The document discusses conventions for pop-rock digipaks and album advertisements. It analyzes several existing products to identify common features and their positioning. These include images of the artist, album/song titles, track lists, copyright information, and contact details. The document considers how to apply these conventions to the design of a digipak and advertisement for a fictional pop-rock band. Feedback from surveys confirmed that using similar visual elements and color schemes across the products clearly links them and establishes the band's identity.

1. EVALUATION 2:
HOW EFFECTIVE IS THE COMBINATION OF YOUR MAIN
PRODUCT AND ANCILLARY TEXTS?

2. Digipak Album Advertisement Music Video

3. CONVENTIONS OF A POP-ROCK DIGIPAK
CONVENTION POSITION FREQUENCY HOW I WILL USE IT
Image of artist Front Nearly Always I will take images during filming
of the band to use on the front
cover
Image of just a
location/abstract
image
Front Sometimes Use an image of a location
used during filming
Name of artist Front Always In big font to indicate that they
are the artist
Name of album Front Always Also in quite big font – but not
to draw attention too much
away from the artist name
Other feature i.e.
Parental Advisory
symbol
Front Occasionally – but also
depends on content and
genre
I will probably not use this
convention, particularly as it
isn’t a convention on pop-rock
digipaks.
Track list Back Always Necessary for the consumer to
know which tracks have been
recorded on this particular CD
Barcode Back Always Important for legal reasons, so
as to indicate that is in a
professionally made product
Copyright
information
Back Always This is also necessary for
official documentation to
ensure consumers that it is a
legitimate product – and also
for other companies to be
aware of the fact that they
cannot use any part of my own
design and CD.
Record label
details + symbol
Back Always Again, I will definitely conform
to this convention of digipaks
so as to indicate that this is an
official product of my artist
with support from the record
label.
Same image as the
front
Back Occasionally This doesn’t happen always;
generally digipaks will include
an image which can be
associated with the front cover
image. Even for my chosen
genre, pop-rock, this
convention doesn’t always
occur, so I may develop the
convention by using images
connected to one another on
the back with similar use of
colour. I may also consider
using a similar image of the
artist. This also ensures
continuity which is a
professional feature of media
products.
Contact
details
Back Occasionally This information may be
shared on the back, generally
with their website or social
media accounts for fans to
further access information
about them. This occurs in a
number of pop-rock digipaks
that I have analysed which
motivates me to conform to
this genre.
Image of artist Inside Occasionally In a pop-rock digipak I have
analysed, image of the band
appear across all parts of the
digipak, including the inside
except for the CD. This
encourages me to develop
this convention by possibly
using an image of the artist.
Generally though, it is rather
plain which makes me
inclined to possibly conform
to this convention as it is
minimalistic and therefore
not too cluttered.
Name of artist Inside Occasionally Again, with some pop-rock
digipaks, I noticed that this
convention appears;
however, not in all. In this
way, I may experiment with
incorporating the name of
the artist as well, although I
will more than likely keep it
fairly simplistic and plain as
the majority of digipaks do
not include text on the inside
layer at all.
Name of artist On CD Always This is also a convention I
have noticed to fit with all
digipaks, regardless of the
genre as it is an imprint of the
artist. It indicates that it is
their work and further
personalises the product. I
will definitely conform to this
convention.
Name of
album
On CD Nearly always For some digipaks that I have
analysed, they do include the
name of the album. However,
some digipaks, including a
pop-rock digipak that I have
analysed doesn’t include very
much information at all,
hence why I may experiment
with the information that I
include on the CD.
Image On CD Occasionally For some existing digipaks,
they included an image on
the CD, but rarely an image
of the artist. For example,
with Coldplay’s latest
digipak, they included the
same symbol that is
positioned on the front of
their digipak which creates a
sense of professionalism
through continuity. I may
consider to use a similar
effect, but generally CDs
have one base colour for the
background with text over
it. This is the convention I
may conform to as it
enables the consumer to be
able to read the text that
features on it.
Tracks/lyrics On CD Rarely Often, I find that this is not a
very effective feature since
it clutters the CD too much,
and this information has
already been shared on the
back cover of the digipak.
Having said that, I may
include part of the lyrics of a
song, or simply just the track
names as I found this to be
an interesting feature on
one pop-rock digipak that I
analysed. The text also
contrasts against the
background of the CD which
is easy to read. This is
therefore a convention I
may develop.
Copyright and
record label
informaiton
On CD Nearly always This feature has been
present in nearly all of the
digipaks I have analysed,
apart from one particular
pop-rock digipak which
keeps their CD very
simplistic. This is something
I may experiment with, in
terms of what type of
information I will include on
the CD, given that most of
the necessary information
will be on the other parts of
the digipak, namely the back
cover. Nevertheless, the
majority of digipaks do
include this feature, and it is
by this virtue that I think it
will be necessary to include
for official and legal
requirements.
Having listed the
conventions and form of a
pop-rock digipak, I was
able to then draw
comparisons between the
features of an album
advertisement to thereby
create links between both
products. This was all
part of my research and
planning for my ancillary
tasks.

