54 - Overview of the costumes our artists will wear

In the planning stages of our music video, one of my main jobs was creating the image that our artist, S.DOT and his feature, JAY, would maintain. I feel it is important that we maintain this image as it not only relates to the genre and music that S.DOT is producing, but also allows everything we create to link seamlessly. 

As decided earlier in the production process, the image that S.DOT will portray, in terms of the ways he is costumes, very much resembles the typical look of most boys of the same age in London today. Key items within British Youth Culture in relation to clothing and accessories are tracksuits, expensive jewelry, trainers and denim. This look that we have created for S.DOT will continue into the ancillary products in order to make him an instantly recognisable artist. In order for the music video, album and website to all link, S.DOT will appear as the same black British Youth throughout all productions, and this will be done through costuming.

52 - Do's and Dont's of Design Work

Following the rules of design and layout when constructing our ancillary products is an easy way to ensure that what we are producing is effective, professional, and follows all the codes and conventions of the average album cover. 

T H I N G S   I   W I L L   D O:

• Stick to two clear fonts. These fonts will complement each other and will be appropriate for the UK Rap genre. It is important that there is cohesion in terms of the ways in which genre is presented throughout the creation of these ancillary productions. 
• Stick to a maximum of three colours. The colours will work well together, suit the UK Rap genre, and suit the colours within the photographs. I plan to achieve this by using a black and white colour scheme as I feel that keeping the ancillary products as monochrome as possible allows our item of synergy ( S.DOT's rings) as well as his face to be the main focus. 
• Make sure that all photo's used are clear and in focus. They will be of an appropriate shot size as well as being generically appropriate. I have already begun this step by taking a load of images and having a shortlist of the best ones. The ones I feel look the best and suit the genre the most can then be edited and used within both the digipak and website. 
• Follow the rule of thirds for composition. 
• Remember to include a barcode, date, copyright information, title of the album, artist name, record company logo, website and artist website. Including all of this institutional information will allow my ancillary products to look more professional and will also help to encourage the audience to dig deeper into the story of S.DOT, whether it be visiting the artists website or the record companies website. 

T H I N G S   I   W O N T   D O:

• Use unnecessary effects. Any text or image effects must suit the genre. Using unnecessary effects confuses the audiences and also takes away from the quality of the images we have taken of S.DOT.
• Stretch images to fit the panel - if the image isn't the right size to begin with, I will get rid of it. Having stretched images in my digipak will make my product look less effective, and therefore lose marks!
• Place text across the face of the artist. One general and also quite important code and convention of ancillary products, whether they be album covers or websites, is that an instantly recognisable image of the artists face will always be included. 
• Use font simply because I like them or believe they look 'nice'. It is important that the fonts I use in my ancillary productions relate to the UK Rap genre in order to ensure that a well rounded and cohesive product is created. 
• Feel photos have to be used on every panel. Research will give me a greater understanding of the codes and conventions of the genre my artist fits into. Unnecessary photo's take up space that could've been well utilised and wastes time in the editing process. 

Digipak feedback..

Interviewee within the target audience range. Aged 22, in London and uses and wears brands such as Apple and Nike.

- "I like the progress you've made so far. I think the use of the ancillary pictures are done well and gives the audience a clear image of who the album is for. However, many artists that yours would be related to music wise would perhaps have more imagery of materialistic things on the cover. Just to further show their genre and the overall style of that album.
But honestly it's really good but do consider adding just small details that will further illustrate the type of artist he is.

50/51

We decided to get our fonts from the site named ''DAFONT' : http://www.dafont.com/

 

I lowered my font choices down to these six because i believe these fonts are conventional for our genre. As they're bold and thick , you will be able to remember the artists name due to the font style. Furthermore, i decided to keep everything with the colors of black and white as inspired by Wretch 32's ancillary products. His black and white theme was continued through his music videos to his websites and album cover which is what i intend to incorporate as well.

As you can see above , Wretch 32 theme is black and white with the bold font for his name and album title/.

50 - Short list of Fonts and Colours

Feedback..

I received feedback from my teacher on how I'm doing on the blog as well the targets.

I will work on my targets as soon as possible to make sure I get the grade I want, especially for such a crucial year.

I will definitely begin posting more images of our artist, S.Dot, as well as the feature, J; the blog has to look like it's a blog an artist a lot more.

I will also begin working on posts 48 and 49 (Ancillary Analysis Posts) to ensure they are more detailed and relate them back to my ancillary products.

Original artist's digipak..