Analysis of three digipaks

1. Digipak Analysis
Ethan Smith

2. DIIV – Is The Is Are

3. Similar to their first album, DIIV
have decided to use art on the
cover of ‘Is The Is Are’. I think that
this gives the album a personal
feel to it, which is reinforced by
the messy, casual art-style. It is
reminiscent of the album cover for
the 2004 album ‘The Cure’ by The
Cure: perhaps DIIV took inspiration
from it and interpreted it into their
own album design.
The album cover features a
number of different colours, which
I think attracts the attention of the
consumer since it is bright.
However, the simple grey
background prevents the cover
from being overwhelming to the
eye and allows for each area of
interest to be noticeable – most
importantly the name of the band.
Interestingly, DIIV have decided to
have the title of the album in an
obscure location on the cover, in
fairly small font. This is
unconventional since usually the
title of the album is made obvious
to the consumer. Conversely, the
band’s name is in a much larger
size font and is very clear – this is
key since it is what consumer will
associate the album with.

4. Similar to the vinyl version of this
record, the CD digipak has a sleeve
in which the CD is kept: I don’t
think this was chosen because of
its practicality since CDs do not
usually require a separate sleeve.
However, I think this is a cool
addition since there is more art to
uncover for the consumer and it
appears more professional.
The colourful art of the cover has
also been used on the actual CD
itself. I think this is a really
effective and simple way of making
a CD digipak more “fun” and
intriguing. Even the tiniest of
details like the shiny flower and
cloud make the whole package
more personal since the design
process is more intricate.
The CD also has a hand-written
track list which adds to the
personal aesthetic of the digipak. I
think that including this on the CD
is a good choice since it reduces
the amount of negative space
across the entire package – a blank
CD may appear slightly boring and
unprofessional!

5. The ‘Is The Is Are’ digipak also includes an
art/lyric booklet. It continues the general
“messy” aesthetic of the album and features a
mixture of bright colours.
I like how the text in the lyric
booklet has been scrawled in
interesting patterns: the fact that
it is handwritten links to the rest
of the album, and so there is a
definitive sense of identity.
I think the inclusion of a lyric/art booklet adds to the
digipak overall, since there is more effort required. As
a consumer of CDs myself, the reason I buy physical
copies of albums is to discover more about the
band/artist – whether that is through photography,
art etc.

6. Similar to the rest of the digipak,
the text on the reverse of the
album is also written. I think this
works especially for the track list
since it is as if Cole (lead singer)
has written it himself and so the
album feels more intimate – like a
shared experience between artist
and audience. As well as this, the
legal information has also been
written (in order to retain
continuity).
The legal information is vital for a
digipak, however it can often come
across as boring small print. I like
how DIIV have decided to make it
slightly more interesting by using
handwritten text.
As with most CD digipaks, the barcode
has been placed conventionally on the
back cover in the bottom corner. I think
this decision was taken because it is not
a key aspect of the overall image of the
digipak and so does not need to be well
implemented.

7. Beach House -
Bloom

8. Beach House have decided on a very
minimalistic approach for their ‘Bloom’
album cover. I think this works really
effectively since it links to their
alternative genre. The decision to have
no text on the cover means that there is
little distraction from the main design; of
course, it could be considered risky not
to include the album title/band name on
the front cover since that is what
consumers will see first. However, I think
this cover attracts the attention of the
consumer since it is unconventional and
intriguing.
Since the cover is simple, with no
text and a single image, the
decision to have a basic colour
scheme retains a simplistic image.
Too many colours could become
overwhelming and create a
clustered effect.

9. As opposed to having the track list on the back cover of the CD,
Beach House have decided to take an unconventional approach by
listing them on the inside sleeve of the digipak. I think this is cool
since it prompts the consumer to actually open the digipak and
interact with it.
The simplistic design is continued via
the lack of graphics and lots of
negative space. All focus and attention
is drawn towards the track list and I
think this looks really effective.
Beach House have decided the make
the design of their CD extremely
simple which fits well with the overall
digipak. I think that this simplistic
design could be considered boring, but
fits well with the minimalist image of
the album and so is an effective design
choice. There is some basic text
(including track list) and the record
company logo which increases
professionalism.

10. Similar to the DIIV digipak, ‘Bloom’ features a lyric/photo booklet within it. I really
like this since it adds to the quality of the digipak: each photo would’ve been
sourced individually, which requires a lot of effort. As well as this, the lyrics were
presented as images of the lyrics written (with a typewriter) onto paper. I think this
is a really nice addition since it makes the digipak more personal.
The photos included fit with the dream pop genre of Beach House since they have a
dreamy, hazy aesthetic. I think this was decided deliberately in order to conform to
their genre effectively.

