Research Into Ancillaries

Ancillaries are very important in making a music artists album become successful, they must look aesthetically pleasing and must have something on them which allow the audience to understand what the album is about. I will be looking at 3 different digipak's from existing successful albums as well as 3 different advertisements from existing music albums.

Existing Digipak's

The first digipak in which I will be looking at is Take Care by Drake. This album was highly successful and was released on the 15th November 2011. The front cover on the digipak appears to be very old fashioned style, as you can see below. We can see Drake sitting down at a table with what appears to be a golden cup and a tall golden candle stand. The colour schemes throughout the front cover are black, bronze and gold, the combination of all of these colours illustrates that the time in which the album was released it was a classic and simple period of time. The use of the gold colours could also show that he thinks his album is very good as gold is commonly associated with coming 1st. However it could also mean that he is trying to show that his music will continue to go on forever just like gold does.

Another aspect that we see on his album cover is his signature in the bottom left hand corner, many artists usually write their name on the front however because Drake is very well known already this is not necessary as everyone knows who he is. The typography has some style to it and is in italic which demonstrates simplicity and shows Drakes personality. The title of the album 'Take Care' could be to do with the emotions in Drake's face that we can see, he appears to look quite sad and staring into a cup which could indicate that he is thinking about something that he wants to try and change.

Above on the right is the back cover which shows the songs in which are included in the music album. We can see the colour scheme has stayed the same throughout the album cover which makes it look more professional. We can also see there are logos of institutions that were used in the making of this album, this increases the public's awareness of these record labels. The background image is textured and is black, this makes the golden writing stand out more so that the song titles are the main focus to the audience. Overall I think that this is a very stylistic and successful digipak.

The second digipak that I will be analysing is Rihanna's album called Loud. Below are the photos of the album cover, as we can see from the front cover, the main attraction to the album cover is Rihanna herself, this is shown through her being used to cover up the entirety of the albums front cover. We can see straight away that the dominant colour throughout this album cover is red through Rihanna's hair and lipstick. The red hair makes her stand out and could indicate the type of personality that she has allowing the audience to understand more about her. We can also see her name along the top of the album cover in white basic writing which allows the audience to easily see the writing, the use of the simple typography just shows that simple is effective. We can also see the album name 'Loud' along the bottom of the cover and this again is in the same typography however it is bigger than her name is which could suggest tha she wants the audience's focus to mainly be on the new album that she is releasing.

We can also see a narrative that is being built up based on the digipak. The cover image suggests a theme that is based around love through the use of multiple shades of red and this theme is then continued into the digipak where we can see Rihanna laying down on a bed of red roses in a long white dress which appears to be a wedding dress. The theme of love is then even continued on to the CD's themselves, we can see that the only image on the CD itself is just a big rose which is another big thing that we would associate with the theme of love.

The final digipak that I will be looking at is Maroon 5's album V. This album cover is very aesthetically pleasing because the front cover is of a lake which has outlines of mountains in the background which makes a nice scenic picture for the audience. We can see straight away what the album is about, this is through the lit up V which is highlighted and shadowed in red right in the centre of the front cover making almost every member of the audience focus on that V. Above the V we can see 'Maroon 5', this looks very effective as the white font stands out the very contrasting blue background, much like the red V does. The font is also very stylish, we can see the two O's in Maroon 5 are interlocking which gives off a different feel to the audience. On the side of the digipak we can also see the use of the same font for the band name again which creates a sense of continuity throughout the album cover.

As shown above, on the back of the digipak we can see the band themselves, this allows the audience to understand who performs in the band and allows them to relate to them a lot easier than if the audience didn't know who they were. We can also see special mentions to artists who have featured in different songs in order to make the album as good as it could possibly be. Finally the main attraction on the back is the list of songs that are included in the album, we can read the songs clearly as they are written in a basic font which is easy to read and stand out on the black background due to the fact that they are written in the highlighted red colour just like the V was on the front.

Overall I feel as if analysing these digipaks has made me understand what I must include in my digipaks in order to make them look as effective and professional as possible. I think bright colours on a contrasting background is a very common and effective way in order to attract audiences to want to buy your digipak. Another key feature in which is very important is using clear fonts as you do not want the audience not being able to read the writing that is on your digipak because they then will not know what the album is about.

