Digital Analysis

Frankie Christou

Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I'm Not - Arctic Monkeys

Front & Back Covers • Unlike Most indie band front covers

the Album name is not shown, which suggests that the its aimed at already existing fans as also there is no band or individual photos of the musicians.

• Also the photograph is a black and white close up of a man in who is smoking in a causal dress. This suggests that the bands image is causal and is aimed at a audience where smoking may be considered cool and doesn't’t care what people care of him, which links in with the title of the Album.

• The track listing on the back withholds no capital letters at the beginning of each track also the font is small and basic which enforces the bands simple style.

CD & BookletThe CD and Booklet follow the image set by the front and back cover. The CD is a close up of a ashtray of fag buts which links in with the front cover of the man carelessly smoking.

The booklet also follows this idea as it shows a series of images of an urban community which is full of rubbish and pubs. This links with the track names on the back such as ‘From the Ritz to the Rubble’ and ‘Riot Van’ which illustrates to to the fans that the band are from and familiar with this location and image.

A Grand Don’t Come For Free – The Streets

Front & Back Covers The front cover shows lead singer Mike Skinner leaning against a Bus stop at dawn. This casualness implies that the band is a from a normal community which enforces the same ‘carefree’ message. Also the bands logo is presented in a form of lighter which again is aimed at showing smoking to be considered cool and the band are using it to enforce their visual personality.

The back cover also enforces the same message through its un formal approach of it being shown as a piece of paper stuck the back with a smiley face pin. The typography of the track listing just seems to be the basic computer font which shows a lack of interest visually in the digipak.

CD & Image

The CD covering is simplistic just like the rest of the Digipak as it takes the band’s ‘Lighter Logo’ as the main focus point with the name of the album in lower Case lettering below.

The single image which is shown with in the Digipak is of lead singer, Mike Skinner looking emotionless. The lighting is dark and everything but his face is almost seen as a silhouette. This relates well with the CD as it too takes a black background.

Kings & Queens – Jamie T

Front & Back Covers The front cover is a picture of Jamie T from a low angle where he is Jumping over a fish lens camera. Although he is jumping, Jamie takes the centre of the camera while a another man is shown to the top of the picture. The setting is shown to be urbanised which relates to Jamie T’s music and his image. The colour scheme is abstract but colourful and vibrant giving it energy.

The back cover also shows an image of Jamie T in an urbanised environment in a fish eye lens. However, this time the colouring is normal and he dressed differently. This compliments the front as it compares the two different images. The typography is the same as the front but this time the track listing is is circled round the image repetitively in block capitals and bright vibrant colours instead of the title of the album.

Inside

Inside the Digipak we see picture of Jamie and friends causing mischief. This is shown by a man driving a BMX with a baseball bat across his shoulder. Also the abstract color scheme is carried through to the pictures to enhance the energy projected from the album. However, the CD cover shows a different approach as it just black with a white outline. This is interesting as it goes against the style given by the rest of the digipak.

Poster The Album poster matches the digipak front cover with the same picture and typography. This poster interestingly has no other information other than the name of the artist and album name as well as the date of release. Most posters would include names of leading singles, social media links and in some cases the website of the artist. Although the poster is bright and in your face it still has a sense of simplicity and ambiguity to draw the audience in.

Kasabian - Kasbain

Front & Back Covers For a debut album, the colouring and the simplistic image, is unusual for a rock band. The monochrome style is found all over the digipak which creates a stylistic motif for the band. The stencil type Image shown across the front shows a militant rebel hooded from his nose down. This links in which the track names taking a military style approach as tracks such as ‘Reason is Treason’, ‘Running Battle’ and ‘U boat’ all feature.

The typography on the back of the of the album matches the front and the track listing is shown in a simplistic way, in capitals.

Poster The Album poster takes the same stylistic approach as the front and back covers in terms of the stenciled rebel taking the center of the poster. The typography for the self titled album is the same as well however at the bottom of the poster where it states ‘Debut Album’ and the names of the leading singles of the album the typography is different to perhaps catch the eye of the audience to read it as it doesn't’t follow the style the rest of the digipak carries out. They have also included the website name underneath the title, which is important as it another platform for the band to market their album.

Sam’s Town – The Killers

Front & Back

The whole album takes an historic grey filter over the photo-shoot. The front we see a lady who seems to be ‘Miss..” as she has just won a glamour contest. Next to her there is a ram, this contrast with the background of the trailer makes me visualise southern America as there all things to associate with Las Vagas for example. The back however is a group band picture which shows equality of the band as they are all standing in the line, perhaps they are a band who doesn’t necessarily create their motif around the front man of the band. The track listing is shown in small writing at the bottom in basic typography.

CD & Images The Ram seen on the front takes the main attention inside the digipak as it shown in the CD Cover and the identical image shown again where the CD should go. This style of using an animal as a album motif is a good marketing technique as it gives the band a image for fans to relate to. The image shown on the left just shows the habitat you would expect the ram to live in, a hot sunny desert, which is also shown on the front of the cover.

PosterLike other posters this matches the front cover of the digipak with the album cover. At the bottom they list the album name as well as the featuring leading singles. The background is similar to the digipak picture of a desert, however there seems to be a lighting strike hitting the ground. This is interesting as it is iconic as the desert is a dry piece of landscape so the lightning strike introduces the idea od binary opposites of rain, perhaps symbolizing the band or the album itself.