1. Research into 6 Digipacks
Caitlin Macdonald

2. Digipack and album
O The difference between an album and a
digipack is that a digipack offers more to the
audience, there is more content within the
pack and when you look at uses and
gratification, for the audience that has a
digipack they get a lot more out of it than a
normal album by offering extra images and
text. I’m going to look at both and evaluate
about the two.

3. Albums

4. Beyoncé

5. Beyoncé – “Dangerously in love”
Dangerously in love was Beyoncé's first album away
from destiny’s child. The album follows the typical
conventions of a ‘pop’ genre album. The clothing and
pose is very over sexualised linking to Male
Gaze(Laura Mulvey) theory where you see a artist
through the eyes of a heterosexual male. The clothing
that shows a lot of her body creates attention around
the album cover equalling in attention around the
album. There is high lighting in the photograph this
sticks to the conventions of this genre. The clothing
with the bright diamonds signify wealth, follows the
convention of the genre and also he race. The mid
shot shows off the artist as much as it can, making her
the main enter point.

6. The CD continues the theme of the
digipack through out, it is the same
colour and uses the same stars this
links it all together which is a big
convention that many follow.
With the back cover they have stuck to
the conventions of using the a similar
photo to the cover, they have kept the
text to the right so it isn't cover the artist
keeping her as the main focus

7. Beyoncé
This is Beyoncé's latest album and was famously
realised with no promotion which is what
conventionally done by artist. The album cover is
simple and only has her name which does not follow
the conventions of her genre. Now Beyoncé is a
massive name that everyone knows, she doesn’t big
promotions and posed album covers to show herself
off to spread the word about her album.
Comparing this to her first album they are very
different, the first shows off the artist making her the
main focus point on the cover however now its much
more simple and it speaks for itself.

8. The cd has kept it the same as the cover making
it more simple, even though through out it is only
the name and nothing else features it still makes
the artist the main feature
The colour theme is consistence through
out linking all the sides together. Again the
back is simple like the other sides.

9. Arctic Monkeys
2006-2013

10. Arctic Monkeys – “what ever people
say I am, I’m not”
The main focus of this album cover is the image however the band
didn’t follow conventions as the picture isn’t of any of the band
members, the picture has more of a story. On the cover is a close
friend of the band and the night before he was given £70 to spend
to go out and then in the morning the album cover was taken.
Although this didn’t follow the conventions of a genre like pop like
before it follows the conventions for there genre of ‘alternative/rock’
as the story behind the image fits well with the stereotype of ‘rock
and rollers’ as they are known for their partying. The album has a
depressing feel to it because of the low light and grey tones in the
image also fitting with the genre and conventionally on their albums
bright colours aren't used. The album cover will appeal to the target
audience of the band as conventionally, alternative/indie music fans
get into trouble. The album cover only has the bands name which
will be known to all fans, and doesn’t have the album name however
this could be down to the fact that the album name is really long and
fitting it on without taking away from other aspects of the album like
the image would be difficult

11. The album was criticised because of the constant theme of cigarettes and
was said to idolises smoking and that it will have an influence on fans
however the lead singer said he didn't believe this and said it would do the
opposite. Like the album cover the cd is simple and basic, the cigarettes
that feature on the cd and the cover create a link for the audience.
The back of the album cover links in with the rest of the
album as it taken from the same shoot. The text is to one side
so it isn't covering the person this makes sure that it doesn’t
take away form the image. The colour of the text again is
simple and plain and not distracting from the image

12. Arctic Monkeys – “AM”
For their latest album arctic monkeys and stripped back
their album cover to just a digital photo of a sound
wave. The fact that the album is bare isn’t a big
convention however it still is used by many different
artists from different genres. Comparing this cover to
their first album cover It is a lot more simple and has
less of a story toward its as he first, this could be
because the band is very famous now and the they are
easily recognisable from their target audience

13. The CD for the album is the same image a the front cover, this has slight
similarities to the first one as it has links through out the album however
this is a very common convention. The colour theme of black and white
keeps it simple and minimal which is a common convention for he genre
and allows it no to be over crowed
The back of the album cover is where the majority of
the text is and this makes the album mainly about the
songs as there is not much else for a viewer to look at
if they saw this. The main eye grabber is the bands
name and it is in the bands font which is known
around the world by fans. The line across the middle
links in with the sound wave from the CD and he cover
an links it all together

