How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks ?

When I looked at the combination of your main product and ancillary task I never looked at them as 3 separate products but as one media packages. This meant that when I designed the individual parts I looked at what I had already planned to create, giving me a strong house style and a good idea of the use of what I needed to create in order to make a convincing media product (s).

We created a mood board (see figure 1) with magazine cuttings for the group to get a better understanding of the character of Maia. We also held a focus group (see figure 2) which

allowed our group to show the target audience, the mood board and allowed them to see the type of artist we are creating and how this would affect them as a group. I decided that I would use this focus group as a way of determining some of the key decisions we wanted to make for the artist.

This was extremely useful as we decided that we would use pastel colours, simple clothing and natural settings. These aspects of the mood board were really useful when I created the different aspects of

my ancillary / main tasks. By having this back story for the artist I was able to capture her natural side in the locations of the music video and photo shoots. But also have used the colour theme which can be seen in the mood board when I chose the colours needed to edit the images used in digi pack / magazine artial and the music video so it would have a vintage effect. We have also used the mood board as a way to help our group and focus group to make key decisions like the artists name, narrative story and cover of Pompeii. From research I have done into existing products, I made the choice for Maia to wear clothes which wouldn’t sexualise her. I didn’t want Maia to be seen ‘Twerking’ or flaunting her body without clothing. Our target audience is teenage girls aged 13 – 16, which I believe is an age which these young girls are extremely impressionable and since we wanted Maia to inspire the younger generation. Displaying her in next to no clothing isn’t a good way of inspiring a generation, so I believe we needed to convey the right message between all of my media products. That’s means that when I designed the digi pack, magazine advert and music video I needed to make sure that I never contradict myself and my choice for the design.

Also, I think that the main theme that runs through my product is the use of colour. I have edited the both ancillary tasks so that they are eye catching but also exaggerated some of

1 | P a g e

Figure 1 – Mood Board

Figure 2 – Screen shot from target audience video.

the colours which were all ready in the image. I chose to use white text as this stands out really well from the coloured background. I have also added a slight glow around some of the text to give the impact of a 3D effect.

However, the images I have taken for the Digi pack and magazine advert were all taken on location when we filmed the music video. So all of these are relatable to the other parts of the media product as a whole. These locations we decided to film and photograph our artist, match the images we have planned when created the mood board and planned the locations on pinntrest and the mood board we have created for the project. I have also made sure that we used natural lighting for these photos and the video footage so that they it gives the idea that she been altered or changed in post production but is this natural girl who you can look up to. I wanted Maia to come across to the audience as something real that they could look up to or aspire to be and didn’t want her to come across as a fake artist which you see in the media nowadays. These artists have been airbrushed or altered to please the record labels. The magazine advert and digi pack have been edited in the same way so that there is a clear house style between these. Even members of the target audience said that “You would know that they all link even if you haven’t seen the other media products, because of the use of colour and style used in the images”.

Furthermore, I have chosen to use the same text throughout all of the 3 products, and have made sure that when I picked the text that it was suitable to the purpose of the product. I have had to make sure that this follows the current conventions of the product but also that it fits in with the house style I am trying to crate for the artist. The use of the same text shows that the other products are extremely relatable to the target audience. As a member of the public would see the image or the text in a magazine advert then go into the shop … see the same text and similar images on the cover of a CD then want to buy this.

In addition, we had to think about the way the genre of music is communicated to the audience through the use imagery, style, form and composition. To do this I had researched existing products which were taken from the genre of folk / acoustic pop. I looked at the likes of Taylor Swift and Rihanna (See Figure 3). There Digi packs and Magazine adverts have shown me that by using colour and location you can convey a message of the music by this. Since I have chosen to use vibrant colours, I think this links to pop industry as they always use vibrant colours which would be eye catching to the target audience. I have tried to reciprocate this when I have the designed my own digi pack and magazine advert.

2 | P a g e

Figure 3 – Rihanna Poster

Another example of how I have used feedback to adapt a design to make it more streamlined was the CD design I have made for my digi pack. I started out with my draft design (see figure 4) which I created as during the research and planning stage of my project I found that when looking at digi packs, the CD’s always had a plain design on the disk. So I decided that I would follow this convention.

However I thought that the design was a bit boring and didn’t think it suited the artist at all. So I decided that I would speak to my target audience and teachers about whether they thought the design was like the real media products in the shops. When I asked a member of my target audience they said “it’s plain boring and needs to be more eye catching if you want people to see it in the shops”. My teacher suggested that I should include the colour scheme that that I have used on the front/back covers, this might make the design more interesting, however I do think that the use of the lyrics on the CD is very good and looks effective. So from this feedback I was able to create a more eye catching design which I think fits in better with the colour scheme, house style and package of the media product. I have tried to create a design which is plain and simple but eye catching to the target audience. Not only have that but created something which links to the main product via the use of lyrics, colour and style.

Finally I think that the representation of my artist is extremely strong throughout the ancillary tasks and main task. As we haven’t filmed her in next to no clothing and then photographed her (for the digi pack and magazine article) in loads of clothing. We have chose to have constant clothing which again shows again how the main task and ancillary tasks are similar in design. In the music video we had our artist give very mature expressions which I think were suitable to the target audience, this is apparent in all of the media products as I believe that in the photographs she takes on an interesting, mature look which would make people look up to her.

3 | P a g e

Figure 4 – Draft Design Figure 5 – Final Design