DIGIPA

CKS

BY

EL L I O

T H

OG

AN

CONVENTIONS OF DIGIPACKS

Digipacks should include the following information:

- A recognisable font that’s used across the advertising campaign – album, posters and the digipack itself

- The colour scheme must be simple and the same scheme must be used throughout, to make the artist recognisable to that colour

- A visual image and album title which can be the main cover and can also feature along the spine, but usually, the album title is the only thing featured along the spine – as well as the artists name

- Reviews from well known companies to give the artist positive recognition

- Bar code and the music label that produced the final product

- Track list

WHAT’S INSIDE A DIGIPACK?

- Front panel – on the front panel of the digipack there should be a recognisable image of the artist or band, and the other features in the main image such as the title should coordinate with the band itself – meaning, fonts etc. should be the same as they always have been so people recognise instantly who the artist is and what type of produce the artist produces. This also applies to the colour schemes the artist would usually use.

- It is important that while complying to the requirements I’ve mentioned above, the artist produces an album cover that stands out in the shops, so that people will want to buy it.

WHAT’S INSIDE A DIGIPACK?

- Spine - Usually on the SPINE of the digipack you find the artists name and album title in the usual font that associates the artist with the rest of their work throughout their career.

- Fold in panel – this is where an image of the artist is placed with brief information about the artist.

- Back panel – this is where the track list for the album can be found as well as logo’s for record companies and a bar code. There may also be further imagery on the back panel, that perhaps fade in with the track list to make it stand out further and look attractive. Of course the back panel image must coincide with the front panel’s image to continue the artists theme and association with the rest of their work, so it is recognisable to fans, and the general population who don’t even necessarily like that particular type of music.

REPRESENTATION

- The representation of a digipack is dependant on the genre of the music, the mood and the atmosphere the type of music represents. Therefore, certain colour schemes will be used to represent that mood and the type of music expressed on the CD. This is important as those who aren’t familiar with the particular works of the artist can tell what type of music its going to be and if it appeals to them at all.

ANALYSING DIGIPACKS

NIRVANA - NEVERMIND

NIRVANA – NEVERMIND TEXT

The text on the album cover Nirvana - Nevermind’ is brief and shows only the band name and the title of the album itself. The font used for ‘Nirvana’ is the same font used across every album Nirvana have ever released and therefore this makes the band recognisable to most people.

The band name is in larger font than the album title in order for it to stand out to consumers. The font is in CAPITALS and is quite unique which matches the image used for the main cover which was seen as very controversial.

DESIGN AND IMAGERY – FRONT PANEL

The image used to represent the album cover is very different, unique and alternate, which is exactly what Nirvana were at the time of the albums release in 1991. This image has been used to stand out and to deliberately cause controversy to get the band noticed and to make people interested in the album and to hopefully buy. The image shows a naked baby, swimming in the sea, following an American dollar note attached to a fishing rod.

The image used is alternate and very controversial and this is exactly what Nirvana wanted to be a part of, the alternate rock scene, and this grabs consumers attention immediately and makes a scene and recognises what genre they aim themselves at, focusing on a particular audience.

The blue front and back cover of the album is also a good way to attract consumer attention as it is very bright and stands out.

DESIGN AND IMAGERY – BACK PANEL

Like many digipacks the back panel corresponds directly to the front panel in terms of style, font, and colour schemes. This is important as it reflects the mood and type of music your going to be listening too, and therefore pinpoints a particular audience.

Of course, like all digipacks, on the back we have the tracklist.

We also have a bar code on the back, like all digipacks, as well as the record labels logo and some small writing labelling the copyright rules and legal matters. As well as the back panel, we have the spine located on the far right of the image. On the spine, we can see, like most digipacks the album name and artist name in the original fonts in smaller font, so that is able to fit into the small space, but still associate completely with the rest of the artists work and target the audience it wants.

NIRVANA – NEVERMIND CDThe CD also represents the genre of the music that is portrayed on the rest of the digipack. The CD has blue squiggly lines all over it, to merge into the front and back panels design of the big blue sea and it automatically associates with the album ‘Nevermind’ – which is very important.

The font associating with the band name and album title has not changed it is located at the top of the CD in large font.

OFFSPRING - SMASH

OFFSPRING – SMASH TEXT

The text on the Offspring album – ‘Smash’ is like most other digipacks. The text shows the band and album name in large font, with the band name at the top and the album name at the bottom. The band name like most digipacks is in larger font than the album name, because it needs to stand out for people to want to buy it when walking past it in a shop or somewhere else that would sell music. This is because a consumer is more likely to recognise the band name, then the album name especially if it’s a new album.

