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Digipak AnalysisSinead Simpson

Drake- Take CareUnlike most albums, Drake doesn’t have his name on the cover, this connotes an already

known fame, he no longer needs to introduce himself to the world, they already

know who he is.

The album cover clearly has a colour scheme/house style, it’s consistent in the

use of Gold, bronze/brass and black., these colours connote something classic., the use

of the rusty colors show something timeless, which is most likely what Drake wants audiences to feel when listening to his

music, that it’s timeless., this idea is also given by the old looking pieces of art on the wall, as art is something timeless and music is considered an art, Drake has coined onto the never-ending, ‘never growing up’ idea

that many artists cling onto.

The main image is a medium close up of Drake looking into his cup, his avoidance of eye contact into the camera gives a sense of vulnerability, he is captured sitting down, this coupled with the fact that his head is down implies that she’s thinking about

something, the album name being ‘take care’ suggest a new approach to rap, a more soft

and caring side.

Drakes outfit is very simple, a plain black shirt with 4 gold chains, this is him subtly

showing his wealth and possibility humility (by the lack of showcasing it to the camera

and non direct eye contact)

Front cover

The typography used is consistent throughout the album, the title ‘Take Care’ stands out for it’s simplicity, it’s consistent with the minimalistic image, props and background used, this could represent Drake as in the rap world he is seen as a soft person however is still seen as a classic, the

‘take care’ font, is bold and italic so it stands out yet represents something of a higher class.

The album cover allows the audience to focus on the

visuals of the artist, which is consistent with the ideas

being held by the rap genre, that the center of attention is

the rap artist. This album cover also allows for the

appeal of a new audience, Drakes audience is typically

16-25 year olds, however the colours, simplicity and visual

matureness of drake (the abundance of chains, the

expensive props and physical characteristics such as his beard) open up his target

audience to an older audience. This visual matureness

correlates with the colour scheme, as he is quite young , the visual maturity of drake

portrays something timeless, as he is young yet stuck in

something quite old.

The simplicity of this album cover is commonly seen with

Drakes album, this allows him to create an obvious style

which can be easily identified and recognised by those in drakes target audience and

outside.

The pictures inside of the digipak follow the colour schemes and the connotations of Drakes wealth. The images used in the digipak (this specifically) juxtapose the album name (take care) this is evident by him to be seen smoking a cigar, this doesn't’t follow the name of the album ‘take care’ as evidently he is not taking care of himself by risking his health care.

The simplicity of the mainly black filling makes Drakes name and album name more prominent following the theme of simplicity which however is not followed through by his actual music which is a mixture of complex beats along with mundane melodies. The fact that Drakes name is just on the CD opposed to the front cover suggests that although Drake doesn't’t necessarily need to advertise himself, he still feels it’s necessary to somewhat identify his brand.

Colour scheme

As previously mentioned, the colour scheme features gold's, bronzes and black. These simple colours connote wealth, the minimalism of the colour scheme conveys something classic and simple.

This picture also shows him looking away from the camera like the album cover, the background of the picture is the corner of a frame with some statues which is consistent with the album cover, and the theme of timelessness.

A close up is used in this picture making the audience feel somewhat closer to drake and invading his personal space, the quality of the picture represents a something homely, like the image was taken at home in the spur of the moment with friends, making the audience feel like they have a personal connection /relationship with Drake

The back of the album is simple and only features the album track listing,

executive produces, producers and the music

companies that are affiliated with drake.

The text used is a very simple sans serif font

The side panels show the album title and artist

name which is consistent to the front cover in

regards to colour.

The back is very simple which is evidently

consistent with the album in general. It has a barcode and production

company acknowledgement

Back cover

One Direction- Take Me HomeThe main image is the group

playing on a phone box, this represents the group as playful and carefree which is the idea the group wants to give, that they’re young and free, this correlates with the genre of

music that they put out- pop, just the name in itself ‘pop’

connotes something vibrant and quite childish, as the group are

quite young it’s natural that they would be portrayed as childish. (which is evident by them using

the phone box as a climbing frame). The name of the band is

boldly shown on the album cover with their band logo placed in the corner of the

album, the album name is subtly placed underneath the band name, this is probably as it’s only their second album and

they want to promote themselves, it’s more essential that people know who they are rather than their album name, this also evident by the band

logo ‘1D’ being at the corner so whenever someone see’s it they automatically associate it with

the group.

The album cover has a clear theme, everything British. As they are a British band the classic telephone box is a representation of Britain, the chaos that the band members are causing in front of the clear sunny British skies not only shows the band as mischievous

and playful but represent Britain as youthful and slightly chaotic

In the front cover the group members look very young, this is in order to attract a

younger audience, a younger audience being 11-18 year olds, the simplicity of the

album logo is easy to replicate so the younger

audience can easily draw the album logo, this essentially

means more advertisements as the more the logo is shown the more attention it will get.

The album cover definitely follow the conventions of

pop, as pop is catchy happy music the easily replicable

band logo is easily remembered, thus catchy and

the fact that the band members are being seen to have fun by climbing and

smiling/laughing, thus happy.

The album cover however does not have a clear color scheme however the bright

colors do allow for it to attract to their target

audience.

Back cover and track listing

The cd is very simplistic,. Following the bands key colour of red and having a newspaper like strip whereby they’re heading plays along with their desire for stardom and all things British. The ‘1D’ logo is displayed twice on the cd, this shows their desire to make themselves a brand, this constant placement of the bands logo plays along with Richard Dyers star theory that 'pop stars' have a lasting significance, they have 'brand awareness' and are constructed, artificial images. This is evident by the boy group whom were constructed by the Xfactor to become pop stars

The inside panels are pictures of the boy band posed and perfected to look like the ideal pop star, they’re all smiling/being shown to have a good time and once again the bands logo is seen on the image. The inside cover has childlike drawings in it, this could be to appeal to a younger audience or to simply highlight the fact that the boys are young which's follows the theme of the front cover; the band is young and playful.

