A2 MEDIA STUDIES - GRACE SUITER
Digipacks
A digipack is a type of CD packaging and generally have three parts to them. A Digi-Pak is a trademarked product, however due to the increase in their popularity, the format of the Digi-Pak became used by more and more manufacturers and are therefore commonly known as digipacks and they refer to all soft CD packaging. A digipack is also a good form of advertising for a new album because it provides plenty of room for all the required information to be displayed and eye catching, in order for the audience to feel inclined to buy it.
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ED SHEERAN +
NOVEMBER 10TH 2015
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JAMES BAY - CHAOS AND THE CALM
NOVEMBER 10TH 2015
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THE KILLERS - BATTLE BORN
NOVEMBER 10TH 2015
SNOW PATROL - FALLEN EMPIRES
20TH NOVEMBER 2015
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ED SHEERAN - X
20TH NOVEMBER 2015
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MUMFORD AND SONS
SIGH NO MORE
7TH DECEMBER 2015
Mumford and Sons sigh no more album is much brighter than their magazine advert, which is promoting the same material but in a different format. The high key lighting looks quite natural lighting but the audience can clearly see that it has been enhanced to highlight the positivity of the album. The front cover has an extreme long shot of the four artists standing in a shop window and this isn't a stereotypical convention of a digipak. The indie genre doesn't seem to have a clear cut convention for the front of their digipak's because they range from close ups of the artists to artistic designs created to relate to the songs on the album. The artists name and album name is in a black, serif font and the arists name is in a larger font compared to the album name and this seems to be a stereotypical convention for first release albums like this one. We should therefore consider using this style when creating our digipak. The text is located at the bottom of the digipak and it's the first digipak I've seen to do this,
however it still fits the line of vision. The far left inside of the digipak has a cream background with a small black pattern in the middle of the digipak and this allows the attention of the audience to be focused on the middle of the digipak. The middle image is another extreme long shot of the band sitting on windowsill and they are all on individual ledges, which emphasises the blocking of them each being equal in the band. This is a valuable convention because nobody is more important than the other and this is meaningful but unnecessary for our digipak because we only have one artist. The CD is on the right third of the digipak and is a black CD with the white, serif font and this looks the same as on the front of the digipak and this highlights the house style being used. The pattern at the bottom of the CD is also the same pattern as the one that is on the far left third of the digipak. The back of the digipak also resembles the house style which is black and cream and they are both quite natural and calming colours, making it look quite professional. The shot on the back is an establishing shot of a window and all of the images used throughout the digipk are synergised and link to one and other, making the house style so easy to identify and makes it look really tidy and clear. The different songs on the album are on the back of the digipak and there are three, three, four and then two songs and this looks really professional yet simplistic so the audience can clearly see the songs on the album and pinpoint ones they already know. At the bottom of the back cover there is the barcode and brief copyright and recording company details and this is a stereotypical convention that has been used in the majority of the digipaks I've analysed. Therefore when we create our digipak we should also do this because it abides by the line of vision, which seems to be a popular convention to use.
FLORENCE & THE MACHINE
CEREMONIALS
15TH DECEMBER 2015
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COLDPLAY
MYLOXYLOTO
16TH DECEMBER 2015
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FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE
LUNGS
17TH DECEMBER 2015
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The front of the digipack has a high key lighting mid shot of the artist is used and the image is mirrored either side of the artist and this allows the audience to clearly see the artist but not in a stereotypical way because it's generally a straight on shot of the artist directly looking down the camera, which creates direct address. This is an atypical convention of a digipack front cover because it generally has the artist looking down the camera however this lack of eye contact creates a distance between the audience and the artist and supports Dyer's Star Theory of the star being both present and absent. The mise en scene is quite glamorous because she is wearing a black, glittery dress, which reveals her assets but in a sophisticated way. Similarly, her NVC is very staged and makes the star look quite mature and elegant and gives connotations of the album being the same theme. The album name 'Cermeonials' is at the bottom of the cover and is in a larger sans serif, bronzed colour, font size compared to the artists name, which appears at the top of the cover in a bronzed, serif font. The artists name is at the top and this is the same positioning as her first album, which also had the album name at the bottom. Therefore the album cover abides by the line of vision that works successfully for many artists. I therefore believe that using the line of vision would be appropriate for our digipack.