14. Taylor Swift

15. Taylor Swift – (2006)
When Taylor started out her genre was more
country, this cover sticks to that genre
conventions. Her hair is natural and the mise
en scene, like the background being of nature
and the butterflies make sure it has the
country feel. The mid shot of the artist brings
attentions to them making her the main focus
of the album

16. The cd sticks to the country feel with the
bare feet and grass. The song tittles form
the album are also on the CD which I
have found to be a common convention
for albums that are fairly old digipacks
Again the back cover’s mise en scene
fits the country genre, she is in some
sort of field sticking with the theme of
nature. She also bare foot in the photo
linking in with the cd

17. Taylor swift – Red (2013)
Her latest album Is very different from her first,
her genre has moved since she started to pop
and there for how she is presented on albums is
differently, she no longer has the natural hair or
the nature in the background it is a close up of
her making her the main attention, she is
wearing a bright red lipstick, the colour red it
associated with being sexy and seductive which
is what the record label want her to be
represented it also has a link to the album name
which stands out against the rest of the album
because of the colour however it doesn’t take
away from the image of her as it’s a colour
match to her lips

18. The colour theme of red and white carries on
through out the digipack keeping it consistent the
disc is plain with no image which is different to
her first album and from there conventions have
changed.
The way the titles of the songs are layout
are normally how they would, however they
do fit in with the lines the cd. There is still a
photo of the artist on the back still keepping
the focus on her

19. Katy Perry

20. Katy Perry– “one for the boys”
This is her first album, there is high and low
lighting through out the image however the high
light is over her making her standout more and
keeping her the main focus, the pose and the
clothing is sexualized linking to the male gaze
theory (Laura Mulvey) and this will help the album
get notices and also links in with the name of the
album. The clothes link with the colours of the
typography

21. The cd has a big strawberry on it which fans of the artist
may identify with has she has a tattoo of one, it also links
in with her front of the album as the picture is set outside
and it looks like summertime, linking with the fruit. It also
links with the back cover as she is wearing a top with
strawberries on, this one aspect makes it work all
together
For a back cover this is quite crowded which is isn’t
normally the case for the back cover. There is a lot of
legal stuff in the corner talking about the record
label, this is a convention however because it is white
and it is against a dark background it stands out
more. The mise en scene of the image connects with
the strawberry as it has summer feel about it
because of the clothes, the flowers and swimming
pool

22. Katy Perry - prism 2014
Her latest album stands out much more than her first,
however now that she is a discovered artist and she is
very famous she doesn’t need to follow or break
conventions to grab attention. The album is called
prism and there are many connotations throughout the
album that link to this. There is a lot if light in the photo
and that is what makes it grabbing, this also links in
with a prism as they reflect light. The typography is very
clever, there are certain breaks in the wiring for
example the ‘M’ a prism when it reflects the light is
goes off to a different direction, by having the
typography link in with the name it allows the audience
to understand the meaning of the album. Round the
edge of the album the flower boarder isn’t a convention
that they have followed, normally it will be just the
image, in the image of the artist there are similar
flowers that are round the edges, by having them in the
sides as well makes the image more 3D. The
Typography for her name ‘Katy Perry’ the ‘A’ is replaced
with a triangle, this could have been added for many
reasons however again it links with the prism and they
are triangular

23. The cd is left bare apart from the writing, the blank cd
again links with the album name, prism. A cd reflects light
and there is always a rainbow that is created much like a
prism. Even though that a cd already does this naturally, by
keeping it this way it gives a good link with the album
name. the typography of the text on the cd is the same as
the cover, this a big convention that the majority of artist
follow and it connects the sides together and makes it look
like one.
Again the lighting in the image is high and the effect of the image
has a rainbow colour this again links to the album name. the
typography of the songs name is places into a shape of a triangle
and there is light that is reflected off of it once again this links
with the album name of prism, it is a convention to make links
like these as it helps the audience understand the meaning
however this particular album has made many. The sides all look
good together as a set as there is relations to the sides, this
photo is from the same shoot however just a different pose, they
have followed conventions as this normally happens so the sides
work well together