4. CONVENTIONS OF A POP-ROCK ALBUM
ADVERTISEMENT
FEATURE POSITION FREQUENCY HOW I WILL USE IT
Image Majority of the
space
Always Often this will be the same image as that
of the one that has been featured on the
front cover of the digipak. This is highly
effective as it creates a sense of continuity
and allows for the general public to
recognise the connection between the
poster and the CD. I will definitely
conform to this convention as all album
adverts tend to use the same image.
Name of
artist
Top of the
advert
Nearly always For the majority of the adverts I have
analysed, the promotional advert will tend
to place the name of the artist/band at
the top so as to make the audience
distinguish between the name of the artist
and the name of the album – generally the
name of the artist will also be the largest
text on the page to prioritise its
significance. However, some have placed
this information within the centre,
therefore I may have to experiment with
some of the positioning of the layouts of
my advert.
Name of
album
Top of the
advert
Nearly always Again, the majority of adverts include this
information at the top of the advert or
right in the centre. However, occasionally,
this information will be placed near the
bottom. Overall, I found that the name of
the artist and album will be at the top of
the page for instance recognition as this is
generally the first piece of information
that the audience will read.
Comments/a
ccolades
from
reviewers
Bottom of the
advert – below
image
Nearly always If this information is shared, which is quite
frequent, it will generally be at the bottom
of the page. It will tend to include both
star ratings and short reviews from
newspapers, music magazines and other
media outlets.
Availability
date
Bottom of the
advert – below
image
Always This information is key. Given the nature
of the poster as being an advertisement,
its purpose is to sell the product to
customers, hence why the date in which
the product is available to buy is highly
significant. I will certainly disclose this
information.
Record label
information +
symbol
Bottom of the
page
Often This information is often disclosed, which
is rightly so, so as to inform customers
that they have created a legitimate
product with an official record label. This is
however, one of the smallest features on
the page, as this is not the most important
piece of information that customers will
look for in an advert. Nevertheless, I will
conform to this convention.
Contact
details
Bottom of the
page
Often Again, this information is often disclosed,
particularly with adverts of the 21st
century, as often they will include the
artist’s website, which conforms to the
context of this time, as the majority of
people are internet savvy and will use web
2.0 technology to access further
information about music they find
appealing. Moreover, the advert will only
have a limited amount of space and
cannot include every piece of information
that is available to disclose about the
artist, hence why vital information such as
their website or their Facebook and
Twitter pages are key. I shall conform to
this convention.
Information
about the
album
Centre of the
page
Sometimes – this
may be suitable for
debut albums
This convention, as mentioned, occurs
only in a number of adverts, most likely in
debut albums. This is a feature that I
believe I will conform to, given that this
will be the debut album for my band
specifically, hence why this information
may be interesting for potential fans.
Likewise, I noticed that there were many parallels between the features
that frequently appeared on a pop-rock album advertisement as they did
on a digipak, so when it came to designing both layouts of the products,
they were fairly similar in terms of the features I included, thus making it
easier to create links between both products.
Although this isn’t on the front cover of the digipak, it
is elsewhere, including on the disc and on the back
cover to further draw connections between the
features on both the digipak and advert.

5. LINK BETWEEN DIGIPAK AND ALBUM ADVERTISEMENT
This is a key line of enquiry that I explored in my post-production
questionnaire with regard to the outcome of my ancillary task. The
question was left open, and I intentionally included a comment box so
that respondents would have the freedom to express their opinions
openly. In this case, all of the respondents listed off their ideas, the
most prominent links being:
- Same use of colour (colour scheme = black and white)
- Same image used (of the band)
- Same font used/typography has been carried onto the
advert from the digipak.
- Band logo
Respondents believed overall that by using similar colours and the
same picture used makes the CD ‘easier to recognise by the audience
in the future’. This is exactly what I intended to do, and once again, the
respondents have picked up on these elements accurately, same as
from the paper survey responses as my key objective was to create a
direct and instantly recognisable link between the digipak and album
advertisement for corporate identity and consistency which would
demonstrate professionalism.
It also confirms my decision to conform to the conventions of digipak
and album advertisements which is to use similar features from the
digipak on the album advertisement as well, which is what my audience
fed back in saying that that is what they would expect to find.

