primary audience is

80's or 90's:

1.  Alternative and/or rock n roll lovers
2.  Jazz lovers, elder people - because it is calm and simple just like jazz
3.  Hard/ aggressive music people. Older generation

2000's or 2010's:

1. Millennial/ explorers & aspirers: to stay up to date
2.  Punk rock lovers, younger generation: That's the genre of this artist, younger generation is more accepting of alternative lifestyles
3. Whoever is a fan of Amy winehouse and music lovers of her generation: she was popular in a specific era.

Contemporary:

1.  Younger generation, explorers and aspirers and mainstream audiences
2.  People deep into music culture - explorers as well
3. Bruno Mars fans, as well as Leon thomas fans etc

• How it may also appeal to other age groups

80's or 90's:

1.  Bold and eye catching- gets the attention of younger generations
2.  Boring and unappealing to younger generations - nothing to it
3.  Overwhelming, too much going on

2000's or 2010's:

1.  Older generation may find it pointless as there is no direct promotion of each artist
2.  Older generation may find it inappropriate - because the subversion of masculine stereotypes
3. May appeal to all generations - because of artist age, era and genre of music

Contemporary:

1.  Older generation may find it pointless as there is no direct promotion of each artist
2.  Appeals to multiple generations as it is an event that promotes 50 years of music
3. Appeals to a younger generation because of the era each promoted artist 'peaked' in.

• How nostalgia is used to attract older audiences

80's or 90's:

1.  Shows the era the artists were greatest in
2.  Album with meaningful lyrics and representation
3.  Wide representation of popular bands and music in the era

2000's or 2010's:

1.  Older artists are still relevant and popular today
2.  N/A
3. Goes through her life also giving representation of the era

Contemporary:

1.  N/A
2.  Shows music performers of songs in the past 50 years which is a wide range
3. N/A

• How modern design elements attract younger audiences

80's or 90's:

1.  N/A
2.  N/A
3.  N/A

2000's or 2010's:

1.  Bold vibrant colours - eye catching
2.  Unconventional font - eye catching
3. Eye catching make up and bold background

Contemporary:

1.  Bold and eye catching colours as well as layout
2.  Bold and dramatic design and representation of multiple genres
3. Popular music artist of younger generation.

Link this directly to the documentary’s aim to appeal to “people of all ages interested in pop music.”

6) Streaming services and industry conventions

Research how streaming services (e.g. Netflix) promote music documentaries.

Analyse:

• Common visual conventions (minimal text, strong imagery)

80's or 90's:

1.  Not wordy, straight forward
2.  Not wordy at all and straight forward
3.  Bold titles, bold contrasting colours

2000's or 2010's:

1.  Bold title
2.  Unconventional fonts, main/ strong imagery
3. Strong/ bold main title

Contemporary:

1.  Bold title
2.  Strong imagery
3. Bold title

• Use of logos and release dates

80's or 90's:

1.  Just under the event name
2.  Announcing where the album is available
3.  N/A

2000's or 2010's:

1.  Logo to make it known it is an official list
2.  Promoting record label
3. N/A

Contemporary:

1.  Logo to make it know it is an official list
2.  Announcing where the fair will be available to watch
3. No streaming services mentioned

• How platforms communicate where and how to watch

80's or 90's:

1.  N/a
2.  Verbal codes - bold writing
3.  N/A

2000's or 2010's:

1.  N/A
2.  Date and location
3. N/A

Contemporary:

1.  N/A
2.  Typography
3. Typography

• How global audiences affect design choices

80's or 90's:

1.  n/a
2.  n/a
3.  Different language

2000's or 2010's:

1.  Global artists being promoted
2.  Global tours
3. Digital convergence

Contemporary:

1.  Global artists being promoted
2.  Digital convergence
3. Global tours

You may refer to:

• Netflix documentary posters

• Online promotional materials

• Billboard adaptations of streaming campaigns

7) Application to your coursework

This section must directly link your research to your final production.

Answer the following:

• How will each era influence the design of your three billboards?

The font, Actor facial expressions, The colour schemes

• What visual codes will you use to differentiate eras?

Colours, font type, costume

• How will you maintain brand consistency across all three posters?

Keep the same logo and the same title

• How will you promote your band from Task One as contemporary pop?

Font, Intertextual references (postmodernism), Costumes

• What design skills do you need to develop before production?

Digital art skills.

Planning and sketching

1) Plan the content for your first billboard poster:

• Title of the documentary film (must be NEW original mainstream music magazine you have invented):

Behind the chorus

• Name of streaming service the documentary will feature on

Netflix

• Original image (the band you promoted for one of your TikTok music videos)
• Release date of the documentary

June 29th 2026 (29/06/2026)

• Ways your billboard poster will represent the contemporary pop era

1. Font will be identifiable with band
2. Costumes of the band members
3. Colour scheme of the billboard

• Font style / colour scheme, additional design aspects:

Font:

1. 90s:
2. 2010s:
3. Now: 

Colour scheme: 

1. 90s: Warm deep colours
2. 2010's: Pink, red, blue, black, white, green - all bright and bold
3. Now: White or black background

2) Plan the three images you will use for the billboard posters - use the elements of mise-en-scene (CLAMPS). One image has to be the band you promoted in one of your TikTok music videos required to meet the minimum content in the brief.

3) Research and select the font or typography you will use for your billboard posters. This is a critical element of your print work - the brief requires a consistent house style running through all of your pages. 

 

4) Produce A4 sketches of your billboard poster designs and scan it/upload a picture to your blog.

 

5) Finally, create the pages in Adobe Photoshop or InDesign so you have the documents ready to go in terms of adding your text and images. This will need to include:

• A3 landscape 

 

Photoshoot

1) Who do you need to photograph for your billboard posters? Remember, you need three original images across the whole print production. 

Raagni  (10's and contemporary)               Laiyla  (90's and 10's)

Janice  (10's and contemporary)                Sophia (90's)

Olivia   (10's)                                              Aysha (90's)

Antonia (10's and contemporary)

Zaara (10's)

Elana (10's)

2) What camera shots do you need? Write a shot list or draw a storyboard for your photo shoots. Make sure you plan a variety of camera shots you will look to capture - medium shots, close-ups etc.

Medium Long shots

Medium/ Mid shots

Long shots

3) Plan the mise-en-scene. What costume, props or make-up will you require for your photoshoots?

• 90's:

C - 90's style: tight tops, dramatic looks

L - Low-key lighting & filler lights

A - Serious/ resting faces

M - Full make-up faces

P - Drums & Microphone 

S - Camera/ photoshoot room

• 2010's:

C- N/A, will be a silhouette 

L - N/A, will be a silhouette 

A - Dance move, performance stance

M - N/A

P - Guitar, ipods, headphones

S - Camera/ photoshoot 

• Contemporary/ Now:

C -

L - High-key lighting 

A - playful

M - personalised make-up look

P - guitar, microphone

S - camera/ photoshoot room

4) Finally, note down the time and date for your photoshoots. This may be inside or outside school (or a combination of both). You will have Media lesson time for this after the mock exams.

Location: School/ F-block, Home

Date: 06/02/2026, 05/02/2026, 

Time:

Statement of Intent

1) Once you have completed your print research and planning, go back to your statement of intent and make sure you have included the print brief in your final draft. Then, submit the final draft statement of intent to your teacher. The due date for this will be confirmed by your coursework teacher.

Use your Media coursework lessons to complete these planning tasks - homework time should be exclusively to revise for mocks.