Poster power .sx Image and information are what your band need to promote , and the best solution may often be a poster .sx But what makes a good one ?sx Steve Xerri draws on his experiences .sx FEW BANDS that take their music seriously would step on to a stage and play a set that was drastically under - rehearsed .sx And as for appearing in public without the correct style of trousers and/or haircut - perish the thought !sx But all too often the concern for presentation doesn't extend to publicity material .sx You see gigs announced in wonky felt-tip on grotty scraps of paper - hardly calculated to catch the eye of any passer-by , let alone put across an impressive band - image .sx The obvious excuses for this state of affairs are that printing is expensive and that musicians aren't necessarily good at drawing and lettering .sx But if feeble posters are letting your band down , the good news is that you can quickly achieve great improvements without taking a graphics course at night - school , or diverting too much kitty-money from important costs like strings and hair-gel .sx CUT IT OUT .sx A point worth making at the outset is that keeping things simple often works best ; not just because it's easier to do , but because your poster will still be legible from a distance , whereas intricate designs frequently look cluttered and distracting .sx You don't need complexity to make your work look professional :sx a quick glance at the record company fly-posters that appear in most towns will show you that big , bold and blocky designs are favoured because they drive their message home with a great deal more punch .sx You will probably be thinking of smaller-scale posters :sx A4 ( normal magazine size ) , or possibly A3 ( Making Music size ) for use on pub or college notice-boards .sx Whatever the dimensions - and you may later want to design artwork for badges , demo - cassette inlays , even record sleeves or t-shirts - the problems and solutions will be the same .sx Take the question of lettering :sx in order to present your information authoritatively you should steer clear of handwriting because , even if your script doesn't resemble the tracks of the archetypal dying spider , it can't really rival the clean look of print .sx But if typesetting costs a packet , and even good old Letraset-style sheets come a bit pricey in the bigger sizes :sx then you have to rub it down very carefully to prevent naff cracks and tears ( and tears) .sx There are two ways round this difficulty :sx the first is to emphasise scruffiness , make a style feature of it .sx You don't have to go so far as punk's ripped-newsprint graphics , but you can get a nicely informal look from combining letters in different typefaces , snipped from magazines .sx Dead cheap , too .sx If you don't sit your letters on a straight line , exaggerate the effect enough to let your reader known it's deliberate .sx If your image demands a smoother touch , the second method may be for you .sx This simply involves blowing up type - written information on a photocopier ( if you've got access to a decent word processor to provide the text , so much the better ) , and re-pasting it on your artwork .sx You'll need a copier that can handle large areas of black without fogging , or your full , bold capitals will appear as hollow outlines ; most modern machines used in copy-shops are up to the task .sx Just keep repeating the enlargement , in sections if need be ( most copiers can't enlarge more than double ) , till you are satisfied .sx This process may reveal blemishes that weren't apparent when the letters were small :sx this effect can be pleasing in itself , creating a more personalised typeface .sx But if you can't live with it , corrections can be made using black ink and tippex or white acrylic paint , or by trimming and re-mounting individual letters .sx It's a good idea to make several copies of the final enlargement , both for future use and in case your touching-up goes wrong .sx SPLASH IT ON .sx When it comes to laying out your poster , you will probably find that a plain background sets the lettering off best , but you needn't stick to white - go for blocks of grey ( making sure there's enough contrast with your letters ) , or even use white letters on black paper .sx Try out different arrangements until your eye tells you what looks best :sx eccentric layouts are generally obstructive - if in doubt , put the band's name big at the top of the page , with all other information along the bottom and an attention-grabbing picture sandwiched between .sx Don't cram too many words on a line , go easy on fussy borders and underlinings , and make sure the lettering takes up a good proportion of the page .sx Using double-sided repositionable Sellotape ( from your local stationer ) allows you to revise your opinion before you go for the final format .sx If you really want to be clever , get the copy-shop to print your design elements on to clear acetate ( about 50p per A4 sheet ) , then you can re-use them later in different configurations and on new backgrounds .sx Once you've got the hang of lettering , you'll probably want to add impact to your posters by using an illustration of some kind :sx here again the photocopier liberates you since you can produce very impressive images without needing to be able to draw or even use tracing paper .sx Choose strongly-contrasted pictures for the best results , remembering that coloured ones may look sludgy in black-and-white .sx Photos , unfortunately , can present a problem because they tend to contain a lot of middle tones that will unfortunately reproduce as muddy grey .sx But there are plenty of other sources for arresting images - newspapers , magazines , old books ( especially those containing engravings , which photo - copy really crisply ) , bits of your own doodling , and even the print-out from a computer .sx Spend some time browsing in the oversize books section of your local library , and check the secondhand bookshops for old scientific or medical manuals - always good for a line-drawing or two .sx The beauty