Evaluation Question 2

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

The most useful aspect of my Similar Product research is that it allowed me to develop an understanding of real-world promotional packages. Whilst conducting my research I realised that when releasing an album most artists tend to follow a set theme creating what is known as their

'House style’. This style extended throughout their work from their Music Video through to their Digipak covers and their Magazine features creating a means of semiotic communication whereby the artist is able to communicate with his/her target audience or fan base simply by using an image, text font or colour. The artist I created is meant to be a clash of different musical genres drawing inspiration from different cultural backgrounds. The 'Urban scenes' of any country are always seen as some of the most culturally diverse places in the world, as they combine the elements of dance, art, music and sport to create something new and refreshing. However the 'Urban scenes' tend to fight back and criticise societies for their weaker points; materialism being one of them.

As the song I chose was called 'Strip me' I interpreted it to mean the artist is asking to be stripped of all the wealth and materialistic objects within her life-including money. Therefore I chose to use vintage-retro urban scenes of city skylines to show the stark contrast between what the artist is and what she would like to be seen as. The city skylines form the basis of the House style I have created for the promotion package. The use of bright bold colours and paint splashes convey a sense of rebellion and non-conformation against accepting and enforcing the materialistic mentality, and they are present throughout my work. On the other hand the dull outer colours of the Digipak connote the Artist's struggle to hide her true self and feelings behind a state of confirmation however her rebellious streak is conveyed more openly through the music video where she jumps and stamps her feet and once again in the Magazine feature where she openly defies this ideal in complete colour. For me to measure how successful the products were I asked for feedback as to whether the running theme between the three products was clear.