CD digipack analysis - Lana Del Rey – Born to die (paradise edition)

On the Lana Del Rey – Born to Die album cover it becomes clear who the main ‘character’ of the album cover is, and that is Lana herself. She is representative of the female gender, she fully conforms to the stereotype of female glamourous singers. She is heavily made up with red lips, pink eyeshadow and her hair flowing down each side of her face but leaving her face free of hair, suggesting rawness and a sense of truth within the album, which actually relates to the album itself.

However the makeup alludes to how she is still conforming to Pop’s genre of typical heavy made up characters. Her redish hair gives an indication to how she is slightly different to most artists in the industry currently and how her music is different to that of todays. Her facial expression gives off a vibe of anger, and attitude as she looks as though she is pouting, suggesting an unhappiness. Her costume also alludes to her genre but juxtaposes her style and meaning of songs. The white bathing suit she has on has connotations of pureness and suggests a traditionalist theme which again opposes the songs on her album. One could argue she is wearing this to pay pastiche to Marilyn Monroe, the idea of white and red lips and because Monroe also had fame in LA, it would make sense.

In terms of the Guttenberg design principle, it is clear that the primary optical area is occupied by her name in huge golden letters, almost like city lights, possibly hinting at where she’s from adding iconography to the album. Del Rey’s head slightly covers her name, reinforcing the idea of the idea that it is personal. As Lana Del Rey is based in LA it’s safe to say this album presents that in the idea of location, as there is palm trees on either side of her creating symmetry, there is also what looks like a pool in the background suggesting a sense of Hollywood glamour that Del Rey certainly presents in her music, also suggesting wealth and luxury which is similar to the style of her music. The rule of thirds is really obviously presented on this album cover, as Lana is in the centre of the cover occupying the primary optical area, meaning she is the subject and the ‘background’ is surrounding her rather than overtaking her.

The lighting of the album cover is orange-y and washed out, suggesting a sense of vintage style, which again, Del Rey carries in her music. With her influences such as Marilyn Monroe especially well shown in her costume and makeup. Her body language suggests confidence, she has one hand on her hip and is pouting, her shoulders aren’t slouched, and she is shown as a strong woman.