Digipak analysis

1. Digipak Analysis- McFly, Radio Active
The digipak for an album contains; the front and back cover of the CD case, the insert, often
containing information about the artist or song lyrics, and the CD itself. I am going to analyse the CD
digipak for McFly’s Radio Active (2008) using Lacey’s Repertoire of elements.
The characters on the front of the CD cover are the members of the band. They do not directly
address their audience by looking into the camera; instead they seem to look at each other. This
denotes that they are friends and are happy as a band. The cheerful, relaxed atmosphere is
continued onto the insert which displays images of the band
building a campfire and joking and laughing with each other,
suggesting that the album will be upbeat and possibly reflects
what happened on a trip or holiday that they went on together.
Another feature of their character is their hairstyles. They either
have long, floppy hair or spikey hair in a Mohawk style. These
styles are stereotypical of rock stars and the more alternative
rock music style which the album follows. The back cover does
not feature any images at all which indicates that they are more
alternative and are breaking free of the stereotypical pop/ rock
genre.
The images tell a story of the band and their friendship. On the
front cover the band members are looking across at each other
and their faces look relaxed and happy. The green hue on the
image suggests the genre of science- fiction, indicating that
they are sci- fi fans. The insert also denotes friendship
between the band members as they are seen to be camping
and laughing together. This also insinuates that the songs on
the album will tell the story of their trip together and their
friendship. The sketchy drawings on the cover and the insert
and the hand-written notes on the lyric booklet portray youth
and freedom which tells the audience that the band is young and happy with what they are doing.
Additionally, this alternative style creates a sense that they are still experimenting with their music
and that they are a new band rather than a more experienced one.
The squares on the front cover are similar to the square compositions of
Andy Warhol’s pop art work. This makes the imagery and composition
utilised on the CD cover iconic of popular culture and therefore signifies
the pop/ rock genre of the music. Another feature iconic of the genre of
music is the sans serif font. It is sketchy and runs diagonally down the
back cover creating an alternative, light-hearted mood. Additionally the
green hue on the cover images is iconic of science fiction adding to the
alternative style of the album. The long or spikey hairstyles of the band

2. are iconic of early 2000’s pop stars, again, revealing the pop/ rock genre and the alternative style of
the band and their music.
The relaxed setting seen in the insert portrays a campsite where the band took a trip together. They
are seen to be happy and their music is depicted as light- hearted because of this relaxed setting.
The plain studio-like setting on the front cover, however, creates a more serious tone as it is the
background of a professional photo shoot for the album, making the band seem like they are more
focused on their career here than they were on the campsite. This is juxtaposed with the sketchy,
alternative illustrations of the album logo which, again, connotes a sense of happiness and relaxation
between the band members. Therefore the settings which feature on the digipak create a
contradiction between the seriousness of rock and the light- heartedness of pop music.
The way in which technical codes on the front and back covers have been utilised through editing to
give a pale green hue over the images and text produces a
punk-like mood, suggesting that the band make punk/
alternative music. This is supported by the sketchy images
of microphones with tongues sticking out of them as they
also depict a punk-like, alternative genre of music. The
high- key, natural lighting of the images in the insert are
relaxed and display the friendship and light-heartedness of
the band and their music, contradicting the punk-like
imagery and editing on the front cover. The long-shots
utilised in the insert to convey the band are also light-hearted
as they are seen playing guitars, sitting on the ground around a campfire and laughing,
again, depicting the pop genre of music.
Overall, the characters, setting, technical codes, iconography and narrative create a sense of the
rock/ pop genre and reveal the close- friendly relationship between the band members.