1. Evaluation Question
How effective is the combination of your main products and ancillary texts?

2. Billboard
Website
Regional Magazine
Assignment Brief: As part of our A2 coursework, we were given the task of creating four pages of a unique regional magazine (front cover, contents page x2 and an advertisement) as well as a combination of ancillaries (a billboard and a website) When combined with the final four pages, these ancillaries should clearly demonstrate a sort of marketing campaign, complete with a constructed form of branding and house style.
The combination of the Pretty Visitors main product and the ancillaries embody a sense of consistency and coherence. There are many factors which contribute to a clearly identifiable house style, which is contained within all of my products, this includes:
Font (Type and Style)
Colouring
Imagery
Logos/Branding

3. What is meant by the term ‘House Style’?
Billboard
Website
Regional Magazine
What is meant by the term ‘House Style’?
This is a style guide which helps set up a generic standards guide for many publications, either general or specific. This style provides a sense of consistency in the style and formation of that particular document. Many publications demonstrate a preferred layout and style for formatting each piece. Often micro features such as colouring and font style and type are allowable contributions to the visual aspect of each product. The use of a house style is, in my opinion, the most important way of creating a constant form of brand identity. For example, in all products I have used similar colouring (brights for important features and monochromatic colouring for the body text), as well as this the artistic styling is carried through all products, mainly in the embodiment through the use of connotations- Stuart Hall (1980) presented by font style and types (handwritten font, created using Adobe Illustrator CS5.5 and a graphics pad) as well as the facial contours used within the cover and carried through to the advertisement.
Why is the use of House Style important?
The coherent sense of identity is reflected in all publications , this portrays a sense of excellence overall in each product. In media texts, the overall appeal to the audience (through presentation) is key; non-coherent presentation doesn’t make individuals gravitate towards a media product, outstanding, consistent presentation as well as excellent content draws their attention; first impressions are seen as everything in the world of media. The house style used generically reflects the brands identity and the representations that you want these to connote (Stuart Hall- 1980) about your magazine. For instance, I opted for bright colouring to contrast on plain or muted background as it not only stands out, but this choice of colouring says a lot about the magazine as a whole. This colouring portrays the magazine as quirky and individual, as well as this, it helps to portray the artistic side of the region that it is targeted at (Sheffield), as for example, on the cover, the facial contours put emphasis on the artistic contributions (visuals) as appose to the text.

4. Why is branding (logo use) important?
Billboard
Website
Regional Magazine
Why is branding (logo use) important?
The term ‘brand identity’ means that it is linked to a specific product type or series of products. The formation of a brand can take place throughout the use of many different micro features, for example; brand name, signage, symbol, combination of colouring or slogan. I have used a combination of all of these examples within my products. The brand name not only marks products belonging to Pretty Visitors, but it also holds connotations of varied meanings and representations. Pretty Visitors not only is a signification of how people come and go in the region of Sheffield, but it is also the titling of an Arctic Monkeys single, which was released in 2009, as part of their album entitled ‘Humbug’.
Branding is a way of clearly highlighting what makes the product different from opposing products.

5. Billboard
Website
Regional Magazine
When constructing the Pretty Visitors magazine, billboard and website my aim with to make the three link together as much as possible, through the use of various different elements. These elements include the use of costume (including hair and make-up), colouring, font types and styles, as well as the models themselves. These micro elements are visible throughout all three products.
The costume (with the inclusion of hair and makeup) of the protagonist on the cover of Pretty Visitors cover, as well as the billboard and website banner is presented in a minimalistic way. Making the image content simplistic helps put emphasis on the artistic elements, such as they facial contours and handwritten font types used. As this, it portrays the artist in question as non-superior, meaning that the audience can related, as their self-image is no different to that of the stereotypical reader. This defies the theory of Ideal Self or Ideal Partner (Carl Rogers), as most magazines use iconography in order to place the artist above the reader, however this not the case within Pretty Visitors magazine and ancillary text feature. Although I have deliberately not confined to this theory, it may be presented as a negotiated theory which is to be presented by some readers. This has been done across all three pieces, in order to make direct links and to put emphasis on brand exclusivity.
The costume on the model ‘Anna Thompson’ on the Pretty Visitors magazine contents page is solely black, I have done this in order to create emphasis on the models hair colour, which is a swatch colour of the Pretty Visitors masthead. This was done in order to add to the sense of brand identity, keeping the colouring consistent. When juxtaposed with the block white background, the use of plain black clothing helped further stress the colouring of the models hair in relation to font colour, specifically the masthead and ‘Hello Again. And Again’ comments on the contents page, which is situated just under the date line. Colouring is a major part of the brands identity, as this is what an individual would associate with the Pretty Visitors media products.

6. Billboard
Website
Regional Magazine
Font style and type also plays a significant part in all three media products, specifically using similar fonts, such ‘Orator’, which was used in combination with the hand created fonts, as use in the body text within each piece. This helped with the upkeep of continuity, as this ensured all products linked. The addition of the hand written fonts on each media piece not only contributed to the upkeep of the brands identity, but also the overall visual interpretation of Pretty Visitors, as a whole. These fonts were tailor made for Pretty Visitors, with the use of Adobe Illustrator CS5.5 and a graphics pad, this helps to distinguish this brand from any other in the genre. This helps with the means of association, as these unique font types are only associated with the Pretty Visitors brand. Font style and type was also an important factor, as I had to ensure that each font chosen and produced was in some way relevant and suited to not only the genre, but to the overall vibe in which I wanted for my products to give off. For example, choosing a traditional style font in contract with one which embodies a more contemporary style would not have been a great choice, as it does not carry the connotations in which I wanted the text to embody, nor does it tie in with the overall visual style that I wanted for all three of the Pretty Visitors products.

7. Billboard
Website
Regional Magazine
The models themselves also played a significant part in the creation of all three media products, specifically in terms of facial expression. Each model used (referring to both the model on the magazine cover and the model included on the contents) held a plain facial expression, which meant that the artistic elements on the magazine colour be further emphasised, as there was nothing to counteract them. These two protagonists also help to portray the stereotyped reader (Walter Lippmann- 1922) and Ien Ang (1991)’s theory of Imaginary Entity, in defiance to what magazines usually represent, as both look like ordinary individuals within society- nothing about either model is done to make them look any different from other members. This is the preferred reading which has been created (Frank Parkin and Stuart Hall- 1980), this is the meaning that Pretty Visitors wants you to have accepted. A reading might be negotiated, as the dominant reading may not be recognised or accepted by some readers, so they may find their own meanings, an example of this could be the theory of Ideal Self or Ideal Partner, which is brought to us by Carl Rogers.
All in all, I feel that all three Pretty Visitors branded media products create a coherent brand identity due to the incorporation of the micro features that have been discussed.