Question 2

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

The main aspects I kept a sense of throughout the digipack, the magazine advert and also the music video was simplicity to create raw authenticity and truth, showing the band as themselves and not an act they put on. This reflects how serious and passionate they are about their music. Coherence was created in many ways. For example, through the costume, which was the same for the boys throughout the digi-pack and advert and similar to these in the music video. Also, the colour palette stayed low saturated and black and white throughout the digi-pack and magazine advert. Imagery was repeated (the three boys standing in a row) and urban locations were used throughout.

Colour

There is a incoherence in the colour saturation of the Digipack and the music video.

My use of colour in the music video as opposed to the black and white or low saturation in the digipack is done to enhance the voyeurism, the video's attractiveness, and to maximise how entertaining it is. The colours make it more fun to watch.

The digipack however is more attractive to the target audience when it has a certain hip, vintage style about it with muted colours and lowered saturation. This represents the band as iconic, stylish and cutting edge. This would specifically attract the eye of hipsters, a subculture with has recently become overwhelmingly popular in british teenagers.

Giving the album a vintage look also suggests that it is musically revolutionary and will have a long shelf life.

Front and back cover panels 

The front cover and back cover of the digi-pack link to each other as the they depict the artists standing in the same place in the same position, but the front cover photo is taken from the front, with the band facing the lens, and the back cover is taken from behind them, with the band's backs facing the lens. 

This creates a complete presentation of the band, back and front, and also creates coherence throughout the digipack,

from the front to the back.

The simplicity and authenticity aspects of the digipack are reflected here as the band are standing in a straightforward manner, without much fuss made around them. This simplicity was also used in the editing of the pictures for the digipack on photoshop by only making small changes to the pictures, like lowering the saturation and making parts black and white.

A similar shot was also used in the music video, to again, create coherence.

Panels 2, the track list, and Panel 5, which holds the CD, have the same simple black background with the tracks written in simple white font, the same white shade as the logo, to keep the continuity, simplicity and coherence of the digipack. The black and white colours are staying in the low-saturated colour range used throughout the digipack, also creating coherence.

The four first tracks on the track list Panel 2 are actual songs names by the band The Upgrade.

I chose the name of the 5th track 'Rough Trade Me' with the intention of using vocabulary (rough) which was descriptive of the genre and hinting towards what kind of song this could be - Rough, angry, raw etc.

It is also a reference to a Rough Trade Records, a London-based independent record label who have promoted and sold records by similar bands as The Upgrade such as The Smiths or The Buzzcocks.

Track 6 is again using provocative vocabulary possibly describing what the song could be like again angry and rough, since in the name "Battleship" the word 'battle' relates to war and fighting and also anger.

Track 7 I named Casablanca because I remembered one of the band members saying they'd always wanted to go to Casablanca in Morrocco. This portrays the british city boy's  wish to get away from his hometown. 

Track number 8 is a reference to a band who The Upgrade are good friends with and play many gigs with, called The Crates.

I chose to add an acoustic version of the USA song, so the Album would be attractive to girls, who tend to prefer acoustic songs, as well as boys, who prefer the electric guitars.

Panel 3, 4 and 5 

   

For the inside of the digipack I used three close up shots of each of the three band members.  This presents a sense of insight and closeness between the audience and the band, which is also presented in the music video through the use of outtakes, giving the audience the impression that they have been invited to meet the band members behind the scenes.

The simplicity and authenticity aspect is also presented here in the same as in the front and back covers and in the location shots and performance shots of the band in the music video: the band members depicted straightforward, looking like they would on any other day (no big make up or special costume) without big drama or scenes around them distracting the eye.

Panel 7

The urban location the band are situated in on this panel creates coherence with the urban location used in the music video and throughout the digi-pack and magazine advert and it is also a generic convention of the alternative, metal and rock genres. Coherence is also established because this picture relates to the Magazine advert, which was taken in that exact location with the same lighting. 

Magazine Advert

As stated above in the description to Panel 7, this advert and the 7th panel relate to each other.

Coherence is created through the use of the same font as in the digipack, the same colour shading and the same range of low-saturated colour palette, the use of black and white, the costume and 'The Upgrade' band logo on the top left, which is the same as on the front cover of the album.

This advert would feature in britain-based rock, metal and alternative music magazines such as NME and kerrang and Q Magazine.