The document discusses how various musical artists, including The 1975, Ed Sheeran, and Passenger, employ consistent conventions in the visual design of their album packaging and promotional materials like tour posters. This helps develop a clear, recognizable identity and brand. Common techniques mentioned include using consistent color schemes, fonts, and imagery that tie the different materials together and convey the tone and style of the artist. Simplistic, retro-inspired designs are often employed to match the intended aesthetics and target audiences.

1. Ancillary Task Research
John Boundy

2. The 1975 The 1975 use similar conventions throughout the whole product of
their album to create a recognisable identity for their audience to
pair them with. One way in which they do this is through a
consistent colour scheme in the visual design of their work. By using
only black and white colours the band are able to show that all of
their product is part of a whole package and looks like it belongs
together. The dark colour scheme also helps the band to
communicate the tone of the album to their audience prior to any
of their fans listening to it and instantly suggests a serious darker
atmosphere to all of their music on the record. The 1975 chose to
do this because they are aware that their main fan base are young
people aged 14-27 who are likely to identify themselves with a more
indie culture than most famous mainstream acts. Also, the band
intend to create an image which looks not only more retro than
modern music but also one which shows to be clearly dissimilar to
modern popular music designs which use bright and vibrant colours
to compete and attract large audiences. They also decide to have
the same retro font on all of the products from their album which
again, creates an identity for themselves as well as letting their
audience be able to associate the band whenever they see the font

3. The 1975 The tour poster for the 1975 uses a variety of similar conventions to help
develop the bands identity as well as help their audience identify the band
easily as soon as they look at the poster. One way in which they achieve this
is through the use of colour scheme on the poster which not only attracts
attention but also reflects their well known identity. By only using the two
simple colours of black and white the poster is simplistic and easy for the
audience to get the information they want to from it but also shows the
general atmosphere of the band being quite minimalist and serious. The
band also use a similar style simplistic font throughout their tour poster so
that the information they're showing is clearly all for the same product and
creates a clear image for themselves. They also include two social media links
at the bottom of their product so that they are able to extend what the
audience can see of them from the poster on its own. The vintage and retro
style that they are trying to create for the audience to identify them with can
be seen trying to be achieved through the use of the background of the
poster. The scratched and worn down look contrasts the neat and concise
information in central area of the tour poster which helps both emphasize
the bands identity as well as achieve the primary purpose of the poster
which is to advertise the tour which they are about to go on. The general
simplistic design is successful in trying to match the stereotypical conventions
of the band.

4. The 1975 Both the tour poster and the album package from the 1975
share conventions in their design to create a clear identity for
their audience to recognise them by. The use of the same
colour scheme on both products shows how they intend to be
recognised by their frequent design use of black and white to
emphasize their mellow and indie intended image for their
audience. They also use the same style of image of a bright
white light surrounding the black box on both the tour poster
and their album cover to continue the 80’s type of retro theme
seen on all their of products which compliments the
prominently black look. Another similar convention which is
repeated throughout the design of the products from the 1975
is their use of font on all of their products. The retro style type
writer font helps to emphasise the retro atmosphere created
by the image from the band as well as begin to make the
content seem more interesting for the viewer. The use of the
font being white makes it bolder and more sharp for the reader
to see making it more eye catching. The general design also
matches the style of the audience who the product is being
targeted to, making it more appealing.

5. Ed Sheeran Throughout the physical copy of the album for Ed Sheerans
second studio album ‘X’, there are a variety of similar
conventions which create a brand identity for the musician as
well as making an identifiable image for himself. One way in
which this is done is through the colour scheme of the album
which stays there same throughout. The use of bold
contrasting colours such as bright green, black and white not
only create an immediately eye catching piece of album
artwork but also match up with other products the performer
has previously released which makes his work more
identifiable. He also uses the large ‘X’ symbol in a simplistic
way which allows him to symbolize his album whenever the X
symbol can be seen. This allows his fan base to clearly see the
work that he has created whenever he brands what he has
created with the ‘X’ symbol. He also continues his simplistic
theme by using a plain white typewriter font which only gives
the necessary information from the album which allows the
audience to concentrate on the music, which is what is
intended from the record. The CD also matches the colours of
the back inside cover of the album continuing the bold themes.

6. Ed Sheeran
The tour poster used for Ed Sheerans ‘X’ (Multiply) tour features a
variety of conventions to begin to convey a clear image for the
musician as well as help to market his product. The use of bold and
contrasting colours creates an eye catching overall image as well as
matching previous colour scheme of his work which makes him easily
identifiable for his audience who want to frequently listen to his
music. He also uses the large ‘X’ sign faintly in the background of the
poster to continue the theme of the music which he has shown on
previous records. He also uses his frequently seen logo at the top of
the tour poster so people know it is a official and can be identifiable
that it is his product. Again ,the simplistic style font keeps the aim of
the tour poster simple however still shows a clear direction of the
image the artist is trying to portray. As Ed Sheeran is often seen as an
artist who has a fan base of all ages, his tour poster reflects this
through a variety of conventions. By keeping all the aspects simplistic
such as colour and font there shows to be no biased marketing
strategy towards a specific gender or social group of people. This
makes him as an artist more relatable to a variety of people an
ultimately more marketable on a wide level. He also makes himself as
a person clearly advertised to his audience as he is shown as the main
feature of the tour poster in a bold and contrasting colour in
comparison to the rest of the spread of the tour poster.

