Digipak research: Indie rock album covers

By Thaomy Le

Our song was originally based on Bastille so we had to look into their album covers. Bastille was quite recent within 2014 therefore they didn’t have previous album covers and they don’t have advertisement posters. We had to use other reference that would suit their genre but we had to look into their designs and get some ideas.

The name ‘Bastille’ is clearly being shown in front, this makes it clear to the viewer about the band name and separates the song name so that it is easy to distinguish.

The background image mainly shows location rather than the band or artist. The genre indie rock tends to not show the artist/band face in comparison to pop music.

Copy right and record label

Bar code

The background cover has a link from front to back. The back of the album cover shows a car lighting up the front album cover, this shows the back of the artist running away.

The colours being used in this album has a dull grunge effect that suits indie rock genre.

List of songs

They have their own personalised fontWhich may inspire us to create my own.

Their new album ‘other people’s heartache’ is coming soon (not sure about the date). But the colours seem to be more brighter focussing more on gradient pink/purple and blue as the main colour ? It feels more different from their first album

Judging from the track list it is more based on collaboration with other artist therefore I don’t thin is their actual album.

Imagine dragons released their new album ‘Continued silence’ in 2012, unfortunately I couldn’t find their back album cover or their full actual album cover but this gives the audience a vision to the style of the band. Again, they did not use artist/band features as the location in their music video suits the actual album cover.

Later on they featured the album cover ‘Night visions’, It has a link towards their past album cover with the rule of 3rd focussing on a tiny person. There are lots of simlarites between ‘night vision’ and ‘continued silence’.

Barcode

Song listCompany label and copy right clearance

The band name is written as big and bold while the name of the song is under the band name . It is very different to Bastille’s album cover because Imagine dragons album cover is more simple focussing more on the imagery

The background imagery has a relation to their past album. The use of background effect has that grunge/ smoky effect to make it look very mysterious.

CD has no design but it is quite simple

I realised that they have a tour poster that is based on a portrait. I think their whole theme is based on space, supernatural and imagination. Their band name suits their theme very well with the moon as the main focus this time and the bands silhouette. Within the corner of the poster they referred to their album to remind the viewer about their album release. The imagery fits well to the song name ‘night visions’ while all the information is clear at the bottom that includes social media to gain more supporters.

The script was around before Imagine dragons and Bastille around 2001. Therefore they should have more album covers released. I looked into Amazon and noticed that they have four official album covers, Amazon is the best option for their target audience to buy the band/artists album because everyone can have access to it if they have debit card or parental permission.

Their first album was released in 2008 that was based on ‘the man who can’t be moved’. It has more collage graphic content to it with no artist/band featured on the album in front unless you look at the back. You can compare to their recent albums of how the design has changed over Time because they weren’t quite known like all indie rock bands

This is their second album cover ‘Science and faith’ was released in 2010. You could tell a huge different from their 1st album cover to their 2nd.

The use of hands throughoutTheir whole album cover symbolisesThis idea of faith, hope, strength and humanity. It matches the title of the song and it gives a powerful imagery to what their song is about

Bar code, record label and copy right clearance

The background is based on a grunge effect that has a brown tone for the imagery. It feels simple and displays throughout the inside and outside album cover

Song list

This is the inside of the album cover, it is exactly the same as the front of the album cover featuring the hands and the grunge background.

The band name is clearly written on the front album cover that is separated from the album name ‘#3’

White space is being used To make the portrait to the band stand out. This seems pure but it works with the imagery because its mainly based on black and white tone.

The main image is based on the Lead singer, then the band fades in from his head. You can notice the important roles due to the size being played around the front and back. This is quite a rare moment to see the band being shown on the album cover, although the fades give a dramatic effect

Barcode, record label and copyright clearance

‘#3’ represents their 3rd album, it is much bolder than the band name which is quite unusual because you would expect the band name to be bigger and bolder.

Double exposure has been used within the imagery it is another type of fade but the imagery is ingrain inside the main imagery giving a clean edge. This has been used for the front and back album cover to show a link

Song list names

This is their up to date album that is already released around September 2014. Their design is very graphic that is based more on illustrations.