3. The first digipak that I have looked at is Ariana Grande’s. Ariana is an upcoming singer popular for
her pop music. Over the years her look has changed and as she has brought out her new album, it is
clear she has changed her appearance once again. Before she was much more girly and innocent,
her audience being young children/teenagers. However, after looking at her new digipak it is clear
that she is widening her audience and is going for a more mature look than before. She has gone for
more serious photo’s to be included in the digipak. All her photos incorporate Laura Mulveys idea
of the male gaze as she stares directly into the camera with a more serious tone to her face. In some
words I would say that she is almost going for a more of a sultry look. She has incorporated the
black and white theme to again go for a more mature look. Ariana has gone for a more glamorous
approach as she has included the diamond necklace and fur Gillette for the picture when you open
the digipak. I get the idea that she has been inspired by Marilyn Monroe’s character lifestyle as she
goes for the cliché look of a celebrity. As this album is showing the change in Grandes career and
how her whole look is changing I feel the whole thing is fitting with one another and works well. I
like the idea of the cd itself being blank with no image on, yet still included that glamour idea by
having a ruffle from the material to make the cd look like it is covered in latex. The idea of the latex
again links back to the more sultry side to the album as is links with the name being ‘Dangerous
Woman’ When looking at the dangerous side of the album I like how she has used the slip put sheet
with more information follow a different route. She has made the hard copy of the Digipak more
indulged in the woman side of the name and following a more ‘Marilyn Monroe’ theme. Whereas
she follows the dangerous route by incorporating the images of her where she looks to be in a police
station taking mug shots. The contrast of the two work well as they are clearly separated form one
another and gives me the illusion that she is going for an later ego of some sorts. Overall, I would
say that it is a good digipak as it very basic and isn’t rammed with to much information but instead
focuses more on how to entice the buyers into looking at it and eventually buying it.
5. The second digipak that I have looked at is The 1975. Their
digipak is entirely black which is a nice idea as it very sleek and
professional looking. The idea of not having an image of the
artists but instead leaving it to more of a mystery shows that the
album is more about the music rather than them. The two
different shades of black work well in contrast to one another as
we are still able to see the writing. As well we have the white that
shines through which is a nice finishing touch to include. As the
1975 are an indie/pop band they have shown this through the
format of a basic yet edgy theme. Another thing that caught my
eye that is individual to the digipak is the idea of turning the
letters round for the name it make it look backwards. Also the
font that is used is very vintage looking and gives the album a
more retro look, linking well with sleekness of the all black.
When looking at the back of digipak, they have used much more
simplistic fonts throughout which is easy and readable for the
audience, not adding to much to the digipak already having a
plain and simplistic look.
7. The final Digipak that I have chosen to look at is Disclosure. The first
thing that draws me in about this digipak is the simplicity that is used
but around it the amount of personal details that are included. The
photograph includes two young boys who look very similar to one
another, hinting to the audience that the two band members maybe
twins/brothers. Within this I cant help but look at the clothes that the
boys are wearing, as they seem to be dressed very ordinary. In
comparison to Ariana’s who was much more glamorous. This makes
me think that the band members want to be approached as more
ordinary guys, much like their fans. Suggesting a suburban upbringing
and making the album more approachable and even likeable. Moving
onto the title on the front cover which uses very relaxing tones and
splitting up the name of the band being ‘disclosure’ (in black) and
‘settle’ (in white). I like the idea of the obscured faces that have been
drawn over the boys faces, linking to disclosures theme of music being
very mysterious. The whole album uses very neutral colours and on
the back the barcode seems dishevelled giving a vintage approach to
the theme. When looking at the CD itself again it follows the simplistic
and neutral theme. The only thing that happens to stand out to the
person buying it is the album and artist name to make it apparent to
the person of what they're listening to.