The font is very bold and large and is white on black – this reflects the mood and genre of the music immediately and allows a particular audience to see what type of music the album has to offer and if its what they like, genre wise.

The font used on this particular album is different to other Offspring albums and this is quite unique amongst most digipacks as it doesn’t create a stable identity for the band.

OFFSPRING – SMASH FRONT PANEL

The image used for the front panel of the album cover is extremely dark and uses what I would describe as ‘mouldy’ colours, such as dark brown and yellow. This immediately tells the audience what genre of music is being expressed within the album – and obviously its going to be grungy and metallic. The image is of a skeleton, merged with a human like body as well, suggesting dark and destructive music like metal.

The colour schemes correspond with the back panel as well which is like most digipacks.

The colour scheme isn’t very bright and attractive to consumers, however, it is attracting an alternative image and this is what is required to attract that audience.

To make the album stand out the best it can the album title is in red, and is in large capital letters in order for it to be noticed on the shelves.

OFFSPRING – SMASH BACK PANELLike many digipacks the back panel corresponds directly to the front panel in terms of style, font, and colour schemes. This is important as it reflects the mood and type of music your going to be listening too, and therefore pinpoints a particular audience.

Of course, like all digipacks, on the back we have the tracklist.

We also have a bar code on the back, like all digipacks, as well as the record labels logo and some small writing labelling the copyright rules and legal matters.

As well as the back panel, we have the spine located on the far right of the image. On the spine, we can see, like most digipacks the album name and artist name in the original fonts in smaller font, so that is able to fit into the small space, but still associate completely with the rest of the artists work and target the audience it wants.

OFFSPRING – SMASH CD

The CD also represents the genre of the music that is portrayed on the rest of the digipack. The CD for the Offspring – Smash album replicates the front and back panels with the same image in more of a ‘reddish’ colour. Therefore, like most digipacks, it is following the colour schemes in order to associate itself with the rest of the digipack.

The font is the same on the CD however, the word, SMASH is now in white in comparison to the red SMASH on the front panel – this is because the colour of the CD has changed to red and the font colour needed to be changed in order to be seen.

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE – THE BATTLE OF LA

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE – THE BATTLE OF LA TEXT

The text on the album The Battle of LA by Rage Against the Machine is like most other digipacks. The text shows the band and album name in large font, with the band name at the top and the album name in the middle, although sometimes the album name can be at the very bottom of the album. The band name like most digipacks is in larger font than the album name, because it needs to stand out for people to want to buy it when walking past it in a shop or somewhere else that would sell music. This is because a consumer is more likely to recognise the band name, then the album name especially if it’s a new album. The album name on this particular digipack is in a different font to the band name because it is reflecting the image on the digipack and perhaps the mood and genre of the music that is going to be expressed in the album.

The font used for the band name is in bold and in CAPITALS to make it stand out – whilst the font for the album name is in ‘graffiti’ like font to coincide with the image, which is an example of graffiti and will perhaps reflect the genre and mood of the album.

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE – THE BATTLE OF LA FRONT PANEL

The image used for the front panel of the album is almost purely white and is therefore very bright making it stand out to most people whether they recognise the band name or not. The distinctive graffiti like outline of a person with their fist in the air, also makes the album very different and unique, allowing it to stand out greatly. The colour scheme immediately tells the audience what genre of music is being expressed within the album.

The colour schemes correspond with the back panel as well which is like most digipacks.

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE – THE BATTLE OF LA BACK PANEL

Like many digipacks the back panel corresponds directly to the front panel in terms of style, font, and colour schemes. This is important as it reflects the mood and type of music your going to be listening too, and therefore pinpoints a particular audience.

Of course, like all digipacks, on the back we have the tracklist.

We also have a bar code on the back, like all digipacks, as well as the record labels logo and some small writing labelling the copyright rules and legal matters. As well as the back panel, we have the spine located on the far right of the image. On the spine, we can see, like most digipacks the album name and artist name in the original fonts in smaller font, so that is able to fit into the small space, but still associate completely with the rest of the artists work and target the audience it wants.

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE – THE BATTLE OF LA CD

The CD also represents the genre of the music that is portrayed on the rest of the digipack. The CD for the digipack of ‘The Battle of LA’ replicates the front and back panel with the graffiti like figure and the fonts for the band name and album name, however, like most digipacks, this CD doesn’t follow the same colour schemes, as this CD is purely black compared to the front and back panels which are white.