DIGIPAK ANALYSIS

Coldplay, Rihanna, Ed Sheeran, Little Mix

COLDPLAY Silver sticker on top

left is only place Coldplay can be seen clearly but obviously not a feature on every single product, also will eventually peel off. On the front facing part of the spine is where the band name is mentioned along with the album title.

The bright colourful background contrasts well with the large white letter outlines of the album title. The various colours featured on the cover will mean it will stand out from other albums due to it being eye-catching. Both this font and the font on the front facing part of spine match.The images in the

background of this front cover show largely graffiti, appealing to maybe younger audiences more than those 40+ maybe.

COLDPLAY

My favourite part of the inside is the amazing ‘optical illusion like’ disc. The main colours have been picked out from the background of the front cover and placed in their basic form, water coloured and mixed/‘washed’ together, tying the two sides together nicely. Yet still making the disc obviously separate from the background behind the disc.

The clever stencil booklet looks clever also. This font is also the same as all fonts on the front cover. The plain grey against the neon colours makes them stand out even more. The booklet contains a mixture of graffiti images, pictures of the band and a page where publication, recording, producing , artwork details etc… are written.

Within the spirals of the disc say the details about the record label (address, contact) as well as a numbered track list.

COLDPLAY

The back cover also includes compulsory information such as the barcode to enable purchases to be made in stores, copyright information and the Coldplay website. However, this information is in a basic font and is incredibly small as to not to distract away from the main track listing.

The consistency of the background and font I do like, however, I do think one or the other makes the track listing on the back hard to read. Either the image is too bright or the font makes it hard to read (perhaps both!) Since the track listing is important as people may want to stream/download a digital version via something like iTunes, YouTube or Spotify, I think this is something to bare in mind for my own digipak as I don’t think it aesthetically worked well for Coldplay.

RIHANNARihanna’s front cover is really quite different from Coldplay’s, maybe due to the fact their audience is quite different. Rihanna’s music is more likely to appear to girls more than men and I would say Coldplay’s music is more aimed at both genders hence their neutral background with a variety of colours.

Unlike Coldplay’s album cover, Rihanna’s face appears on the front with a number of words written on top like ‘victory’, ‘fun’ and ‘fearless.’ Although the album name, ‘Unapologetic’, is on the front, it is in the same font as all the other words making it blend in. It has been made to stand out a bit more than the others by using a scribbled black rectangle behind it. The words chosen strongly link with women and ‘girl power.’

Although clearly the music is most likely going to appeal to women more, Rihanna has been made to be sexualised as she is seen topless possibly attempting to entice men also. The bottom right hand corners advisory logo coincides with this as it warns younger audiences there is content that may not be suitable.

RIHANNARihanna’s booklet on the inside of the album

shows a colourful picture of her in opposition to the black and white theme carried out through the rest of the album. The picture is captioned with #phuckyoapologies suggesting she is all about ‘girl power’ and independence, in line with the words on the front cover.

The image behind the CD is however returns back to the black and white theme portrayed on the front cover showing a ‘melted’ picture of a women’s lips.

RIHANNA

The reason I like the back cover of this digipak is because although the black and white theme is carried forward from the front cover the two colours have been reversed making it look completely different. Rihanna also features on this as well as the front cover.

Just like Coldplay’s back cover, Rihanna’s vital information is also in a basic and small font containing details about copyright, the producing of it, the record label and her own website. All of the relevant logos are located just about the barcode.

ED SHEERANIn comparison to the three other digipaks I have analysed, Ed Sheeran’s album cover is incredibly simple with only two colours featured and one large symbol. The symbol ‘X’ is the title of the album and so he has used it as the main feature. His name is only mentioned on the front facing spine of the CD in small lettering however, due to the contract in colour between the neon green and plain black it stands out more than other artists that have done this such as Coldplay.

Upon taking the booklet/front cover out of the casing I came to realise that although the booklet was green it was the neon green plastic case that made it the bright green viewed when it is all in place. I think this is clever because I don’t actually know of any other artists that have done this before.

ED SHEERANThe green and black feature colours are the only colours that have been carried forward into the inside of the album which I like. I would describe his digipak as ‘simple’ but effective.

At first glance the cell looking inside left cover looks a bit random but when I thought about it one of his songs on the album is ‘Bloodstream.’ This image could potentially be intended to be linked to this song as cells are obviously in your blood. The random ‘X’ shaped cells may be purely to feature the album title in other places than just the front cover.

ED SHEERAN

It is also no surprise that the only two colours on the back cover of his digipak are black and neon green (with the exception of the hint of white from the barcode.) The main image on the back is a sketch image of Ed Sheeran. Although many may not know this as it is not a photograph, his scruffy, floppy hair and his outfit strongly resembles Sheeran himself. This alone says just how much of a well known artist and characterised person he is.

Just all the other back covers, information is included in the bottom right hand corner, in a basic and small font containing details about copyright, the producing of it, the record label and his own website. All of the relevant logos are located next to the barcode.The track listing of Sheeran’s album is relatively small

compared to many other albums I have seen unusually. The font is exactly the same as the font used to write Ed Sheeran’s name on the front facing part of the spine as well as the spine itself.

LITTLE MIX

As a general observation I have noticed most female band albums contain an image of themselves on the front in comparison to male bands/groups that often don’t.

There is their logo at the top right of the album which will help the audience to recognise it as Little Mix, this is a convention of all of their album covers. The name of the band ‘Little Mix’ is in a red lipstick effect text that is found in some of their other album covers. The red not only makes it pop but the lipstick style highlights how they are female artists and their identity is very girly.

All of the members are positioned on the prop of a red chair which is simple and suggests that they are ordinary girls. This opposes to the background location which suggests that they are extraordinary also.

LITTLE MIX

The colour red wasn’t that significant in the front cover apart from for their name however, this has featured as the main colour on the inside of the digipak. In my opinion it seems a bit boring compared to the lovely front and back covers.

The font of Little Mix is the same as the one of the front providing some continuity and likewise the album title Salute, is also in the same basic font. The only difference being the colour, the choice of colour has been picked cleverly though as it still stands out well just like they did on the front cover.

LITTLE MIX

The back cover of this album is much more peaceful in comparison to the powerful and bold front cover. An incredibly similar image of the sky has been used here but no image of the girl group. This has been done to keep the attention on the track listing, the main feature of a back cover. The text has also been centralised to show that it is important as well as being in red, a colour carried throughout the album.

Unusually the barcode for Little Mix’s album is at the top of the back cover. Normally, it is placed along the bottom edge in one of the corners where it is discreet and less distracting. The decision may have been made to try and keep everything central and the fact there is no more room along the bottom central edge.