Branding

Branding is a key aspect of selling not only an artist's music but also their image. An artist with a recognisable brand will sell a lot more merchandise, which will in turn be recognised and make sure that people are constantly reminded of them.

A good example of branding is The Red Hot Chili Peppers. They sell huge amounts of merchandise, as well as music, largely due to their simple and instantly recognisable, unobtrusive, and stylish logo - a red asterisk.

Some of their merchandise, like this wristband, simply uses the logo and assumes that people will know what it means. This works because they are so popular and have one main logo that is widely known.

Other products, like this cap, use their logo but include the band's name, so that anyone who doesn't know the logo will be able to recognise the merchandise. This also helps get their name out to people who haven't heard of them before.

They do also, however, have merchandise with different logos. The wristband below uses a stylised version of their initials. Although their normal logo is effective and popular, varying the design of their merchandise allows them sell more products.

Another artist that sells merchandise is Janelle Monae. However, she is a new artist and has only very recently become widely known. Her merchandise doesn't have one strict logo that is used, like The Red Hot Chili Peppers' products, but she does use the image on the cover of her first album on some of them, like the shirt below.

There is also other merchandise on her website that promotes this album, and continues the surreal sci-fi theme of the shirt and album cover. The poster below, for example, is a spoof film poster that has a very strong sci-fi theme and fits with the idea of androids. The idea of it being a film poster also reflects the narrative form of the album, with each song on it telling part of the story.

There is also merchandise, however, that doesn't follow this theme. The shirt below uses a different colour scheme to the blues and blacks of the Archandroid products (black, white and red). Although this makes the merchandise not follow one clear theme, it allows for more choice.

Another way of branding merchandise is to have a common style, rather than a logo or themes relating to each album. The Silversun Pickups are a band that uses this method, with all of their merchandise having a similar abstract, artistic style.

Most of their products, like this beanie, include heavily stylised text of the band's name alongside abstract, flowing images of nature.

The bag below continues this style, with an abstract and flowing image of nature alongside the stylised text with the band's name.

The shirt below follows the same style and uses the same font for the band's name, but takes the flowing abstract swirl patterns much further and uses them as a design for the whole shirt. Although it is very different from the other merchandise, it uses the same style of design, giving it a collective identity.