7. Ed Sheeran Both the tour poster and the total album package share
a variety of similar aspects and conventions which create
a collective identity for the artist to use to share and
market their work. One aspect of this is the same colour
scheme on both formats of the work which show a clear
representation of the artist having a link between the
two products which make them recognizable when
being associated with him. Another way is through the
use of the logo of the ‘X’ on both the album work and
the tour poster which creates a synergy between the
two products allowing the audience to have an instant
connection between the two. Also, the simplistic type
writer style font on the album and the tour poster
creates a further synergy between the products on top
of the fact it creates a calm and simple overall design to
the products which can be seen in the dates of the tours
on the poster. The slightly retro and worn down look can
be seen on both the album cover and background on the
tour poster which helps emphasize to the audience that
the products are linked together, making the overall
image of the artist more recognizable for the audience.

8. Passenger The album cover and interior features of Passengers album
‘Whispers’ share a variety of similar styles and conventions
which develop a clear constructed theme throughout the
album. One way in which this is done is through a similar
design of illustrations throughout the album, which generates
the idea of an entire story being created on each of the inner
pages of lyrics. On top of this, the use of font is the same
throughout all of the album, which further creates a unified
atmosphere as well as a certain indie idea as the album is
constructed in a slightly abnormal way. Also, the matching
colour schemes and worn down canvas colours on all of the
covers and inside sleeves of the album show a consistent style
of a retro design which intends to tell a story to the reader.
Furthermore, the simplistic style of the CD’s within the album
further emphasise the simplistic design however further show
the main intention being about the story behind the album as
an entire piece. The illustrations throughout the album are
proven to be a key feature as they frequently shown in
different variations and referred to in other aspects of the
work that is related to the album.

9. Passenger The design of the tour poster for Passengers ‘Whispers’ tour
through Australia and New Zealand in 2015 shows similar
conventions throughout it to create a clear identity for the
artist prior to somebody choosing to see one of the shows
being advertised. One way this is achieved is through the use
of simplistic old fashioned font which shows the relaxed and
older style of the music which is going to be played by
Passenger. Also the drained colour which isn't to bold to look
at further shows how the tour poster is communicating a
more relaxed and calm atmosphere rather than one which
shows bright colours which a pop act would stereotypically be
seen creating. The detailed and old styled illustrations also
reflect the genre of the music being advertised to an audience
as it shows how the music is less modern and aims to reflect a
story. This aspect can also be seen in other aspects of work
and merchandise which can be purchased from this artist.
Also, the logo of the artist can be seen at the top of the tour
poster which helps to allow their audience to identify
themselves with the artist immediately and create a
recognizable identity for themselves.

10. Passenger Both the album and the tour poster by the
artist share a variety of similar conventions
which create a clear synergy between the two
products for the audience to identify with.
One way in which this is done is through the
similar illustrations on both products which
clearly show a link between the two, helping
to create a joint audience between the two
products. Another way in which the two
products show synergy together is by sharing
the same font which shows how they are part
of the same project or album allowing the
audience to associate them together and
know that they are coming with similar
themes. This can also be seen through the
colour schemes on the album as well as the
tour poster being a dark and faded design
creating a canvas like effect. Also the font
design used on the text is same. All of these
elements combined create clear elements of
synergy between the various products.

11. Paolo Nutini The album package for Paolo Nutinis album ‘Caustic Love’
has various conventions which are repeated throughout the
piece which begin to create an ongoing theme throughout
the album and other modern work form the artist. One
noticeable convention in the album is the use of a
continuous colour scheme to help emphasise a certain
identity for the audience to connect with. The use of
contrasting black and white is an instantly eye catching
feature, however when combined with the bright colours
on the front cover and inside sleeve, the artistic elements
are emphasized and shows a possible mixture of themes on
the record. Also the bold font is clear for the audience but
is also signature for Paolo Nutini which helps to create a
clear identity for his audience to pair him with. The
illustrations on the album are also all done in a similar style
showing clear synergy between the various elements of
them. Also, the simplistic elements of the CD being just
black and white like the back cover show how the main
intention of these aspects of the album cover are only to
give an indication of the music to the audience about to
listen to the product.

12. Paolo Nutini The tour poster which has been created for Paolo Nutini’s
2014 UK tour has a variety of similar conventions to create
an overall image for the artist. One feature of this is a
continuous colour scheme across the entire poster to make
an eye catching appeal for an audience. On top of this, the
use of black and white colours correspond with the musical
style of the artist as he has a melancholic tone to the music
he creates. The use of an orange colour for all of the dates
makes them easily identifiable and shows the poster has a
clear overall purpose. There is also an image of the artist in
the center of the poster to make the poster clearly
identifiable to the artist and who the audience is meant to
be. Similarly, the poster has the artists name in the top in a
very large font which follows the conventions of a
promotional poster. The musician can also be seen using
the poster to create synergy between multiple products
through the social media icons and links at the bottom of
the page, bellow the dates of the tour. The poster generally
follows a simplistic approach and uses a basic colour format
throughout it which is a feature that can be seen in many of
the products from the artist.

13. Paolo Nutini
Both of the products from Paolo Nutini show
to have clear synergy between them through
a variety of features. One way that this is
done is through the colour scheme between
them. The use of black and white shows how
a continued image is created between the
two products and therefore makes an overall
image for the artist. This is then recognizable
for the fans and other people who may have
been unfamiliar with him before. Another
way that synergy is created between the two
products is through the use of font. The
same font is used on both products creating a
clear link between them allowing the
audience to identify with it more. This creates
an identity for the audience to understand.
This synergy is also created through the
image shown on both of the products of the
album cover and tour poster. By doing this,
this is the most visible and evident way of
creating similarity between the products that
both the audience and artist can identify.

14. End Of Ancillary Task
Research
John Boundy