ANCILLARY

PRODUCT

ANALYSIS

5 SECONDS OF SUMMER’S SELF TITLED

ALBUM – UK DELUXE EDITION DIGIPAK

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FRONT COVER ANALYSISThe subjects of the main image are the

band members themselves. This adds a

personal touch for the fans because they

will instantly recognise the band,

encouraging them to buy it because they’re

already familiar with their music so they

know they’ll enjoy it.

Their good looks may also encourage

some adolescents to purchase the album

due to sex appeal. The young men are

dressed conventionally for the pop punk

genre, with black skinny jeans and casual

tshirts and checkered shirts; this will make

it clear what the genre of music will be and

will cause the musicians to be relatable to

their fans who dress in a similar way. Their

hair is also conventional and appealing,

with one member having a wild purple

spiked hairstyle that attracts attention

suggests that he is ‘alternative.’

It is conventional to have band members

on the cover and can be seen on many

albums such as Dirty Work by All Time

Low, which is very similar in appearance to

5 Seconds of Summer’s debut album.

The album is self titled, therefore the

heading and name of the band are one.

This is placed at the top of the page, for

this is where the eye is drawn to first

according to the route of the eye; this

means those that recognise the famous

band’s name will either be curious to

hear their music and find out what all of

the “buzz” around the popular new band

is all about, of they will already know

that they like their music and will buy it.

The text is written in a printed “plastique”

font. This gives the debut album a DIY

feel conventional of the pop punk genre

that has an informal feel to it that

matches the carefree attitudes of the

teenage musicians. The text is written in

a white font placed over a black

background, creating contrast not only

between the font and the black “label”,

but between that and the background of

the cover as well.

The logo is situated directly underneath

the title to reinforce brand identity to

again make the band recognisable to

increase their fame and record sales.

This logo comprises of a tally chart with

five lines, relating to the name of the

band. It is coloured black and red to

match the house style of the digipak,

which is black, white and red. This

makes the band more recognisable and

the colours are conventional to the

genre.

The reason a red cross falls over the

musicians on the image is because the

digipak is the UK version; a red cross is

the main feature of the union jack flag,

personalising the album for its British

listeners. There are multiple covers

available to purchase, each with their

own bonus tracks, making them

collectables to be appreciated as well as

increasing album sales.

“Doodles” that have been hand drawn by

the band make up the background, adding

a personalised touch that fans will

appreciate as well as adding interest. The

images are fun, which may appeal to the

band’s demographic of adolescents. They

also distinguish between the standard and

deluxe versions of the CD.

SOME ALTERNATIVE ALBUM COVERS

These copies are exclusive to the US store Target, with four to collect;

this will encourage people to buy several copies to benefit both 5

Seconds of Summer and Target in terms of sales.

Both the album and the Target stores they are sold in were promoted

in a prank video in which the musicians pretended to be Target

employees to fool shoppers – This is an example of viral marketing,

reaching the young adults that use social networking.

These are copies of the US and

AUS/NZ exclusives – each

region has bonus tracks on their

own versions of the album to

make it more personal. The

colours relate to their nationality.

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BACK COVER ANALYSIS

The house style of red, black and

white is followed even on the back

cover. This results in continuity of the

product and a well established

band’s brand identity. All text and

images contrast each other and are

easy to see and read because these

three colours naturally compliment

each other in this way because they

are so different. This causes an

aesthetically pleasing product.

Again, there is a theme of fun

caused by the inclusion of “doodles”.

These reflect the young ages of the

musicians who are still in their

adolescent years and appeals to

their target demographic of mostly

adolescents and young adults, who

will appreciate its quirky look. Again,

the hand drawn elements add a

personal touch to connect with the

band and make the young band

relatable and accessible.

Variety is added because several

different fonts are used in the track

listing; this makes it more

interesting to read. It also

correlates with the variety of

themes and sounds in the songs.

The fonts all have a handwritten

appearance, again making the

album and band themselves

accessible so that more people,

especially the younger adolescent

demographic, will want to listen to

and buy the product.

The layout of the back cover is of

particular interest because the

track names appear to be

scattered across the page, creating

a chaotic yet playful feel that will

appeal to the younger target

audience and possess

conventional themes to the pop

punk genre that were found during

the research process.

The background of the back cover

is a plain white; this ensures that

with the busy shapes and fonts, it

does not become too chaotic.

A barcode I placed at the bottom of the

page; it is situated here because it’sof

no interest to the consumer and is the

last place the eye will look. It’s purpose

is purely for production purposes so it

can be identified and sold. This feature

is a requirement but can be small.

