Ancillary Planning and Development

What need to be considered? What kind of colours will there be in the

background? What kind of image will there be on it and where

will this image be on the cover? How much text will there need to be and where

will this text be put? What kind of font will I be using when writing the

text? How will I answer all of these questions to a high

standard whilst aiming our product at our specific target audience to good effect?

Research When carrying out our research and interviews we got a lot of

good information that has given us a starting point to answer some of these questions. This shows that our research was very successful and that we will be able to aim our products at our chosen target audience with ease because we have found out exactly what they want.

Now that I have found the starting point for my planning I can now go on to answer all the necessary questions above and therefore, begin to plan the actual design of the CD digipack.

Colour Scheme There are many possible choices for the colour scheme

of the cover – due to our research showing that colour was a vital part of the image. However, to tie in with our specific genre the main colours that we will be using will be dark such as, black, purple, red etc. This will give our work an edgy feel to it that we believe will appeal to our target audience and also applies well to the genre we are working in.

Image choices Originally we planned to use an urban image of a young

adolescent with her face unidentifiable for the CD cover image. We thought that this idea could work well with our young target audience. We however decided to go down a more minimal design.

We felt that my using an image of two iconic props used in the video created we could create a more abstract and professional look to the cover.

Text and Font Choices The text will be in a font that matches the rest of the

genre we’re using. This will be a bright colour, most likely white to contrast and stand out on the dark background that we intend to create. The amount of text will be limited to the basic amount that we need. This is so that the cover does not look too cluttered and untidy. We will choose different font types for both the name of the band and the title to differentiated between them whilst also hopefully creating an iconic look for that name that could be carried into other projects in the band.

Font Possibilities We choose these fonts as potential fonts because we feel that they represent the theme and image that we are trying to portray through our cover advert and video. They are not only classically aesthetically pleasing to the younger audience, but also appeal to the more edgy gothic style that reflect the genre and bands image.

Font Considerations After doing research on all different styles of fonts

we can now decide which would go best with the genre we have chosen.

We also need to consider what our target audience will think of the font and whether it is appealing enough for the Digipak cover.

The font needs to stand out because the name of the band is a vital part of the album cover.

Another important part of the font will be the colour of it. We have decided that black would be for the best because it will make it stand out well and also look professional.

Chosen Fonts

We have chosen this font for the title of the band because we think that it is the best representative for the style and genre we are working within. It is edgy and exciting, both things that were highlighted as important when we carried out our audience research. This means that it will catch the eye of our target audience better than that of a more conventional font. We also feel that the swirly element of the writing adds a more gothic and decorative feel to the image which can and will be added to on the cover and advertisement.

PARAMORE

All I Wanted

We have also chosen this font to use for the name of the song. We felt that it was necessary to have two different fonts because this way it points out the difference between what both fonts are saying. We chose this second font because we feel that it compliments the other font well but does not distract attention from it at the same time. They appear to work well together and both fit into the genre we wanted.

What's Next? The next part of the planning for the album cover is to write up an

actual shoot plan for the images that we will need to take. This, therefore, will be our next task. This needs to be detailed so that we can consider each part of what needs to be happen during the shoot and after whilst editing.

Planning For Digipak Planning is obviously essential to any kind of media

production. We found that ours was particularly helpful to document not only what we set out to achieve but also how our plans developed and changed whilst we went about creating out products. Our plans are very detailed and descriptive of what we did and what we intended the outcome to be. The plan also includes what type if content we used in the images and our process in creating the cover, back and side of the case. Our plans have helped us a lot in hindsight to review our work and explore what we could have done differently.

Planning For Digipak

Thumbnails of Shoot

I chose to use the bear and the bottle for this shoot because they were props that I felt represented the story behind the video best. I also feel that they are the most memorable props within the video. I played around with positioning and angling of the bear and the bottle as well as general setting.

Stages of Creating My Product

I began by cutting my picture down to the correct size for a CD cover. I then used the clone tool in Photoshop to create a more smooth, marble effect background. By doing this the image Immediately begins to pop more. I think that the dark marble looking back drop adds to the gothic classical look.

I then had to again use the clone tool to edit out the name brand on the vodka bottle before moving on to change the image to black and white then overlap the image with a ‘Poster Edge’ edit. This gave a more cartoon effect which I felt worked nicely with the genre and the target audience.

