The document discusses the effectiveness of combining a main music product (an album) with ancillary tasks (a digipak and magazine advertisement). It describes the extensive research conducted on similar products in genres like house music to determine design choices. This included looking at albums by Daft Punk and The Beatles. Mockups were created and feedback was gathered to help decide on a quirky yet professional style that matched the lighthearted video. The final digipak and ad featured consistent branding elements like a red filter and space theme to tie the products together cohesively and effectively promote the artist.

1. Evaluation question 2
How effective is the combination of your main
product with your ancillary task?

2. When I first started to plan my ancillary task, I
looked at a variety of different digipaks for
house music artists, for example: Daft Punk –
Random access memories.

3. I also did research on other digipaks in order to get a
feel for the product on the whole, you can see this on
my blog as I did research for The Beatles digipak, and
just for digipaks in general, which gave me an idea of
how all real digipaks should look

4. I also did the same with magazine adverts, looking at a wide variety,
making sure I got a mix of all different genres together ideas. Also my
research for magazine adverts would inform me of how to create one
which would really help sell my album to its audiences. Here is an
example from my blog of some research I did into different magazine
adverts, with KERRANG! a rock magazine, along with XXL which is a
hip-hop magazine.

5. I also did extensive research into magazine
adverts surrounding my own genre – house
music. I did this because I wanted to make sure
that my final magazine advert would appeal to
the right audiences.

6. One I gained a good feel of how these products
would look, and which ones I would like to use
for my ancillary task, I had to think about the
image I was trying to create for my main task so
that I could really make a successful products
which would stand out to audiences. In my
music video there is an element of not taking
the world too seriously which allowed me a lot
more freedom when creating my ancillary tasks,
however I had to be careful so that it wouldn’t
look too unprofessional.

7. I now had to think weather I would aim to make
my products, more standard and serious, or
whether to create a more quirky design. As most
of my shots included filters, I had to make sure
that I could resemble an abstract atmosphere in
my products.
I scheduled a photo-shoot in order to create the
correct marketing campaign where I took many
photos of the artist.

8. Once I started creating trials for my digipak and
magazine advert I realised what tone I wanted
to set throughout my products. Also after
gaining some audience feedback, it made it
easier for me to decide what I wanted to
establish and create.

9. For my final digipak I decided to choose this
design:

10. I chose this album cover as it uses a red filter to
establish the continuity used throughout my music
video. Also the image of the skateboard is also a
link to the video with many of the shots featuring
the protagonist skateboarding. Furthermore I
thought it was important to show an image of the
artist to create a strong brand image for him as it is
a new album and audiences wouldn’t be familiar
with what he looks like. Also the font used gives it a
house edge it is unique.
The CD also is very unique as not many CD’s feature
an image of the artist, however this still reinstates a
strong form of brand identity throughout the
product.

11. I chose to design the insert of my digipak like
this as I was inspired by Benny Benassi’s album
cover – Electroman. Moreover this insert is
unique as it has rounded edges. Also brand
identity is used again with the space feel on the
background is similar to the design of the
skateboard, also this follows the conventions of
house music. The other link between the space
design is the idea that I was trying to portray of
not taking life too seriously. I decided to use a
different font to that on the album cover to
unsure it wasn’t too boring and had an edge.

12. The back cover for my album is yet again similar
to the theme of my digipak, with the space feel
of being in a different world, along with the
theme along the skateboard deck. Also the song
titles are made clear in red font, which makes it
easy for audiences. Columbia and Spinnin’
Records are also on the back of the album as
this helps fans to recognise the high status of
the artist.

13. For my magazine advert I wanted to create a
strong sense of brand identity to my digipak,
and I believe that I managed this.

14. Although the magazine advert is more formal and
professional, the brand identity still comes out with
the image of the album cover printed in the middle.
I decided to go for a more professional look to the
magazine advert as this will make it easier for
audiences to take in all the information stated
easily. Also there is links to magazine ratings which
helps fans know that they will be purchasing a
quality product. There is also links to how
audiences can download the product and also
where to find some more information.

15. I believe that my product and ancillary task
show direct links which make it very successful
as well as being realistic. Moreover I believe
there is a strong brand identity between them
all which will help to popularise all the products
as well as sell them.