DRAFT Evaluation Question 2

Consistency and continuity was a priority when creating both my ancillary texts and my music video. To create a sense of branding throughout each of these products I included similar features into each product, where appropriate, to make all products recognisable as a collection of products.

There are very evident similarities between the digipak and the advertisement as I attempted to make both products simplistic and minimalistic whilst adhering to the same styling methods and colour scheme. The font and imagery also remained consistent for both products to create a sense of continuity through both products. The use of the flare lit festival image throughout will make both products easily recognisable as a brand of products as the image is unique and similar images are not seen on many digipaks in the Indie/Alternative genre. This image represents my artist, as the image represents the potential sight for any artist who would play at a festival, which my band certainly would as the type of music if fitting to a festival such as Reading & Leeds, Glastonbury or Isle of White Festival.  It is the image itself that most creates a sense of branding throughout the products as similar images would be rarely seen on other digipaks. 

My music video then follows similar trends to the poster and advertisement throughout maintaining the adherence to the simplistic and minimalistic nature of these products. The use of the plain white background is how we enforced simplicity into the video along with the plain, simple, coloured clothing. The shots we used were also stationary throughout with also reinforces simplicity in the video. We found that simple, plain clothing was a trend amongst our target audience, so not only would the inclusion of plain coloured clothing increase the simplicity of the video but also make the video further appeal to our target audience.

Through research we found that bands from the Indie/Alternative genre who adopted a simplistic video approach, generally tend to use of plain white studio room which is a trend we tried to replicate (on a much smaller budget) by using plain white walls to achieve a similar outcome. Therefore, after creating this minimalist look, the video would match the simplistic digipak and advertisement designs further reinforcing the sense of branding between the products. 

 [Plain white undecorated walls acting as our simplistic backdrop]

Furthermore, we chose to use a plain white, simplistic, backdrop for the video as this focuses the audience attention to the band performing rather than things happening in the background. This was our initial aim as we wanted to represent the band as artists who care more for the actual music oppose to their appearance making the band seem more down to earth which would allow the audience to form stronger connections with the band. In conjunction with this, to emphasise the performance, we dressed the band in plain clothing, which fortunately also appeals to the target audience.

The font also remained consistent through the advertisement, digipak and video as, in the modern age, it is highly likely that when someone sees an advert that catches their eye, they will look it straight up on the Internet and more specifically YouTube. After searching for our band on YouTube, they will be faced with many matching videos but not all will be from our band as “The Everything” is quite a broad term. Therefore, having the consistent font and style (almost forming a logo) as the thumbnail for the video and also at the start of the video, will enable the audience to instantly know that this video is directly linked to the advertisement they have seen.  

However, for the front panel of the digipak I decided against using “Bebas Neue” (the font from the advertisement and video) as I believe that a more ‘decorative’ and unique font was more appropriate for catching the potential audiences eye with the front panel. I therefore decided to use the font “Futura Heave Oblique” which is a font used for a famous street wear brand, Supreme. This font would be more suited as certain members of my target audience would recognise the font and make the link to Supreme (a brand that produces clothing that fits in with our genre) and would also appreciate the aesthetical element that the font brings to the digipak. Despite the text being capitalised on my digipak, the link to the brand Supreme is clearly still visible as the font has become some what iconic to people who are familiar with the brand and my target audience are very likely to have seen the logo and font before even if they do not own any Supreme produce. This will reinforce to the audience that the digipak is fitting within the Indie/Alternative genre.

Overall, it is clear to see that my digipak, advertisement and music video all follow the same conventions and adhere to the same style, typography and imagery. Through this, I can say that all of the products I have created therefore fit into the genre of Indie/Alternative and would be recognisable as a group of branded products.