Stages of Creating My ProductThe next stage of my production was to add in all writing and positioning for the text. We experimented with a number of placements for the name of the band and the name of the song;

Stages of Creating My Product

After deciding on a layout, I added in final details to the font that I felt added to the gothic look and feel to the piece such as ‘swirls’ and ‘splatters’ as highlighted in this image. I then went on to add in a cliché especial to the product the ‘Parental Advisor’ sticker. I feel again this adds to the rebellious nature of the younger generations music preference and is often necessary in our genre of music.

Stages of Creating My Product

For the back and side I used similar techniques. I added in the newly created logo, website and bar code into the back of the pact and extra splatters to the side to keep up with the unruly style that had so far been created. I think that the both the back and the side work very well in matching the front simple by using the same background, fonts and styles.

Evaluation DigipakOverall I am very pleased with my first ancillary product and the

way it has come out. I think that it portrays the genre I wanted it to and it will appeal to my target audience. I used Photoshop to edit this image and I think that this was a good choice because this program has a number of different tools I could use to give my product the ‘urban’ and ‘alternative’ feel I wanted it to embody. Now that I have created this ancillary I can move on to the next one which is a magazine advertisement for my CD Digipak. The process for this will be much the same with a lot of development and choices for things such as fonts and layout etc.

Planning For Magazine Advertisment I found through my planning and research of magazine

advertisements that how I anticipated my advertisement to work and how I envisioned it was not at all practical in the modern music scene. Through audience research and radial analysis of other advertisements I discovered that the style for such advertisements has over the last few years has undertaken a much more abstract style. I experimented with a number of ideas, i investigated further on how my target audience would respond to certain styles and layouts. My planning then goes into depth on the stages of my production, how my ideas changed and developed and finally how my end product represents the wants of the target audience.

Magazine Advertisement Planning

Creating My ProductI wanted my advert to be abstractly based on the band. I naturally chose to use a black background with white writing and images to not only reflect the nature of the genre but also to match in with the Digipak cover. I begun by trying to create a logo for the band that would then become the focus of the advertisement. I used mainly gig advertisements as my main source of inspiration which meant that I wanted minimal writing and clutter on the page as possible. I used Photoshop to add in definition to some of the lines and additional splatters. I also added in a letter ‘P’ into the centre of the oval shape. Once I had created the logo I went on to add in the name of the band and the name of the album into the image.

Creating My ProductAfter creating the logo and adding in additional writing, I moved on to consider layout and style of the advert. I wanted to stick with my minimalist idea and chose to have as little on the page as possible. This way the logo will become the main pull of attention.

I think that with this layout and style the piece looks very modest yet still very bold and dramatic, which I really like. I think that it works well with the Digipak and the video itself. However I felt there was something missing from it, something that could add another level to it making it more interesting an appealing to the target audience

Creating My ProductI experimented with a few more line detailing, to see whether I could make the advertisement more appealing for the audience I tried out different colours and shapes above and below the writing. I found it difficult to find placing that not only looked good but didn’t interfere with the logo I had created, but could stand alone.

Creating My Product After playing around with a few ideas on how to liven up my

advertisement, I found that Instead of adding to the background with colour more swirls and detailing looked a lot more professional and subtle. I then proceeded to add in more detailing, I choose that black and white colouring worked a lot better for the advertisement not only because the Digipak was also in black and white but because Indie music is often connected to black and white imagery. I think that the black and white also gives an silhouette effect that works nicely with the gothic theme that we have tried to achieve throughout the project.

Creating My Product

Evaluation of My Magazine Advertisement I really like my final ancillary production. I think that both

ancillaries work well together and are very aesthetically pleasing. I think that the choice of colours and the minimalist approach that I took to the project resulted in the best outcome for the advertisement. I considered a number of different designs including different colours and patterns but finally settled on the twisted line design because I feel that this is both attractive to the target audience but also fits in well with the gothic look that is on trend at the moment. I think If I was to improve my advertisement I would defiantly experiment more with the idea of images such as the teddy bear or bottle and incorporating them into my advert. But as a whole I believe that my advertisement has been very successful.