Digipak and contents Analysis

What is a Digipak?

• A digital typically consist of a folded (book-style) paperboard or card stock outer binding, with one or more plastic trays capable of holding a CD or DVD attached to the inside.

• They usually contain:

• The Cd, A booklet, a poster and in some cases a DvD!

• They are usually released as a special edition to an album and were massively popular in the early 2000’s.

This strictly limited collector's edition is housed in a stylish black gold foiled box, with a rigid lift off lid (Dimensions: 317mm x 317mm x 35mm). This package includes both the Babel [Deluxe Edition] CD album and The Road to Red Rocks DVD housed inside a large format, cloth-covered, full colour 96-page hardcover book. The book contains never seen before exclusive photos and written parts, documenting the bands 'Road to Red Rocks' and 'Gentlemen Of The Road' show adventures.As well as the CD and DVD, you can also enjoy the Red Rocks concert performance in its pure analogue beauty via heavy 180sgm virgin vinyl, packed in a gatefold sleeve (including MP3 download card option).The outer cover of this special edition is printed on leather effect paper, with a matte varnish finish.

Example of Digipak and contents

Front Cover

This Digipak case has a very simplistic feel to it, this suits the band as they are a simple indie folk band who's music is honest and natural, the minimalist nature of this cover doesn’t only advertise the band but expresses the simplistic nature of their music

The name of the band and the album is positioned in the centre of the front cover, showing the importance of the band

The image on the cover is meant to resemble Red Rocks the historic venue where this live album was recorded, the fact that they have used a minimalist drawn representation of the venue keeps with the theme of minimalism and indie within the front cover and the music

A colour scheme of black and gold is used on the albums front cover. This shows the success of the band.

The buzzword ‘Special edition is used on the front cover of the album, this is to entice consumers and to show that this is more than just a standard album.

The fact that there is no image of the band reiterates the idea that the band is all about the music and not themselves!

This cover is a hard case that contains the digipak within, this is an unusual convention and is not something that is commonly found on digipaks

MUMFORD AND SONS – SIGH NO MORE

This Album cover is very typical of the band and the genre of music that the band falls into. It has various connotations and lots of indie music iconography such as the instruments that in the picture. The instruments on the album cover are not instruments you would associate with popular music, they are very genre specific, e.g. the banjo, the accordion and the double base. By featuring these instruments on the album cover the band have been given an image and it also lets the consumer see the type of music they play with out listening to any of their music.

The setting of the image is very typical of the genre of music as it is quite a quirky indie location, not something that is featured on the albums of popular main stream artists who's album covers usually feature an image of the artist as the main focal point, this album cover almost makes the band seem small and humble.

The font for the band logo is the same font they always have their name in, this helps build synergy between the cd’s and the album advert for the album that has a completely different font but features a different image.

The costumes worn by the band are typical of the genre of music they play, by wearing things like waistcoats, tweed jackets and cowboy hats they are going against the conventions of popular culture. And are setting their own trend, this will attract an audience that will be able to listen to and get into the music of the artist

The text used on the back of the album is the same text that is used on the front, this helps keep continuity from the front of the album to the back, this makes the digipak feel more like one product.

This track list keeps up the indie conventions that were made apparent on the album cover, this is done by having another indie image that wouldn’t feature on many other artists albums, it is just a picture of a slightly ajar window. This doesn’t really make sense to have on the back of the album cover apart from it keeping the themes established on the front of the album

The track list is set out in a way that isn't usually seen on mainstream album covers, track lists are usually set out one below another with the track number at the side. However on the back of this album the tracks are positioned one after the other with no track numbers next to them, this keeps the minimalist style that this album radiates

The barcode and copyright details for the album are positioned at the bottom of the page as they are necessary but they don’t have the same feel as the rest of the album, the text has been stylised and made smaller so it doesn’t stick out too much

The Logos of the different distribution company's and production company's involved with the album are also at the bottom of the track list, they have been stylised to fit the themes of the album by having the colour taken out of them

KASABIAN - EMPIRE

The name of the band is placed in the centre of the album artwork in a large bolded font, this highlights the importance of the band, It could also have been done to attract peoples attention as kasabian are a well known band but because there is no picture of the band members themselves, having the bands name as the centre piece of the album cover would attract people to the album

The name on the album is in a font that relates to the renaissance style image that is featured on the cover of the album. The image relates to the name of the album Empire but it doesn’t let the consumer know much about the type of music the Band plays, this could cause confusion

The colour scheme for the digipak cover, is matching to the colour scheme on the magazine album advert. The main image is also the same image featured on the album advertisement all of this synergy makes the album easily recognisable on the shelf.

This album cover is in some ways typical of the band as it gives off connotations of power something that is frequent of the bands genre of music.

