DIGIPAKS

RESEARCH INTO ALBUM DIGIPAKS…

RIHANNA- DIGIPAK

The title of the album is “LOUD” which is cleverly reflected through the artwork on the album digipak. The imagery portrays the artist in a vulnerable yet sexy way and the bright red colour is shown on her hair, lips and roses.

The way that there is a corporate colour scheme works effectively. The text font is capitals and stands out even against the powerful images. The positioning at the bottom of the album also works as it doesn’t attract any unnecessary attention from the image of the artist.

The size of the font also varies as the album name is larger than the artist name which works well because when people see the image on the front they will know who it is anyway.

I love the photography on this album as it is original, arty and daring and definitely relates to the album name as the colours used are loud.

The imagery is very feminine and the image of Rihanna smelling the roses shows her wearing a long beautiful white dress. It is quite vintage inspired and retro.

There is a genre signifier as the imagery reflects the kind of songs that could be on the album. For example, there could be some strong power ballads as well as some loud tunes.

The relationship between the image and text (anchorage) work together because the album name LOUD relates to the brightness and loud colours used such as the vibrant red. This stands out really well.

The functions of the digipak show a front cover with an inside with two pockets for the CDs. They all fold into one.

The CD is also really well designed because it is a beautiful inside of a flower. This relates to idea of the roses used in the photography. It is a nice finishing touch to the album design instead of having a plain CD design. I really like the idea of having a CD design too.

The artists name, album title, producers and record label as well as website address are printed on the CD in small print giving a professional touch.

Overall, the digipak is really effective and it really expresses the artist style and personality and it definitely stands out.

BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB- DIGIPAKI studied the Bombay Bicycle Club magazine advert and I have noticed a corporate image used for the album and poster as well as the typography and font style.

The images used are very unique. There are two heads facing one another with a pattern inside which is quite effective! This suggests that the band like to be different and have their own style.

There is a particular colour scheme used which is predominantly blue, pale yellow and orange. All the colours compliment each other well.

The positioning of the font on the digipak is also well done because there is the album cover and band logo on the front and then the name of each track on the back. Again, like the Rihanna digipak, there is a designed CD. I really love this idea because it looks effective and the pattern matches the images on the CD cover.

I wouldn’t say there was any kind of genre signifier but you can tell by the imaginative album art that their sound would be unique and cool.

The functions of this digipak is that it folds together well and has a slot for the CD inside.

There isn't great branding for the artist. As there is no image of the band members, as a first ever album it doesn’t present the band members. This is good in a way because it would make people want to see what they look like and look them up but it may have been good to have an image of them for their first album. However, having said that I think that they have created a great image and logo and colour scheme.

The identity presented is quite indie and British.

YOU ME AT SIX- DIGIPAKI looked at this album for some magazine advert research. One thing that I have noticed is that the front image for the album is exactly the same as the magazine poster. This is great band promotion because people will remember the image on the poster and then spot the same image on the album. This is really effective.

The typography is bold and stands out against the image. The songs are also printed on the back of the CD box one after the other.

The CD has the design of a flower with the band name and album name on it as well as the record company etc.

There is a kind of signifier to the genre of music as the image is quite outer space like and dreamy, it suggests that the album has this kind of sound.

Its institutional identity is quite indie.

COLDPLAY- DIGIPAKThis is the digipak for Coldplay’s album Viva La Vida. It was their fourth studio album.

The artwork for Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends was designed by Coldplay and Tappin Grofton. The design style for the album took months to be completed and it was initially developed from a set of large-scale sketches and paintings of expressive typo. Lyrics and song titles were boldly painted across old maps, books, copies of old paintings, newspapers and various sorts of second-hand things. The final work was photographed and later some additional typography was added by computer.

The typography is bold and it looks almost chalk like, like its been drawn really quickly. The image is thought provoking and shows a war scene. The images on the inside are of all the Coldplay band members. This shows the instruments they play and so that people know what they look like.

The typography on the back is yellow on a black background which stands out. This has the song list.

This brands the artist well because its not just another fun album, it is actually thought provoking and has meaning behind the songs.

JACK JOHNSON- DIGIPAKThis is the digipak for Jack Johnson’s album In Between Dreams. I really love this album design, it is probably one of my favourite album designs purely because it looks really effective and its different and stands out.

The imagery used on the front of the CD cover is really effective. The large silhouette of the tree and then Jack holding his guitar next to it suggests freedom and how he likes to write or gets inspired. It says a lot about the sound and style for the artist and also personality.

The yellow behind the silhouette also looks effective. The typography used is small but easily readable as black on the yellow background stands out very well.

The CD design is like a close up on the leaves from the tree, which looks really good on top of the yellow CD. There is an image of the artist inside the digipak which is also good as people buying can see who they're listening too. The back of the CD cover has all the song names listed down the left hand side.

The CD digipak would open and close easily with a slot for the CD inside.

There is a genre signifier as the peaceful image suggests that it is soft mellow music, however, the boldness of the yellow also suggests that there is a unique sound.

COLBIE CAILLAT- DIGIPAKThis is the digipak for Colbie Caillat’s “Little Things. The imagery on the front shows the artist looking directly into the camera with a guitar strap across her shoulder. The fact that we cant see the guitar gives us an idea of her sound but doesn’t give too much away.

The colour scheme is pale green, yellow and white. These are very neutral colours and her look is not dramatic at all so suggests that she is very natural and has raw talent.

The typography is curly and pretty but easy to read. The writing below explains a bit about the making of the album which is unusual nowadays to have that.

The design on the CD is a white flower on a yellow background which looks really good and has kept to the same colour scheme.

This digipak brands the artist well as to what she wants to be portrayed as. She is a mellow singer who plays guitar.