Digipak Analysis

Digipak Analysis

A digipak is typically a book style with a paperboard or cardboard outer binding, with one or more plastic trays for the CD. Digipak style cases grew popularity among record labels and recording artists in the early 2000's. Digipak style packaging is often used for CD singles or special editions of CD albums. A Jewel CD case is the compact disc which it originally comes in since first being released in 1982. This case was a three piece plastic case which contained the actual CD swell as a back card and liner notes. This type of CD is constructed into 4 sides, where most of the detail is located on the front and back. in comparison, the Jewel CD case is plastic which means the paper inside is protected and will last much longer. Most of the detail is mainly on the front and back of the case meaning that its more likely to grab peoples attention and make them want to purchase the album. The Jewel CD case will often contain lyrics of the songs, so people who buy the album will be able to learn the songs in turn means that they feel as though they can relate to the artist more. The Digipak, which is basically a special edition CD, contains higher quality images and helps to display the meaning behind them. Furthermore, Digipaks usually contain a letter/note from the artist which is directly to the fans which helps to give the CD a more personal approach and feel, which could help the audience to relate to the artist as they feel as though they have a glimpse of them and as though they know them slightly. Sometimes Digipaks contain a bonus track to the album, whereas a CD version may not include this, therefore it is more beneficial for the audience to purchase this version instead of the original as they can hear more music from their preferred artist.The Digipak has 6 sides to it, so there is more opportunity for visible artwork to be seen, aswell as information or promotions. This way the artist has a better chance at attacking potential buyers, for example fans as they will see the Digipak as more than just an ordinary disc of music, as this can be seen as a collectable item as well. In comparison to the Jewel CD, the Digipak case is not easily ripped, whereas the Jewel CD case is when removed or put back into the plastic grips making the audience not want to remove it. Lastly, on a Digipak, all information is very easily accessible, which overall makes the CD more appealing and long lasting.

When carrying out research of trying to find a digipak to analyse for our chosen artist Adele, we could not find a digipak which she has used. Instead, our group has chosen to analyse a digipak from the artist Duffy which could be considered as a soul artist. The digipak by Duffy has several connotations. The first connotation of this is the way in which the artist is looking. The audience can infer from the facial expressions and body language that the artist is feeling down and can be perceived as vulnerable. It can be seen through the mid shot used on one of the covers that the artist Duffy is crossing her arms across her body which suggests that she is feeling insecure. This is conventional of the soul music genre as the artists generally tend to sing about topics which are personal to them. In addition to this the eyes of the artist are looking downwards which is a natural expression for somebody who is feeling low or upset. The artist looking down and not looking at the camera suggests that the artist has a lack of confidence as she is not able to look into the camera, which most artists like to do as it helps the audience to connect to the artist as they can see the true, raw emotion of the artist through the close ups which helps to convey their facial expression. This could also be seen as though the artist would like to not have to face their current problems or issues in which they would rather avoid and seems as though they are almost looking 'into space' as though they are day dreaming. Day dreaming is short term detachment from their surroundings and replaced with fantasy. This could help the audience to build a relationship with the artist as they may be able to relate to this of wanting to escape their surroundings for a short space of time to forget what they are going through. Furthermore the colours used in the digipak are conventional to the soul genre. There are few colours used in this digipak, which has kept the entire theme quite simple. The predominant colours used are black and white. The black is used throughout all sides of the Digipak helps to symbolize the artists negative thoughts and depressive state. With this, this could help the artist to recognise that be suggesting that this could represent the artist's music and the content which the lyrics contain. The colour white usually suggests positivity which contrasts from the black and negative image which this creates. This could suggest to the artist that this is the artist reflecting on her memories of the topic which she is singing about. This is conventional to the soul genre as for our groups Artist Adele, this colour scheme will work well as this is the subject which relates to our song of the artist reflecting on her memories before she found fame and the times in which she enjoyed. Additionally, the digipak as well as being mainly in black and white seems as though it has sepia undertones to it. This could have further connotations of the album relating to memories and past events as this is the colour you would expect to see an olden day picture in, helping to reillustrate to the audience that the artist is reminiscing. The artist is positioned centrally in the middle of the album cover. This allows the audience to recognise the artist straight away, immediately engaging them as this may be an artist that they have listened to before. Additionally to this, it helps to keep the artist as the main focal point of the album and does not divert the audience's attention elsewhere on the cover as this is  the main part. Generally, an image is more enticing and interesting to look at as opposed to writing and typography as this is recognisable and relatable for the artist as they can grasp what the album's music may be based upon due to the facial expressions and body language used. Whereas information and the artists name is information which the audience will observe next as they may have already recognised the artist from the image this does not need to be the focal point of the album. The typography used positions the title of the album to the bottom left. The reasoning behind this is as mentioned previously it is most important to have the image of the artist central to the album as this is what will draw the audiences attention in first. However, the title is in a bold font which is in capital letters as this may be significant to the album. It can be seen in the background of the main image on the album that there is a particular location which has clearly been thought about by the artist. When researching "Rockferry" this is a location, in which could be important and significant place for the artist. This possibly could suggest that events that are written about in the artists lyrics could have occurred in this particular location. Furthermore, this helps the audience to relate to the artist as they feel as though they have an insight to her life as she has taken them to somewhere personal were she has experiences which are clearly important and are emotional for the artist. In addition, the artists name is also effortlessly written on the top left hand side of the Digipak. The font used her is simple and looks as though it is hand written. This is conventional of the soul music genre as the artist styles their album cover in a simplistic way to not divert attention of the image which has connotations with the music which helps to engage the target audience. The handwriting font gives a more personal touch to the album cover and helps the artist to build a relationship with the audience as they feel as though the artist is signing this album personally to them. With this personal touch, it also shows that the artist is signing the album to the audience but also letting them have an insight to their music and life as it is almost welcoming. This presents the artist as down to earth and relatable as she is willing to show and let the audience hear her true emotions which the audience may find relatable. In regards to the styling of language on the Digipak for the artist Duffy, there isn't any wording, instead is replaced with multiple images of the artist, helping to illustrate the feeling and emotion of the artist as well as enabling the audience to familiarize themselves with the artist which may enable them to build a relationship as they can relate to the artist more. This is conventional to the soul artist genre as the advertising of the artist is kept quite simple so that the image used can demonstrate the type of music and emotion which the audience can expect.  

Overall, researching Digipaks from similar artists has been beneficial in the process of my groups planning and has provided inspiration for what we would like to include our own digipak for our artist. One of the main inspirations I would like to include in our own digipak is the use of the black and white colouring due to the connotations which this has with negative and positive thoughts which help to illustrate the artist reflecting and reminiscing on her past and memories, which will help to illustrate to our audience what the song is about and will also help them to understand the narrative more clearly. Another aspect which we would like to include in our digipak is the idea of the artist being central of the image. This allows the audience to focus on the artist which may make them easier to recognise. This highlights to the audience the importance of the artist and additionally represents the artist conventionally and their emotions which gives them an insight of content in which the digipak will contain. Lastly, I will consider the typography used in the digipak as I feel as though the hand written signature from the artist gives a more personal approach to the digipak and allows the audience to feel as though they have an insight to the artist. This is also a unique touch to the digipak as not many artist have incorporated this into their album/digipak. Additionally to this, when considering the font of the title/name of artist, we will also consider the colour of the font which has not been displayed in the digipak for Duffy as it remains similar with the theme of black and white. I would like to include a colour which has connotations of conventional emotions portrayed by the artist in their music.