of this method is that you don't have to scissor up precious originals , and can either use an engagingly bizarre picture ( e.g. an old piece of machinery ) as it stands , or splice together original compositions from whatever odds and ends take your fancy .sx Again , don't worry if you haven't done anything arty since primary school :sx you'll be amazed how quickly you can achieve a very decent result simply by cutting out and experimenting with a handful of images .sx The more unlikely the combinations of objects , the more surreal the result .sx STICK IT UP .sx When you've arrived at a sufficiently thrilling design , a copy - shop will reproduce the desired number of prints at a fraction of the cost charged by a conventional printer ; a printing-press will not normally be able to run off less than 50 copies .sx Photo - copying also scores by doing away with the advance notice that printers tend to require .sx Admittedly , basic Xeroxing restricts you to black-on-white posters , but that's good for legibility .sx Colour , if you simply must have it , can be added by hand in the form of small areas of felt-tip ( try fluorescent highlighters ) or metallic-ink marker .sx At the very least , if this snip-and-paste lark draws your next gig to the attention of a few more people , you'll be getting more return for all the care you've already invested in your riffs and your quiffs .sx .. second hand WOES .sx If you can't buy it new , well perhaps you can find it second-hand .sx Paul Quinn looks at how , why and where bargains appear , and problems to avoid .sx EVERYTHING YOU own is second-hand .sx It's true .sx The minute you buy something , it becomes 'used' , and its value drops dramatically - even if you never take it out of its box - it has the stigma of being 'not new' .sx Ever since the post-rationing consumer boom of the 1950s , the popular trend has been to acquire the shiniest , latest thing , which you then part with in favour of the next nice new model as quickly as financially possible .sx But second-hand doesn't have to mean old and unwanted - I mean , some people seem quite happy to pay several million pounds for a used footballer , don't they ?sx Now it's a good time to buy second-hand , with lots of stuff being traded in and not so much being sold .sx Of course , the recession also means reductions on new gear , so it's worth shopping around , especially if the manufacturer has just released an up - dated model .sx But let's assume you can only afford your dream instrument second-hand .sx Suffice sic !sx to say that all tests you'd perform on a new instrument should be performed even more thoroughly on a used one , taking particular care not to confuse superficial marking with structural damage .sx A decent dealer should offer a guarantee - anything from one month to a year - try for three months minimum .sx It obviously depends on the condition of the gear and the price .sx Ignore shop signs which say , " No Refunds " .sx It's actually against the law for a dealer to deny any of your consumer rights .sx If the goods are faulty , you can get your money back ; you don't even have to accept a credit note .sx Nor is it necessary to produce a receipt , though it can help to jog an evasive memory .sx A licensed trader is legally obliged to sell you something that does what you expect it to do ( the 1979 Sale Of Goods Act calls this 'merchantable quality' ) ; but the law is a bit looser on private sales - the seller has to actually say something deliberately misleading before you have any recourse .sx And then you have to prove it .sx It's always best to take a friend along .sx The upside of private transactions , of course , is a good price , possibly after a good haggle .sx Now is not such a great time if you're the one trying to sell the gear - unless it's particularly hip or collectable .sx Again , going private will almost certainly raise the best price , if you can stand the hassle .sx The amount that a shop offers you can vary from one third to two thirds of the item's worth ( make sure you know roughly what that worth is .sx ) It might sound like a raw deal , but , to be fair , if a dealer wants to make a profit , he/she has several factors to take into account ; like lost VAT , possible repair costs , and even the amount of space the item will occupy in the shop .sx Depends sic !sx on the gear , too .sx They'd be more inclined to let a nice pounds1200 Gretsch Country Gent hang on the wall for a year , until the right customer comes along , than clutter the shop with a dozen cheapies .sx Dealers are also often wary of part-exchange deals , where they could be left with an unsaleable product rather than desired hard cash .sx Profit margins are generally greater in big cities , like London , where you can expect to be paid less and charged more for used gear .sx If you've got transport , a trip out to the suburbs , or even to smaller town , may turn up the odd bargain .sx Things notoriously difficult to re-sell include the more bizarre , customized items , or expensive , hand-made jobs with obscure names on .sx In other words , the stuff which you think must be worth a lot because , " no-one else will have anything like it .sx " Doesn't sic !sx usually work that way , unfortunately .sx Guitars One mistake made by over-eager buyers at the moment is thinking that all old Strats are collectors' items .sx Similarly , some people see names like ESP or BC Rich on a headstock , and think , " I know that name , they're good , " and they pay through the nose for a bottom of the range model .sx .. As with new gear , the second-hand market is very regional :sx one Yorkshire shop complained about not being able to shift three nice Gibson SGs , but knew that if they sent them down to their Midlands branch , they'd soon disappear off the wall .sx Amps Some of the most popular second-hand buys are amps that , surprise surprise , have recently appeared in re-issued form :sx Fender Twins , Vox AC30s , valve Marshalls , Hi-Watts - all the sort of stuff you'd have found in clapped out rehearsal rooms ten years ago .sx