6. LINK BETWEEN DIGIPAK AND ALBUM ADVERTISEMENT
To illustrate my links further, I have the final designs for both my digipak and my
album advert which make up my ancillary task. As aforementioned, I have
used the same design for the front cover of my digipak on my album
advert which immediately creates the visual link between both products. I
did this as I had seen many other designers, not only from the pop-rock
genre, but the majority of digipaks use this technique – as shown below
my own designs.
Likewise, other visual elements in turn, including the white background to create
the contrast between the black of the band’s logo and that of the colour
from ‘Paradise’, the titular song, draws parallels between the digipak and
album advertisement as I have included these features there, only bigger
to fit the poster size format. Thereby the same colour scheme used on
both products allows for the band to develop its corporate identity.
Clearly, the same image, which is in fact the band’s logo anyway which I have
manipulated has been used on both ancillary products. All of the decisions
I made to do this were from a combination of conventions which I wanted
to use and conform to so as for the public to instantly make the connection
that it is a pop-rock album from a pop-rock band, but also from my
audience feedback from my pre-production survey for the ancillary task
which confirmed my conforming to conventions as they would expect to
find some similarities between the ancillary tasks in this way.
Thereby, by referring to the codes and conventions of pop-rock digipaks and
album advertisements, as well as from analysing and taking on board
responses from my questionnaires, I was able to create links between the
products more easily as my audience would expect them to share very
similar qualities. Since the conventions of an album advertisement
includes perhaps more conventions, such as the accolade and availability
date, as well as record label and additional contact information which I
also conformed to, it demonstrated the naturally subtle differences
between the ancillary products, since the purpose of the album is to
persuade consumers to buy the album, more ‘transactional’ language is
needed, specifically the availability date.
Nevertheless, on the whole, I have managed to effectively create links between
the digipak and album advertisement which my audience has been able to
detect.

7. LINK BETWEEN MUSIC VIDEO AND ANCILLARY
TASKS
 All of the respondents from my post-production questionnaire clearly
stated that they could explain the link between the music video and
the ancillary tasks, and this is demonstrated through their comments
that they left below, which I left open for them.
 Similar to the link between the digipak and the album advertisement,
the respondents also listed their ideas and opinions, which include:
- Same use of actors/characters (band members)
- Song title/name of the song
- Same font used for title and logo
- Same colour scheme
 One respondent concluded overall that the digipak and the advert
follow the codes and conventions of pop-rock music genre, and
although this hasn’t been developed further, I can suggest that it is
due to the elements listed above. They also mentioned the ‘same
logo’ as well which is another key element that I included in all three
products – the music video, digipak and album advertisement.
 By including the same features – and mostly changing the layout due
to them being different mediums – I was able to create a corporate
identity for my band. For example, the colour scheme I used, being
black and white as well as colour runs through not only the music
video via the effects (the black & white filter) and then colour from the
natural light of the outside, but also in the digipak and album
advertisement by including the black and white from the logo and
black text against white background, and the colour from the images
and song title. All of this combined creates continuity between my
products which is something that I wanted to carry out carefully, and
clearly my audience is able to recognise this instantly. Given that they
are a fairly new and upcoming band, it does also allow for the wider
public to understand their traits and characteristics as a pop-rock
band.

8. LINK BETWEEN MUSIC VIDEO AND ANCILLARY
TASKS

9. GENRE
 Through multiple choice, I gave my respondents the choice between which genre of music they
believed the digipak and album advertisement belonged to, and I even included the ‘other’ option
should they come with answers of their own. Interestingly, 100% of respondents selected ‘pop-
rock’ which indicates that they are familiar with this genre and the conventions that are
associated with it, since my ancillaries do actually belong to pop-rock.
Which conventions make it clear that it belongs to the pop-
rock genre?
• The most prominent answer, receiving 100% of recognition, is the use of colour. Having done my
research into the pop-rock genre, particularly for music videos, I found out that it tends to use rather
dark colours, but due to the element of pop, a vibrant use of colour is also injected. In this way, I
wanted to reflect this in my digipak and album advertisement which respondents have clearly noted.
Use of font and image was also popular, although the font is very much linked with the colour scheme,
particularly the song title ‘PARADISE’ from the music video which I have also used as my album title,
which thereby appears on my album and advertisement. The font I used here, ‘Impact’, is rather
quirky and entertaining to the eye due to its rounded edges and curved outlines which clearly appeals
to my target audience being young adults (16-25) as they are more attracted to rounded, fun-looking
fonts, hence why they have mentioned it here. The image, and in turn, the image manipulation is
rather interesting because when conducting research into the pop-rock genre, I realised that many
pop-rock artists tend to be rather humble, friendly and approachable, hence why I have used a long
shot of them all looking into the camera. I used minimal editing, simply to contrast and resize the
image and place it into the POLAR logo simply because – especially with regard to music videos – they
tend to use natural lighting and so a minimal amount of artificial lighting has been used. Hence why in
editing, I didn’t want to manipulate the image in a way that would make them look too superficial, as
this wouldn’t conform to the conventions of pop-rock. Likewise, through media language, such as
misè-en-scene, their body language and facial features suggest that they are happy and are wanting to
create a relationship with their new followers and supporters. The attire, being a mixture of dark and
lighter clothing, as well as the fact that it isn’t too ‘brand-dominated’ or flashy but casual reflects not
only the pop-rock genre, but the target audience as a whole.