The document discusses the creation of a star image for a DJ named Strio through various marketing materials including an album cover, website, and music video. These materials were designed based on conventions of similar EDM artists like Knife Party, Pendulum, and Feed Me. The album cover features a small image of the artist with neon colors and a parental advisory sticker. The website and video continue the color scheme and feature images of the artist performing live. Social media is also used to engage fans and build the star image across online and real-world platforms. The combination of these materials works to brand the artist and attract an audience in both the physical and online worlds.

1. TASK 2
‘How effective is the combination
of our main product and ancillary
texts’

2. STRIO ALBUM DIGIPACK

3. We challenged a typical star image by only putting a small
image of the artist on the cover. We found that with electronic
dance music (EDM) artists, the logo was more important than a
recognizable face. We based this on other similar artists of the
same music genre, such as: Knife Party, Pendulum and Feed
Me. Similar to them, we didn’t use a main logo instead of a
large picture of an artist, which is a common convention of pop
artists such as One Direction and Justin Bieber. Like other
similar artists, we kept the colours of the album cover quite
basic. The main image is black and white but there is an
element of neon colours used, to attract the buyers’ eye and
make the cover stand out. There is also a “Parents advisory”
sticker on the album cover, clearly demonstrating the age group
of our target audience and sets the tone of the music. There
are a lot of collaborations with other artists of the same genre
of music in the album. This was a common convention of other
artists as the 21st century music industry relies heavily on
collaborations of artists.

4. OFFICIAL STRIO WEBSITE
The website is designed in the same way as the album
cover. You are immediately greeted with the logo of
the star image (which is shown in the same design as
on the album cover). There is also an image of the
artist playing live. We used a lot of images of the artist
at performances because this is a large attraction to
fans of the dubstep genre. It sets the scene for the
artist and shows him at his ideal environment. For this
reason we also designed tour dates for the artist and
to get the audience involved we set up a twitter
account. There are also “hash tags” on the website, to
get the audience involved and encourage them to
SOCIAL NETWORKING LINKS
tweet and upload images of the performances. This is
also a similar feature of similar artists such as Swedish
House Mafia, as there website is presented to the
audience in the same way. The colour scheme of the
website is in the same style as the album cover. Mostly
black and white but with an element of neon colour, to
grab attention. We also added a “store” section on the
website, which encourages branding of the star image.

5. Our music video relied heavily on a narrative, OUR ‘STRIO’ VIDEO
however there were also cuts in to a performance
element from the artist. This was a common style of
other artists of a similar genre. Most dubstep music
does not involve lyrics, which limits the amount of
performance you can have in the video without it
becoming repetitive. This is why a narrative is useful,
to keep the audience engaged. Our performance
element included a DJ set in the studio, this is a
typical convention of this genre of music. Lighting and
a smoke machine helped create an energetic
atmosphere and the idea of a live performance. We
used a lot of wide shots when in the studio with the
artist, which clearly established a typical live
performance set up. We also used an image of a
smiley face a lot in the video. This linked the
performance and the narrative together between SIMILAR ARTIST ‘FEED ME’ VIDEO
cuts. This also helped build a logo for the DJ, as it is a
common logo on merchandise on the website. Our
narrative involved an unlikely hero who was once a
victim of bullying but seeks revenge. This heavily
involved the idea of superheros. This is a concept that
attracts our target audience and is similar to a similar
artist, Feed Me’s video. The music video clearly
showed the DJ in his element, a live performance.

6. YOUTUBE – AUDIENCE FEEDBACK
TWITTER FEED
Richard Dyer's theory believes that the star image is made up of a range of meanings, which are
attractive to the target audiences. One paradox of his theory is that the star has to be simultaneously
ordinary and extraordinary for their target audience, this is what makes the audiences interested in the
star. The 2nd paradox is that the star must be simultaneously present and absent for the consumer. For
our artist this still applies. The DJ is ordinary in the sense that he is not that concerned with his
appearance, which is clear from the fact he is not the main image on the album cover or website or
music video. However many of the images on the website show him playing in front of large crowds,
making him seem less normal and more extraordinary. This makes the audience appreciate his talent
but at the same time feels like they can aspire to be him. Our artist is present in the form of online
media (through twitter, YouTube, his website and on tour) however he is also absent as he is not always
available.

7. The website, music video and CD cover accumulate
to create a star image for the artist. All attract the
audience and clearly explain the type of music and
type of artist DJ Strio is. It creates a branding image
and a name for the artist in the real world and in the
online media. Which can lead to a group of fans,
physically and over the internet. The online media
attached to the DJ allows us to reach a worldwide
audience that otherwise we wouldn’t have been able
to communicate with. The research and use of
ancillary texts has allowed us to be creative by
translating and adapting existing products to make
our main product, using social networking to
distribute as well as promote our work.