The target audience we have selected, 16-25 year olds, are very aware of brands. Therefore, it was important not only to select the right ones, but to also make sure the brand names/logo's used were used to their maximum effect, on the advert more than the digipak. As the artist, George Barnett, is relatively unknown by most, the artist name is not the main feature of neither the digipak, nor the advertisement. Priority, it terms of positioning, size and colour was given to the brand names/logo's to draw maximum attention. When I asked people, of which fell into the audience profile, what they tended to concentrate on when looking at an advert or digipak, the majority said ratings and artist/s name. When also asked what name/logo demanded the most respect, they said "Q" and "NME". These were the views of both male and females. I decided to use both 'NME' and 'Q' logo's for this reason. Also, they gave the advert a professional look and didn't upset the delicate colour scheme. Becuase the logo's and stars featured some of the only colour in the advertisement, they drew maximum attention and brand awareness from the audience.
Although I wanted the brands etc. to stand out more so than any other feature, I did not want them to distract attention completely from the central image. This was important, as the central image was the house style which brought together all products - the digipak, advert and music video. I chose the stick figure as it is instantly recognisable from the video and inner-panels of the digipak, and it carries forward some of the key themes of the music video and all other products. Themes of individuality, mystery and iscolation. Iscolation clearly highlighted through the use of spacing between images and texts. Mystery is highlighted in a different way: the audience find themselves looking at this blank, expressionless figure - it's almost as if the figure is wearing a mask, which adds to the mystery, the audience want to know about the stick figure - what he knows. Audience members have commented in person how the stick figure gives off an oddly intense feel. This was the exact effect I wished for. In this respect, I am happy with the advertisement.
I used sans-serif text as it looked more creative, closer to the genre, more appealing to the target audience and less serious. It worked great for the artists name as it was still visable, yet not distracting from the more important aspects of the advertisement. A sans-serif type text was also used for the masthead (although it wasn't featured at the top of the advertisement) for the same reasons. The font was one of four drafts, each shown in various edits to audience members. It was selected by them on the basis that it was scruffy, yet readable, which fitted nicely with the themes of the video. It showed artistic flair, that of which is shown clearly in the character on the video. It also works with the text meaning "No Idea". It looks like it is written by someone who is tired of life as he knows it, and is searching for change - the title works in this respect as the character in the video has "no idea" what this change is, as he continues for something to give his life meaning.
The bottom-left icons - Facebook, Itunes - are very important features of the advertisement. The blue of the Facebook logo is instantly recognisable and our target audience will acknowledge it and the Itunes logo. It also fills a space of the advert that might otherwise of been blank and boring. This extra colour brought to the advert provides the audience with a more visually interesting image/information, which is vital amongst this target audience, as they have short attention spans and seem to have no time to waste taking in boring, colourless text. Adding these instantly recognisable icons meant that less information in text form had to be placed on the advert. Because they are a generation having been brought up with the use of technology, especially Web 2.0 technology, coming second nature to them, they will know how to access the information on this artist. The added benefit of Web 2.0 technology also being that publicity for the artist can grow with ease, and be cost/time-effective also. The QR code on the opposite side of the advert brings in even more widely used technology. This means that information relating to the artist and his products is even more accessable.
Unlike the music video, I took little inspiration from other texts in creating these ancillary texts. Although, I did take ideas from the video, which themselves were taken as inspiration from other texts. Oddly enough, I took inspiration from the movie 'I Robot'. From the image below I gained ideas of how to convey key themes, such as independance and iscolation.
In early development and storyboarding, we had the idea of these themes being symbolised by a red scarf, which would of been carried around by the character (the scarf actually having belonged to his girlfriend). Through audience feedback and further drafting this idea was replaced by the stickman idea.
Because our music video changes quite dramatically throughout the video (in terms of location, actor, timeline etc.), there were many recognisable aspects of the video that I was able to capture on my ancillary products. For the digipak, I decided to capture a different moment of the music video, and focus more strongly on themes of depression, as well as iscolation and mystery - so all the products were still linked by theme. This added another dimension to the video, it appeared more entropic and less generic and therefore unique.
As previously mentioned, i took inspiration from the movie 'IRobot' for design of the inner digipak panels (top left & right). Iscolation clearly highlighted though the spacing between images and the placing of the larger, iscolated figure - undeneath the CD itself. This design is instantly recognisable from parts of the video and advertisement. The spine of the CD even carries the same blank, iscolated effect of these panels.
The two texts - "No I.DEA" and "no escape" - were both created by use of the brush tool. This gave for a fitting distressed look, adding to the desperation of the image, almost making a mockery of the character - as they say "It's written all over your face". Again, linking the text to the video, were the characters mysterious problem is at the heart of the engaging action. I used this aspect of the character for my digipak cover design in the hope that the audience will again be intruiged by the character, and what he might be clueless about. The images themselves are headshots - the same that feature within the music video. The character is wearing the same facial expression and hair style. This is another link that the audience can make with the video. But it also gives the audience a further insight into the mind of this character. The dark shadow effect highlights the theme of depression, perhaps even loss, circling this character. No clothes can be seen being worn by the character. My idea was that it symbolised innocence and made for a more raw and intense look, but like the video, the audience is left to fill in aspects about the character for themselves.
Overall, through a combination of audience feedback and my personal reaction, I have produced an effective combination of main product and ancillary texts. All share recognisable features, whilst bringing new aspects to the main product, in particular to the character and storyline. I have been careful to make it generic, yet not so much so as to lose it's uniqueness and originality. It remains an entropic piece, which is designed to convey messages to it's audience, of which it I am satisfied it has succeeded in doing.
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