MUMFORD AND SONS

Digipak Analysis

Mumford and Sons

“Sigh No More”

Indie/ Indie Folk genre

The font used is serif which corresponds with the vintage aesthetic as well as carrying an air of sophistication and class with it. The use of a single line between the band name and the album

name adds again to the vintage style as well as carrying connotations of simplicity, in relation to their music being easy listening and relaxed. The semiotics around the colours used also signify

simplicity as well as purity as the front and the back are dominated by the colour white. The completely white building on the front cover contrasts with the buildings either side it as they are colourful, suggesting that the band are not as outspoken and flashy as other artists because that

is not their image. The stripped back nature of the building within the middle of the frame, signifies the purity and openness of the band, as they do not need to hide behind anything as their

music speaks for itself. The band are standing within the window representing themselves as mannequins in a shop window, suggesting that they solely are representing their music, and that

their image is simply them. Or it could be symbolising them as bands ability to fade into the background due to our nature as people to ignore things that we are used to seeing like a

mannequin in a shop window. They do not care about their image as much as they care about the music, which is often the case within indie genre.

The lines between the track names on the reverse side of the digipak and the font family and style of the front cover is in direct correlation. The use of squares and lines create a

modernist aesthetic throughout the digipak, for example the multiple white lines and squares that make up the window on the reverse side of the digipak and the mass of lines that make up the entirety of the building on the front of the cover. This creates a modernist substance

over style effect, suggesting that it is purely based around the music, again the band are portraying their theme of simplicity and rejection of excess. On the reverse side of the digipak

the image is focal point at the top so having the vertical alignment moves the eye down the page in vertical fashion. The use of negative space on either side of the window allows to

focus of the image, drawing our eye to the middle of the frame. The window itself has connotations of light, revelation, and perspective, which touch on the themes of the album, as the songs include ‘Awake my soul’, ‘After the storm’, suggesting a new perspective and being able to see things clearly. The neatness and sterile nature of the back of the digipak signifies a certain honesty and cleanness to their image and music, allowing us as an audience to in

some way trust the band.

The left leaf of the inside spread is blank apart from a small symbol within the centre which mirrors chapters in a novel, again representing the vintage style as well as presenting the information inside. It is again extremely simple which is in keeping with the house style of the digipak. The information is within the pocket, and this leaves the inside spread without any text leaving the eye to been draw to the image of the band within the centre. The image is very modernist within it’s structure which creates an air of pure practicality, the equality of the four windows however suggests the importance of each band member, and their balance as a band as well as their shared standing. .

The inside spread of the digipak is again very minimal which is in direct correlation to the visual aspects of the outside. The building/shop front featured on the front cover is used again, however it is a shot of the building further up, again windows are used, symbolising the band presenting themselves/their music to the audience in the same way that they have presented themselves outside of the building - this metaphor is a consistent visual throughout the digipak. The band are inside on the front cover, the window is empty on the back, however by physically opening the digipak, we can see the band outside of the building, by then listening to the album and reading the information provided, they have presented their true selves to the audience.

The image in the centre does however present a higherachy with the two band members within the top two windows are higher than the two within the lower two windows, signalling that these two band members are more important. However the focal point seems to be the band member in the lower right hand corner, as his legs are dangling down which contrasts the other band members. This is evidently making him stand out, he is important maybe he is the lead singer. He is in the lower window because his closer to the audience, being the face of the band he will be the most recognisable and the audience will know him a lot more than the other band members. The shot that they used for the central image is at slight angle - tilting upwards, this signifies that the audience maybe look up to the band or see them as role models. The colour of the cd contrasts with the rest of the digipak due to the house style being centred around the colour white, the black cd then is very apparent in comparison highlighting it as the most important feature on the inside spread. Through the use of the colour white the house style is strengthened and in turn the bands identity, the strong image helps the recognisability of the band.

The cd is in the right hand third of the inside spread it is not in the centre which is a little unbalanced, however the repeated of the symbol on both the cd and the left leaf of the inside spread allows these two sides to mirror each other and somewhat restores the balance. The name of the band and album are on the front of the cd using the same typeface as used on the front cover, again using the single line to separate the band name and album name, this continuation of house style keeps the aesthetic of the cd at a constant, tying it together. The position of the cd on the right side of the inside spread allows it to be revealed as an audience member opens the digipak. The band are within the centre third however this is only due to aesthetically balancing reasons as the image is between the two texts. It is seemingly evident that all of the elements add up to create the end article each as important as the others.