2. Analysis of a digipak
The front cover of Rihanna's
album 'Loud' features a close up
picture of her face showing her
with her eyes closed. This could
be to illustrate her being relaxed
and calm. The buyer is instantly
drawn to the boldness of the red
colour on her lips and hair which
can convey love and heartbreak.
The expression on her face looks
extremely passionate which
shows the audience she is
passionate about the album she
is producing and therefore
engages her target audience.
The font used for the her name is smaller than the album
name which is unusual for albums as they want to
promote the artist more than the album itself. However
the reason behind it may be that Rihanna has chose to
have her album name shown as the most important
showcases how much she believes in her album and how
she wants her fans to like her for her music not just her
status in the music industry. The font style and colour
could represent the innocence and emotion of the albums
content. It contrasts the name of the album ‘Loud’ as the
font used is quite thin and barely noticeable.
3. The back cover of the
album continues with the
theme of pink and red
colours which is
illustrating the
love/heartbreak
inspiration again like on
the front cover It
features another image
of Rihanna looking
vulnerable which makes
her relatable to her
audience.
The back cover of the album
includes a list of songs and the
names of the producers and co-
producers on the right-hand side. It
also includes information such as the
record label name and logo,
production company and the bar
code for purchase in the shops. This
information is usually on the back
cover as it shows which production
company and record label Rihanna
belongs to. This promotes the record
label, as when one of her album sells
the record label make a profit from it
and status.
The colour of font on the back cover
is partly the same with the white font
however the song names are in a red
colour to make them stand out the
most on the cover. The style of font
stays the same throughout both
covers which is effective as it shows
there is a continuity.
The colour of the CD and cover for Rihanna's album is mainly a strong use
of red which demonstrates that the album is full of strong emotion such as
love, anger and a sense of danger. This could be inferred that the songs on
the album may have emotional attachments. Rihanna is shown on the cover
as wearing a white dress, connoting innocence and vulnerability. The
physical CD disc is designed to look like a flower which also reflects the
image of love and vulnerability. Th CD colour is a pretty light pink colour
which could represent femininity and innocence.
4. In another example, Harry Styles appears to be drowned in a pastel pink bath.
The shot is a close-up shot on his back which is the least tattooed part of his
body giving off a feeling of additional nudity.
The only thing he seems to be wearing is a double necklace which is almost
the main point of the album as wearing pendants is used as his
identifications. The necklace is of a lotus flower which fans have associated
with the lotus in Buddhism which states a symbol of purity.
Albums have either the name of the artist or the title of the album or both but
on this album neither is displayed. This keeps the album very minimalistic and
simple. Harry is a very identifiable person due to his huge following and
fanbase, therefore he does not need his name on the front as people will be
able to tell who it is simply by the photo.
On the back cover, the picture is similar to the previous one as Harry sits deeper in the pink
water however this time he is shot from the front, displaying him fully in this album from the
back and front. Around him are lotus flowers floating in the pink water which links to the lotus
flower pendant he is wearing on the front cover.
The image on the back cover of Harry is very small. Conventionally, the back cover image
would take up the entire space, however for this album it doesn't as the majority of the back
cover is white. Again, Harry is going against the conventions of a pop album cover by keeping
it very minimal.
The tracks are listed to the left of the photo in a simple black font keeping to the minimalistic
theme. Similarly to other album covers, the production details are kept at the bottom as his
audience would not be interested in this.
5. The CD is plain white with only some
writing around the outside of the CD
and the logo of the record company he is
signed to. The CD again sticks to the
simple, minimalistic layout.
Throughout this whole album, Harry has
showcased his unique style by not
following the conventions of a pop album
cover but instead putting his own twist on
it. This could largely be due to the fact that
this is his debut solo album so he wants his
audience to see who he is and recognise
his own style. Before this, Harry would've
been restricting his creative side as his
other band members in the band One
Direction would have to agree on what the
album looked like but as this is his solo
album, Styles could be as creative as he
wants to be.
6. First idea
FRONT
The front page is created in a way to display the main
message of the ‘Other Wings’, Otras Alas, album -
leaving everything behind to find my other self. The
woman sitting on the couch alone with her dog
creates the image of finding oneself, away from the
rest with the things that truly make an individual
happy, in this case the dog. The telefone next to her
shows how even though she may be waiting for a call
from somebody important she is focusing her
attention towards her dog, showing that she does not
need anybody else to find herself.
Underneath the picture is the name of the album
‘Otras Alas’ with the year of the album release and
song list. It informs the customers what they will
purchase, specifically which album and what songs
are played in it.
7. The backpage of the digipak is decorated with an
image of a women and man holding hands while red
wine is poured into the glass. In this album many
songs are on the cliche topic of heartbreak, for
example ‘Nana triste’, therefore the picture presents
the sadness; painted in low dark colours and
melancholic aura. The red wine presents the blood -
sadness and hardship - however as once the glass is
filled, the ache will stop and once the wine is drank,
the relationship will end.