24. Bastille

25. Bastille – ‘Bad Blood’
The genre of the band is alternative so they can break
certain conventions that a genre like pop would follow, the
act ‘bastille’ are a band however there is only one band
member that is on the cover, the main singer. This has
been done by many bands in the genre alternative they
either feature no members or they only have one, however
this isn’t seen in the genre like pop, the band would all be
features with a close up or mid shot. In the long shot the
artist you cant see that man that clearly keeping his
identity a slight mystery, he looks like he is running away
from something, this links with the name of ‘Bad Blood’
saying that something bad has happened. The lighting is
low is places by having the bright light in the middle it
places the focus onto the man, low lighting is a convention
of the genre alternative. The typography of the is bold and
stands out, the letter ‘A’ is replaced with a triangle and that
done throughout, because of their genre they can break
the conventions of having all letters

26. The cd for the album is simple and plain, they have stuck with the dark
coloured theme and have only used the text that is on there cover. By
using the same typography it create a relationship with the cover and it
works well together
The images for the cover and back have a really good link
between them, on the cover where the man is running and
the light is sinning now that you’ve seen the back with the
image of a car with lights on you make the connection and
realise that its the car that is following the man. I really like
the relation between the two images and I think it works
really well as it tells a story and has more depth to it than if
I was just a close up or mid shot of the band. The
typography of the albums name is placed perfectly and fits
well within the gap of the lights. Like the band name and
album name where the ‘A’s are in triangles they have also
carried this into the back cover, keeping it continuous

27. Drake

28. Drake – “Take care”
The photo cover there is a lot of gold that features, which is a
stereotype of the genre rap, it also links to John Stewart theory
where certain aspects are emphasised to make an aspirational
lifestyle and is a convention of his genre of rap. The artist does
feature on the album but doesn’t make eye contact with the
camera, by featuring on the album fans get what they want in
terms of uses and gratification theory and they get to see the
act that like , however by not making eye contact he distances
himself from them. Not making eye conntact has been used in
albums before and in his genre of rap but compared to the pop
genre you wouldn’t see this

29. With the disc they have carried on with the colour theme of black and
gold linking them together and making them look like a set and they
work well together. The layout has been kept simple and that is a
common convention on the disc as they don’t get too cover crowded as
when someone picks it up people cant see that part
they have kept with the black and gold colour scheme this makes it look
together and works well as a set as there is no image on the back cover
which is a common conventions sometimes they have placed the text in the
centre so it is the main attention. The rest of the back is all common
conventions of a back cover on an album for example the legal writing about
copy write and how it belongs to and the barcode.

30. Drake – “nothing was the same”
Drakes latest album ‘nothing was the same’ had to different albums covers, both similar album layouts ad the same
background however the image of who was on the cover is different. One was of the drake now and the other of him
when he was younger and when placed together they look like they are look at each other. The background is of a sky
and clouds this helps the idea of him dreaming and aspiring, and supported by the two picture enhances the idea of him
dreaming when he was younger to be where he is now to him now looking at what he used to be like. This message
gives more to the audience and fans as they get to see another side to him and when he was younger. The typography
of the artist name and album name and in the right or left hand corner in tiny writing, this isn't a common convention
and not one he has used before however it is common when the album is considered a ‘story’ and the text want to take
away from the image

31. The disc for the album is the same as the cover, when the public buys his album they
can decide if thy want the child picture version or the adult drake version, so what one
they pick the disc will be different depending. By keeping the disc the same as the
cover enhances the message he is putting across. There isn't any typography on the
disc about the artist name or the album name, this is a convention when the album
cover is about the image and they carry this on to the disc, however this isn't normally
don’t in his genre of rap, it id normally done in alternative or indie music
I don’t think that the back cover of this album fits in with the rest of the
album compared to the albums I have looked at. The colour scheme is
different I think they should of kept with the blue or white, however I think if
they carried on with the clouds or just plain colour of blue or white it would of
looked slightly childish. The typography is different and I don’t think goes that
well wit the rest of the album

32. Digipack - A Digipack will offer more to the audience and fans as they get to see
more text and images and gives them this ‘access all areas’ feel as they get to more compared to an
album
The album is a lot
more spacious as
they have more
room throughout
where they can
add various of
things
There is more
images of the
artist in a
digipack than an
album and this
will satisfy
customers who
are fans
there is normally one or two or maybe three disc in a digipack, a convention of
them being used in genres like pop or alternative is if there is a band that
have been around for a long time and they have a ‘greatest hits’ album and
they need more room for multiple disc and more pictures or writing

33. With this Digipack they have used the convention of an album by having a front cover, disc page and back cover, by
having this as a start layout the audience gets what is needs and they have information they the name or song names.
Now that it’s a Digipack and they have more pages they have added more photos giving more to the audience