Evaluation 2: How effective is the combination of your main products and ancillary texts?

Our coursework task was to create a music video as well as produce two ancillary tasks. I chose to create a Digipak for the Album and also a magazine that advertises the Digipak. When combined with my finished music video the products would demonstrate a marketing campaign for the band.

I think our group has created an effective combination of products. We created a defining synergy throughout the 3 pieces, utilising similar images and colours in all three texts to link them together and to create a distinct brand for the band.

My Tasks all have a similar house style. My music video is for the song “Dark Blue” so the colour blue features heavily in my tasks. This ties the pieces together, and creates a cohesive theme within them. I have branded my pieces with the band name, which uses the same font style and colour, cementing the brand across my three pieces. I have also branded my work with our production company (Irwin Media) logo.

The band in our music video is from the Merseyside area, and I wanted this location to feature heavily in our texts. Our music video uses lots of on-location shots around the Wallasey promenade area, and also shows the iconic Liverpool skyline.  

I decided I would use the image of the Wirral Promenade and also of the Liverpool skyline in my ancillary tasks as they have a very prestigious musical history behind them.  The Iconic shots instantly remind the user of the music associated with the areas, such as the Beatles.  

The images also fit with popular conventions of advertising albums – using abstract images with a simplistic theme.  I researched some minimalist designs for album and posters to use as inspiration.

I based my digipak on the Mumford and Sons Album “Sigh No More” although I only used it as a loose model. I liked the simple and minimalistic cover, and incorporated this minimalism within my images. 

I broke the conventions of my style model by not including an image of the band on the digipak. I instead used images of the band’s home town. This was because I want the listener to focus on the music and not the image of the band members.

My Poster also relies on location shots. I took images from the Promenade to use in my poster because the image I have selected is very aesthetically pleasing and draws the viewers’ attention.

I have used a dark blue font throughout my entire task as I again wanted to push the house style onto the audience, creating a recognisable brand.

The Music video is my main product, and as such the ancillary texts support the video. This means that the themes in my video will be used in both of my texts. I heavily use the colour blue in my video and have migrated this to my ancillary tasks.

My research showed me that a consistent font style is needed through all of my tasks.  I used the font “Return to Sender” which I found on Dafont.com.

 I used this font for multiple reasons.

It is easy to read: Clarity is a must when advertising; if my target audience can’t read the font then I will not be effectively reaching them.

Stencil Effect: The text looks as though it has been drew with a stencil, which gives a personal touch to the font. This is very effective at linking with my music video because the video is about giving a personal insight into the bands journey on their tour.

Stroke: The font allowed me to apply a stroke to it, creating a nice complementary aesthetic when colour was applied to it.

Here is an example of the text that is used in my digipak, and the colour that I have applied to it.