Evaluation Question 2

Before I started the Ancillary texts, I researched how real bands and artists combine all their products together. For example, I looked at artists like Rihanna, Daughter and Bastille to see how their music videos tie in with their website and album. It's important for there to be synergy throughout an artists products so the audience can feel a connection with all the products. When the audience can feel a link between the products they are more inclined to purchase or look at all the products. The different products become like items in one brand, for the audience to collect.

                   

                                                                      

In most cases it was a combination of colour schemes, font and similar images that helped create a unified feel in their products. I took a similar approach when deciding how to link all my products together. Firstly I made sure the fonts I used in the music video, digipack and website were the same. I choose this font as it reflects the simplistic element of the brand image, but is bold enough to stand out and grab the attention of the audience in a way that isn't too obvious. The boldness of the font reflects the boldness of songs and the band.

As you can see, the font used on the digipack and at the beginning of the music video are the same, as well as the layout of font. (close together, and with the artists name on top of the song or album name. This makes the link between the music video and the digipack clear, as the audience will be able to recognise the font from the music video, when trying to purchase the album.

I used the same font for the website as well, however due to the limited range of fonts available on Wix, it isn't perfectly matched, however I believe the match is close enough for the audience to recognise it as Daughters website. And other graphological features help to indicate that there is a link between all the products.

Another graphological feature which ties all the products together is the colour scheme and feel that is used in each product. In the music video there is a strong focus on the contrast of light and dark- black and white. In the digipack, I have made sure there is a strong contrast between the dark and light:

The front of the album cover in particular demonstrates this, as the girls light skin colour stands out from the very dark background. In the music video, a lot of the shots used also show this, and the lighting used exaggerates it even more. The website does this in a more obvious way, as the back ground is a dark grey, and then the bright white shapes are put over the top, again showing the contrast between light and dark. The colour scheme and feel that is present throughout really brings the products together, and helps the audience identify the artist by the recurring colours. I chose this colour scheme as it reflects the conceptual idea behind the music video and the artist: that there is light and dark in everyone.

The same images are repeated throughout all my different products, creating unity and a brand image that stretches across all the products of the artist. Elements from the music video are reflected in the ancillary texts, which effectively links the digipack and website to the artist and the music video. For example, the dance scenes in the music video, were replicated for the digipack and website:

This image, which relates to the dance scene in the music video, is used on the four page booklet in the digipack, and other similar images are used on the website. This relates the digipack and website to the music video, creating a recurring theme and idea through all products. I choose many of these images as I felt they highlighted the animalistic element of their brand image, as well as being bold and strong images that will grab the attention of the audience. I used the repeated images of the two girls as they reflect the two elements of the band I wanted to illustrate- animalistic and simplistic.

Another way in which the combination of my main product and ancillary texts are effective, is the way they all relate to each other. For example:

The back cover of the album contains the 

website address, linking the digipack

 to the website. This means that anyone that 

buys the album will be more likely to look

 at the website- and therefore watch 

the music video.

Inside the album, there is a page with lyrics
to the song used in the music video, linking the
digipack to the music video, as the audience
 now has a way of knowing the lyrics to the music video.

On the website, straightaway there is a way to watch the music video, but there is also a way to buy the album,  which is shown through the image of the front cover of the digpack. In the news section of the digipack, there is an article which mentions that the first 100 people to buy the hard copy of the album receive a signed photo (shown in the digipack I created); this relates the website back to digipack as it encourages people to buy the hard copy (digipack) instead of just downloading the album.

The overall brand image that I decided to create was an animalistic but simplistic one. The juxtaposition of the simple black and white colours and the brighter reds and browns throughout all the products makes the audience feel the contrast between the fiery animal side of the artist and the plain black and white background and writing. I wanted the brand image to reflect the songs on their album, and highlight the lyrics of the music video.

I think that the combination of my main product and ancillary texts are as effective as real products, as they follow the same conventions as actually music videos and their ancillary products, like digipacks and websites. I have a continuous colour scheme, font, images and the ancillary products make reference to the main product.