By Saagar Shah

For our Ancillary texts, we were asked to create a CD DigiPak which was a CD front to back cover and an inside cover.We were also asked to create an advertisement which will be placed in an music magazine.

Before starting and producing the following products, I decided to do some research and plan how my items will look like. As well as this, I also decided to research and look at other real CD DigiPaks and Advertisements which are in the same genre as K-OS for inspiration, ideas and conventions I can follow. The research I did can be found on my blog.

Following the music video I wanted to make my Ancillary texts something unique and eye catching . This would mean it will stand out from the shelves of other CD covers and other Advertisements therefore it will gain more attention and more salers. As well as this, I wanted my designs to represent the emotions and visual impact of the lyrics. This would create synergy and link all three products together.

Here are my CD Covers:

Front and back covers

Inside covers

I decided to use a custom font. The font I has a 'gritty' feel to it and relates to the genre of Rap/Grime and to the song. As well as this, the text also feels urban and has an sad and dark emotion to it. This is because it has holes in the text, rough edges and doesn't have smooth lines or curves.

I decided to add K-OS right in the middle of the image while the burning background is behind him. This creates an effect that the character is isolated yet lives and is part of the council flats which are now destroyed. I also decided to add none of his friends or fans around him which creates more of an isolation. Finally, K-OS is found looking at his mobile phone which shows he doesn't care about anyone else and is doing everything by himself.

I decided to add this parental advisory sticker as they are swear words in the song. As well as this, this is also for marketing aims and will draw in teenagers and young adults who like to listen to song with explicit content.

I added in the dark pavement for an extra urban and gritty feel to the cover.

Used a character to symbolize K-OS like how Kanye West did with a few of his albums with the bear mascot

By making the sky extremely dark and gloomy with lightning strikes, it creates a angry and powerful atmosphere

To make the front cover stand out even more, I decided to set fire and destroy the flats. This presents a more dangerous and angry mood

I added the sunrise behind the character to give an effect that he is in the spotlight

By making the sky extremely dark and gloomy it creates a angry and powerful atmosphere

By adding the lightning strikes, it creates a even more dramatic and negative look.

The custom font has holes and rough edges to give it a rough, gritty and urban feel. It also creates a more harsh evniroment

I added the barcode as this conventional on a back cover

I added the track list as this is conventional on a back cover

I inserted the lyrics onto the first inside cover as this is conventional for placement in a real media product

I decided to get rid of all the effects, the text andthe character as this is the inside cover and is not the first thingpeople will see when they see the CD album for the first time on theshelves

Here is my Advertisement:

The same font has been used from the music video where the lyrics appeared on the screen. This creates a synergy from the music video and to the advertisement so people can link these two medias together.

The rusty and eroded background can also be found on the music video where the lyrics appeared on the screen. This also creates a synergy from the music video and to the advertisement so people can link these two medias together.

I decided to add the lightning strikes again to create a evil, dark and angry atmosphere. It also links back to the front and back CD Cover therefore it creates a synergy which will allow viewer to link both medias together

I added the same character from the front CD cover which was inspired from Kanye West. This mascot will remind people that this is K-OS and if it its placed on any other medium, it will mean it’s one of K-OS’s products. This in form is a synergy.

I added the same pavement from the front CD Cover to make the advertisement feel more gritty, urban and rough like the music video

Here is the front CD cover design so viewers can see what it looks like. Secondly it further links both medias together.

The colours used are black, white and grey. This colour scheme is also used in most segments of the music video

In conclusion, I believe my main product and ancillary text combine well together to create a synergy. Both, advertisement and CD DigiPak relate well to the music video as it has elements from the video incorporated into the designs. Secondly, Both products (Music video and Ancillary Texts) show large conventional signs of real media products and what genre they are from as well as which audience and age group they attract.