Analysis of a DigipakEd Sheeran+

By James Taylor

Artist Profile - Ed Sheeran Age: 22 Origin: Framlingham, England Occupation: Singer-songwriter, producer,

musician, rapper Genre: Pop, hip-hop, grime, folk and acoustic Album name: +As both Ed Sheeran and Rizzle Kicks are British pop/rap stars I believe it makes sense to analyse Ed Sheerans Digipak for his debut album +. Both of these artists target an audience of around 8-30 and so we will be able to gain ideas and inspiration from this chart topping album.

ALBUM COVER The album colour is orange which I believe fits Ed

Sheerans image perfectly, as one of his trademarks is his ginger hair.

The album cover does not feature Ed Sheerans name which shows he is confident his target market will recognise him through seeing his face, rather than reading his name. As this is Ed Sheerans first professional album, I believe it is unusual for this cover not to feature his name.

The picture of Ed Sheerans face amongst the orange background appears rather mysterious as it does not give anything away about his character, or the songs that he sings.

The fact that the artists face is in the centre of the screen means that all of the attention is on him, meaning he will now be recognised as a close-up of his face will be on shelves in shops such as HMV.

The album name which features in the bottom corner of the album cover is simply ‘+’ which has been used so that whenever people see this symbol they will instantly link it back to Ed Sheerans album.

Also, Ed Sheeran is looking straight at the customer which could be seen as intimidating, meaning the customer has to buy the album.

ALBUM SPINE

The spine of the album fits the orange theme set by the front cover.

Ed Sheerans name is displayed along the spine of the album.

The text is all in white which matches the ‘+’ symbol on the front cover of the album.

On the right of the album is the name of the record label ‘Asylum.’

BACK COVER

The list of songs is in the centre of the back cover, in white text which matches the theme of orange and white featured throughout the digipak.

On the bottom left of the back cover of ‘+’ Ed Sheerans website is printed – edsheeran.com – meaning fans will know where they can find out about updates from Ed in terms of new songs, merchandise and tour dates.

The record label is also placed on the back of the album which is promotion for them along with other information about the album.

Production credits are present in a small black font at the bottom as it is not as important to the fans. However, it includes copyright information along with production teams.

The barcode is placed on the bottom of the back of the album as this is where it features on many albums in the present day.

BOOKLET

Similar to Professor Greens album which I have analysed previously, lyrics of the songs are included within the booklet of the digipak.

Unlike the front and back of the album, the background is white with black text, which goes against the orange and white theme previously set.

Like the back cover however, no pictures are displayed giving a sense of simplicity to the digipak.

DISK AND TRAY

The disk and tray are black which again, fits into the simplistic theme set by the digipak.

The album name ‘+’ is featured on the disk in orange which fits Ed Sheerans image and the theme of the album.