Existing Magazine Advertisments

I will now be looking at magazine advertisements of existing music albums. Magazine adverts are made in order to create awareness about the new album that is being released and so the audience know when they can buy the album, maximizing the profit for the artist(s). The first magazine advert in which I will be looking at is Olly Murs' new album Right Place Right Time. As you can see to the right the advert instantly would stand out due to the brightly colored blue as the background, the dark coloured text also helps the background stand out due to the fact that the colours are so contrasting the blue looks to be lighter than it is. The font is very clear which allows the audience to clearly see what the poster is trying to achieve. A main feature of this poster is Olly Murs himself, we can see a big photo of him which allows the audience to see who the poster is actually about so they can relate to the poster more. The poster includes some smaller writing which includes other artists who have featured in the album, these artists will therefore be gaining awareness as many people are not likely to know who the smaller artists are so they will become more well known. His website is also at the bottom of the poster, he has most likely included his website in case anyone wants to book tickets to any of his shows/concerts which will massively increase his profit. Overall I feel as if this advertisement is very successful as I feel as though it would easily attract the audience due to the features in which it includes.

The second advertisement that I will be looking at is Jessie J's, it was an advertisement made to create awareness for her new debut album 'Who You Are'. Straight away the audience know it is about Jessie J as her name is written in a stylish font in golden writing drawing most of the focus to her. This is then reinforced by her being shown in a close up photo that takes up the majority of the page. We can instantly see that the theme of the poster focus on dark colours, which gives off a Gothic feel to the poster. She has jet black hair in a bob and is wearing black lipstick, black eye-shadow and black nail varnish which makes her look more like a goth. The use of the black make up could also have been used due to the fact that it makes her skin look more pale and could suggest that she has a much more stubborn and harsh personality. Similar to the Olly Murs advertisement we can see again the use of writing the artists who feature in the album along the bottom in order to try and gain more of an audience and provide these artists with more publicity. Another aspect in which we can see again is the use of including a website, this is likely to increase the amount of merchandise that Jessie J will sell and even the amount of copies of the new album as people will know exactly where they can buy the product from. From analysing this advertisement I feel as if it is a very simple layout however effective as the audience are easily attracted through the use of contrasting colours and the information that the poster provides.

The final advertisement that I will be looking at is one made by The Killers. The poster was for their new album Day & Age. My opinion when I first looked at this was that I really liked the vibrant colours that have been used in the background as they really do catch the audience's attention and that is a vital aspect of a poster. The textured look in the background also looks very stylish and professional and I think that the use of the white font for 'The Killers' makes the background stand out even more than it would. In contrast to this, the black font for 'Day & Age' makes both 'The Killers' and the background stand out due to the fact that black is such a dark colour and therefore the white and vibrant colours appear to look lighter when placed next to or on a dark colour. The audience immediately understand what the poster is about as they can clearly see that the poster states 'The Brand New Album' so therefore they know that The Killers are releasing a new album. We can also see that the album features other artists and this is shown in a similar way as the other featuring artists are shown in the other two posters above. Again, we can see the use of a website at the bottom of the poster which allows the audience to know where they can visit in order to try and find out more information about possible tours or other album release dates. I think that this poster is very effective through the use of the contrasting colours and this is what I will hope to create in my ancillary product for our music video in order to try and make it look as good as possible.

Factors from my research which I must include in order to make my digipak successful:

1. Bright vibrant colours

2. A photo of the artist

3. The Artist's Name

4. The Album's Name

5. List of the songs on the back

Factors from my research which I must include in order to make my advertisement be successful:

1. The Artist's Name

2. The Album's Name

3. Bright Colours/Dark Colours

4. Artists that feature in the album

5. Link to a website

Many artists do not actually create their ancillary products themselves, they usually get other institutions to create them for them. This is because many artists do not usually specialize in design and therefore wouldn't know how to make a poster attractive so that the audience would want to look at the advertisement/digipak. I would not have an institution create my ancillary products as I would prefer an independent designer to produce them as I feel as if they would make it look more professional and more effective so that more people would want to buy it.

The audience who would consume these ancillary products would be anyone who is interested in the artist that the ancillary products are about. This is why the posters/digipak's must contain images which the audience can relate to, for example, a photo of the artist, so that they know what they look like. Vivid fans of an artist/band would also buy the digipak's as they would want to have the CD of the new album and the digipak is more likely to be bought if it looks more professional and attractive.

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JH

Research Into Ancillaries

JH