The inside of the digipack is very feminine and looks really sophisticated. The left hand side of the inside has a high key, long shot of the artist standing by windows and surrounded by curtains, which she appears to be opening. The natural lighting is beaming through and this adds to the elegant nature of the shot and there is no text on this piece of the digipack. I really like this shot and think it's similar to a shot type we should use because it adds to the feminity and luxurious feel of the album. The right hand side of the inside has a nudey pink background and all of the colours that have been used fit the house style that has been selected. The actual CD is in a minky colour, which contrasts really nicely with the background. Ceremonials and Florence and the machine are on the actual CD in a white colour, which allows it to stand out and this is in addition to the white pattern that is featured on the CD. It looks really graceful and stylish and I really like the house style that is used because the colours look really grand as opposed to looking tacky.
The back of the digipack has 'CEREMONIALS' in large, white, upper case letters arranged across the whole of the back and this is highlighting the name of the album but in a way that isn't obvious to the audience. It looks effective however I don't think it will be effective for our digipack because the age difference between Florence and our artist suggests that a different style and theme is required. The background is a pink, the same as the background of the CD and this allows the black, sans serif font to stand out eventhough it is in a relatively small font. I think when we create our digipack we should actually have the songs in a larger font, like the previous digipacks I have analysed because they are the actual focus of the album, as opposed to the album itself. The copyright, record label and production company information is all at the bottom of the digipack and this is a stereotypical convention because all the digipacks I have already analysed are designed like this.
The front of the digipack is brightly coloured and looks like graffiti art, which is synergised with the magazine advert they also released. The artists name is in the middle of the digipack and occupies around half of the front and this makes it really eye catching for the audience and allows the audience to clearly see the album name, and takes away the focus from the bands name, which doesn't actually appear on the front of the digipak. This highlights how the band want their music to be the main focus, as opposed to them as individuals and this is supported by the atypical image on the front, which isn't a shot of the band. The font and style of the album name is quite atypical again because the letters are just outlined and makes the word blend in with the background, but the serif fonted lettering is easy for the audience to read, dispite it all looking very similar. There is a wide variety of colours used and this suggests to the audience that a range of different emotions are expressed in the album and this again highlights Coldplay's creativity as a band because they do not just stick to stereotypical conventions and aren't afraid of being different in the industry. The inside of the album has no typography and the left hand side has a grey looking cover and X & W are cut out, revealing the similar colours used on the front. Similarly, on the right of the inside, the background is the same as the front of the album and this creates familiarity. To create a subtle difference, the actual CD is usuing the same colours but in a different design and this keeps the upbeat look to the digipak but also creates a subtle difference for the audience. The back of the digipak has more typography, which is again positioned in the centre and the typography is again a serif, white outlined font and this is synergised with the typography on the front, creating a professional look. Therefore, when we create our digipak we need to ensuree that the house style is established and used throughout the digipak to ensure it looks professional. The stereotypical conventions are used on the back of the digipak with the song names in the centre and the copyright information and barcode centred at the bottom of the album, we will therefore also position ours there to abide by the stereotypical conventions. I like how Coldplay have broken away from stereotypical conventions but still abided by some because it is familair for the audience but still creative and creates a new convention for new artists to consider.
In Comparison to the artists other album, Ceremonials, this album cover is very similar with the same shot used of the artist. It is a mid shot with the artist tilting her head to the left (right looking at it) and this creates a lack of eye contact and supports Dyer's Star Theory of the star being both present and absent because eventhough she is a person like everyone else, she is in status better than the everyday human and this is supported by the lack of the personal relationship between the audience and the artist. When we create our digipak we would like our model to look straight down the camera in an emotional and saddened way and this should create emotion for the audience because we want her to look helpless and distressed to make the audience feel emotional too. The house style is black and then the typography is in either a white or an off white colour, keeping the typography quite simplistic. The typography is serif for both the artists name and the album name, adding to the professionalism of the digipak. The album and artist name is in a similar font size with the artist name positioned at the top and album name at the bottom, allowing the line of vision to be apparent. The artist looks quite natural and the shot of the artist shows her lungs and this amplifies the title of the album, 'Lungs' and similarly the clothing the artist is wearing looks like thin beading, like pearls and this suggests to the audience that the artist is delicate and her music is very soulful and honest, creating a personal relationship between the two mediums. The natural looking scenery behind the artist adds to her creativity and natural beauty because they are connotations of the blooming pink flowers.