In the upper left corner we have placed the actual
information from one of Natalia’s albums in order to
have the actual true information. Underneath there is a
barcode for when purchasing the digipak, however
instead of the usual numbers we replaced them with
the word ‘original’. In the lower right corner, Natalia
Lacunza’s autograph is shown for the purchaser to
know whose album they are buying. By placing the
autograph instead of her full name would increase her
popularity due to the more people acknowledging her
simply by her short hand written signature.
BACK
8. The left page inside of the digipak is in
most cases decorated with one of the
songs in the album and its lyrics. We
have decided to do this with the song
we are using for our project - ‘Olivia’.
The lyrics are placed on the right side
of the page next to the title in a smaller
font due to the length of the song.
The picture we chose to use displays a
women leaning against a wall turned
away from the audience, staring into
the distance. This enables the audience
to experience the loneliness Olivia must
feel as the lyrics of the song advise
everyone keep a big distance from her.
The scratches show the damage she has
done to the people around her, coming
back to her and therefore hurting her
back.
FIRST PAGE INSIDE
9. The disc we have designed shows facing our
fears. Natalia sings about not being afraid to face
reality, such as in her songs ‘tarantula’ and ‘otras
alas’. In reality people are most brave with an
amount of alcohol in their blood, therefore we
symbolise that by inserting a picture of an
alcoholic drink, also adding continuity as our
previous message with the red wine.
We made sure to label the dics with the artist’s
name and the title of the album in an classy
minimalistic font, not distracting from the main
idea.
In the lower right area of the dics we decided to
place a kiss stain, mimicking a kiss Natalia left
for her fans - the niche consumers - making
them feel more connected to the artist.
CD DISC
10. Final Digipak Development
The front page focuses on our main character
- Olivia. The actress I have casted allowed me
to make a quick photoshoot in order to
develop this page. I focused on hiding the
actress’s face as in my storyline, Olivia does
not recognise her true self and doesn't want to
accept that fact. I insisted that the actress
shows up in more open clothes, exposing her
neck, to give off the sensual atmosphere as
my character Olivia does so. Underneath the
photo, I placed the name of the album, the
release year, and each song played in the
album with its number. The overall look of the
page orbits around dark and feminine aura as
Olivia herself is categorised within it.
11. Similar to our first inspiration, The first page
inside of the digipak is in most cases
decorated with one of the songs in the
album and its lyrics. We have decided to do
this with the song we are using for our
project - ‘Olivia’. The lyrics are placed on
the right side of the page next to the title in
a smaller font due to the length of the
song.
The picture on the left displays our
actress’s reflection in a mirror, however
only a mere part of her. This is done as to
show that she to herself is not fully
uncovered yet and can’t see the full image
of herself in the mirror; in addition
wearing a less revealing sweater to show
how much she hides the rest.
FIRST PAGE INSIDE
12. CD DISC
I had two options for the disc design, however in the end I
chose to develop the second design.
The disc I have designed shows facing our fears. Natalia
sings about not being afraid to face reality, such as in her
songs ‘tarantula’ and ‘otras alas’. In reality people are most
brave with an amount of alcohol in their blood, therefore we
symbolise that by inserting a picture of an alcoholic drinks
and a group of people cheering with each other, also adding
continuity as our previous message with the red wine.
We made sure to label the dics with the artist’s name and the
title of the album in an classy minimalistic font, not
distracting from the main idea.
In the lower left area of the disc we decided to place a kiss
stain, mimicking a kiss Natalia left for her fans - the niche
consumers - making them feel more connected to the artist.
13. BACKPAGE
The backpage of the digipak is decorated with an image
of a women holding a wine glass with the red wine
almost fully drank. In this album many songs are on the
cliche topic of heartbreak, for example ‘Nana triste’,
therefore the picture presents the sadness; painted in
low dark colours and melancholic aura. The red wine
presents the blood - sadness and hardship - however
once the wine is drank the ache will stop.
In the upper right corner we have placed the actual
information from one of Natalia’s albums in order to
have the true information. Underneath is a barcode for
when purchasing the digipak, however instead of the
usual numbers we replaced them with the word
‘original’. In the lower left corner, Natalia Lacunza’s
autograph is shown for the purchaser to know whose
album they are buying. By placing the autograph
instead of her full name would increase her popularity
due to the more people acknowledging her simply by
her short hand written signature.
14. I think that it is important to mention that we
have changed the storyline as it was too
challenging to film and therefore needed to
bring slight change to our digipak design too.
All the digipak designs have been created
using the application ‘Picsart’ and the IOS
gallery filters.
