Question 2

1. How effective is the combination of
your main products and ancillary
texts?

2. As I chose a song that was within the
pop genre, I had to create a house style
that fitted with this genre. I looked at
the codes and conventions of existing
pop products, and made sure to include
them in my three products, to increase
the overall effectiveness of the whole
package.

3. I conducted research into other pop artists to
see how their products and brand are shown in
the media and how they are recognisable to that
artist. I first of all carried out a conventions
analysis on two music videos, one by Adele and
one by Sam Smith. I then researched and
annotated more of Sam Smiths products, and
found that all of his products followed a house
style, which was very effective in creating a
‘brand’ for him.

4. I found that all of Sam Smith’s products used
similar or the same fonts and colours in order to
create that ‘house style’ and continuity. The idea
of this is to make the main product, in this case
his music and music videos, sellable and to
ensure the audience knows what they’re buying
into. The ancillary texts are basically to show a
glimpse for what the artist is like.

5. The poster
Bold, easy to read
font
Release date/date
of music event
Other
information
about the
product/event
Simple, spotlight
lighting
Record label logo
How to find out
more about the
artist i.e
website address

6. Even though the poster is simple, it is effective
because it conforms to all of the conventions of an
existing product. The aim would be to attract
audience members that were interested in this
particular genre just from looking at the poster. The
font is large so it grabs the attention of the reader
also. Having the image on the front of the poster in
the same style as the images on the digipak creates
continuity. The same font and image provides
synergy for the audience and shows a clear house
style of the artist.

7. The digipak
I conducted analysis into existing digipaks from
my chosen genre so look at the styles and
conventions I needed to include. I analysed
MKTO’s self-titled album as well as Sam Smiths. I
found this helpful as it showed me what needed
to be included on the digipak.

8. The digipak
Artist name on the
front, on the discs and
on the spine
Track list
Images
of the
artist
Record label information on the discs and on the reverse of the digipak
Album
name

9. I think the digipak is effective in combining the
other elements of the package together,
because it shows the same font and imagery as
the poster, but the artist is wearing the same
outfit that he wears in the music video and the
album is named after the track title of the music
video so it all ties together nicely.