Alternative RockDigipak Analysis

Alastair Snook

Example 1: Collision Course

Front Side Large block-capitals Names of artists bigger

than album – artists already well known.

Fusion of hip-hop urban and alternative rock imagery.

Various colours grab attention.

MTV Logo to reference pop culture and familiarise with users.

Inside Continuation of

urban art inside. No additional

information given. Blue disc

distinguishes music from brown packaging.

Back Side Continuation of

urban theme from front of digipak.

Listing of extra content.

Inclusion of bonus DVD to ‘sweeten the deal’.

Unconventional placement of bar code.

Example 2: St Angel

Front Side Loud, conventionally eye

catching illustration. Aggressive connotations. Bright, fiery colours. Lack of title or

information- this is provided by a temporary sticker.

Perhaps the designer wanted a visually appealing product but not to sacrifice function.

Inside Inside of digipak is

dark and contrasts with the bright front cover.

The name of the artist and band are instead placed inside the digipak, below the disc sleeve.

Thematic art is used on the booklet and booklet sleeve.

Back Side Similar art style to

the front cover. Hellish image spread

over two panels. Image relates t

cover art, perhaps an extension?

Comic text takes up a small corner of the back panel.

Example 3: Demon Days

Front Side Very conventional

style: band name at top, image of band members in middle and album name at bottom.

Dark background provides contrast with cover art and draws the eye towards text and images.

Angular, linear design.

Inside Similar images inside

the digipak, without the dark background.

Unconventional folding mechanism– 4 way.

No information or text is provided, just the disc and the artwork.

Back Side The back of the digipak is

very unconventional in the sense that it does not give the names of songs.

These are instead listed on the disc itself.

Only the artist and album name are displayed on a black background.

Although this does not match the conventions of digipaks, it correlates with the idea that alt rock revolves less around image and style, and more around quality of music- less is more