5 Seconds Of Summer digipak analysis

1. 5 Seconds Of Summer – Self
Titled, UK deluxe edition
Digipak analysis

2. Different covers available
There are lots of different cover designs for their album including a fanzine, UK deluxe, North
American and a UK Amazon only edition as well as many others. By including so many different
variations of cover for the same album, it gives the fans something to buy and collect which not only
gives the band more popularity and makes their albums more noticeable, but also gives fans the
satisfaction of owning more merchandise released by the band. As each country has a different album
cover, it makes the album feel more personal to that country and could make fans feel more included
as they took the time to create a different cover just for their country. One reason for them doing this
is that the different albums differ in songs which makes this change easily recognisable and people will
be able to buy the album that have the songs that they like the most on. By doing this, fans are more
likely to buy an album as they can get the one which has their most favourite songs on it. This helps to
increase sales for the album and interest in fans as there are so many variations of the album that fans
will want to get.
One of the most popular albums to get was the UK deluxe edition which has a more personal feel to it
as it has the same cover as the UK standard edition but includes drawings done by the members on
the cover and CD. Some copies of the deluxe edition could also be bought signed by the members of
the band. By including signed copies, more fans are going to want to buy it as getting CDs autographed
by band members is something that a lot of fans do to feel closer to the band. These extra details
would make more fans want to buy the album as they would feel like it is much more personal to them
and that the band took a lot more time to make the cover.

3. Outside cover
The cover has hand drawn drawings by the
band members which relate to the song titles
within the album and specific things to the
band, these include references to their lives and
their record label. By including these, it makes
fans feel more involved in their lives as they use
references that only big fans of the band will
know. This not only makes the album feel more
personal to the fans, but also gives the
impression of the band taking a long time to
make the album to make it directed completely
toward the fans.
The clothing of the band members ties in with
the genre of music that they play in. Skinny
jeans and chequered shirts are two of the
main types of clothing seen being worn by
musicians in the rock genre. This band is no
different as they are all wearing skinny jeans
and two have chequered shirts on which
keeps to the conventions of the rock genre.
Fans would expect to see them dressed this
way as that is what they are used to seeing
from the genre so by keeping with this
convention, it allows them to fit into the genre
well and makes them more appealing to fans.
The red x used on the front cover of the digipak, going
over all of the members, which gives a connotation of
danger or rebelliousness which is closely associated with
the rock genre. The colour red is used throughout the
rest of the digipak as well which automatically puts the
idea of them being in the rock genre into the audiences
head due to the close association.
The barcode is
positioned on the
bottom right of
the back of the
digipak. By placing
it at the back, it is
still easily seen
and accessible but
does not disrupt
from the overall
look of the rest of
the digipak.
The record label (Capitol) information is
positioned in the bottom left on the back of
the digipak along with legal information and
the bands website being in the middle. This
makes it clear and easy to see and find if it is
needed and is done in a way so as not to take
away from the final look of the digipak whilst
still giving all of the information needed
about the label and legal information about
the album. By including the website, it makes
the band a lot more accessible to the public
and gives fans another media to see them on.
The back of the digipak works like a song
list but in a different way to the typical
conventions of a digipak. Rather than
listing the songs like most albums do, they
have done it through doing little drawings
to represent each of the tracks which are
featured in the album. This goes against
the conventions of a digipak but it works
in a very good way as it makes it much
more interesting to look at and makes it
stand out a lot more compared to a
typical song list.
There is an image of the
“rock symbol” in the
digipak which is used to
represent and encourage
how they are part of the
rock genre. The symbol is
a strong convention to
the rock genre so there is
a strong link in including
this between the band
and the genre that they
play in.
As the album is self
titled, the bands name
and the album title are
included on the spine
of the album cover.

4. Inside cover
The CD is held in a
plastic case instead of
previous CD releases
which have been done
in just cardboard. This
shows that the band
can now afford to use
a more secure plastic
case for their albums.
The doodles from the front of the CD
case are carried through to the
physical CD which creates a sense of
continuity throughout the digipak.
The drawings are very similar to those
used on the back of the case to
represent the songs included on the
CD.
The side panels of the digipak include
multiple images of all of the band
members. These images include photos
which were posted on social media as well
as some images from before they became
famous (like school photos). By including
these, it continues the personal feel given
from the front cover and allows the fans
to see some of what their lives were like
before becoming famous.
The way that the images are laid out
resembles a film reel which is encouraged
through the images being displayed in
black and white. By doing this, it creates
the idea of being shown their history and
getting to travel along on their journey
with them. This also challenges the
conventions as the rock genre is
associated with having a non-caring and
rebellious attitude yet we are being
shown a different side to them by seeing
their history in the images.
There is an even amount of each of
the members shown throughout the
images. This is evidence of them
rejecting Andrew Goodwin’s theory
of the lead signer being the main
person in the band as there is an
equal amount of coverage as all of
the other members rather than it all
being focused on one particular
member.
The font that is used on
the CD and throughout
the digipak is the same as
all of the other CD’s and
EPs which have been
released. This shows
their house style and
people will recognise
them through the font
and will associate them
with it.
The colours used on the inside of
the case contrast the colours
used on the outside of the
digipak. The inside uses very dark
colours and has a plain black
background with monochrome
images covering it, this embraces
the rock genre as dark colours are
widely associated with rock
music. This sticks to the
conventions of the rock genre
and means that they want to be
like other artists from the genre.
There are splashes of red used on the case which
sticks to the house style of the album and the
conventions of the rock genre. The red is used on
some of the images, on one of them to bring all of
the band members together using two separate
images. It is used on another image though to put a
cross through it. The image is of one of the
members only wearing underwear and, by putting
the cross through it, shows that they are trying to
keep with the conventions of the rock genre. The
genre gives the idea of having things unsuitable to
younger people and, by having the cross through
this image, it encourages and reinforces this idea
even more.