11. As opposed to having the artist name
and album title on the front cover of
the digipak, Beach House of decided
to place them on the back cover. This
is quite an unconventional decision
since consumers are often drawn to
the front cover. However, I think that
this decision links to their alternative
genre since they aren’t conforming to
traditional digipak conventions.
Like the inside sleeve, the back cover
also has a lot of negative space which
retains a simplistic and minimalistic
image to the digipak. The amount of
negative space also means that the
album title/artist name are clear to
read for the consumer – which is
important.
The title of the album and the name of
the artist is in large, easy-to-read font
which allows the consumer to access
important information about the
album easily. The text is also white
which allows it to be read easily since
it contrasts with the black background.
The important legal information is located at the bottom of the back cover in small, white
font. The reason it is a smaller font is likely because it does not hold as much importance as
the album title and the name of the artist – hence why it is located in an area that isn’t
central to the consumer’s attention. They have included their website as well which I think
is a nice inclusion since fans can access more information easily.

12. Death Grips – The
Powers That B

13. Death Grips have decided to use a drawn
graphic for the album cover of ‘The
Powers That B’. I think it fits the
aesthetic/genre of the band since they
are often very unconventional. It’s
difficult to tell what the graphic is – but I
think that’s the point! In contrast, they
have not included the title of the album
which is fairly unconventional.
Since the album features some profanity,
it is a requirement that there is a
Parental Advisory sticker on the album.
Death Grips have decided to place it in
the bottom corner, where it doesn’t
interfere with the main design. I think
this is important since it means that the
warning is there, but the design isn’t
ruined.
The album cover has a simple colour
scheme which only features a small
number of colours. I think that this helps
it from being too “gaudy” and
overwhelming – otherwise the audience
may be put off.
The band name is scrawled onto the album cover in a really cool
“scratchy” style. I like it because it is not clearly the artist name, and
so simply acts as another cool design feature. The scrawling links to
their aggressive and alternative sound as well.

14. Unlike the two previous albums, ‘The Powers That B’ digipak is an 8 panel which is fairly large.
However, having an 8 panel pack fits well with the album since it is a convergence of two
mixtapes (‘Niggas On The Moon’ and ‘Jenny Death’) which means that each side can be
dedicated to each EP. This is a really effective layout since it separates each one of them in a clear
and logical way.
The digipak features two CDs since it is split into separate mixtapes: this is somewhat
unconventional because most digipaks will include a single CD. The art on the CDs have a cool
“glitchy” design which I think links to the inner sleeves well – as well as refining Death Grips’
alternative music which features loud, detached electronic beats and aggressive vocals.

15. Each inside sleeve of the digipak has the track listing for that
particular mixtape: this is a sensible idea since it defines each
CD as separate and allows easy navigation for the audience. The
text for the track list is fairly simple, but this allows it to be read
easily – I also like the inclusion of numbers!
The design for the inside sleeves adopt a similar glitch style to
the CDs which adds to the aesthetic of the digipak: when I first
opened the digipak I thought it looked super cool, especially
because of how bizarre and confusing it is – much like Death
Grips’ music!
There is a total of two lyric booklets (one for each CD) within the digipak
which is a nice addition! Again, it adds to the overall effort of the digipak and
means that there is more to explore for the consumer. The booklet itself is
fairly simple with cool photography on each page – I think some were taken
during music video shoots so that’s a nice extra! The importance of this is
that the consumer is likely to me more impressed by a well-made product
which is important for building/maintaining a fan base.

16. As opposed to including the album title on the front cover, Death Grips have placed it on
the back cover instead – similar to Beach House’s album ‘Bloom’. I think that this links to
their alternative genre because it is a decision that doesn’t conform to generic album
digipaks. Interestingly, the font is fairly small and is in lowercase as opposed to be larger
and more obvious: I think this could end up in it being mistaken for just additional text.
For the image on the back cover, Death
Grips have used a picture of Stefan (MC
Ride) with a grainy, black and white filter.
I like this feature since the image derives
from the music video for their song
‘Guillotine’! I think that it was cool to
include this since it is something for
consumers to discover for themselves.
As well as this, it fills up any negative
space and makes the back cover
interesting.
The legal information and the barcode is located at the top if the cover. I think this is another
simple design idea which highlights the alternative genre of Death Grips since most legal
information is located at the bottom of the back cover – certainly the barcode. This is
because the consumer’s eye is likely to look at the bottom of the cover last and the top first –
which is why important information (e.g album title) tends to be higher up.
Despite being a minor detail, I like how
Death Grips have decided to include
their logo on the back cover, next to the
record company logo. I think this
increases the overall professional
appearance of the digipak and
establishes their identity.