Digipak analysis

Digipak analysis 

The Dixie Chicks: Court Yard Hounds
 

The first digipak I will be analysing is The Dixie Chicks Court Yard Hounds. I have chosen to analyse this digipak as although the track we will be creating the music video to is in the genre of pop it also has a type of country/folk music element to it, that of which the Dixie Chick's fit into. This is an example of a six sided digipak that has an image of the band on the cover including the album name, an image of the band from behind on one of the sides of the digipak and the track list on the back again including an image of the band from behind.  I really like the theme to this, I believe that the theme is a fairy-tale/fantasy theme and includes many imaginative images within it.

Three sides of the digipak: Three sides of this digipak have similar images on them and all seem to each have a quote on them. The house style of this digipak all fits together nicely along the theme of a fairy-tale style and these elements of the digipak are very congruent within this theme. For example they all have an image of a forest which could be interpreted s a secret forest/fantasy land. They all also present the element of secret and the unknown in a charming way with the colour scheme, that being dark colours of the forest yet with a pale blue sky that gives a softer element to all of the dark colours. Furthermore the font style that they have chosen to use fits in extremely well with the fairy-tale theme as the font seems to have an antique and free feel when you look at it.

This part of the digipak includes a hand out with the main cover image on it that includes the lyrics of all the tracks on the album in a sleeve to the left and the actual CD that slips out of a sleeve on the right. This is something I will aim to include when producing my own digipak as I feel it gives the final outcome that special something when it includes a lyric hand out and would also entice the listeners to play the CD many times and learn the lyrics with the aid of the hand out, therefore making them feel more connected to the album and band. I also like the element of the CD also slipping out of a sleeve as I feel that the album looks protected from scratches and more on the practical side feels safe. The CD itself includes the track list again, this I also believe is a good idea as if the audience misplaced the digipak they would still be able to know what tracks are included on the album. This again is another practical element that they have considered when producing this album. This part of the digipak is still congruent with the overall theme and look to the album and still follows the same house style which is one if not the most important thing to take into consideration when producing a digipak.

The main cover image is a close up of the band themselves. This was probably chosen to achieve the high demands on the band through the record label and music companies for close ups of the band/ artists on the beauty side of the industry. This will have also been used to develop the bands star iconography, that I believe being black and white images in their albums. You can tell this by looking at their other album covers (some have been shot in black and white). Below the main image there are further images of wolves fading into the shoulders/upper bodies of the band. These are in black which fits in with the overall theme of a fairy-tale and dull colours, yet wolves are also conative with a fairy-tale/fantasy which again represents this theme within the digipak. However the fact that they are presented in black and are usually associated with the darker side of a fairy-tale or non reality could represent a darker meaning to the album or tracks that are included on this album. The font of the album name being in white also stands out against the darker side of the colour scale (blacks and greys) which would grab the audiences attention against the other digipak's it would be competing with. This is an important element to take into consideration when producing my own digipak as the within the competitive media market mine will need to stand out against the rest.

Finally this digipak also includes an image of the band from behind. The way this has been edited presents the band to be walking into the forest. This is an interesting and striking image as you can see the lighter colours within the background and through the trees, this again fits in well with the theme of a fantasy as it gives an unknown and inquisitive feeling. Also the styling of the artists is within this theme as they are wearing sequin dresses, this again is conative with a fairy-tale as they seem to embody all that is sparkles and sweetness.

The Wanted battleground:
The second digipak I will be analysing is The Wanted 'Battleground'.This digipak is also a six sided example consisting of 3 images,the front cover, the back and the album itself. 

Here is an image of the three sides of the digipak in which the font cover, the back and an image of the band is present. To the right is the image of the band. This is a medium shot which is situated in front of mountains and a clear sky. This I believe is very fitting with the title of the album 'Battleground', because the style of the image presents the theme of a dystopia in which there is brown and old looking colours that present a discarded and neglected image to the audience, that has also been included in this album artwork.

The centre image is that of the front cover of the digipak. This includes concepts that  most digipak's include such as tracks from the album that have been the most successful and would therefore make the audience want to purchase the product as the songs are familiar and they may have heard them on the radio and seen the music videos on TV. 

The artwork of this front cover is, like the image to the right, very fitting with the theme of the title. The red/orange sky signifies the idea that there is bloodshed/anger as well as the mountains and desolate area the band are placed in create the feeling of a battleground. The picture of the band is of a medium camera shot allowing all of the members to be seen yet fulfils the demand from record labels to have shots of band/artists as they are all looking towards the camera. 

The image to the left is of the back of the digipak. This includes yet another picture of the band and is in black and white. This side of the digipak includes concepts that most digipak's include for instance the bar code, insitutional information and the titles of the songs featured on the album. The titles of the congs however have been presented horizontally and not vertically that you see on many digipaks. This makes the digipak have a different feel to it.   

Here are the other sides of the digipak, including two images of the band that join together to make one single image and the album itself. The CD holder is simple and does not distract away from the disc, however the disc is also very simple which contrasts with the front cover of the album. The disc features the name of the band in their house font and the logo of the institution's the band belong to. The is to allow the audience to know the name of the album and the name of the band without having to look at the actual digipak, this a feature on every album. The images in the centre and the left are in black and white to again fit in with the theme of the album. Again the band is situated in a desolate area that looks unused that is connotative with the overall theme intended. 

The third digipak I will be analysing is Julia Fordham 'Different Time Different Place'.

Here is the front cover of the digipak. This digipak has a very different look and styling to the previous ones that I have looked at. This is because of the simple colours ans image that has been used, the artist is situated on a beach and pale colours have been used. This presents innocence to the audience and beaches are normally associated with a paradise, this being the opposite to The Wanted's 'Battleground'. The pose that the artist has adopted as well as her outfit again covey the theme of innocence and vulnerability. 
The front cover of the Digipak also includes information about the album that the audience will be buying including the fact that the digipak has two discs. The font of the album title fits in with the theme of the digipak in the fact that it is feminine and simple, appealing to the intended audience that I believe to be females. 

The back of the digipak is similar to the font cover in the fact that is is very minimal. The beach theme is still present with the background image being the sand. The back of this digipak includes features that many do. (the titles of the songs, the logo of the record label and a bar code.) The font of the writing on this side of the digipak is the same as the front cover, again fitting in with the overall theme and making the digipak look as though it should go together. 

This is the middle of the digipak and includes the two discs that both slip out, a feature that is again different to The Wanted's 'Battleground'. The image is, like the whole digipak, very minimal and only includes images of the location of the pictures. However a feature that I like within this digipak is the fact that the songs are again listed net to each discs. This not only makes the discs easy to differentiate between but also gives the audience information that they may want to know about each song including who wrote them in case they would like to research other work they have produced.

I also like the fact that this digipak matches the discs and the way in which they are presented (slip out) as I feel this makes the digipak look well presented and to the same style. 

This is the front and middle of thedigipak. The middle is a minimal image of the artist's feet walking through the sand which again reiterates the simple theme and the idea of innocence and paradise. The fact that you can see the artist walking through the sand fits in with the title of the album as this may be her 'different place' that she ha sated in the title and looks to be her escape. This also flows with the overall theme as you can tell the images have been taken in the same location. 

All the digipaks I have chosen to analyse have very different qualities, this I believe is dependant on the genre of music the artist/band belong to.