Ben Howard - Digipak Conventions

2. The front of Ben Howards ‘Every Kingdom’ digipak shows him diving under the sea, this conveys elements of nature. From the background
research that I did this could be a representation of his passion surfing which is shown in his charitable work to keep England’s beaches clean.
The main title at the top page is the artists name ‘Ben Howard’ written is large white bold font. This seems to place value and importance to
the artist himself and his name. This could be due to the fact he is a solo act, but from research it was also his first album, therefore his name
is important as he is introducing himself in to the music industry. Record label demands can be recognised as they have obviously tried to
promote Ben’s album by having only him as the picture and having his name in such big lettering. This is a key convention of digipaks.
The use of bright and bold colours which are extremely eye-catching could suggest the digipak has a much deeper meaning. For example, the
bright light in the corner where the sun is shining through the sea could connote the artist’s bright and hopeful future in music, or suggest the
idea of new beginnings and happiness. Another connotation can be seen in the darkness of the water at the bottom, this darkness could
represent an unknown journey which he is about to intake on in the music industry.
Aspects of this cover can be recognised differently by the audience, this is Barthes’ enigma code theory. The enigma code can be shown within
this cover as what it means is a mystery and it allows for ambiguity, which means the audience can interpret it in different ways through
different perspectives. The figure in the cover, which is the artist Ben himself creates an element of mystery, leaving the audiences to feel
unsure as to who he is or what he is doing.
The layout of the album cover is very simple and conventional, it only consists of one background image of the artist diving in to the water, the
name of the artist and the name of the album. The simplicity of the album links well with the artist’s music as Ben Howard’s music is conveyed
to be quite calm and tranquil. The album cover also follows the route of the eye, as there is a main masthead across the top of the cover,
which then leads down to the image of the artist.
The preferred audience would receive this album cover in a positive way as they would already like the music from this particular genre of
music and would enjoy the simplicity and ambiguity of the design.

3. It is conventional to have the
artist name and album name
in large, bold font so the
audience can easily identify
what the album is. White
writing is also very
conventional in the
singer/songwriter genre.
Ben Howard is the only
one featuring on the
image of this album
cover. The image is linked
to his sound and style as
it is simplistic.
The colour scheme is of
soft blues/greens and
the white colour of the
text.
The lack of an image of
the artist is
counteracted by his
name being printed so
large it is the first thing
you see when you look
at the cover.
Typical of this genre to have an image that
looks good visually is a quite ‘arty’ instead
of just a plain image of the artist, like you
can see of other artists in this genre.

4. The background of this
digipak, is plain and is neutral
which relates to the front
cover as it is simplistic still
sticking to the theme. The
colour of the background is
the same colour as the text on
the front which shows that
there is a continuity of a
colour scheme.
Track lists are common on all
digipaks they are usually on
the back, as they tell the
buyer what songs are going
to be featured on the CD
which will encourage them
to buy it, therefore it is a
promotional technique used
by the artist and record
company.
Having a barcode on the
album lets the buyer actually
purchase the album. It also
makes it look realistic and to
be a real album.
A typical convention of this kind
of product is to give extra
information about the album,
such as; where and when it was
released, the record company
and manufactures who
produced the product,
sometimes there are links to
the artists social media or
websites, the logo of the record
company is also pictured. In all
this makes the album look
genuine to the consumer.

5. One part of the internal booklet is the lyric
section for each song on the album. The
simplistic design of black text upon a white
background may reveal how important the lyrics
and songs are to the artist, as he is not trying to
‘sugar coat’ them, they are raw for everyone to
see. The simple nature of the design falls into the
niche of the whole album, everything follows a
pattern of ‘less is more’ which fits into the
stereotypes for this genre. The simple design of
the lyric section shows what is important to Ben
Howard, the music and not promoting himself as
an artist in any artificial ways, he doesn’t need
fluorescent colours and bright lights his raw,
acoustic and individual style sings for itself.
The artwork and pictures within the internal booklet follow with the
minimalistic and simplistic theme of Ben Howard’s digipak. Like the
lyrics, the pictures are in black and white following of the motif
throughout the booklet. The natural photos of the artist are once again
expected of the Ben’s genre of music (Singer/Songwriter), there are
shots of the artist but he is never looking directly at the camera this is
juxtaposing other forms of music genres like pop music.

6. The CD disc relates to the
internal booklet as it is purely
black and white coloured, this
follows a continuity
throughout all of the inside.
Like the front cover of the
album the font used is
exactly the same
continuing the theme
making it look more
professional whilst been
simple. The colour is again
white which stands out
against the black
background, and the
capitalisation of all of the
letters emphasis how
important this CD is to
Ben Howard.
The CD disc is very
simplistic as mentioned
about other aspects of the
album, which reflects the
artists genre of music. The
CD underlines how
important music is to the
artist, as there is noting on
the disc itself apart from
the artist and the album
name, which is very
effective and clear to the
consumer.