The main image on the album cover is a renaissance style painting featuring a king carrying a naked women, this shows the power of the man and his dominance over the ‘helpless’ women he is carrying.

The symbol of the king of clubs is featured on the album cover, this continues the themes of manliness and male dominance as the K is for king and for Kasabian, this could also show their dominance of the music industry and how they have made it their ‘Empire’

The backing of the digipak continues the renaissance themes that are created on the front of the digipak. This is done through the font used on the track list as it looks to be themed around a renaissance theme, it also seems to be coloured so it looks like blood, this shows the link between war and the renaissance and how war shows power and masculinity

By having the extra features that are in the digipak written on the back of the album the consumer will notice that there are special features as most people buying an album will look at the track list straight away and in doing so they will notice the features.

The colour scheme is continued from the front of the album to the back, the colour scheme is designed to make the alum look more vintage and to look more renaissance themed

RAY LAMONTAGNE - TROUBLE

The main image on the front of this digipak is a visual representation of the term ‘dancing with the devil’ which you would to refer to somebody as doing if they were in ‘trouble’ which is the title of the album. The image also portrays a male dominance over women by having the devil as a man leading a blindfolded women in a dance, this could also show how men manipulate women. This album cover is typical of the artist as it features a vintage looking image which matches the indie genre music that the artist performs. The image also has a deeper meaning to it like most of his songs. However if somebody who had never heard of the artist picked up this cd they wouldn't know the genre of music he played.

The name of the artist is positioned at the top of the digipak as it is the only way you could tell the album was by him, the name of the album is also at the top of the page, they are the same font and size this shows the name of the album is of equal importance to the artist. This could suggest he is all about the music and not all about himself, this is also the case with their being no actual image of the artist on the album showing that he isn't the most important part of his success. However this could be perceived as he hasn’t got a picture of himself on the digipak cover because he isn't very well known and people wouldn't recognise his face anyway.

This album cover is typical of the artist as it has codes and conventions associated with the indie/folk genre. Minimalism is one of the key elements of this album cover, as it only really has one thing to focus this is very different in comparison to a pop music album cover that usually has a lots of things going on within the cover, this album seems to have a message or a hidden meaning within the album cover

The colour scheme for the album cover portrays the theme of minimalism by having a white background with the only colours really being on the main image

The back of this digipak album completely breaks the codes and conventions that were created on the front of it, the colour scheme of white that was created on the front has been reversed with the font now in white over a red background rather than the other way around. Also the minimalistic features on the front of the album have been changed by having an image with lots going on to look at, however just like on the front of the digipak the image is a visual metaphor for trouble.

The main image on the back of the album is of a burnt out car, this is unusual to have on the back of an album as it means all of the track listings and distribution company logos have to be pushed off to the side to accommodate the image. This is very unusual to have on an album cover.

Because of the size of the image the track listing has been pushed over to a small section of the back of the digipak, making it not the most important feature, this is unusual as on most modern day digipak backs the track listing is the most important part. Other than being off to the side this track list is quite traditional to what you expect to see they are numbered and positioned one below the other so the track and track number is easily accessible to the consumer

The logos for the distribution company's are placed below the track listing they have been stylised to fit the style of the album by being coloured to match the colour scheme of the album back

The colour scheme of the album is the reverse of the colour scheme established on the front, by having the white background and red font change to a red background with white font

PLAN B – THE DEFAMATION OF STRICKLAND BANKS

The cover for this digipak features a main image of the artist sat in the light of a spotlight, he is the only part of the image that is lit, this shows his importance as an artist, although being the main image on the album cover you cant see the artists face this could show the fact that the artist is well known so you can recognise him without having to see his face. The fact that the main image is sat on a stage shows that he is passionate about music and that he is a live performer

The colour scheme for this digipak album cover is black white and red, this is created through the black of the main image and the white and red of the font and stage. This colour scheme is something that is associated with vintage soul music and this is a genre that the artist partially fits into

The title of the album is the most important part of the digipak cover. It is at the top of the cover in a Broadway or cinema style film listing style it is placed on a light board with a red font this makes it stand out and draws the attention of the consumer.

This album cover is typical of the artist as it has elements of soul music on it. This is the genre of the artist.

The colour scheme is continued from the front of the album to the back, this is done through having a black background and having the track listing done in the same style as the album title on the front.

The track listing is done in a popular traditional manner. The track numbers and titles are placed one above another in numerical order. The track listing is done in the same technique as the album title is done by the front, through using a light box and a red font. The track listing is used as the main image on the back of the digipak cover this makes all the consumers attention go to the track listing and not get distracted by other elements

The names and logos of the various distribution company’s involved in the making of the album have been stylised to fit into the style that has been created on the album. The logos have been coloured to match the colour scheme