1. How effective is the
combinations of your main
product and ancillary task?
Evaluation Qu.2
2. The Task
For our Advanced Portfolio not only did we have to create a music
video, we also had to create two ancillary tasks. These tasks were a
complete digipak and a magazine advert for the artist we had chosen
use for our music video, and ensuring all three linked was very
important.
Magazine Advert
Digipak Cover
Music Video
3. Research for
the Digipak
When beginning to create my digipak, I began by researching other
digipaks created by indie rock musicians. Once I had gathered a
sufficient amount, I started comparing them in order to find
similarities within the indie music genre that I should adhere to
when creating my own digipak. I found that the majority of artists,
such as Lana Del Rey, Bon Iver and Florence and The Machine, had
fonts very individualistic to their certain style of music and their
image. For example, Bon Iver focus less on ‘Star Image’ and more on
artwork, and therefore their font style was very delicate and quite
artistic, whereas Lana Del Rey focuses more on ‘Star Image’ and a
strong, powerful front cover, and therefore uses bolder font. The use
of ‘Star Image’ also works as a signifier, which most artists use on
front covers of digipaks in order for consumers to easily recognise
their products. In addition to research such as that, I also looked at
smaller details such as barcoding, track listing, and copyright notes at
the very bottom of the digipaks. From this research, I gathered that
track lists mainly remain in the centre of the back side, whereas the
barcoding and copyright remain towards the very bottom of the back
side. Each of these elements were paid attention to when I created
my digipak.
4. Inspiration for the Digipak
Once I had gathered my research, I began to create my
digipak and started pulling inspiration from other artists’
real media texts. I found both Lana Del Rey’s ‘Born to Die’
and ‘Ultraviolence’ to be quite useful as inspiration due to
a range of factors. I found the synergy between both the
digipak and the magazine advert of ‘Born to Die’ very
useful, as I was therefore able to follow a template for both
my own digipak and magazine advert, such as the artist
name placement and the ‘Star Image’ placement. I found
‘Ultraviolence’ of interest aesthetically, particularly the
black and white element to it, which I later decided to use
for my own digipak. I also found Lana Del Rey’s use of font
for her four album artworks particularly intriguing, as all
four very similar long, bold fonts, creating a very
recognisable signifier and marketing brand for Lana Del
Rey, so fans of her music can easily recognise her work. I
therefore decided I also wanted to use a strong font for my
own digipak cover, in order to also create a strong,
recognisable signifier brand for my artist.
5. Final
Digipak Tall, large font at the very
top
Tall, large font
beneath artist name
‘Star Image’, photograph
of artist in centre of
digipak
Signature
featured on
inside of
digipak
Tall font at the
top of the back
Track list in
the centre of
the digipak
Record label
and amazon at
the very
bottom
‘Thank you’ Notes
inside the digipak
Barcode
featured at
the very edge
of the bottom
Copyright notes at
the far end of the
digipak
Spine featuring artist and
album title
CD continuing
artwork theme
Black and White artwork
theme
6. Research for
Magazine Advert
The research process for my magazine advert was very
similar to that of my digipak, as I still ensured to focus on
common features within a variety of magazine adverts. I
observed a variety of similar factors that were often quite
similar to that of the digipak, such as bold font for artists
names and album name and ‘Star Image’, all of which are
easily recognisable signifiers, which enables consumers to
easily recognise products produced by the artists. The
additional smaller details such as record label logos were
also featured on many adverts. Other aspects that I also
noted were the use of short, snappy sentences, along
with key dates, website URL’s and ‘available to purchase
at’ advertisements. These details appeared to hold
significant impact on the adverts, as they capture
consumers attention and encourage consumers to invest
in the product. These conventions are also carried outside
the indie genre, so I ensured to use them when creating
my own magazine advert.
7. Final Magazine
Advert
It’s clear to see that I ensured my digipak adhered
to the conventions of magazine advertisement,
through a variety of key features: Tall, bold font used for
artists name displayed at
very top of advert
Artists website URL
‘Star Image’, photograph of
artist used, positioned in
centre of magazine
‘Available on’ advertisement
displayed at bottom of advert
Amazon logo at very
bottom of advert
Album title also in tall,
bold font displayed
beneath ‘Star Image’
Short sentence used to
draw attention, inclusion
of key dates
Record label logo at very
bottom of advert
‘Teasers’ used
to attract
interest
8. Ensuring the Digipak, Magazine and Music
Video link
The most vital aspect when creating both my music video and my ancillary tasks
was ensuring synergy between all of them. I created this through a variety of
features that continued throughout all of my products, such as the heavy nature
theme. Nature and greenery was featured in the majority of shots in my music
video, so I decided to continue that in both my digipak and magazine advert
through my background artwork, which was a photograph of trees I had taken
while filming my video. I initially decided to have both my digipak and magazine
advert green in order to link with my video, however I decided to convert them to
black and white in order to fit with the indie genre, as this way my products
appeared a lot more professional and sleek. In addition to this, I added the element
of ‘Star Image’ to both my magazine and digipak, despite not having this element in
my actual music video again to adhere to the indie genre. Both my digipak and
magazine advert can be seen to mirror each other, through font style and
placement, background and general artwork, colour scheme and advertisement
and record label details.
