QUESTION 2 How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
DIGIPAK
ALBUM ADVERT
RECURRING MOTIF COLOUR
Personally I think it is very important to create clear links between the main product and ancillary texts. This helps to define the recognisable brand identity of Tess and Lily. One of the most obvious ways of doing this is through the use of colour. Colour is a visual element that makes the product stand out. Furthermore, because blue is one of the main colours used in my music video, I decided to carry it through to my ancillary products. It is representative of the beach location, and is an iconic part of the brand identity. The use of blue as a motif can be seen through the gradient that is present at the top of my album advert and each panel of my digipak. As detailed above, I have used the same shade of blue that can be seen in the music video itself. This creates a link, not only between the ancillary products, but between every product within the promotional package.
RECURRING MOTIF OVERLAYS
I decided to overlay an image with a red light leak onto each panel of my digipak and album advert. This colour is already present in both the music video and the ancillary products, as it is very similar to that of Tess’ hoodie. I think the use of an overlay adds another layer to the aesthetic of my ancillary products. It takes the images away from being plain, and instead brings out a more surreal vibe that is subtly present in the music video already. I attempted to make this apparent through my use of editing techniques, overlays and, most prominently, the narrative theme of escapism and fantasy. This conforms to Jon Gow’s theory of ‘the special effects extravaganza’; overlays somewhat overpower the artists’ performance, to reflect a more vast overall theme. For these reasons, I think the overlays help to show a clear continuity between my three products.
RECURRING MOTIF LANDSCAPES
Use of a beach location meant I was fortunate enough to acquire a multitude of different shots whilst not having to drastically alter the setting. I felt that this was very important when shooting my music video; as I found out from my first drafts, if the location, style or overall tone of the shots are too different, then the shots will be jarring and won’t cut well together. For this reason, I decided that the use of landscapes was another motif that should be carried through not only the music video, but my whole promotional package. Once again, I believed it to be imperative for the overall aesthetic to remain coherent, which influenced my decision to film my music video and do my photoshoot for the ancillary products on the same day. This enabled me to keep a consistent style throughout each product. I used different areas of the same beach to keep a variety between shots, whilst maintaining an overall feeling of comfort and familiarity of the location as a whole. I believe this constitutes an effective combination of products, due to the fact that my feedback shows the brand identity is clear, and the individuality of each product is also apparent.
RECURRING MOTIF TEXT
Text is a very important feature in determining a band’s brand identity. Personally I feel that multiple fonts can make a product look messy, therefore I have stuck with one very simple font that I have used in each aspect of my promotional package. Using the same font with differing colour, size, boldness and background, creates the necessary variation, to ensure that it doesn’t look too simple. I was initially worried that by using the same font for every piece of text, it would become monotonous and boring, however I have been reassured that it works well and keeps the style coherent. I decided to use a light, minimal font for the text in the music video, detailing the title of the song and band name. This gives the necessary exposition, and would inspire the audience to research further into the piece as a whole. For this reason, I believe that the combination of my main product with my ancillary texts can be classed as effective.
OVERALL EFFECT I received comments in my feedback that detailed how effective the overall promotional package is. This is due to the use of generic aspects that have been mirrored throughout; I have used the same models, clothing, colour scheme, font, and minimalistic, yet classic style. The content I used both within the music video and ancillary products was all shot on the same day. I felt this was very important, as it helps to keep a sense of coherency about the products. Although I decided to style the girls in very plain, casual clothes, their overall look is distinctive. This makes them memorable as artists, which is something that is enhanced by using similar images on all three components of the promotional package. I deliberately tried not to make the pieces too modern, as I wanted them to fit the traditional tone of the indie-folk song. However, due to my target audience being predominantly teenagers and young adults, I wanted to keep it visually as interesting and contemporary as possible. I therefore chose not to include too much information, to ensure that the products don’t appear cluttered. Use of social media links and information about where to download the song, on both the digipak and album advert, is enough for my target audience to go on. Due to the recent proliferation of hardware and information society in which we live, teenagers now only need an indication of where to find knowledge, in order to actively engage with it and find things online for themselves.
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