The back of the album where the track listing is placed is again quite bold, colourful and child-like the drawing of the starts highlights this. The list is set out on note like form with font that looks hand writing, it doesn’t have red anywhere on, so it has diverted from the colour scheme, however it is very attractive to their young target audience as once again the drawings are easily replicable.

Unlike most albums, Childish Gambino aka Donald Glover doesn’t have his

name nor the album name on the album front cover, this is probably because

that’s the message he wants to send to his audience, his album name is

‘Because The Internet’ the fact that we live in an internet based society, the

likelihood that you don’t know who he is is slim, therefore, he doesn’t need to write his name or album name as the

audience he is aiming at already know who he is and the name of his album.

The front album image is not typical of a rap album, it’s soft and relaxing, opposed to other rap albums whereby the artists are showcased as ‘hard’ or wealthy, this album cover would be more associated with softer genres of music such as jazz, not rap or hip-hop. This album cover could depict a new approach to rap,. As the album was released quitte recently in late december 2013, it could be a representation of a new rap era. The typography is

consistent all the way throughout the digipak.

Childish Gambino – Because The Internet

cards when they were younger and those who are younger who find this

format of the album cover visually appealing.

The main image is a close up of Donald looking directly into the

camera, this direct eye contact allows for a connection from him to his

audience as they will feel he’s directly looking at them, this helps him

create a bond with his audience even though he is not direct in contact

with them, because they will feel like the album is just for them as there is

this non-direct direct form of contact.

The album cover clearly has a colour scheme/house style, there's a gradient from

brown to pink, the colours of the shirt he’s wearing slightly contrast but also are consistent

with the gradient in the background. The colours used are soft and somewhat feminine.

when looking at the album cover a sense of calmness is felt. The colours used are

remiciment of the sunsent which links to the idea of a paradise island, this feeling correlates

with the graphic print of palm trees on Donalds shirt, the palm trees represent paradise and a relaxing environment. His relaxed posture in the album image and the somewhat lack of

direction in his eyes also represent some kind of utopia’ This is what he could be trying to imply to his audience, that his music is calm

and rewarding..

The album cover is actually hologram that you can move

around to reveal the main image of

Donald sitting there, this is unique as no

other albums are like this. This format of the album makes it appeal to a wide

target audience, those who are old and used to play with holographic

Inside cover The inside cover for the album (alike the actual CD) is a very intricate pattern and has different illusions, it’s a complete

juxtaposition to the front cover, there’s much more detail and more colours opposed to the front cover where there’s a basic

gradient and a single medium close up image.

There’s not a typical housestyle with the digipak nor does it have consistent typography, there’s a definate theme of abstract which is evident from the elbarote detail on the front cover

(holographic image). This album doesn’t follow the conventions of a typical rap album, it steps more into pop/alternative by the

use of colours and elaborte designs. Never the less, red is definately a staple colour for the digipak

The album also comes with an online screeplay to read along with each specified album track, this has never before been done with a rap album, this shows an element of

consistency as it’s abstract which as previously said, is an evident theme of the digipak.

This online scripts follows the title of the album ‘because the internet’ as the screenplay is only available on the internet showing some consistency between the title of the

album and the content

There’s limited text throughout the album design, there’s none shown on the CD nor the album cover and on the back cover and track listing, it’s very limited, This album is very visual based and is more about the aesthetics rather than the text.

The use of bright colours connote something exciting and happy and almost a sense of nostalgia with the 70’s like patterns and holographic imagines

The main image on the front cover is a black rectangle with white lights

around it creating a white glow, this simplistic album cover is quite

appealing to it’s target audience, as they are a alternative/indie rock band, the dark greys and blacks are colours commonly associated with rock. The

album cover doesn't’ contain any images of the band, just their logo of a black rectangle, this could be in order

to attract a certain audience – their core fans who know them and respect

them purely for their music and to attract people who are mainly

interested into the music opposed to the bands looks which is stereotypical

for boy bands- they gain a fanbase according to their visual appeal. This album cover is fairly simple , although

it does not scream rock, there are some definite connotations to it.

The 1975- The 1975

The typography used is consistent throughout the album, the use of the light to make the bandname/album glow as well as the lightten rectangle follows the theme of a contrast between light and dark which is consistent throughout the album design. The fact that the album is self-titled could be to show that because the band are fairly new they want to broadcast and advertise themselves

as much as possible, so when people think of their music they think of the band and vice versa. The boldness of the album title shouts rock, with rock being a loud genre of music, the loud font is a definite representation of the genre,. Never the less,

sterotypically rock albums are quite bold and have a wide use of colours and bold images where as this album only has a stand-out name, the rest of it is visually lacking in colour.

Front cover

The album follows a simple grayscale colour scheme, this is a huge juxtaposition to their music which is a mixture of synth pop and alternative rock. This colour scheme is consistent throughout

all of the bands released material, EP’s etc.

The CD is matte black which follows their house style, alike the album cover the CD lacks vidsual aestetics, there’s no text which

is unlike a typical album

The back of the album contains a track listening and company acknoledgements, this is very typical of the back of an album,

once again the grayscle colour scheme is used

The inside album booklet contains pictures of the band members, this helps appeal to a female audience who will find them

attractive and will listen to their music because of this, this also reinforces their origional fanbase who know who they are this

imagery can be seen as something of sentimental value

Colour scheme

Back cover & Track listing

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