ADVANCED PRODUCTION

Analysis of CD covers (digipaks)

Rakha Tewany

Digipak TaskProvide a detailed textual analysis of the following digipaks. You will need to consider the following: The image The background Use of Colour Layout Use and position of text Font selection and variety Other information providedYou need to annotate each part of the digipak. Remember to link your ideas to the image of the artist, their genre of music and the target audience.

Ellie GouldingFront Cover

Front cover

The front cover features a image of the artist herself, the image if a medium/ close up shot, this shot has been used to show the artists facial expressions and so that the audience can focus on her. From looking at the front cover I would say that her target audience would be mature teenager girls such as 15 year olds. This is because younger girls will look up to her, as she is seen as a role model, the way she dresses, her lifestyle and her music.

In this image of the artist her makeup is quite natural, it shows that the artist is natural, it shows the audience the real her, she doesn’t want to cover up who she really is.

The colour of the text blends in with her hair colour, however, the text looks like it is a light the way the artist has made it, I feel that the artist has done this because it goes with the title of the album.

The layout, the title and her name is quite low and at the bottom, this is because the artist is the main focus on the cover, she is the most important. The use of golden lights to highlight features on the cover of this album is to add emphasis on the album name ‘Lights’. It is also a play on her last name ‘Goulding’ this makes the album important to Ellie and stand out to other artists

From looking at the album cover we cannot tell the genre of music she produces, this is a good thing as it could show the audience that she has a mixture of genres within her music.

The background is of her being outside, this shows what type of woman the artist is as she likes to be outside in the nature rather than stuck inside.

Ellie Goulding this follows the Andrew Goodwin’s theory as he says that record companies demand a lot of close- ups of the main artist, especially female artist as they are trying to sell the artist rather than their music.

The dark colours could be used to show that this album is dark in some places with some uplifting songs; such as lights, this can be varied from the bright coloured golden lights. This could be understood as Ellie changing her style of music and becoming more of a pop artist however still with her indie side.

Ellie GouldingBack Cover

Back cover The font on the background is simple, this follows the indie genre of focusing on

the music rather than the image. The colour used is catchy however it blends in with the background as it the

background is gold yet, the background also has a tint of darkness through it, the gold and green colours imply nature and are very mellow and relaxing which reflect the Pop/Indie genre of the artist. The colour compliments the album name ‘lights’ this is because lights are bright and edgy, which the colour and font have that effect too.

 Back covers are very conventional. For example, there is always a track list, which usually follows down vertically in order of how the songs play. On the background of covers there is normally record label logos, which the artist is signed up to.

The design is keeping in with the front cover, the lights. The main purpose of back covers is to inform what music is on the CD. Target

audience will be the ones wishing to buy the album, but want to know more.

Ellie GouldingDisc

Disc The disc is gold/ yellow, this goes with the gold colour throughout the whole

colour. The colour of text has changed from gold to white, this is so it stands out on

the gold background. The disc is plain however it still goes with the rest of the album as it has the

lighting effect is shown through the gold.

Conventions Summarise the conventions of a CD

cover i.e. typical features. Include the front covers Back covers Discs Try to find typical features of the inlays

(inside the CD) and the spines Do the conventions of CD covers vary

according to genre of music?

Conventions For an indie pop genre, a common convention is images

of the artist which makes it clear who the artist is. This has been strongly followed with Ellie Goulding’s digipak, as she is the main focus on the front cover of the album. This put the audiences focus on her and makes it clear that its her CD.

Another convention is that they write their own music, which is shown through the way the lyrics in all the songs relate back to her such as ‘the writer’ this suggests that she has done the lyrics herself.

The idea that Ellie writes her own music is further implied through the inside cover, the image shows that she is in a studio recording her own music.

Conventions... By using font which goes with the layout of the

album, it gives the audience the effect of the softness which goes with Ellie’s personality. The text is the same throughout the whole digipak making it solid throughout.

Each image presents purity as the images are natural, her make up and hair is natural, this suggests that Ellie Goulding is a person who doesn't really go over the top she likes to be a natural beauty. By her using images from outside, implies the freedom as she is a wide space all alone.