CharactersThe front cover of this digipak shows Florence herself portrayed in an almost storybook fashion. She is shown wearing a pair of fake lungs attached to a ribbon around her neck – this related to the title of the album. Florence’s hair is also cut and styled into an unconventional look which relates well to the ‘indie rock’ genre of the album as its different as oppose to a mainstream look. A photograph of Florence alone has been used for the art within the CD: this image is in black and white and shows the singer wrapping her arms around herself – this suggests a sense of insecurity or shyness, giving the singer a hint of innocence and purity. This is also reflected within the main cover as the singers body language appears gently positioned.

NarrativeThe digipak seems to have a narrative as there is a suggestion of a fantasy/storybook world within the front cover image. The digipak does entice the audience to purchase the CD as the front cover image as well as choice of title ‘Lungs’ intrigues the audience to want to understand the reasons behind them further.

IconographyAs the album name is ‘Lungs’, iconography has been as the main singer is shown wearing a fake pair of lungs in the album art front cover, as well as a diagram of a pair of lungs used on the back of the album art, relating to the album title. For the CD art, a close up shot of a pair of hands grasping what appears to be a heart has been used. This maybe have been used to keep the organ theme going, but also may suggest a possible struggle as the hands are roughly

StyleThe colours of this digipak appear rather muted and calming, such as the use of soft blues/greys and dark reds within the front cover artwork. This relates to the indie genre, capturing the audiences attention creatively, but doesn’t stand out too much with uses of vivid colours that an album of the pop genre may conventionally use. The back cover of the album is also black and white, making it simple for the audience to read and acknowledge. The CD art itself, however, is shown using a warmer yellow tone, yet is still rather muted. The use of the colour yellow gives a warmer feel to the image of the heart suggesting feelings

SettingThe front cover appears to have the main singer posed in front of a large draping curtain which looks grey/navy and almost bark like as if the singer is standing in front of a large tree. In front of this curtain yet behind Florence are also blossomed branches and birds –this makes the mise en scene appear to be set in a make believe forest giving the impression of a storybook/fantasy world suggesting a world of purity and innocence.

Digipak Analysis: Florence and the Machine – Lungs – Indie Rock Genre

positioned around the organ instead of holding it delicately as the heart itself is one of the most essential organs. This could relate to possible heartbreak which may link to some of the tracks on the album ‘Lungs’. There is a suggestion of folk/fairytale within the mise en scene

CharactersThe album art for Kanye West’s album ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’ uses paintings painted by artist George Congo -5 alternate covers were created for this album. In this version, it shows Kanye’s severed head, crowned, being pierced with a sword. The character appears fearsome and powerful, with the facial expression and the portrayal of his eyes wide open, relating to song ‘Power’ from the album. His assumed status is also conveyed through the crown that he wears, suggesting the artist believes he is dominant and higher than everyone else. The CD art shows another one of the George Condo paintings, one which was banned by Apple and superstores for being too provocative, featuring a naked half woman half creature on top of a man shown drinking. The bizarreness of the painting suggest Kanye’s desire to be different and willingness to break rules. It also further supports the suggestion of Kanye’s powerful persona, as he new such painting would cause controversy in the media, yet continued to use it anyway.

NarrativeThe use of specially made intriguing paintings by George Condo for this CD entices the audience by being so mysterious forcing them to wonder what each of them mean, creating a narrative enigma. Once listening to the album, the paintings begin to make sense.

IconographyAs an album of the hip hop genre, this digipak does not show the stereotypical features expected of a hip hop CD. Instead, artist paintings are used for the front cover, suggesting a higher social class as oppose to the stereotypical street-raised rappers who emphasis their rough upbringing. Although in painting form, the character is still recognisable as Kanye West which could be classed as iconic as there is no artist name on the CD itself, just the image.

StyleAs the album art is all digital with no used of photographs, only paintings, no camera was used. The use of the colour red is frequent throughout the digipak, used on both the front cover, back cover and internal artwork. This colour connotes strength and power –a continuous theme of this digipak. Within the inside, typography of the artists name ‘Kanye West’ spreads across 4 pages. This creative design reflects the artists imaginative side, which could also refer back to the ‘fantasy’ setting/theme of the digipak.

SettingThe album front cover painting appears to be set in a dreamlike world, featuring clouds and vivid blue skies, which conveys an image of a fantasy heaven-like setting, relating to the title of ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’. The characters severed head appears on a podium-like display, further suggesting the artists power and supremacy thoughts about himself and also referring to the track ‘Power’. On the back, the album tracks are written in a creative font. The type of font used suggest a similar quality to calligraphy – this font gives the album an almost regal sense, which again relates to power and royalty.

Digipak Analysis: Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy – Hip Hop Genre

The use of folk-tale like characters for the album art show that Kanye West, as a hip hop artist is different and unique to the genre.

Digipak Analysis: Rihanna – Loud – Dance-Pop / R&B

CharactersThis digipak only features one character – Rihanna herself. She is shown as a close up shot of her face on the front of the album, with striking, bold red hair. She also has matching bold red lipstick on – these striking colours relate well to the title of the album “Loud”. She is shown looking down, not making eye contact with this camera suggesting shyness and innocence. The purity of the image is challenged by the visible tattoo shown on Rihanna’s neck which emphasises her as an RnB artist, relating the image to the genre of the CD. It goes against the stereotypical conventions of an RnB artists CD which Rihanna has done in the past as women of the RnB genre are usually portrayed in a ‘sexy’ style, with minimal clothing showing themselves as an object to desire. Even though Rihanna has still created a CD of this genre, she has gone against conventions to create a purer image that reflects the more innocent side to the love theme rather than the stereotypical objectivity of women and sexual side of love.

NarrativeThere seems to be a narrative to this digipak as the inside album artwork suggests a fairy-tale like setting, showing that the CD may be a story about love as the roses are an iconic symbolism of love. However, when listening to some of the tracks and lyrics, not all the songs featured on the CD are so ‘innocent’ as suggested by the digipakartwork. Nevertheless, most songs relate to some aspect of the theme of love.

IconographyRoses are iconically used within this digipak, featuring on the inside artwork as well as on the CD art. The symbolism of the rose connotes innocence and love, and relates to the love theme of the CD tracks such as ‘Only Girl (In The World)’. The danger connotation of the colour red can also relate to the risky love themed songs such as S&M. In the song ‘California King Bed’ the artists create love imagery using the lyrics ‘inside of a rose’, showing the connection between the flower and love.

StyleThere is a strong use of the colour red within this digipak which is a strongly emotional colour connoting love and possibly danger. This could be relating to the emotional songs featured on the CD. The artist is also shown in a white dress, connoting innocence which relates well to a fairy-tale vibe. The vivid colours relate well to the title of the album “Loud” as the boldness of the red is striking and eye-catching to the audience. The text on the front cover shows the letters rather spaced out in capital letters which suggests the loud aspect of the name.

SettingOn the inside artwork, Rihanna is shown lying on a bed of red roses. This gives off a storybook atmosphere as she appears in a dream like state. The princess-like dress shows Rihanna as innocent as if in a fairy-tale, with the roses showing love in the females life. This goes against the CDs RnB genre asit is more stereotypicallyrepresentative of a more indie genre. The main imagery used on the front album artwork is shown to be taken within a studio, using high-key lighting to capture the artists facial features in the best way, making her look more aesthetically appealing. This use of high key lighting creates strong shadows around the artists face, which emphasise the focus on the artists face and made-up facial features