Digipak Analysis

Charlie Spalding

Cheryl Cole – Only Human

Front Cover – Typography is very spaced out and simple clear and modern making it look more sleek and professional. There is very minimal writing and lots of image keeping it basic and keeping the main focus obvious.The main image is a very close up shot of the artists face showing a wispy hair, animal print make up and her animal like stance on her face creating a sense of irony with the title of the album ‘Only Human’.The image is framed tightly around the artists face from a straight on angle focusing on the emotions of the artist commutating that the album will be about her feelings and emotions as an artist. The fierce look on the artists face could suggest a very meaningful but electronic style of music.Her makeup is showing a high class status but her hair may show a lower class as it is made to look messy. We can see she is young, white and female from the makeup she wears and we can see her shoulders so we assume she is naked so this can be appealing to the audience and tell us that there is an element of sex appeal within the album.

Lady GaGa – The Fame MonsterFront Cover – The text is positioned at the bottom centre of the square layout. It is clear basic, bold white text set in front of a dark image, so it stands out clearly. It reads the artists name and the album name. The word ‘Monster’ has the ‘T’ made to look like a crucifix, hinting to the audience that the album could possibly be themed with religion or a gothic style of music is awaiting. The album title is ‘The Fame Monster’ suggesting that the album is a scary themed abnormal piece of media. The main image is lady gaga upon a grey background wearing a leather black cape covering her lower face and extremely bouffant white hair. The fact she covers her mouth may affect the audience in a sense whereby they feel they must purchase the album to reveal the mouth/voice. The dark and light colours that are very contrasting are bold and powerful and add to the gothic theme we established earlier in the analysis. The main artist is represented as very powerful and scary on this front cover and the way it is framed and angled helps establish the genre of the entire digipak

will.i.am – Will Power

Front Cover – The text is at the top of the album cover in a very artistic front creating a uniqueness about the artist. It appears to be very modern and electronic style which gives the audience an idea of the genre of music. That electronic, futuristic them is continued through the front cover as we can see in the main image the artists hair has been given the right angle shape and this shape is repeated many times in the digipak. The orange background helps the album match the title ‘#willpower’ as it is a very striking and powerful colour. It also contrasts with the race of the artist making him stand out. The album cover has been made to look very futuristic and symmetrical. The hashtags and logos enhance this theme. The artist is framed and angled head on and extremely close up with no expression on his face making him a-appear to be robotic and representing him as some kind of music making machine that has power or ‘#willpower’

Beyoncé – B’day

Front Cover –The text reads ‘Beyoncé’ and “B’DAY” and it is positioned to the left hand side center of the cover, meaning it is the first thing we see. It appears to be in the distance and completely separate from the artist but fit into the background. It is written in a very Spanish style of writing and as the artist is wearing summer top clothes we can see her cleavage and she has a wet look glow to her and her hair tied up, suggesting this is a Spanish, hot theme to the album perhaps an exotic mix of music. The album title is ‘B’Day’ suggesting it has something to do with the artists birthday or that the style of the music is enjoyable and could be played at birthday parties. The main image is Beyoncé in full focus on the right hand side of the screen making her the last thing we see when looking at this cover. In the background we can see greenery and blue sky enhancing the exotic feel that was established in the typography.

Print Advertisement Analysis

Charlie Spalding

The typography of the artists name is bold and clear against the background image. It successfully highlights the name of the artist. The text below they have used a less harsh font for the song titles but used red to bring them out of the print more.

‘Rated R’ Is the title of the album that does not stand out hugely however they have branded the album well by having its own logo as seen in the top right hand corner. The title of the album is suggesting that this album is only suitable for certain age groups and in the US if something is rated R is only 18+ admission only.

The main image on this advert is showing Rihanna close up with a jewelry hand covering half of her face. She has harsh dark makeup on which links to her album title rated R perhaps this album is too scary or violent for under 18’s.

The framing of this image is closing up on her face making her eye, lips and jaw line the focus point of the image showing her face but highlighting the theme of the album.

Rihanna is being represented as a very scary character on this album cover and she comes across as almost like a talented monster. There it a slight reference to phantom of the opera here by the way she is covering her face with her hand suggesting the theme and genre is similar to this. This could create quite a thrilling, horror genre from a first look. Also the song titles shown give off a similar impression adding to the thrilling genre (Russian Roulette (INVOLVING GUNS) & Hard).

Rihanna - Rated R

The typography on this print is very consistent it is strong and clean and easy read by all readers. The main image is dominantly black so the red and white stand out from the page and the image in the text.

The title of the album ‘The Defamation of Strickland Banks’ has an obvious read to it and does not really give many connotations or any mystery about the album. The artist is specifically naming the album fir what it is. It almost like a book title and from knowing the album quite well, I know that the songs tell a story so maybe this is why such an artist title has been given.

The main image is the artist in the bottom right hand corner of the page and he is shown in black and white and the image of him slowly fades into an all black background, making the artist look like he has a spotlight on him. He is holding a microphone and has been lit to look like he is on a stage. It suggests that the artist wants us to focus on the music and performance of the album and that he is not trying to create a necessary theme to it. It has a simplicity to it which portrays the importance of his music. Also as he has been framed in the bottom left hand corner it is the last thing we see when looking at the page creating more of an impact on the image.

The genre of the album is hinted slightly through certain elements mentioned such as the dark lighting creates an intense mood to the page. The microphone he is holding creates a vintage or retro feel to the album and the same goes for the black and white image. So this album would probably appeal to those interested in soul or blues music.

Plan B – The Defamation of Strickland Banks

The typography on this page is very elegant but basic. The clarity to it is very high and the colors work well sitting on top of the the main image. The colour separation between the the artists name and the album title is effective. We see ‘ADELE’ written in white and ‘21’ in a lime green drawing our focus to each but in different ways.

The main image is the artist on the right hand side of the page only showing half of her face. This kind of image suggests a lot about the genre of the album and the expression on her face also tells us that this may not be a very upbeat and uplifting album. The fact the image is also in black and white could suggest that this is a bluesy album with a vintage feel.

The framing of the image only shows half of her face but it is taking up half the page. This could represent that she is not revealing too much about her self and creates a form of mystery to the album making consumers more likely to purchase.

To me this advertisement gives off a very somber mood and I think it would attract audiences that are looking for this style of music, slow bluesy. On the other hand I think that this would attract fans of the artist as the name has been written clearly and stands out and her face is highlighted so fans would recognize this instantly.

Adele – 21