The inside left of the digipak has a long shot of the album knealing down on stage, whilst holding hands of those in the crowd and the lighting is low key in the background but high key on her and this highlights her importance but also her success and popularity with her fans. The right hand side of the inside has a black background with pink flowers, which is the same setting as the front cover. This again creates a clear house style and the CD slightly ruins this housestyle because it is an extreme close up of somebody holding an organ of some sort and this looks quite detailed and ruins the beauty of the album. Lungs, the title of the album, is the only typography and is in the same white, serif font as seen on the front, but in a slightly larger font size. Therefore when we design our digipak I think we need to keep the house style, otherwise certain elements look out of place and that is how I feel the CD looks.
The back of the digipak is also black and has a sketched image of a lung, again amplifying the name of the album, and there are numbers being drawn around the sketch, as though it has been annotated. This looks very creative and breaks the stereotype of having the song names positioned directly in the centre of back. The song names are actually relatively small and the main focus is on the sketch, as opposed to the names and the positioning of the songs is similar to Mumford and Sons first album, because at first glance it looks like a paragraph, when in actual fact it is individual songs. All of the text and sketching is in a white, serif font and keeps the house style being used. The coyright and record label information and barcode is all positioned at the bottom of the album, and this supports the stereotypical blocking of this, and we will therefore also aim to position ours in a similar way.
MUMFORD AND SONS
WILDER MIND
18TH DECEMBER 2015
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The front of Mumford and Sons digipak is a extreme establishing shot, which has been taken in low key, natural lighting to create enigma because it is quite implicit and differentiates from their first album, which has individual long shots of all four of the artists. However the difference is because the first album was their first release and they needed to promote themselves as individuals, as well as a band. Whereas this album is further on in their career and doesn't require personal promotion and this explains why the establishing shot was used, instead of a close up, mid shot or long shot. The typography used is a sans serif, gold font, which stands out against the black background but also supports the lights of the city skyline and therefore the black and gold colours complement each other. The blocking of the text is very simplistic with the band name in the top left and the album name in the top right and this leaves a blank section at the bottom of the album, which looks quite professional and is supporting the line of vision but also challenging it by leaving the bottom blank.
The inside of the left also has a black background but has the silhoutte of a close up of a guitar and this highlights the bands talent. The songs on the album are actually listen on the inside left and this is an atypical convention because all of the digipak's I have analysed have the songs on the back of the album and that's where I prefer them to be listed. Therefore when we create our digipak I think we should list the songs on the back because I think it looks more professional, even though I do commend Mumford and Sons for breaking the boundaries and challenging the steotypical design. Copyright and thanks messages are also on the inside left, which is again atypical for the copyright information to be positioned there because they are also normally positioned at the bottom on the back of the album. On our digipack I would like to have a shot of the artist like Florence and the Machine did in her digipak for her first album.
The back of the digipak is another extreme long shot of a city skyline, but just from a different position to the shot on the front of the album. The low key lighting again creates enigma and mystery for the audience and this amplifies the name of the album, 'wilder mind' because it suggests excitement due to the unknown surroundings. Therefore the extreme establishing shot does relate to the album and isn't completely random like some digipak shots. One stereotypical convention that has been used is having the barcode and recording label on the back, but the barcode is also in a slightly different positioning, being placed next to the licensing agreement, on the left hand side of the back. I think when we create our digipak we should plave all of the information at the bottom and have the songs positioned in the middle as this is a stereotypical convention and supports the line of vision.