It is required to have certain legal

information on the packaging to give

credit to those responsible for the

album. This is written in incredibly small,

subtle font because it is of no interest to

the consumer. Also included towards the

bottom of the back cover is the record

label logo, the year of production and

the band’s and record label’s website

address.

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DISK DESIGN ANALYSIS

When the digipak is opened, the

consumer it faced with a bright red

disk against a plain black

background. These colours contrast

so compliment each other as well as

following the house style to enforce

brand identity. The red is appealing

to the target demographic of carfree

adolescents and young adults who

will be drawn to the fun colours.

Also providing a theme of fun are the

hand drawn “doodles” covering the

disk. These are also in black so as to

stand out against the bright

background. These images feature

throughout the digipak to create

continuity so that it appears

professional. The drawings are by

the musicians themselves, making

the album feel personal to fans as

well as making them seem relatable

and representing their young ages.

The images of subjects are fun and

exciting and song titles feature

throughout to link the disk to the

back cover.

Also included on the disk is the

band’s name, which is also the

album title due to its self titled

nature. This again is written in a

font with the appearance of an old

label; this appears handmade so fit

in with the conventional DIY

approach of many pop punk

bands. This font is used on the

front cover of the digipak to create

continuity as well as other

merchandise to support brand

identity. This is placed at the top of

the CD so that it is read straight

away for this is where, according

to the route of the eye, people

instinctively look first. The text is

written in a white font over a black

box to create contrast against the

red dick and to be easy to read.

Directly below this is the band’s

logo; this is a well thought through

design as it is a tally chart with five

lines; this relates to the band name

of “5 Seconds of Summer”. It again

represents them as young, fun and

relatable because it is hand drawn.

It is required to have certain legal

information on the packaging to give

credit to those responsible for the

album. This is written in incredibly small,

subtle font because it is of no interest to

the consumer.

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INSIDW COVER ANALYSIS

The imahe used for the inside cover

is that of a hand in the gesture that is

widely recognised as a symbol of

rock music. This reflects the band’s

punk and pop punk inspirations as

well as inspirations from other genes

of rock music that support each other

in their alternative natures. This

appeals to the mostly alternative

young adults who the album is

targeted towards and will be instantly

recognisable as being from the pop

punk genre. It will appeal to the

target psychographic too, as from my

audience research I found that many

individuals enjoy attending “gigs” in

their spare time, where this hand

gesture can be seen again and again

across the sea of crowds due to what

it represents. The fans of 5 Seconds

of Summer and the band members

themselves frequently use this

symbol which unifies fan to fan as

well as fan to musician, for it shows

that they have a love of music in

common, making them relatable and

likeable, encouraging people to listen

to their music and attend their

ocncerts.

5 Seconds of Summer’s brand

identity has clearly been taken into

account in the design of the inside

cover because the house style of

red, white and black has been

followed, causing continuity for an

aesthetically pleasing, professional

digipak. The black and white

image looks fashionable,

appealing to the alternative, stylish

target audience identified during

the audience research stage. It

also appears artistic, improving the

band’s image. The red tape that

appears to be holding the image is

similar to that used to stick set lists

to walls as well as labeling musical

equipment during tours, again

appealing to the psychographic of

young music fans who often attend

concerts so will recognise their

significance. This is a feature of

many pop punk concerts that have

more of a DIY approach, which is a

convention of the genre. The

image is a simple one so that the

piece is not crowded or

unattractive. It is placed in the

centre to draw attention.

The hand model is photographed

wearing a stack of bracelets, some of

which appear handmade and others that

look as if they could have been bought

from merch stalls and other obscure

places. This is a typical accessory worn

by pop punk musicians for they are

often given to them by fans, who they

make an effort to meet after shows and

at meet and greet events. The fans

often wear this type of cheap or

handmade jewellery for its personal

value and carefree appearance that

matches the personalities of these

young adults and the music they listen

to and play.

CONTINUITY ACROSS ANCILLARY

PRODUCTS AND USE OF SYNERGY

Most official 5 Seconds of Summer products including

packaging of music as well as design of merchandise follows

the house style, creating brand identity. This is similar to Green

Day’s promotional package for Uno, Dos and Tre, which is also

visually a similar style. Synergy has been used to promote the

band’ music, with the band releasing an array of products from

clothing to accessories, calendars and even their first book titled

“Hey, Let’s make a band”. The release of this publication even

allowed for book signings to take place, with the events,

products and music promoting each other, advertising the band

and increasing profit. Clothing with the band’s logo is important

as it is wearable advertising and lets fans express their love of

the band.