Media

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

2. This is our Final Digipak & Album
Magazine Advert

3. The Wombats Music Video

4. My ancillary texts are similar because one is advertising the other (magazine
advert advertises the digipak). Therefore when designing both products I used
similar fonts, colour schemes and layouts to create synergy between the
products. This makes the combination of my ancillary texts effective because
they are easily identifiable as being connected however in relation to my main
product – the music video, my ancillary products and the music video only use a
minimal amount of synergy because the purpose of the music video is not to
advertise the digipak but to advertise the single which in turn advertises the
digipak, therefore there is no need for there to be major similarities.

5. Images
 I used the front cover image of the digipak as the main image for the magazine ad
because this creates synergy between the digipak and magazine through
making a clear link between the products and emphasising to the audience
what the magazine is advertising and what the digipak looks like. I noticed
when researching digipaks and their magazine ads they followed this
convention of using the digipak front cover as the adverts main image,
therefore I followed it as well because it was the most successful way of
creating synergy between the products.


6. Fonts
 In order for my digipak and magazine advert to be an effective combination, I felt when
designing the products I should keep as many elements the same as possible. One way
in which I did this was using the same fonts for both products.
 I used the same font for ‘The Wombats’ on both products because this consistency would
create a link between the products. The font I used was simple but bold and therefore
would be useful for making the magazine advert stand out on the page and the digipak
to stand out on the shelf.
 I also used the same font and highlight on ‘1996’ because teamed with the same font for
‘The Wombats’ It would create a strong link between the products. However I did
change the positioning of the text on the page. On the digipak ‘The Wombats’ is
placed are the bottom with ‘1996’ placed above it as part of the main image whereas
for the magazine advert I placed ‘The Wombats’ at the top of the page with ‘1996’
below the band’s name separate to the image. I did this because I felt having the band
name and the album title next to each other at the top of the magazine advert would
be more eye catching and easier to read for the audience because it enable the
audience to quickly make an association between what the advert is advertising. One
way in which I combated the difference I had made was through the digipak spine, I
used ‘1996’ in the same font and highlight next to ‘The wombats’ like it is positioned
on the magazine advert, this way when audiences can only see the spine in a music
store, they can still associate the advert to the digipak without needing the use the
main image.

7. Colour Scheme
 I used the same colour scheme of mauve and black for the digipak and magazine
ad. This was purposely done to create synergy between the products because
through the media products looking similar it will help the audience to link the
products together, especially when the magazine is advertising the digipak. If
the magazine contains a picture of the digipak, the audience will understand
what the digipak looks like making it more likely that the audience will
purchase the digipak.
 Not only did I use the same colour scheme, I used the same colour in the same
places, which helped create a stronger link between the main product of the
digipak and the ancillary text of the magazine ad. An example of this includes
using white font throughout both products to help maintain a consistent theme
between both products.
 Another example includes how the mauve and black colour scheme is continued
through the images used on the digipak and the magazine ad. The image on
the magazine is black with the city lights inside but surrounded with a mauve
background whereas the images of the band are highly stylised with two-tone
shading of black and mauve.


8. Text and Information Included
 When creating the magazine advert, it was important to keep a simple layout
with the minimalist amount of text because a crowded advert with lots of
text is unappealing to audiences. Therefore I thought a simple way of
maintaining a link between the advert and digipak would be to include on the
advert some song titles because this means the audience can notice what
songs are on the digipak and then when looking for the album look for those
specific songs. Another reason for including song titles was the fact it would
encourage fans of the songs mentioned on the advert to also buy the digipak.

 Another way the text I included made the magazine and digipak an effective
combination, is through the placement of the app icons on the bottom of the
advert. This is useful because it informs the audience where to purchase the
album.

9. Cross-media Convergence
We used cross-media convergence by putting the link to the
wombats website in the YouTube comments which allows our
audience to go to the band’s website and find out more about
them and their products. Furthermore, the magazine advert has
advertised the website by also including the website name.
The website is advertised on the album poster as well as the
comments of the music video because together they advertise
the digipak and providing a link to the website allows the
audience to purchase the digipak.
Advertising where to buy the digipak on my magazine advert
and in the comments of my music video makes the combination
of my main product and ancillary texts effective because they
give the audience more ‘entry points’ a theory from Henry
Jenkins who says that having more entry points into a product
allows the product to reach a wider audience which is beneficial
for the institution because it in turn earns them more money.
WWW.THEWOMBATS.CO.UK

10. The Band
The main text of the music video, visually references Andrew Goodwin’s idea
that music videos contain performance, this even more prominent in Indie music.
Therefore In our music video we used many long shots of our band playing in the
music video. We also included the band on digipak so our audience could connect
our main product to the digipak. However to fit in with the indie genre, we used
an effect on the band photo so the band members weren’t clear because the
focus of the digipak should be on the music not the band’s image. This also
makes the ancillary product of the digipak, link to the music video because the
ambiguity over the band members will lead to our audience investigating the
band because they want to find out more about the band because they identify
with the band and the music.